"Constant, he knew what he was doing," Sseraphis let out the minute he spotted Aeltharion. "He knew it would hurt me, but it didn’t stop him. What I would think didn’t stop him... it didn’t stop him."

"That doesn’t justify what you did today. How are you better than him."

Sseraphis flung his hands in the air in defeat. "If he is the standard, then I’d rather not prove myself."

"Ssese."

He reached for Sseraphis. To hold him, comfort him, and make him understand that no matter how much he questions him, the love in his heart hadn’t changed.

Aeltharion wanted to assure Sseraphis that there was nothing the serpent could do that would ever make him love him any less than he did.

But Sseraphis avoided his hand by stepping back. He turned, giving his back to Aeltharion. His breathing became ragged.

"How could you hug him like nothing happened?"

Aeltharion found it ironic for Sseraphis to raise such a question to him. "Who was it that blindfolded me, took me to him, and gave him to be as a birthday gift?" He asked, teasing.

Unfortunately, his joke fell flat as Sseraphis anger grew from being reminded of Nytherael’s touch on his body the previous night.

"I don’t even know if he ever loved me... loved us."

"He did," Aeltharion assured. He had felt it back then. There’s no way Nytherael could have faked their past together. It was real. "I believe he still does."

"Lovers aren’t supposed to make me feel like this..." violent tears shot out from his eyes.

"Aelthie, he made me feel like my feelings don’t matter. Like my opinion meant nothing in the face of his affections for Ilyrien," he broke down, finally processing the emotions triggered by Jura’s revelation.

For Ilyrien, Nytherael didn’t just ruin their bond and break their hearts. He doomed them for death. Sseraphis couldn’t understand what he and Aeltharion did to deserve being condemned to death just because Nytherael got cold feet and decided they weren’t ’it’ for him.

"He makes me feel like how I feel doesn’t matter..."

Aeltharion dropped his act. He sauntered over, too sad to lecture Sseraphis or think of a future for Sseraphis that didn’t include him.

He wrapped his arms on Sseraphis’ slim waist and leaned his chin on Sseraphis’ head. He sniffed the venom radiating from Sseraphis deeply to ease his aching heart.

"That’s what his betrayal did to me," Sseraphis cried, hugging his hands. "So... how could you question me for his sake? How could you choose him over me?"

"I didn’t," Aeltharion murmured. ’I would never!’ Those were the words left unsaid.

"He doubts his love for you... cheats on you... abandons you... and yet, you yelled at me for him. Me, Aelthie?" Sseraphis cried out, melting back into Aeltharion’s arms.

Recalling the harsh tone Aeltharion used with him earlier, the way his dragon shielded the traitorous fox while looking at him like the villain, it shattered the remaining pieces of his heart that remained untouched by Nytherael’s betrayal.

"Sorry."

"Too late."

"No," Aeltharion pulled back and turned him around. "No, venom. It can never be too late between us. Forever, that’s the promise we made... Remember?"

Sseraphis’s eyelashes shook, his lips trembled, teeth clattered as cold violet tears streamed out his eyes.

"How can you speak of forever when you are dying?" He asked, his mind a chaotic mess.

Aeltharion swallowed the follow-up questions he had for Sseraphis pertaining to their bond. The harsh truth of his life mirrored between them in rhe silence thar followed.

Sseraphis dropped his body forward, his head landing on Aeltharion’s chest. He listened to his dragon’s racing heartbeat, unaware how to break the news to him.

He understood thar Aeltharion wished for him to make up with Nytherael so that he won’t be alone after his death, but fate had other plans. Because after Aeltharion kicks the bucket, he’ll be next.

’I will not rest until I find the cure. No matter what, I will ensure you live, Aeltharion, because I can’t live when we are two worlds apart. If I fail... we will go through death... together,’ he thought back his silent promise on that day of Aeltharion’s first treatment. He’d meant it as a show of love, and it seemed fate took his words seriously.

"There is no loyalty in the heart of a traitor, Ael. Only the act of appearing trustworthy," he whispered.

Aeltharion caressed his head and held his shaking frame like he was holding glass, scared to break him further than the world already had.

Sseraphis melted into his touch. The only warm that remained constant in his cold life. It was his lifeline.

He breathed in the scent of gold from his dragon. The smell comforted him deeply. And once he calmed down, he saw the silver lining to his discovery; at least Aeltharion won’t face death alone. He’d be there to face what comes after with him, side by side.

"Is there truly no way you can get over the past?"

"Get over it?" Sseraphis raised his head. His teary eyes and pituful look turned Aeltharion’s insides to mush. He wiped Sseraphis’s clean, his heart full of guilt... he was the one who made him cry.

"Don’t cry anymore. I am sorry. You don’t have to explain anything to me or apologize to anyone. I am sorry," he hurriedly apologised over and over. "I’m truly sorry. I shouldn’t have spoken to you like that. You didn’t deserve that."

Sseraphis grabbed his hand. He pressed it against his soft cheek and leaned on it.

"Apology accepted," he smiled.

"Just like that?"

"Should I go back to being mad?"

"No, no," Aeltharion drew him in for a hug. "I don’t like being mad at you or you being angry with me. Making up is better."

"It is."

"About Nytherael?"

Sseraphis drew back, twitching the corner of his mouth. "When it comes to betrayal... it is easier to forgive an enemy than a loved one," he said. "So stop insisting on this. I don’t want to fight with you."

"Alright. I’ll stop... for now."

A distance away, standing behind some tall bushes, Princess had happened upon their conversation. She didn’t mean to stay and eavesdrop, but by the time she heard them, it was too late, and she feared making a sound lest she startles them and suffer Sseraphis’ wrath.

She doubted a beast like Sseraphis would take kindly to someone catching sight of him crying. For self-preservation, she stayed completely still and didn’t move.

’When will they leave so I can leave?’ She questioned inwardly.

Her body went completely still when she felt a hand on her shoulder. ’Oh, heavens. It’s too soon for me to die!’ Her inner voice screamed.

"I didn’t see or hear anything," she quickly defended. "Don’t harm me," she shivered.

"... so there is someone you fear," a voice drifted from behind her.

Princess Sheana’s body relaxed. "Aenyra."

"Is it another bad habit of yourself to listen in on private conversations?"

"I’ll add that to the list of things you don’t like about me," she let out in a defeated tone.

Aenyra flicked her eyes her. Feeling a little unsettled by that tone. It wasn’t one she pictured on the seductress, and it felt wrong, too.

"You don’t sound like yourself," she stated plainly.

Princess Sheana scoffed like she heard the funniest joke. "You hate when I’m seductive. You dislike it when I’m nosy... you loathe my careless attitude or flirty nature... now, you don’t like me agreeing with you. What exactly do you want, Aenyra?" She threw her hands in the air, completely exhausted. "It’s so hard to please you."