Chapter 90: Mixed Blood

—ARIA—

"I... was the one who brought you here."

For several seconds, I genuinely thought I had misheard him.

The words echoed inside my head over and over again, each repetition somehow making less sense than the last.

Aelith simply stood there watching me.

Like he had just dropped a harmless little piece of information instead of detonating a bomb directly into my brain.

Meanwhile, I was busy trying to determine whether I was about to faint, scream, or throw something at him.

Unfortunately, there was nothing within immediate throwing distance except a decorative vase that looked expensive enough to start another international incident. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"You what?"

My voice came out much quieter than I intended.

Aelith tilted his head.

"I brought you here."

"No, no." I immediately pointed at him. "I heard the words. I understood the language. What I don’t understand is the meaning behind them."

His lips twitched.

"You always did overthink things."

"Because you’re speaking nonsense!"

My heart was pounding so hard that I could feel it in my throat.

Nothing about this conversation was making sense.

Not a single thing.

Because if what he was implying was true...

No.

That was impossible.

"I think you’ve finally lost your mind," I informed him, my voice sharper than I intended, as if that alone could cut through whatever strange conviction had taken root inside him.

Aelith didn’t look offended. If anything, his smile only softened, turning almost nostalgic that made my skin crawl for reasons I couldn’t immediately name.

"That is a rather cruel accusation," he said calmly, as though we were discussing something trivial. "Especially toward a man who has spent months searching for you with unwavering certainty."

My brows furrowed slightly at that.

His crimson eyes lingered on me for a moment longer than necessary, and when he spoke again, his voice had dropped more intimate, as if he was no longer addressing Aria at all.

"After countless failures, after chasing every trace I could find, my efforts finally bore fruit," he continued, and there was something unsettling about the reverence in his tone. "Celia... my shining star. At long last, I have found you within my reach."

My eyes immediately widened the moment he called me by my name.

"Aelith..." My voice came out. "What exactly did you do?"

His expression shifted slightly, as if my question had finally pulled him out of a memory he had been indulging in too deeply.

He glanced past me toward the vast enchanted windows, toward the silver forest glowing beneath the night sky, and when he spoke again, his tone had softened.

"I was not always as you see me now," he began. "There was a time when I believed my existence itself was a mistake."

I frowned, instinctively holding my breath.

"The elves rejected me for my human blood," he continued evenly, as if recounting something long accepted. "Humans feared what little demonic essence lingered within me. And demons... they ridiculed the elven part of my soul. To all three bloodlines, I was something incomplete and unworthy."

Aelith let out a quiet exhale, almost like a humorless laugh.

"A half-blood is tolerated. A mixed blood is an error. I was both, and therefore I was nothing."

His gaze shifted back to me.

"And then, months ago," he said, voice lowering slightly, "I saw you."

My stomach tightened.

"But not as you are now," he added, as if that distinction mattered deeply to him. "At first, I thought it was hallucination. A dying mind’s final mercy before the end." He paused.

"I had gone to the northern cliffs that night. I intended to end what I believed was a meaningless existence."

The words landed heavier than I expected. But what followed made my breath catch.

"And then I saw a light."

I stiffened slightly.

Aelith’s gaze drifted upward, as though he could still see it.

"I thought it was a star," he said slowly. "After all, it was unusually bright. But then it moved."

His lips curved faintly.

"And then it fell."

"I should have looked away," he continued. "I should have let it disappear into the forest below. But I couldn’t."

A pause stretched between us.

"So I followed it. I don’t know why I followed it," he admitted, almost like it amused him in hindsight. "I only know that I did. As if something inside me had finally decided to live simply because that light existed."

"And then," he said, "I heard you."

I blinked.

"...What?"

Aelith looked at me then, fully, as if making sure I understood every word.

"I heard your voice."

A chill slid down my spine.

"You spoke as though I was not there," he continued. "As though you were speaking to no one at all. And yet I heard you more clearly than anything else in my life."

My heart began to pound.

"That is impossible," I said immediately, because it had to be. It made no sense. None of this did.

How could he hear my voice when I have never been in this world before?

Aelith’s expression didn’t change.

"And yet it happened," he replied simply.

He took a slow step closer to the barrier, and though it shimmered faintly between us, I still felt like he was too close.

