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"I'm sorry…" Maria sighed; she had already cried a lot for Veredorr before. "I wasn't able to do anything… He gave everything he had to save you from the crown's control. He loved you very much."
"N-No…" Tear muttered, her lips beginning to tremble. "B-But wasn't he like… a soul? Some type of ghost? I would love him even if he was…!"
"Yeah, I helped him become a ghost when I first met him." Maria smiled faintly. "He told me about you, about the Frost Queen and everything else… He was the one that convinced me you were actually innocent, and he was the one that convinced me to spare your life and give you another chance."
"V-Veredorr…" Tear suddenly started crying. "No… Veredorr… I'm sorry… It's all my fault…"
"I wish he could had been here with you; I wish…" Maria sighed. "I wish you two could had have… a happy ending together." She slowly recalled the many times she read stories.
Tragic endings was one of the things she hated the most. Yet eve now, she was incapable of changing such fate.
If it wasn't for Veredorr's sacrifice, Tear wouldn't had been able to become freed from the crown and might had her mind destroyed the moment the crown was destroyed as well.
"Hahh… Why…" Tear cried. "You dummy… You shouldn't had… sacrificed yourself for someone so horrible like me… Even after everything I did… Even after all I did you choose to believe me anyways, to love me… Why?!"
Tear continued crying, screaming even. She felt so much pain, like never before. A terrible pain in her heart, it felt as if her entire world was falling down into pieces.
Without her mother, nor her father, nor her big brother… and now, not even Veredorr.
She was completely alone.
"I think Veredorr choose to trust you because, as he told to me… He always loved you." Maria smiled faintly, giving the girl a hug. "He said that since the first moment he saw you, since the first day you meet, that he fell for you."
"No… NOOO!" Tear continued crying, as her hands began hitting Maria's back. "Why?! Why someone so nice and gentle… Why someone like him?! It should had been me… I SHOULD HAD DIED! I should had…"
"You have to live!" Maria cried, stopping Tear's tantrum. "Don't be childish, Tear! Are you going to insult Veredorr's last wishes now?!"
Maria confronted Tear, looking at her in the eyes.
"You have to live! For him… For everyone…" Maria sighed. "Live, live as much as you can, and be happy, instead of him… You have to at least do that!"
"M-Maria…" Tear cried. "…" She slowly looked down, feeling down.
"A-Ah, I'm sorry…" Maria sighed. "I shouldn't had-"
"It's fine… You're right." Tear sighed. "You're… right… I will live for him. I will live for Veredorr… I will fulfill… the last selfish request of the only man that ever loved me…"
Maria quickly handled over a large blue jewel to Tear, it glowed with a mysterious, ghostly aura.
"W-What is this?" Tear wondered.
"It is Veredorr's Soul Core." Said Maria. "A Soul Core is something we ghosts create when we grow very strong. It is the crystallization… of our very souls."
"H-His soul?!" Tear asked in surprise. "Is he…?"
"I have… tried many times already." Maria sighed. "It is empty. There's… no soul inside, only the last power left behind by him. He gave it to me when he rescued you, and brough you to my arms while carrying you. I want you to keep this and hold it dearly."
"I-I will…" Tear sighed, looking at the blue jewel, which emanated a lightly cold aura.
This small jewel was the only thing left by him… A husk of the crystallization of his soul. Yet… somehow, it held a small hope.
A slight hope that one day, he might return, somehow.
Even if the chances were slim, and even when Maria tried many times to bring him back with her incredibly powerful Necromancy.
This small jewel signified hope for Tear.
"Can I… be alone for a bit?" Tear asked.
"Sure, dear. I will come back later, you have to eat something, okay?" Maria said.
"I will…" Tear looked at Veredorr's jewel, feeling more and more sad.
The more she looked at this jewel, the more she was reminded of his heroic sacrifice, and of all the memories they shared together.
Back then, when she wasn't the Frost Queen, but only Tear, the cheeky young lady of the Ice Giant Tribe, that with her big brother, always went out to hunt to feed their family.
She found him with her brother when they were walking down a river path. The young Veredorr was there, completely unbothered by the cold despite his small human-like complexion, and only gazing at the skies over the snow.
The two thought he was dead.
"Hello? Are you a corpse?" Wondered Tear back then, appearing right over his head.
"Ah!" Veredorr was scared at first, quickly walking away. Tear had to admit that he was quite handsome, despite how pale he looked like. "E-Eh? Ice Giants?!"
"Oh, you're alive! Hahaha, you were there, and I thought you had frozen or something." Tear giggled. "Are you okay? Are you not scared of us?"
"Tear, cut it out, he's not a human." Her big brother said. "Look at his eyes, and those ears. He's… Are you some sort of Elf?"
"No… I'm… well, I'm a Dhampir." Sighed Veredorr. "My father was a Vampire, and my mother was a human. I… I lost them."
"Eh?" Tear felt surprised. "So where do you live?"
"I… live in a small house my mother left for me… over there." Veredorr said shyly, blushing a bit. "I-I live alone…"
"Alone? In this frozen tundra?!" Tear's big brother was surprised. "And you look so pale and malnourished! Sigh… Come with us, you need to eat something."
"E-Eh? Wait, I didn't-"
Before Veredorr could reject their offer kindly, Tear dragged him with them.
"Come on! It's on the house!"
Tear's smile that time… captivated Veredorr's lonely heart, who had lost everything back then.
When he was the loneliest, and the most desolate.
And when he thought there would never ever be anybody that could understand him, or even talk to him because of his race…
She appeared.
It was like love at first sight.
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