Chapter 179: Chapter 179

DAHLIA:

“Dahlia, I have confessed everything to you before. I don’t know how much you remember of it after your accident though, so I am sorry for hurting you again,” Tristan began.

“It was true. I casted a spell that was why the mate mark appeared in your body after our first night together. I was sure you were not my mate, and I was not yours. I casted a different spell on myself a few years ago to suppress finding my own mate, so I was confident when I approached you.”

“However, the more I stayed beside you, the surer I had become that you were my destined mate… There wasn’t any day that I didn’t regret doing that…”

Tears flowed from both our eyes. I knew it from my memory. We did have this conversation before, but it was still heartbreaking to hear Tristan’s side of the story.

“When you had switched appearances with Samalah, I was foolish enough not to recognize you when even Livia saw who you really were…”

He looked down on his lap, unable to meet my stare. “I thought my love for you was strong enough, but I was a fool. You were right in front of me, and yet I didn’t see you… I was deceived by a mere spell.”

It was true. I had resented him for it. It was a painful experience to be shunned away by my own mate.

“So, do you think it was because you tampered with our bond using spells?... Did you not recognize me because I may not be your real mate after all?”

Kaist did tell me he could feel our bond. I still couldn’t feel it, but maybe there’s a possibility Tristan was also behind that anomaly…

Tristan shook his head, his tears glistening as they fell from his eyes. “I don’t know if that had anything to do with that… It might, or it might not be the case… Maybe I was just too stubborn not to see beneath the spell Samalah had casted.”

“One thing is for sure though,” he continued. “I did nothing but put you and our baby in danger. I am no longer worthy to be called you mate or to be your husband.”

Tristan rose from the chair, and still clutching my hands firmly, he kneeled to the floor at my bedside.

“I don’t expect you to forgive me… No, you can’t ever forgive me. I have brought you enormous pain when I had promised you only happiness, Dahlia… I am not worthy of you. You should be with someone else.”

I traced the contour of his face, his eyes still refusing to lift themselves up to meet my stare.

I choked at my own tears as I started to speak after staying silent for a long time.

“Did you ever love me?… The times we spent together, or when we made love… Were any of those feelings even real for you?”

Slowly, he lifted his lashes towards me, his eyes glistening with unspoken grief.

“Since I met you, there was never a time I had faked my feelings towards you, Dahlia… Since that first encounter we had on the woods, there was never a day I have never been out of love for you.”

Just then, my bedroom door opened. It was Sir Raleigh, my father’s champion knight whom I haven’t seen for a long time.

“Tristan Abell, it’s time,” he called.

Tristan rose from the floor and went to his side. His back was turned away from me, but I heard the clink of metals cuffs.

“Where are you going? Sir Raleigh, where are you taking Tristan?” I asked, taken aback by what just happened.

“Lady Hurst, the duke can explain it better than I.”

“No… Tell me what is happening this instant!”

“It’s alright, Dahlly. Live well… Goodbye,” was all that Tristan could say before he was ushered by Sir Raleigh outside.

I was scampering from the bed to follow them, but papa had already entered.

“Dahlia, don’t stand. You’re still unwell.”

“Papa, where are they going?”

He seated me firmly on the bed before he answered my question. “Dahlly, the exile I had told you before, the count’s sentence for his trial… The execution for that is today…”

I could feel the blood drain out of my face.

“He is leaving today?... Where?”

“He will be exiled in Jerulla.”

Jerulla was an island belonging to the Dragon Clan. Why would he be sent there?

“The Dragon Clan has opened their doors for trading with Talandor, but there’s a condition. We are to send them able men for labor and to keep the bay from outsiders. He volunteered to go.”

By outsiders, they must have meant pirates, the different sea clans, and the water fairy clans that kept pestering the island, right?

Why did Tristan take such a dangerous task?

“H-How long,” I asked. “How long will he be exiled?”

“Ten years or more…”

Ten years. Ten, long years…

Within that span of time, I would be able to keep him out of my mind and memory. My child and I would be able to start anew without him.

The pain he had caused me left so much resentment in my heart. I had only been with Tristan for four months, and yet those four months felt like they were stretched into years from all the sorrow, grief, and heartbreak we’ve come to experience.

Ten years would be enough for us to forgive, to forget each other, to move on…

Yet, ten years was also a long enough time to be separated from the one you love…

“Papa,” I whispered, tears streaking from my face. “Papa, I’m sorry…”

I have disappointed my father since I was young. I disappointed him when my mother died after giving birth to me. I disappointed him because I developed some unusual powers, and I disappointed him by refusing to marry Kaist…

“Dahlly… Dahlia Hurst,” he said, wiping a tear that had trickled down my face. “Do what you must. Follow your own heart.”

I disappointed papa, but finally, he understood me.

I could barely stand, but papa lifted me up from the bed.

As soon as he propped me on the ground, I scampered to my feet, running out of the door of Sir Morland’s house.

However, my steps were far too slower than usual. My legs still felt like jelly as I stepped barefoot into the floor.

Sir Morland’s house was somewhat on the upper ground. I looked around and saw Sir Raleigh and Tristan’s upturned back, getting smaller and smaller from my view as they walked further downhill.

“Tristan,” I shouted as loudly as my lungs could permit it.

It was no use. He couldn’t hear me.

I ran behind them, my bare feet sinking into the ground unevenly with each step.

At this rate, I won’t be able to reach them!

Just then, I saw Eva break through the barrier inside my head. I channeled her and allowed the shift to happen.

“Tristan,” I growled again as I sprinted in my wolf form, my bones still adjusting to the change it had abruptly undergone.

I was able to cover the miles that stretched between my mate and I in no time.

“Wait, Tristan,” I growled.

He swerved just in time to catch me in his arms as I jumped on him, sending us both tumbling into the ground.

“Dahlly, why did you follow me,” Tristan asked breathlessly as I lifted my face towards him.

I transformed back, and the first thing I did was beat my fist into his chest. “Just where do you think you’re going? Who gave you permission to leave?”

“I… The court has already annulled our marriage... I have to serve my sentence by going into exile,” he explained.

“Alright, let’s do that,” I said.

Tristan’s eyes widened. “Dahlly, what do you mean?”

“Let’s stay in Jerulla.”

“What?...”

“You annulled the marriage without my permission, who told you to do that?”

“But I… I tricked you so-”

“Did you ever stop and think about our child? Do you want me to raise him without a father?...”

Tristan’s eyes widened in surprise. “Dahlly… A-Are you forgiving me?...”

“Not quite. I am not sure about many things… The only thing I am sure of is that I truly love you. However you need to be punished, so now you’re going to get stuck with me for the rest of your life without your permission too.”

I locked my lips onto him, and for the first time in a long time, I kissed him with every fiber of passion I have for him.

My tongue went deeply into his mouth. I could feel the affection we have for each other reverberate throughout every cell in my naked body.

Tristan rolled me around on my back, covering up my nakedness with his own body as he came on top of me. I could feel his manhood begin to stir as our mouths momentarily parted away from each other.

“Tristan Abell… No, Tristan Dmitri Dadreich of the Shadow Rune Clan, would you marry me again,” I proposed, still tasting the lingering scent of his skin on my lips.

“I always will, Dahlia Eileen Hurst…”

I went back to Tristan’s lips and readily accepted the affirmation of my wedding proposal to the person I have chosen to be with despite the odds and conflicts brought by his hate and his revenge.

And this was how our story love story ended… for now.

***** [END OF STORY] *****