(This Chapter is dedicated to the top fan for this month @Alicia_Ziegler_6979, thank you for the power stones and the constant support )

Xiran blinked several times at her trying to make sense of what she was saying, he thought he was dreaming for this was beyond comprehensible for him. A warmth birthed inside him, engulfing and warming him. The warmth he hadn’t felt since he professed his love for her. Was she going to accept him? Where was she going with this?

"I understand the pain I have caused you is immeasurable, my need for revenge had me blinded my whole life. That’s all I sought and in return, it turned my heart cold, it blinded me to the love you showered on me, taking you for granted, your love for granted. I have wronged you and can’t even ask for your forgiveness, for I don’t want you to forgive me but punish me, instead." She was almost choking on her words, her emotions were going haywire and her heart berserk.

"Aselia..." he softly called her in his mesmerizing voice, making her shudder with the love this one word held. The way he always narrated her name as if singing it to her.

"Please, let me finish, let me get this off my heart; for I am drowning it in guilt, caging away its wants, keeping it away from you. So let me say everything I want to say to you today." She pleaded with shimmering eyes and a hoarse voice, he nodded at her with his tender-filled orbs. If only he could take her in his arms, he understood she was so guilt-ridden that she didn’t deem herself worthy of touching him anymore.

"Xiran you gave me more than your love, you accepted me and you cherished me. But I am not an innocent girl like you believed, I have killed vampires throughout my life. Although I have never killed an innocent being and yet all this bloodshed had taken a toll on me. Being near you for so many months and not taking a life felt refreshing, it calmed me at times and I hated to admit it. I felt like carrying the burden of this world on my shoulders alone, but then you came along and showed me I didn’t have to be. That got me addicted, and that made me feel worthy to be loved, irrespective of all my flaws." Aselia sniffled and continued:

"I saw my parents die at the hands of your father before I escaped and found myself outside my house, I don’t have memories of what happened after, how I ended up in an Orphanage. But apparently, it was you who saved me along with a bunch of other kids that day. Rivan told me about it a few days ago, but you don’t have any memories of that for you wiped yours as well as mine to keep us safe. You saved my life, you gave me a chance to grow up and have a life. And, this is how I repaid you."

She pointed toward the room, fresh tears began to descend her cheeks, Aselia couldn’t hold them in any longer. Xiran on the other hand was tongue-tied at her revelation, he had known her before? Met her as a child? How he wished he had kept some part of that memory but he understood the reasons for his action.

A need to touch her was driving him insane and with all his might he tugged at the chains, yanking them for a bit of strength had returned to his arms, but he couldn’t break them. Only helplessly watched her, silently whimpering as she threw revelation after revelation at him.

"Xiran, I can’t change the past nor can I control the future. I won’t ever give up my revenge plan or help people in need against bloody vampires who seek to hurt them. I will always hunt them down. But, I promise that you will not be caused any more pain, I won’t hurt you, and I will not let anyone torture you anymore." She paused to catch her breath before saying:

"The information I sought will be acquired through some other means, not through you. So if you are still willing to give me a chance irrespective of what I am, what I do. Tell me, for my heart, won’t have anyone else. The agony I had to go through every time I rejected you is beyond describable. For I want to love you too with every fiber of my being until I cease to exist."

The tears flowed non-stop from her turquoise orbs and her words had impassioned the white-haired vampire. The silence that followed her words hung heavy between her sobs and his turmoiled heart. There was nothing he wanted more than to own her and here she was finally ready to return his love and his affections.

Her emotions had overwhelmed her, unable to sit anymore for the hint that he was about to reject her burgeoned through her like a chainsaw, cutting deep into her flesh and bones, lowering her head she clutched her stomach and bit into her lips to smother the screams that threatened to scram her throat. Before she could hit the ground something soft caught her and pulled her closer to his warmth, bewildering her.

Blinking away the pooling tears she gawked at him as their hearts and souls collided and brought them intense relief. His wings had flicked open and had caught her, cushioning her, giving her what she desired, his warmness, his closeness, his whole being.

"I can’t hold you Leia, but my wings can. They will never let you fall." He completely engulfed her in his wings, hiding her away, making her his own. His wings stroked her cheek as she nestled against his sturdy chest, he whispered to her in his tantalizing voice:

"You are mine and I am yours, nothing can change that, nothing can come in between us. Now that I know what your heart desires, I will fulfill all that it yearns for, thousand times over, Leia."

"How can you... How just how do you bring yourself to love me after what I did? You should hate me, curse me, punish me. I don’t deserve your love." Her anguished screams muffled in his chest, her hands holding on to his waist for dear life. Her tears fell on his skin and trickled down, this made him uneasy, her tears were precious to him, and he couldn’t bear to see them. They felt like acid on his skin, scalding him forever.

"I will punish you but not because of what you did to me, no, it will be for hurting yourself. You promised me you will never inflict self-harm and yet you broke your promise, Leia, you lied to me. Why did you cut your hair? Hmm? You know it hurt me more than the loss of my own."

Xiran glared at the girl clinging to his chest, showing his annoyance at her actions which had broken his heart countless times now. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"I couldn’t bear to look at my long hair after I butchered yours. It disgusted me, it made me sick." She shifted her eyes to his, sensing his heartbeat hastening at her words, his forehead creased as he spoke calmly but his voice held an underlying threat:

"You won’t touch your hair again, ever. Promise me. If you did, I will burn this place down." Aselia gulped hard at his words but nodded in approval.

"Good girl, now talking about if you deserve my love or not, and why I don’t hate you or find you repulsive, how can I love a killer? Well, didn’t I kill your friend and fellow agent? Do you hate me for that? Do you think I am someone innocent?" She shook her head at him, it was too much of an ordeal for Aselia to speak right now. While Xiran continued to converse:

"I have tortured and killed tens of people who dared wrong me or mess up my city. That was my duty and what you did was your duty. Your heart was never in it, I could sense the battles you were putting yourself in, and I am glad your heart emerged victorious. How can I despise the heart that is brimming with love for me? I am disappointed in you, yes. I disapproved of the decisions you made, yes. You caused me, countless woes, yes. But I don’t hate you, because you are ’MINE’ and I don’t hate what’s mine. I only protect and love. And, my hair. Well, they will grow back but it will take time."

Xiran holding her gaze finally smiled at her for he knew he had eased her heart and concerns. His words weeded out every doubt in Aselia’s heart, filling it with reassurance and love, his love. Reveling in the comfort of his being and words, she clung to him, not wanting to let go, their gazes hungry for they had been starved for so long. Aselia’s then moved her hand to his beautiful face and slowly asked:

"Xiran! can I kiss you?"