Chapter 273 - Young Girl
Atlantis felt something cold touch his fingers and then, something hot. He let out a shaky breath, for he knew what it was.
"Lina—"
"In my memories, you're as warm as the grass in a meadow, and my only protector. I adore you as I adore my younger brother, Milo. I don't feel romance for you, and the little ounce that maybe there is as thin as paper, unable to even bear the weight of water," Lina said to him.
Atlantis glanced down in his palm to see his sapphire ring resting upon it. Even in the darkness, the jewel glistened and glowed. He heard the thick emotions in her voice and felt her tears drip to his hand. The water burned him more than boiling water.
"You're lying," Atlantis breathed out.
Atlantis once thought he'd be able to acquire her. If Kaden wasn't in the picture, Atlantis would be the victor. If Kaden never showed up, Lina would pledge her allegiance to him.
Right now, Kaden hadn't shown up in front of Lina. Atlantis thought he'd have a chance. Lina remembered nothing about Kaden, but still, couldn't find it in herself to love Atlantis as a romantic partner.
"I'm not lying, I mean it," Lina confessed.
Even without Kaden, Atlantis could not win Lina's heart over. Atlantis should've known. The truth was, Lina's heart was given to Kaden long before the two of them were born. Their love was created in the stars and sealed by the universe, even if destiny forbade it.
"Heaven will fall to the ground before you love me," Atlantis realized out loud. "Only when the impossible becomes possible, and the possible becomes impossible, will your heart move for me."
Lina's eyes flickered and lowered to the bed. She was heartbroken for Atlantis. Her own chest felt like it was splitting apart, not because she loved him, but because she sympathized with him. He was her childhood best friend. The great defender of bullies. Rejecting him was as good as putting their friendship in a coffin and sealing it for good. There was no going back from this.
Love between them would never bloom. Their love was as good as an unfertilized seed. You could water it as much as you wanted, but the seed would never sprout.
"Ying and Yang would have to separate before our hearts can ever become one," Lina said to him with a weak smile, but knew he couldn't see it.
"Amidst the chaotic crowd, you will always be the one I search for, the person I hope to whisk me away, but we're no longer children, Atlantis. And as many around me have said, I'm no longer sixteen. Whatever happened in the five years, I do not know or remember," Lina murmured.
Lina grasped his hand. "Will you help me for the final time, Lanlan? Will you tell me to remember what happened?"
In the middle of the darkness, her hopes were high.
Atlantis realized his love for Lina was as heartbreaking as the sun and moon, in the same sky, but never touching.
Atlantis understood that no matter how many times she killed him with her words, he'd never be able to hurt her. She could lift a sword to him, point a gun to his heart, and he'd open his arms to embrace everything.
"I will not," Atlantis suddenly said to her, his voice constricting from his own statement.
This was the first time he had rejected her.
Lina didn't dare to be disappointed. She willed herself not to be.
Lina had just rejected a boy who gave her his family heirloom. He had promised her everything when he gave her the sapphire. She returned the ring to him in a large bed that could fit a family. She had broken his heart, left it on the mattress, and showed no inclination to put the pieces back together.
"I'm sorry," Lina whispered in a cracked voice. "I really am."
"Will we be friends, at the very least?" Atlantis asked her.
"I do not know."
Atlantis could no longer bring himself to respond. He was choked by his emotions. Unable to utter another word, he rose out of the bed and left the room. He staggered down the hallway as if he'd been shot in the body. He could feel blood dripping out of his chest, but when he touched the spot, it was dry.
His entire world was beginning to spin. Eventually, he found a corner in the hallway, sank to his knees, and numbly sat there for the longest time.
- - - - -
The sky wept for the fate of three lonely souls. Rain poured faster than tears could fall. The sky was dark and hopeless. There wasn't a favorable future in sight.
Thunder rumbled, lightning struck the sky, and riverbanks rose higher than the ground. Everything was a mess.
The castle was filled with a hollow and somber atmosphere. No one spoke of the man who left the guest bedroom to weep outside nor did anyone mention the lack of a ring on the woman's finger.
Lina stared out the window from the library. She saw the glimmer of the sun amidst the dreary clouds. She touched the cold glass, her heart heavy with the decisions she had made.
"Love is such a curious thing," a voice softly commented from the bookshelves.
Lina remained rooted in her spot, an open book in her lap. She had stopped reading when the chapter spoke about destinies and soulmates. She was a romantic at heart. The idea of soulmates was as lovely as her dream wedding.
"I can understand why Atlantis is devastated by your rejection, for you're easily one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen," Adeline leisurely commented, taking a seat by the window as well.
"So that was him crying last night. I thought it was a ghost," Lina muttered.
Adeline laughed at the joke, her eyes crinkling. "Atlantis came to us five years ago, when my children were five."
Lina hummed in response.
"He worked hard to get to where he was. He'd begin his routine at the break of dawn and go to sleep when the sun was almost out again. He'd collapse from exhaustion to meet his father's standards. He worked through blood, sweat, and tears. Not once did he complain. Not once did he ask for a break," Adeline murmured.
"Is that so?" Lina dryly said.
"When I had the opportunity to ask him why—"
"I don't want to hear it," Lina suddenly said. Realizing she was rude, she added, "Your Grace."
"You're the reason he's worked so hard," Adeline said to the young woman.
Adeline could see herself within Lina. When Adeline was young, her bodyguard and childhood friend fell deeply in love with her. Adeline rejected him, for she viewed the bodyguard as a brother. Now, the man was happily married with a colleague of his.
"My Aunt used to tell me," Adeline murmured. "If you have to choose between a handsome man and a man who loves you, always choose the one that loves you. A woman will always learn to love a man, but a man can't learn the same."
Lina pressed her lips together.
"I'm not saying you should give him a chance because he's worked so hard for you, I'm saying settling with Atlantis might be better. The path you'll walk with him will be stable," Adeline gently said. "It will not be filled with uncertainty and pain, like it would if you married an immortal as a human girl."
Adeline took Lina's hands in hers and noticed how soft they were. Lina's hands were free from calluses, except one. It was on her writing hand, where a bump had formed on the fingers from holding pens or pencils.
"Sometimes stability is all a woman can ask for," Adeline murmured. "With stability comes freedom to live the life you want."
The life you want.
The words echoed in Lina's head. That was what she wanted all along. Freedom. And if she could obtain it in a marriage with Altantis, what could go so wrong?
"But take my words with a grain of salt," Adeline said. "Men as obsessive as Atlantis will never let you love another. I would know. My husband fights for my attention with his own children, as ridiculous as it sounds."
"I don't blame him," Lina mused. "You're lovely, Your Grace."
Adeline smiled at the ground. She never thought that, but people always told her so. Adeline could never see the beauty in herself, not after the years of torment from her Aunt, who had been tortured to death by Elias. Payback, Elias had once told her.
"If you have to choose someone, I'd say choose no one at all," Adeline said. "But if you're forced to make a decision to save yourself, then… Well, you already know what I'm going to say. And no, it's not because I wish for the immortality that you chided me for. I'm just here to guide a young girl."
Lina could only chuckle in response. A young girl. Right.
"So, what will you decide?" Adeline asked.
Lina turned to the Queen of Wraith.. With a broken smile and reluctant heart, she gave her answer.
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