Aselia helped Xiran sit down at the edge of the bed. As much as he hated violence, circumstances always made him choose it. As much as he hated taking a life, circumstances will always lead him to do it. He would always put up appearances in front of people, but deep down it gnawed at his soul.

Aselia kneeled in front of him and took his hands in hers as he spoke:

"There is nothing I hate more than taking a life, but my father always makes sure that I always end up doing it. I feel like one of these days my heart will be so darkened that the little light that still lingers in it will forever be extinguished."

Listening to his words, Aselia placed her head on his lap and whispered: "You have so much goodness inside that beautiful heart of yours, you don’t even know Xiran. Ask me, ask my heart. I am sorry you have to resolve to violence for my sake."

"No, my dear. It’s not your fault, I will not spare anyone trying to hurt you. I am just tired of this vicious cycle of evil, it’s consuming us, slowly but steadily."

He sighed, lowering his head he placed it on hers as she wrapped her arms around his waist and he placed his hands on her back. He couldn’t shake this uneasiness of how close his father was getting with each passing day to figuring out his love for her. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

"I know. All these killings have turned me cold. They disrupted my inner peace, until you. Spending time with you I understood, what life could be like without killing anyone. You helped me feel, you warmed me up, thank you," she whispered.

They held each other for a long time until Xiran’s phone began to continuously ring. He was needed in places and reluctantly Aselia had to let him go. She could sense the burdens of his heart and she didn’t want him to leave.

"Promise you will return soon," she asked hugging him for the tenth time. Her head rested on his chest.

"I will, I promise. What should I bring for you?" he smiled seeing how reluctant she was to let him go.

"I just need you, nothing else," she was still hugging him and he made no effort to remove her arms. He would never remove her arms.

"Well I am already yours, tell me what else do you desire?"

"I promised Yuri, I will bring him a gift. Not sure I can go shopping now, so bring something for him. He loves gadgets and always pines to get the latest one."

Aselia finally removed her arms and faced him and found him smiling. His heartwarming smile which he only reserved for her now. His orbs held such softness as he spoke:

"Leave it to me," he then reached out and softly kissed her lips, almost as if brushing against the petals of a flower before whispering against her mouth:

"Wait for me."

He was then gone, another second with her and he wouldn’t be able to leave her. She was left standing there as if a gust of warm wind had just left her. She took a deep breath and got her bearings right and headed downstairs.

Frila was in the kitchen, seeing Aselia approach her, she hurried to her side and hugged her.

"I am so glad you are alright, Aselia. How are you so brave? You must think how pathetic I am."

She whimpered with a heavy heart. Aselia rubbed her back and answered:

"You are not pathetic, you are sympathetic. A quality that most people lack and I am so glad you have it. Never consider your kindness to be a weakness."

The two girls separated and Frila weakly smiled at Aselia.

"Come on, let’s get that breakfast down, I am starving," Aselia said while rubbing her tummy and Frila laughed.

"Sure, I have prepared a lot for you," both of them sat down at the table and Frila served Aselia freshly baked croissants, cheese, scrambled eggs, and cranberry juice.

Everything was scrumptious and Aselia devoured it with relish. After breakfast, Aselia insisted on lending a hand to Frila in clearing the table and washing the dishes.

Once they were done, both girls settled down in the living room.

"So, how is your wedding preparation coming along?" Aselia asked.

"I am confused about the wedding dress, there are so many options, I can’t choose. Can you have a look with me and help me narrow it down?"

Frila excitedly queried, taking out her phone from her pants pocket and opening the gallery to show Aselia the dresses she had saved.

"Of course, why not? Let’s see those dresses," both ladies began to go through the gowns in different shades of red. For it was the colour vampires preferred to wear at their weddings.

Gowns were extremely delicate and stylish and there were so many Aselia loved. But a crépe satin gown with a V-neck, a delicately designed bodice, belt and long back flare, caught Aselia’s attention.

"This one," Aselia indicated with her index finger.

"I loved it too, this is indeed elegant. I will show it to Carios and after discussing it with him, will request Señor Rivan to prepare it for me," a satisfied smile adorned her face. Aselia could sense her exuberance and the love she held for Carios.

"Hopefully, the next time I will visit will be at your wedding," Aselia was excited to see a vampire wedding.

"It will be an honor to have you and Señor as chief guests at our wedding. And maybe it will prompt Señor to propose to you so we will finally see him and you get married too," Frila’s words flustered Aselia and she felt heat creep up in her cheeks and ears and she smiled shyly. Frila laughed at her reaction.

"I don’t know Frila, not sure if he even wants to marry me. He has never spoken to me about it," Aselia confided in her.

"Of course he does. He loves you with the entirety of his being, I am sure he just doesn’t want to make you uncomfortable. Both of you are just figuring out the intricacies of your relationship. Give it some time. Señor is unpredictable, he loves surprises, and he will surprise you when you will be least expecting it."

Aselia knew Frila was right. Xiran indeed was unpredictable and if there was anyone she wanted to ever get married to, it was him and only him. But, for now, it was just a pipe dream. Not until she had taken her revenge.

The rest of the day was spent between the girls discussing miscellaneous topics, sipping drinks at the pool, taking dips in the pool and gossiping about their men.

Frila told her how loudly Carios snored, this made Aselia laugh so hard and she had to confess she snore too.

Frila was excited to hear about Aselia’s adventures as a hunter, so Aselia narrated some of them involving her and Yurian. She also confided in her how they had changed her partner and she was having a hard time adjusting to the new one.

"You are the bravest woman I have met Aselia, if someone can overcome all this, it’s you. I am sure you can change the opinion of your new partner as well," Frila encouraged her and Aselia felt hopeful.

Evening descended and Frila decided to prepare dinner, Aselia landed her hand too. Xiran had called that they would be arriving soon, so the ladies prepared the food and set the table.

Second felt like minutes and minutes felt like hours to Aselia, she paced around the pool after setting the table. Waiting for him to come back, her heart ached and she wasn’t sure how she would return to her city without him.

His car finally came through the driveway and she blossomed like a cherry tree in spring. The car halted and Carios got out and quickly opened the back door for Xiran to step out too.

He was holding a brown box and had a flicker of a smile on his face. Aselia rushed to him and he embraced her in his muscular arm, balancing the box in his other hand, careful not to drop it.

"I missed you," she whispered in his chest, kissing him there, taking in his petrichor scent.

"I missed you more," he kissed her head with so much affection. Carios had gone inside to meet his fiancee, he had brought flowers for her.

"What’s in the box?" her eyes finally landed on the box in Xiran’s hands.

"Your gift, open it," Xiran handed over the large brown box with a small hole in its side and a red ribbon forming a bowtie on top of it.

She quizzically peeked at him as she unfurled the ribbon and lifted the lid. The most adorable pair of light brown eyes stared back at her from inside the box and she squealed in surprise looking at the adorable creature that perched on the soft interior of the box.