Chapter 91: Live

—CELIA—

"Come."

Aelith extended a hand toward me through the shimmering barrier, his expression calm and patient, as though there was absolutely nothing unusual about the situation.

I stared at his hand for a long moment.

Then I stared at him.

Then I looked at the hand again.

Honestly, if fiction had taught me anything throughout my entire life, it was that accepting a villain’s outstretched hand never ended well. Every warning bell inside my head immediately started ringing. The handsome ones were always the worst. They smiled politely while ruining your life, and somehow you didn’t realize it until three volumes later.

"No."

Aelith blinked once.

"No?"

"No."

His hand remained where it was.

I remained exactly where I was.

The silence stretched between us for several seconds before I folded my arms and narrowed my eyes suspiciously.

"Do I look stupid to you?"

One silver brow lifted slightly.

"That depends."

I gasped.

"The audacity."

A faint laugh escaped him.

"Celia."

"No."

"You have not even listened to my explanation."

"I don’t need an explanation."

"You usually demand one."

"Not when it comes from the man who kidnapped me."

Aelith sighed softly, looking almost disappointed.

"You continue describing it as though it were unreasonable."

"Because it is unreasonable."

I immediately pointed toward the barrier surrounding me.

"This."

Then I pointed at the wedding dress.

"This."

Then I pointed at him.

"And especially this."

His crimson eyes followed every gesture with remarkable patience.

"I merely relocated you."

"You abducted me."

"A matter of perspective."

"You declared war."

"A misunderstanding."

I stared at him.

"A misunderstanding?"

The man actually looked serious.

I rubbed my forehead.

"How are you even real?"

Aelith smiled.

"I have often wondered the same thing."

That answer somehow made me more irritated.

This was impossible.

The worst part wasn’t that he was dangerous.

The worst part was that he genuinely seemed convinced his behavior was perfectly reasonable.

Somewhere inside that beautiful, deeply disturbed head of his, every decision he’d made probably sounded logical. The kidnapping, the obsession, the magical cage, the wedding dress...all of it probably fit together neatly in his mind.

That realization sat in my chest like a stone that had finally decided to sink.

I let out a slow breath, forcing my voice to stay steady even though my thoughts were anything but.

"No one is coming to save me," I said quietly, more to confirm it out loud than to convince him. "And if you think those four are going to steal me back from you, then you seriously don’t understand the situation."

No one was coming.

Not Ren. Not Sebastian. Not Matthias. Not Ezekiel. Not anyone.

If Aelith truly believed those four would somehow tear through an elven kingdom and retrieve me effortlessly, then he either overestimated them or underestimated how insane this situation had become.

Aelith tilted his head slightly at that, as though he found the statement interesting rather than concerning. A soft hum left him, low and almost thoughtful, and then his lips curved into satisfaction.

"Isn’t that better?" he asked simply, like the answer was obvious.

I blinked at him.

For a second, I genuinely didn’t know what expression my face was supposed to make.

Better? Better than what exactly?

I scoffed under my breath, crossing my arms tighter.

"Right," I muttered. "Because being completely isolated in a magical cage with zero backup is everyone’s definition of ’better.’"

He didn’t react to my sarcasm the way normal people did. There was no irritation, no defensiveness, not even a flicker of offense. If anything, he just looked... entertained. Like I was watching a performance he already knew the ending to.

It was starting to get on my nerves in a very personal way.

Before I could say anything else, he changed the topic again as if we were simply discussing something casual like the weather.

"How is your new body?"

The question hit me so abruptly my brain skipped a beat.

My expression froze.

"...My what?"

Aelith’s gaze remained fixed on me, calm and almost expectant. He looked like someone discussing a carefully prepared gift, waiting for approval.

"It seems," he continued evenly, "you are finally adjusting to your new vessel. I designed it specifically to reflect the exact physical composition of your soul."

I slowly looked down at myself as my pulse began to pick up in a way I didn’t like at all.

"What..." My voice came out thinner than I intended. I cleared my throat immediately and tried again. "What do you mean ’new body’?"

Aelith didn’t answer right away. Instead, he watched me like he was observing the exact moment understanding would click into place.

And then it did.

My stomach dropped.

"No," I whispered.

My hands moved before my mind fully caught up, fingers trembling as they rose to my face. I touched my cheeks, my forehead, my jaw, like I needed proof that I was still inside myself, that I was still anchored to something real.

My breathing turned uneven as the words in my head started breaking apart.

"What do you mean my soul... my body..." I swallowed hard, forcing the words out even though my throat felt tight. "What did you do?"

Aelith didn’t answer immediately. He only watched me for a moment longer, like he was waiting for me to reach a conclusion on my own.

