Winter's Dead Bride

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Yes, you heard it right...

"Found what? The antidote?" gasped the Emperor, jolting from dozing off.

"Of course...I promised, didn't I?" shrugged Teí in reply as the High Doctors all looked at him in disbelief.

My heart thumped hard as the thunder clapped outside, like a drum of hope as a shy stream of soft, blue light illuminated by the pale moon, entered the room. He was going to save me? And yet...he carried nothing in his hands? No elixir...nothing. How was he going to do it? 

"I'll have to ask you all to leave me alone with her," he requested, rolling up the sleeves of his black shirt.

His father gave him a suspicious look and Teí reassured him with a smile. The hard rain pondered on outside, the wind howling like an abandoned wolf as it starved...

"You can all head to the spare rooms. Wish us luck," he told his father, who seemed a little hesitant since he was awoken in the middle of a thunderstorm.

The Emperor then reluctantly gave a small nod, patting his son on his shoulder before obeying him, the High Doctors following after. As soon as the door shut, Teí carefully lifted me off the bed and put me down in the centre of the bedroom. For a while, I had started thinking that he was going to help me escape through the window or something but that option quickly faded as he knelt down in front of me, barefoot. It had been so long since I last touched the ground so it felt different from how I remembered. Now a lot harder and hurtful. 

"Have...have you really worked it out?" I croaked, my eyes still wet from tears.

He slowly nodded, looking a little determined as he gave me an attempted smile. I felt the familiar tugging sensation inside me once again and lost control over my body.

"Impossible...it's impossible, rright? What did you come up with?" I demanded, quickly taking over as I found myself now on the ground.

He put his finger to my cold lips, making me go silent. He looked exhausted as a faint dark ring circled his eye, he had a fond look on his face that would've melted me. He looked so fragile at that moment as he inhaled.

"Be quiet... She has to be in her normal state," he told me, not answering my question.

I blinked at him a few times, a lump in my throat from all the pain but as I gazed at him for the last time, I knew I had to obey him. I deeply sighed, pulling myself back into her body and reawakening her.

"Listen to me, if she tries to pull you back in, keep holding on and just let me do this, okay?" he said, taking his finger from my lips.

I blushed, nodding. Little by little, hope was crawling into me because I knew I could trust these words. I let him draw closer, feeling nervous as he put both of his hands firmly on my shoulders.

"It'll all be okay soon and for you...I'd do anything...," he trailed off, looking into my eyes as I turned red.

He tightened his grip a little and I could feel a burning sensation race through me. I almost pulled myself away but he kept me there, whispering words under his breath. It was as though I was being touched by flames but I did not burn... After a while, he looked into my eyes again, his gaze gentle. He managed to smile like he was finally going to give it a hundred per cent. I was amazed... It was totally different from the rest of his smiles...

"Don't reject me this time...it isn't really a choice anymore," he whispered, drawing closer to me.

I watched as he hesitated a little, taking his lower lip in between his teeth and biting it as he continued looking at me. But when I understood why he looked so nervous, it was too late... He let his hand stroke the side of my neck, bringing me towards him. I felt his gentle lips on mine as he held me even closer to him, angling his head a little. At that moment, I felt some rush of helplessness as I tried to label this...feeling. His warmth was comforting but still left me limp with surprise as he took my lips between his own. The kiss itself was gentle at first, soft but as it progressed, it became more intense with passion as his lips pressed harder against mine. I didn't even try to pull away when I nearly melted right there on the spot! I began feeling a little dizzy as his insistent lips parted mine and I let myself taste his tongue. That's when I truly understood his emotions... Wild shivers slithered down my spine as I chose to embrace this awoken sensation. Then I was kissing him back. And it felt like I was opening my soul and freeing something that had been desperately trying to drag me down. What I was feeling couldn't clearly be put into words but I chose to enjoy it, moving even closer to him until our bodies collided, letting go of everything... 

Finally.

He put his forehead against mine after the prolonged kiss, closing his eye as he whispered something in another language. I gazed at him, lost in presence. I then trembled at the words, jolting as I felt a surge of blood leaving through my shoulder-blades — like curved demon wings — a blue butterfly with black stains escaping as well, looking starved as its wings lay limp in the blood. "Last Contact". The blood had covered the whole room, messing up the walls but I could only keep my eyes on Teí as my clothes became stained with patches of blood. I felt no pain whatsoever from it and whatever pain I have ever felt also drained from me.

"I didn't know I had given you so much blood..." he murmured, still not opening his eye, "and because of that, I cannot attempt to have a go at it again. Therefore, there won't be a next life...this was the only chance we got," he uttered softly, his breath gently caressing my trembling lips.

He was smiling and I, covered in his blood, could only watch in silence as a sad piano was being played in this cruel world of ours. Like always, we were trapped in beautiful silence, just the two of us but this time felt different. Like the final opportunity, the last chance we'd be able to be with each other like this. I've now grown to fear both Fate and Hope because they just seemed to despise people for some reason... He was the one leaving...not me. He was leaving me all alone with no hopes of another chance. No other life was to come... 

Life was precious and he knew that but yet, he had experienced all that pain for me... 

The black colour of his hair slowly melted away and was now a creamy white colour, like freezing snow and I was taken by utter surprise, his name hanging like honey at the tip of my tongue. He opened his eye after it happened and looked into mine with tears filling his fiery one. But that flame inside it looked as though it was being put out. Like he had mentioned before... I had already put out one of his flames... And just like that, the room started to turn moon blue. I gasped but couldn't afford to take my eyes off him as cold steam rose from his body.

"Meeting you in this era... was truly... a reward. Dying is the only way to keep my feelings alive for you even though I promised to marry you, Azalea. So consider this my love confession...," he proposed, wincing in slight pain before he looked at me again with a bitter smile.

He looked for something in his pocket then found a diamond ring which he presented to me. My heart throbbed with both heavy melancholy and joy as I tried to reach out to touch him but couldn't really find the courage inside me as sorrow weighed down on top of me. He reached out to me instead, taking my left hand and slowly slipping the ring onto my fourth finger.

"Please say you love me too," he requested, leaning closer to me as he hugged me tightly.

His breath was cold. 

But the ice began to wrap around him... And him alone.

I felt the lump in my throat strangle me as he gave me a smile then a teasing nibble on the top of my ear, laughing softly before gently biting my neck, leaving a mark...a burning mark to reassure me that he had existed, engraved forever into me... I was already whimpering, not prepared to accept this. He felt colder than the freezing Winter itself... I panicked, even more, trying to hug whatever the ice hadn't touched yet but it easily crawled under my fingertips, giving me severe frostbite.

"I...I-I love y—," I started but the dark prism of concrete ice had already formed over him, creating a grave for him as he died.

Dead.

I felt my eyes burning up with intense disbelief, finally screaming in horror as the truth tortured me. 

"I LOVE YOU!!" I yelled, hugging the ice prism and ignoring the excessive cold of the freezing smoke that carpeted the floor.

...But he did not hear.

...He did not reply.
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