All of my future, to you

It had been three days since Spider was captured, but no amount of interrogation could open the mouth of the staunch woman. William exited the prison, throwing his bloodied gloves and robe in the trash. Hale really didn’t want to know what the second prince did inside.

The phasm empire paid not a small amount of reparations to the other realms because the trafficking incident happened in their very own capital and a surprising number of important personages were among the captives. So the royal family hated the Nightshades and thirsted for their blood. At least, on the surface. Hale couldn’t tell if William was really innocent or just pretending.

“No luck?” Katharin asked.

The young lich shook his head.

“Let me try.”

William was surprised. He expected the Saintess to be more squeamish. Even Hale winced at the stench that came out of the room when he exited. He expected her to be more tender-hearted, to be in pain when someone was hurt, even if it was a criminal who kidnapped children and brutally massacred dozens.

So the Saintess wasn’t like the world painted her to be.

Not that it mattered to him. As long as the results showed…

“Be my guest,” William mock bowed and left the prison without looking back.

“Hale, would you wait for me here?”

A strong objection burst out of his throat and he thought of at least five persuasive reasons in an instant but all was choked down by Katharin’s subsequent, “Pretty please?”

“Fine. But go in with protection.”

Hale was only barely satisfied after she was wrapped in so many shields and barriers that she looked like a walking dumpling. He reluctantly watched as Katharin entered alone. Reason said that Spider would be too weakened by the torture to do anything to an ordinary girl, much less one of the strongest existences in the world. But reason went offline when love came on. Yes, he finally admitted that he liked the female lead.

Spider was a high ranker of a high profile criminal group so the international prison she was placed in was highly secured and Hale wouldn’t have been able to get in if Norte didn’t do him a favor and pulled some strings. As for Katharin, well, would anyone be able to stop the Saintess?

ↂ

Katharin came out in an hour on the dot, looking exactly the same as she did when she entered.

“Are you alright?” Hale observed her carefully.

Katharin caught the worry in his eyes and joked, “Why do you keep staring at me? Do I look good?”

“Yes. You’re the most beautiful person the universe has ever seen.”

Both of them were taken aback by Hale’s immediate response and an awkward silence stood between them. He didn’t expect to blurt out his true feelings and she didn’t expect to hear his true feelings.

Katharin cleared her throat loudly, a suspicious blush staining her cheeks.

“... She’s ready to be questioned.”

The cell was unnaturally clean, void of any of the gruesome things Hale prepared himself to see. Spider also looked to be in a surprisingly good state; her skin was unblemished and everything was intact. If it weren’t for the chains binding her and her pallid complexion, Hale couldn’t tell that she was a prisoner who had been tortured for days.

Although she answered their questions obediently, it seemed that the torment impaired her mentally. She was incoherent in her statements and there were occasional gaps. But they still got more than what the Guild collected from the rank and file the past four years and she also had information on the head of the organization. Hale believed that the day of its demise was quickly approaching.

Then Spider revealed why they were after Katharin. She talked about the Orbs of the legend, how they were so powerful that they could grant a person the world or destroy it if they so wished. Hale thought she finally went crazy. Each realm had a different myth about their Orb, but the one commonality was that the Orbs upheld the universe. But it was just an old story, exaggerated by age. No one had seen these orbs and there was no proof that they existed. But for some reason, Hale didn’t stop Spider from ranting on in a hard to follow manner.

He recalled the most memorable gift he got on his 10th birthday. Five spheres of different colors, each appearing to contain a galaxy. And just like on that day, images flashed by and Hale reached out for them. This time, they seemed to be more solidified and didn’t slip out of his hands so easily. So he caught them and put them together and he remembered.

He reincarnated into this world and became Hale Tenebris. The ‘story’ he thought was one of his sister’s games or comics, wasn’t a story at all. It was his memory of repeating life here, repeatedly meeting and parting with Katharin, watching her live with others.

With the nephilim Orifil, she was hurt again and again because he was afraid of believing in relationships and chose to push away before he was pushed, and abandon before he was abandoned. He always felt that the other person would leave for someone better, smarter and stronger, someone like Norte. Even if the other party had no intention of abandoning him, and never would.

With the fairy Sylvan, he was a child who never grew up. He could barely take care of himself, much less others. His life was a series of seeking joy and he never stopped for a moment to consider how his words and actions could hurt others. He could like someone a second and hate them the next. There was no rhyme and reason in him and the moment he lost interest, the other party meant nothing.

With the undead William, he could be generous and considerate with everyone but was terribly strict and uncompromising with his lover. He couldn’t stand disobedience and needed to control everything under a death grip. But at the end of the day, the living couldn’t be a puppet so he broke and reanimated his lover. Only then could he be sure of a full compliance.

With the dragon Tenga, everything could be solved with violence in his head. There was no talking with him and all disagreements could be smashed through. He had a strong body and never understood the pain of the flesh. And even if he did, it wouldn’t have mattered. There was still healing magic, right?

With the daemon Norte, he grew up under burning whips and cutting words. All emotions had been shaved off before he became a teenager so he didn’t understand how to love, or be loved. There was no connection, no empathy, only miscommunication and endless conflicts. They were forever drawing parallels.

None of the lives ended well for Katharin.

ↂ

Hale’s device beeped with the special sound he set only for Guild notifications. His eyes shone as he scanned the words. They found Python! And the criminal was confirmed to be near their location.

Hale showed Katharin the message from Chase. After Hale and Katharin ‘reconciled’, the children from cage 12 insisted that he spilled everything to Katharin. So she knew about the Guild and that they were hunting down the Nightshades. It was also one of her personal goals so she was more than happy to cooperate.

And it was a good excuse to spend more time with Hale!

She jumped up and opened the door, but maybe because he was taking too long, she ran back and grabbed his hand. “Come on!!”

He couldn’t change the past but all of his future, would be dedicated to hers. If those love interests couldn’t protect her, he would. If those ‘love interests’ couldn’t make her happy, he would. It would be the role he gave himself.

Hale squeezed the soft hand holding him.

“Yes, let’s go.”

The light from the opening shone onto the two figures leaving the prison, hand in hand.