Then he let out a soft sigh, almost gentle, patient.

"You are overthinking again."

"No," I snapped. "No, don’t do that. Don’t just say that like it’s nothing. Are you telling me you got rid of Aria’s body?"

The question came out harsher than I intended, but I couldn’t stop it.

Aelith actually looked surprised. His brows lifted slightly, and for a split second, disbelief flickered across his face.

Then, almost immediately, he exhaled a short laugh as if I had said something ridiculous.

"No," he said simply, shaking his head. "I did not destroy her."

My chest tightened anyway.

"You didn’t?" I asked.

Aelith’s expression softened.

"You really are the kindest soul I have ever met." He paused and breathed.

"I revived her," he then continued calmly. "There were complications. I found out that your soul and hers could not coexist freely within the same vessel without conflict because her soul still lingered within the body, dormant but present. That is why instability occurred."

My mind struggled to keep up with the explanation as words stacked on top of each other without fully settling into meaning.

"You must have seen fragments of her memories," he added, watching me carefully. "That is how souls function. Memory is not stored in the mind alone. It is carried within the soul itself."

I didn’t know what to say to that.

Because I really did see her memories.

Flashes.

Emotions that weren’t mine.

Faint echoes that felt like someone else crying through my thoughts.

My legs gave out before I even realized I was collapsing. I landed on the floor hard, but I barely felt the impact. A strange, broken laugh slipped out of me.

"She’s... alive?" I asked, almost disbelieving it myself.

Aelith nodded once.

"Yes. Restored to a stable state."

Relief hit me so suddenly it felt disorienting.

My shoulders loosened for the first time since waking up, like some invisible weight had finally shifted off me.

I pressed a hand over my face and laughed again, softer this time.

But then another thought slipped in and my relief didn’t last.

"What..." My voice cracked slightly. I lowered my hand and looked up at him. "What are you planning to do with her?"

My throat tightened again immediately. I shook my head quickly, panic creeping back in. "Don’t hurt her. Please. She didn’t do anything wrong."

The words came out before I could stop them.

"They will come for her," he said simply. "Those men will come for Aria."

My heart stuttered at the way he said it like Aria and I were separate identities.

Well, not that he’s wrong.

"They wanted Aria Valen," he continued. "And so I will return her to them."

My breath caught as I stared at him.

"What?" I whispered.

Aelith tilted his head slightly, as though this was obvious.

"By resolving the matter in this way, there will be no need for war," he said calmly. "No unnecessary destruction. No interference from the Empire. It is the most efficient outcome."

My mouth went dry.

"And you," he added gently, "do not desire a war, correct, my love?"

My thoughts scrambled.

He was right.

I didn’t want war.

I didn’t want people dying because of me.

But...

My chest hurt somehow and I couldn’t explain.

I pressed a hand against my mouth as my breathing turned uneven again.

"I..." My voice broke. "What are you going to do with me?" I managed to say. "What about my body? My world?"

My hands curled into the fabric of the dress as if that could anchor me. "I want to go home," I whispered, barely audible. "I just... I want to go home."

It felt like something inside me was being pulled apart piece by piece.

My breathing turned ragged.

It hurt.

Just breathing hurt.

Aelith’s expression shifted slightly at that. The softness returned, but it didn’t reach his eyes this time. He moved closer, lowering himself slightly so he was at my level, the barrier still glowing faintly between us like a fragile line separating two impossible worlds.

His voice, when he spoke, was quieter.

"The reason I had to create a new body for you," he said, "is because your original body in your world is no longer viable."

My crying slowed slightly as confusion cut through the panic.

"What... do you mean?" I whispered.

Aelith’s gaze didn’t waver.

"You died in your sleep, Celia. By the time I found the correct convergence, your body had already failed and rejected revival." His expression darkened slightly.

My chest stopped.

"My... family..." I whispered.

Aelith nodded faintly. "They mourned you."

"I attempted to retrieve your original body," he said. "But a lifeless body cannot anchor a soul properly across worlds."

My vision blurred again and I felt hollow.

"So I had to construct a vessel here," he said gently. "One that could sustain you."

The words blurred at the edges as I tried to process them, my vision already clouding from everything he had just revealed.

My fingers curled slightly as I stared at him through the tears I could no longer hold back, my breath uneven and shallow as reality refused to stabilize.

Aelith, however, did not look away.

He moved closer to the barrier again, his expression softening, while his crimson eyes began turning back to its original emerald color.

"I do not want to lose you, Celia..." he said softly.

"So I hope this time, you will not push me away and allow things to proceed as they were meant to be."

Then, slowly, he extended his hand once more toward the barrier, palm open, waiting.

"Live for me... and with me." Aelith gently spoke and offered his hand one more time.