"At first, I thought you were a spirit," he said. "Something bound to this world but not fully part of it. But then I realized something far more interesting."

His smile returned, faint but unsettling.

"Your presence was inconsistent."

I frowned despite myself.

"What does that even mean?"

"You did not appear in this world the way others do," he explained calmly. "You would manifest only when your emotions reached their peak. When your joy was too strong to contain. When your anger overflowed. When your sadness became unbearable."

My breath hitched slightly.

"That light," he said softly, "was you."

Silence followed.

Not the comfortable kind.

The kind that presses in too tightly.

The kind that makes you aware of your own heartbeat.

Aelith watched me carefully now, as though waiting for understanding to settle in.

"I began to realize," he continued, "that I was not merely seeing you. I was feeling you."

My mouth opened slightly, but no words came out.

"I could feel your laughter," he said. "It was warm, bright. Almost painful in its sincerity."

His gaze softened.

"I could feel your anger as well." He sighed and looked me in the eyes.

"And your sorrow..." His voice lowered.

"...was the most beautiful of all."

That made my stomach twist uneasily.

"The Valen Estate," he whispered before I could say something.

"That was where your presence was strongest," he continued. "Where your soul left the deepest impression."

My fingers curled.

"That doesn’t make any sense," I said quietly, more to myself than to him.

Aelith only looked at me patiently, as if he genuinely expected me to struggle with every word he was about to say, like my confusion was natural and expected.

"When the daughter of the Valen Estate died that night," he began calmly, "your soul also disappeared from this world."

My breath caught before I could stop it.

"I was afraid," he admitted, though his tone didn’t sound like fear anymore, only certainty that had already been resolved. "But I knew there was something I could do. Fortunately, my bloodline grants me knowledge of ancient arts."

My fingers curled slightly at my sides without me noticing.

"But I only had one chance," he continued, expression remaining composed. "There was no time to search for a suitable vessel for you. No time to prepare a proper body for your return."

His gaze shifted briefly, almost thoughtful.

"So I made a decision." He paused.

"I allowed your soul to settle into Aria Valen’s body."

The words didn’t immediately register.

For a moment, my mind simply refused to process them.

But when they did, my entire body went cold.

My lips parted slightly, but no sound came out.

Aelith continued as if nothing had changed.

"But my use of dark magic was detected by the elven elders. By the next day, I was summoned before the council."

His tone darkened slightly at that, though not with regret. More like annoyance at an interruption.

"I had no time to seek you," he said simply. "Not properly."

A faint smile returned to his lips, as if that inconvenience had already been solved in his mind long ago.

"So I did what was necessary."

My chest tightened.

"What... necessary?" I managed to ask, though my voice came out weaker than I intended.

Aelith’s expression didn’t waver.

"I took the throne, and anyone who opposed me," he added casually, "was removed."

My throat went dry.

"You—" I started, but no words followed.

He tilted his head slightly, as though I was missing something obvious.

"It was the only way," he said, tone still gentle. "The council would have restricted my movements. They would have confined me. And I could not allow that."

His eyes softened again when they returned to me.

"Not when I still had not met you again."

My heartbeat felt too loud.

Aelith exhaled lightly, as though continuing a story he had already told himself a thousand times.

"After that, I assumed the identity of the Valen family physician," he said. "It was simple enough. Close proximity to you, without raising suspicion."

"And I gave you the bracelet," he added, his gaze flicking briefly toward my wrist as if remembering it fondly. "A small precaution. To ensure your soul remained stable within the vessel. Because the body began to reject your soul. I couldn’t afford you going back to your world."

My hand twitched slightly at the memory of it.

He smiled faintly.

"It worked beautifully."

Then, just as I thought that was the end of it, something in his expression shifted.

The warmth drained from his eyes in an instant, leaving behind a sharp and unsettling calm.

"But it seems," he continued, voice dropping slightly, "there were already pests circling my beautiful potted flower."

I frowned immediately.

"Pests?" I repeated slowly.

Aelith’s gaze darkened slightly as he looked past me, toward nothing in particular, as if he could already see them.

"Yes," he said simply.

Then his eyes returned to me.

"And they have been desiring what belongs to me. Now that they have come for you, why don’t we end it once and for all?"