Novel's Extra: I Awakened The Strongest Physique From The Start-Chapter 293 - 294 - Lilia’s Reward.

"I don't want this."

Alex blinked, one brow rising.

'What's this now?' He wondered. 'Does she not want them?'

She smiled faintly. "Don't misunderstand. It's not that I'm ungrateful. They'll be useful. But if this is supposed to be a reward... shouldn't I get to decide what I want?"

A soft silence followed.

Alex leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees. "Depends," he said, his voice low. "A reward is what the one giving it wants to offer—unless it's agreed beforehand that the receiver chooses. Did we have such an agreement?"

He wanted to reward her for helping him deal with Keryu, but that didn't mean he would promise her a reward when he didn't know what she would ask for.

After all, he wasn't one to make empty promises.

Hearing his words, Lilia stayed silent for a second before her lips moved.

"No," Lilia said softly, staring into the fire. "But... I still want to ask for it."

He tilted his head. "What is it you want?"

He didn't say that he would give her what she wanted, but listening to her wasn't a problem.

She met his gaze, and the moment their eyes locked, something changed. The air grew heavy and brittle—like a still lake before a storm.

"I want your love," she said quietly, and Alex, hearing those words, froze.

The flames behind him danced, but he didn't move.

Maleshia and Natasha didn't react—they weren't meant to—but Lilia kept her eyes on him, her expression unflinching, vulnerable, and raw.

He straightened slowly, the casual amusement in his eyes replaced by something sharper—seriousness.

"You know my situation," he said, his voice quiet.

"I do," she replied. "I know you already have a harem. Zahara and Mira… they're a part of it. I know. I know they love you. And I know you love them."

Alex looked at her, studying every twitch in her face, every shift in her tone. "Then you know that it's not simple."

Lilia nodded. "That's exactly why it's so hard to ask."

She laughed bitterly, brushing her hair back from her face. Her hands were trembling.

"I was there first, Alex," she whispered. "I was the one who saw you when no one else did. I talked to you when you didn't care to speak to anyone. I stood by your side, even when I didn't understand you. I trusted you before I even realized I did."

Her voice cracked.

"But I never confessed. I thought... maybe I wasn't enough. I thought... maybe we could stay the way we always were. So I watched you fall for them. And I stayed quiet, thinking that maybe someday... maybe you'd look back and see me."

She wiped her eyes. "But it never happened."

She didn't know how and when, but tears had formed in her eyes.

Alex's lips parted, wanting to say something—to console her—but she raised a hand.

"I know it's my fault. I didn't say anything. I was scared. I kept pretending I didn't care. That I was fine just being there. But I'm not. Not anymore."

Her breath hitched.

"Watching you love them hurts more than I can stand now. Not because they don't deserve it—but because I wanted to be loved by you too. And I hate that I'm jealous. I hate that I feel like I'm being left behind."

She finally looked up at him, tears streaking her cheeks.

"So please... if this is a reward—if I get to ask for something—then don't give me people to help manage this place. Don't give me power, or weapons, or a throne. Give me your love, Alex. Just... give me that."

For a moment, there was nothing but the crackle of fire.

Then Alex stood.

He walked over to her, silent as the grave, and knelt down beside her. His hand reached up, brushing a tear from her cheek.

"Lilia..." he said her name as gently as he could.

"I've always known."

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She looked away.

"I didn't say anything because I didn't want to force it," he continued, "and because I knew how hard it was for you to speak about it. I was waiting... waiting for you to come to me."

Her shoulders trembled.

"I'm not perfect. I don't know how to balance everything, even if I pretend to. But what I feel for you... It's real. Maybe it wasn't love at first, but it grew."

Pausing for a second, he continued. "I didn't say anything until now because I didn't have the right to. I wondered, 'How could I ask for you to come by my side when I couldn't promise you my everything?'"

Lilia's eyes widened.

"I saw whatever you did until now. I knew how you ran away from everything for my sake, and because of that, I had already decided not to let you go. I just wanted you to say that you wanted the same."

He leaned forward, resting his forehead against hers.

"And if you're still willing… I'll give you what you want. Not as a reward. But because you've already earned it."

Her lips quivered.

"...You mean it?"

He nodded with a smile, and Lilia, unable to take it, finally broke.

The tears she'd been holding for years—through silence, patience, and pain—poured out all at once. She threw her arms around him, burying her face into his chest as he held her close.

