Serene’s POV

It was Dria, her tear-filled eyes scrutinized me. I could feel her pain and I couldn’t deny how right she was.

"Whatever you say is correct, I always took him and his love for granted and then I killed him with these guilty hands," I averted my gaze and stared at my hands as if they were covered in blood.

"He suffered the most at Meliana’s hands, she made him do things you can’t even imagine. Just to break him and submit to her, and I know only your thoughts kept him sane, kept him going. No one would have survived what he did."

Tears fell down Dria’s cheeks as she clutched her chest and closed her eyes. The raw pain she felt rippled through me and I buried my head in my hands. This was too much, the pain was non-ending, and it kept on increasing.

Ayrden came and wrapped her arms around me and I buried my head in her chest and cried uncontrollably.

"I don’t have any personal vendetta with you, Serene. You are a good person and he could see and feel the pureness of your heart. I was merely jealous of you, that he chose you over me. I will never ask for your forgiveness because he should have been mine but I won’t hate you anymore, for I know he would want you to be here more than me."

With these words, Dria turned around and walked to her parents, who were waiting to lead her away. Ayrden helped me to my feet as I stared in Dria’s direction. Another pair of hands held my shoulder and I turned around to find myself face-to-face with Arlo’s mother. I wiped my tears and respectfully said:

"Mrs. Armandine,"

"Call me Jenny, dear," her eyes were swollen with all the crying. Arlo was their only child. I nodded.

"I would like to request you to visit our home, Arlo always wanted to invite you but the circumstances never permitted him," she told me with an audible sigh.

"It would be my pleasure to visit your home," I replied respectfully. She rubbed my back, while I excused myself to take permission from father. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Approaching him where he stood with Kilamin, Zian and Artins Sensei I asked: "Father, Arlo’s mother wants me to visit their home and I would like to accompany her."

"You can, but take Kilamin with you," he instructed pointing to Kilamin and my blood began to boil at his name. Without making eye contact with him, I said:

"No need, I can manage myself," and was about to walk off. When Zian spoke up:

"I will go with Serene."

"Alright, we will be in the castle, once you return we will head back home." I nodded at him and walked away with Zian.

We joined Mr. and Mrs. Armandine as they took us to their home. Reaching it I noticed how beautiful it was with a uniquely styled blue door and a small patio in front of it. The house had few guests, their relatives and family. I paid my respect to everyone and they were polite to me.

Jenny then led me to Arlo’s room, and I asked Zian to wait for me. He nodded.

"Come, my dear, I want you to see his room for he always wanted to bring you here but he had limited time," she handed me a golden key as she led me to the room with a red door. Red was his colour.

I solemnly took the key from her and with a heavy sigh entered it into the keyhole and turned. The door unlocked and I entered his sanctuary. His mother left and didn’t follow me inside.

I had never seen such a neatly arranged room before, everything had been meticulously placed as I observed it under the light that filtered through his wooden window.

The walls were painted white, his bed, his cupboard, his writing table, nothing was out of place. The room kept his memories and I wished he had been the one showing them to me instead of standing here alone.

My eyes went to his writing table and I found the tiny box I had given him which contained the crystal, lying there. He had even kept the box.

A black leather diary lay beside the box along with a black quill, with only one word embossed in silver at its front: "Serene."

My heart skipped a beat as my fingers skimmed over it and I picked it up with trembling hands and teary eyes. Opening the diary I moved to the first page and it was dated back to the day we had joined UIMB.

It read: "I saw the princess of the Fae Realm today, she was as beautiful as her name. No words can describe her alluring beauty, she is soft-spoken and kind and most importantly she is in my team. I tried to talk to her but I couldn’t muster up the courage. But someone hurt her someone made her cry and I felt it affected me more than it should have. I wanted to console her but someone else had more courage and I was left with regrets."

More tears rolled down my cheeks seeing our first day from his perspective, I knew my heart would never heal as I skimmed a few pages and read on:

"She kissed me, the taste of her lips mingling with her scent, drove me crazy. I never wanted her lips to part from mine, they were so tender, they were so delicate. I knew it might be the first and last time she would do it for she was in love with someone else. Though I felt heartbroken, I would forever be indebted to her for kissing me, for making me feel worthy of her."

And I couldn’t help but recall the time I had kissed him, he was so gentle with me as if I was something breakable and fragile, something he always wanted to protect. Something that belonged to him but he couldn’t have. I closed the diary and pressed it to my heart as I stood there alone, inside his room, and balled my eyes out.