Chapter 41: Chapter 41

KAIST:

I sighed deeply as soon as I left Dahlia’s sight.

I came here to see if she’s alright. What was I thinking then by making Dahlia cry?

My initial thoughts were wrong... I thought I could look at her again and treat her as I nothing had happened between us, but my feelings came crashing down on me as we spoke.

Why was I the only one to suffer from such feelings of an all-consuming love? Even when I moved closer to Dahlia, even when she touched me and I touched her, nothing changed in her demeanor… Why?..

Cruz whimpered inside of me. I wanted to break down and crumble in her presence too, but I can’t.

How can I explain to Dahlly that she is our mate? How can I tell her I loved her since the beginning and until now when she could not even recognize this throbbing heart beat in my chest?

The moment I found out that Dahlia couldn’t feel our bond, I was stumped. How can that even happen? Was there a fluke somewhere, an anomaly in our bond that even the Goddess herself wasn’t aware of?

I began to question if what I was feeling for Dahlia was even true. Wasn’t I just hallucinating it all? Maybe, she was right… We had become so comfortable with each other that it was hard to comprehend how my life would be like without her. Maybe all of this was an illusion...

So I tried to test it. I moved closer to her. I let her touch my face, and I touched her soft cheeks, and my heart still thumped as wildly in my rib cage as it had before.

I cannot believe this, or rather, I can never accept this! It still is true – the wolf within me still recognized her as our mate! I cannot be wrong!

I almost spilled the truth to her. When she asked me to tell her what she had meant to me all these times, I almost did. I wanted to tell her I was her fated mate! I wanted to ask her why she cannot possibly feel this strong connection between her soul and mine. I wanted to kiss her right then and there…

Suddenly, the air turned sickening. I felt an invisible force trying to consume me, trying to choke my airways. It was so faint one might dismiss it for the stifling summer heat, and yet I knew better…

I can see a gray-purplish wisp of smoke envelope Dahlly and I back in the garden. The smoke was coming from a window at the far end of the villa.

From where I sat, I cannot see anything at all, but I knew who it was.

Blast that wolf! By now, I am sure that this new count of Crohmwall District, that Tristan Dmitri Abell, was no ordinary person!

I looked at Dahlia, but she seemed unharmed and unfazed. Does that mean that she could not see the smoke heavily descending upon us?

Then, how in the world can I see it?

She said that she’ll love him despite being hurt. That her feelings and ability to get hurt were two separate things… If Dahlia could only become aware of the attack he was making just now, perhaps she wouldn’t be too complacent.

Reluctantly, I parted from Dahlly… I got the answers I had wanted from her anyway… There was no use trying to prolong my and her agony.

“I’ll come back again once you feel better,” I told Dahlly. I was afraid that the more I choose to stay in that place, the more that smoke will be provoked to hurt my Dahlia…

Despite her inability to recognize who I was, I must find a way to protect her, even at the risk of losing my own life.

I walked away from the garden, but I could feel the purple-grayish smoke looking at me from the shadows, tailing my every move. Pelle joined me shortly as I walked towards the gates.

‘Pelle, get ready to defend me when I say it,’ I whispered to our mind-link.

He nodded silently at me, his senses heightening in preparation for an attack.

As I turned to the corner and reached the gates, I stopped at my tracks.

The origin of that grayish – violet smoke was standing there by the gates of Seymour Villa.

“Leaving already, your highness?” It was that blasted Count Tristan – Dahlia’s kidnapper and wretched husband!

I looked back at the wisp of smoke that was still trailing us from behind. I thought it was him that was trailing behind in the shadows, but he was here.

That blasted wolf’s face wore a surprised expression. “What is it, dear prince? Is something the matter?”

I signaled Pelle to stand by as I walked closed to where that Tristan Abell stood.

“Your dirty, old tactics won’t work against me. You may have fooled Dahlia, but unlike her, I do not see you in such rose tinted glasses. I see you for the filthy sorcerer that you are!”

The man had the nerve to snicker in front of me. “My prince, there must be some sort of mistake in your end. I am not a sorcerer. I am just an ordinary wolf who happened to be the mate of the woman you are trying to steal away. Likewise, I see you for who you are, so you better stay away from my Dahlia…”

“There is no ‘my Dahlia,’ Count Abell. She is not your mate!”

“And whose mate is she - yours? Your delusions are much worse than you think, then…”

I wanted to punch the man in the face, but I held my fist. I knew this was what he wanted – to provoke me so that he could get Dahlia to side with him and have a legitimate reason to decline my requests of seeing her.

“Count Abell, I pity you. A commoner like you who simply purchased a title must not have known it, but you will always be beneath me in status and even in Dahlia’s heart. I can make your life absolutely hellish if I want to…”

I leaned closer so that Pelle won’t hear it. “Make sure to cover your tracks well because if I discover even a glimmer of truth to my suspicions of you being a sorcerer, I’ll make sure you lose everything that you ever dreamed of having, especially Dahlia’s trust…”

I moved closer to him and removed a speck of feather stuck in his coat. “So enjoy everything while you can, and while you’re at it, do remove that filthy wolf that had been hovering to where Dahlia and I had talked… It’s totally irritating!”

I stepped away from him and dismissed his attempt to bow down, exiting his gates for now.

I looked back and saw the grayish purple smoke from before mingling with his body as he stood there, eyeing us as we left.

I swear I’ll really dig every speck of dust against that count so that I can to make Dahlly see how she had made a big mistake in choosing him!