>>Amber (Present)

"I learned a lot while I worked in the Cory Manor." His expressions didn't say much but his confession made my heart drop to the pit of my stomach.

I felt awful and I couldn't stop myself from crying but I tried not to make any sounds as he told his story. The weather was lovely, pleasant wind blew past us, fluttering our clothes and hair.

I stared at him when he looked ahead but at nothing in particular. His eyes were distant.

But it made sense to me.

It made my heart tremble as it dawned upon me, why Rika's 'treasure' perplexed him so much. His experience with his mother was so bad, he couldn't comprehend that there are people who are so attached to their mothers that they keep the things their moms left behind as a 'treasure'

Tears rolled down my cheeks uncontrollably. He has done things so nonchalantly. I could never even have guessed the cruel story behind it.

I was so mad at him for so many things. Not realizing what even caused him to do that. He told me! He said it wasn't out of his will and I ignored that.

God!

I'm still the same.

I'm that same Corvina who hurt him because I was always jealous!! I'm the worst person! I can't believe I was jealous! I can't forgive myself for being like that!!

He kept rubbing his chest

"What's wrong?" I asked while tears rolled down my cheek

"I don't know," He brought his hand down, "It's a weird feeling."

At this point, I already had an idea. Hael had never learned how to regulate or understand his emotions properly, and I'm sure even at this moment he was having trouble with it. No one taught him what to do and he didn't see anyone to learn how to deal with it either.

In normal cases even when someone doesn't teach, you see other people around you handling it, like your family, your siblings or your friends and you learn things from them. But in his case, he had nobody.

"With you, there was a sense of familiarity." He said, "You were the only person I found who could come close to feeling what I felt. Your family didn't want you. You were an alien in that house, like I was." He kept his eyes straight ahead, reminiscing the God awful time, "You're the only one who chose me, because you wanted me and not simply my body. I knew you wanted me but then you suddenly started acting cold ."

"Hm?" Was that all? Wasn't I selfish too? I fell in love with his face as well. The first time I saw him, it looked like someone had brought me a lifesize doll or someone had snatched him right out of an ethereal painting. How was I any different than all the bad people in his life?

"Even now I can tell you feel something for me, but then you go ahead and act like you don't," His gaze narrowed, "That didn't sit well with me."

I didn't have an answer for him, "..." What do I even tell him? Can I tell him about how I came back in time? How I knew he was going to kill us all, me included? But do I even have a right to tell him that? After all I've heard?

After listening to his story, him killing the whole manner makes it seem like he did the right thing.

Everyone in that place was exploiting him.

Only God decided to have mercy on him and gave him unparalleled magic which helped him rise to power.

"But I've never slept with anyone out of my own free will..." He clarified that part again for me and I felt a stab in my chest. It was a stab I did for myself. I felt so guilty I couldn't define it in words. "I guess you would be the only exception since when you asked me to sleep with you, I didn't feel like I was being forced. With you, it wasn't so I could keep myself from dying or avoid something painful."

I felt like wanting to go back in time and let him kill me. I deserved that.

"Sorry..." He finally looked at me when I apologized, then his expressions changed. Tears just kept streaming down my cheeks, "I'm so sorry."

His hand reached out to me and gently cupped my cheek. "When I saw you blending in with those people. Being happy in that cafe. It just didn't sit well with me." He wiped the tear streaming down my cheek away, "It was like I had been abandoned all over again."

I was right about him never learning about empathy. All his life he had only been given betrayals, Lies, and manipulation. He doesn't understand the concept of being simply happy in small things

All of his life, the thing he got is that the people with power can't be betrayed, can't be lied to, can't be taken advantage of.

So he simply doesn't understand why I was happy in that small cafe.

My heart hurt for him

Not only because I had learned about him but also because I was one of those people who took advantage of him and then betrayed him. I used him for myself, because of my feelings, because I wanted to focus on myself and then I ran away.

"But I wanted to give you power," He said, "So that you have something that you can hold above other people." His words made me feel important but at the same time I felt inadequate.

Power

His obsession with power was simply because he didn't want people to hurt him again.

I finally understood his obsession with power. He's been through too many cruel things. Every single person in his life has thrown him around, used him, degraded him, blackmailed him and left him wary of people.

Left him hating everyone.

And I am one of those people. I'm someone who had a major hand in giving him so much pain.

"Why are you crying?" He asked

"Hael," I hiccuped, "You were rap-" He smacked his hand on my mouth

"Don't say it." His expressions went grim, "I hate that word." My pupils shook while I stared at him. He hates that word. So he simply chose to say 'he slept' with them.

My heart shattered into a million pieces. Each word he spoke felt like a dagger to my soul, and I couldn't help but weep for the unimaginable suffering he had endured. Tears streamed down my cheeks uncontrollably, my chest constricting with the weight of his pain.

"I'm so sorry Hael " I reached out to him, my hands trembling as I tried to offer whatever comfort I could. The depth of his suffering was almost too much to bear, and I struggled to find the right words to express the anguish and empathy swirling within me. He always used the word, slept... I wonder how many times the maids at the palace did it too.

How many times was he blackmailed into it?

It was all my fault. Because I didn't listen to him. Because I was obsessive. Because I only thought about myself.

He was so used to being forced against his will. He felt nothing about it. What happened to him at the Cory Manor isn't much different to what those mercenaries did to him

And it was my fault. I drove him to that edge. "I'm so sorry Hael." I buried myself in his chest, "I'm so sorry,"

The weight of his story hung heavy in the air. I couldn't bear to see him in such agony, couldn't bear to imagine what he had endured. And so, without hesitation, I wrapped my arms around him, pulling him close

"Why aren't your tears stopping?" He wiped them again but even I couldn't control them from plopping down.

"You went through a lot," I sniffled, my cheeks and nose flushed.

"Yes, but it's in the past," He replied, his voice unchanging. His hands reached out to me, "Do you feel bad for me?" His arms slowly going around my back

I hugged him tighter, "I wish I could do something to make you feel better." I didn't want to make him feel conscious, so I chose my words wisely

His hands tightened around me, "Just keep doing this then." My tears flowed freely as I buried my face against his chest, the warmth of his embrace offering a flicker of solace amidst the darkness. I could feel his heartbeat beneath my fingertips, strong and steady

He hugged me back.

>>Hael

She looked so pretty with those flushed features of her.

As I watched her tears fall, a strange mix of emotions surged within me. The sight of her vulnerability stirred something primal deep within my chest. So when she feels bad for me. She'll be more intimate with me?

As her tears stained her cheeks, I couldn't help but wonder how I could use my own pain to further ensnare her in my grasp. After all, hadn't I suffered enough to earn that right?

"I wish I could do something to make you feel better." She was crying for me and that made me feel good.

I embraced her tighter. She was crying because of my pain.

Then it's a good thing. All that misery amounted to something good at least.

I smiled as I wrapped my arms around her trembling form, I couldn't help but revel in the sense of control that washed over me. She was mine, body and soul, and I would do whatever it took to ensure that she remained by my side,

"Just keep doing this then." I said,

Feel worse for me, My Lady. And then stay with me

How nice, I smiled as I hugged her.

If my misery makes you want to be nicer to me and listen to me, then telling you this story was worth it.

I hugged her tighter and she respond the same way

I feel like this story will help me get her in a way she won't be able to leave.

How lovely.

How very lovely.

This is perfect

Volume 2- The End Please go to next chapter for information