For once, she wasn't the strong one. She wasn't the one standing on the sidelines, smiling.

She was the girl who had loved him all along.

Finally, he was hers too.

..............................

While the ruined castle witnessed a new bond being formed, in Alex's dream world, a different scene was unfolding.

In the forest of the dream world, there was a cottage; in that cottage, filled with rusting leaves outside, sat three beautiful ladies on a circular table.

They were Sophie, Zahara, and Mira.

It wasn't often that Sophie called them for a meeting, but when she did, it meant something important. Today, it was Lilia.

She knew of the tension between Lilia and Zahara, so she had called for this meeting.

Zahara sat straight, her crimson hair tied into a loose braid and her arms crossed as she leaned back against her seat.

Her red eyes were sharp and thoughtful but also tense.

"She's finally confessed," Sophie said with a quiet smile, her fingers tapping the table's smooth surface. "It was beautiful, really. She cried."

Zahara's eyes narrowed. "I'm sure it was." Her voice was cool, but the faint strain in her tone gave her away. "But you know as well as I do—Lilia's pride isn't something that'll vanish overnight. Just because she cried doesn't mean she'll accept us."

Mira sat to Zahara's left, her cream-blonde hair cascading down like silk. She didn't speak. She never did, unless she truly needed to. Her pale blue eyes, as expressionless as ever, were fixed on the floating petals drifting just outside the cottage.

Sophie, however, didn't seem fazed by Zahara's tension. She chuckled lightly, brushing a strand of her golden hair behind her ear. "You're worried she'll cause problems."

"I'm not just worried. I've seen it," Zahara replied, her brows furrowing. "The way she looks at us, Sophie. It's not hate, but it's not warmth either. It's caution. Resentment, even. She feels like she lost something, and that something is him."

"She did," Sophie said gently. "And that's why she's hurting. That pain made her pride even harder to let go of. But tell me, Zahara... If you'd loved someone from the beginning and had to watch others come into his life while you stayed silent, how would you have acted?"

Zahara looked away, lips tightening.

Silence fell.

Sophie sighed, folding her hands together, her voice softening. "I see what Alex sees. Right now, she's not Lilia, the council vice-president or the genius with violet eyes and a sharp tongue.

Right now, she's just a girl—crying because she thought she lost the only person who mattered to her."

Mira's eyes finally shifted, her gaze moving to Sophie.

Sophie met it calmly. "Maybe we built up an image of her—this proud, haughty rival who couldn't bear to be part of something bigger than herself. But that's not the full truth. Maybe she competed with you because she didn't want to be left behind."

"…And you think she'll change?" Zahara asked, her voice quieter this time.

"I think," Sophie said, "that now that she's part of us—now that she knows she's not being left behind—she won't need to fight anymore. She'll stop resisting."

Another pause.

Zahara's fingers slowly uncrossed, her arms falling to her lap. She didn't respond immediately, but the tension in her shoulders faded slightly.

Mira, still wordless, reached for a small cup of water on the table and took a silent sip—then, slowly, gave a single nod.

Sophie smiled at them both.

"I know it won't be perfect," she said. "She might still struggle. But she's not the enemy. Not anymore. Let's not forget—Alex chose her, and she chose him. That should be enough for us."

Zahara gave a quiet breath of laughter, shaking her head. "You're too soft, Sophie."

"And you're too cautious," Sophie countered playfully.

Zahara allowed a smirk to appear on her lips. "Fair."

Mira placed her cup down and, for the first time in the meeting, spoke—her voice calm and quiet.

"…She's scared."

The two looked at her in surprise.

"She's scared," Mira repeated, her expression unreadable. "That she'll lose him. That we'll reject her. She doesn't hate us. She hates the idea that she might always be second."

"…Then we'll make sure she knows she's not," Sophie said with a warm smile.

Zahara's gaze softened, and with a nod, she leaned back again. "Alright. I trust you, Sophie."

It wasn't the only reason, though. The thought of being second was once there in her mind as well, so she understood better than anyone else what Lilia could be feeling.

Maybe that was why they always felt this rivalry between them.

Because of their similar thinking, in the future, maybe it will be Zahara who understands Lilia the most.

As the topic closed, they sat in peaceful quiet for a while, the stars turning slowly overhead.

And somewhere in the ruined castle, a violet-haired girl cried into the chest of the man she loved—finally, no longer alone.