Because I Love You✔️

Chapter 174: The Blessing

"You left long before I finished," she interrupted, instantly turning her eyes on him. "That was your own fault, and it was because you didn't stay that you didn't hear any of the good I had to say. Because there was a lot of good, Vordt... you've done a lot of good. For all of us."

"You described me like I was some sort of monster," he hissed, hackles rising and tail fluffing out in anger; his claws gouged the tile. "You painted me in a worse light than the tyrant who rules this country. Even though I dislike you, I would never stoop so low as to make you a villain."

"But you were a villain," Ella countered sadly; he jerked to glare at her, but faltered when he noticed the sort of expression she was giving him. "Vordt, you tried to kill your brother's child over a misunderstanding. What you did was just as wrong as what I did, and I made it very, very clear to everyone that it was a mistake. You know you've been forgiven just as much as I have."

His scowl fell into something less bitter.

"It was difficult, hearing the way you described it," he said softly. "The fear you felt, the pain, the way you were forced to watch me lie to his face about my identity only to betray him on a whim. I felt my skin crawl. I knew what I had done... but until that moment, I didn't know how badly that had damaged you. That is why it was hard to hear."

"He's your family," Ella said reproachfully. "It was harder for him than it ever was, or would have been, for me because you're his own flesh and blood. Even now, all he wants is for you to show him that you love him, Vordt... little reminders here and there, that's all. He wants for nothing else."

"Nothing but affection," Vordt muttered. "Such a foolish boy."

"Yes, but a good one, all the same," Ella agreed, smirking to herself. "A very good one."

She trailed off, letting out a sigh, staring dreamily at the sunset.

Vordt looked at her with eyes that she was sure held solid intensity, but she didn't look at him back.

"You really do love him, don't you?" he asked quietly. "Enough to dedicate eternity to him."

Ella smiled warmly, watching as the last of the sun slid down below the horizon.

"I do," she whispered, closing her eyes. "I don't know how, or why, these feelings have taken root so deeply in my heart... but Vordt, I do love him. So much that it hurts. I ache for him. I would gladly live out a life of eternal devotion, happiness, and the occasional squabble as long as he is by my side to share those moments with me. I desire this down to the core of my soul."

The faery's eyes glinted, curly hair ruffling in the breeze.

The air was slightly cooler now that the sun was going down, and Nimika was slowly moving into the autumnal months, as well, but she didn't feel cold in the slightest.

Every single part of her felt warm.

"The day that he claims you," Vordt said softly, "is the day that I will tell him that his father is still alive and well."

A thought touched her mind.

"And his mother?" she asked, glancing at him. "Do you really not know where she is?"

"No," he said, instantly looking away. "Lei... I don't know where she is. I assumed she was dead like my brother, but now I am not so sure."

"Well, if she's alive, we'll find her," Ella said simply. "We'll find Dimitri, too. I've seen so many families torn apart because of the royal family... it is my hope that some of them might be reunited. At the very least, we'll rescue Olagrell somehow, and reunite him with his sons."