Chapter 388: Only You

[Music recommendation: Narrow Skies ~ Beacon Lights]

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Gavriel had been observing Aliana closely over the past few days, and he had a feeling that whatever she had been trying so hard to keep buried within her stemmed from the things he had failed to tell her sooner.

Things like the fact that he possessed only half of his powers… or that only his destined mate could bear his child.

Yet never had he imagined that such deep, damaging insecurities were festering inside her.

Poisoning his sweet, confident Aliana… reducing the woman who always faced the world so bravely to doubting her very worth.

How could she doubt herself to this extent, shrinking her presence in his life to something so small?

‘Afraid that one day, she’ll appear out of nowhere and take you away from me.’

‘She would be the only woman who could ever give you the joy of being a f-father…..something a mere human with a demon’s soul like me could never give you…’

‘That I might never be enough.’

Her words of despair continued to echo through his mind, over and over again. Every anguished sob that escaped her lips cut through him like a blade to the heart.

Everything inside him screamed to deny it all.

She was wrong… so wrong to believe any of it could ever come to pass.

But how could he make her believe him? Would words alone be enough? In the state she was in, would she even believe what he told her?

Here she was, apologizing to him, when he was the one who owed her an apology. It terrified him that if he failed to act right now, she would walk away from him forever.

Thunder rumbled, and lightning flashed while the skies wept hard as if sharing their sorrow. Yet before Gavriel, it was the tears streaming down Aliana’s cheeks that threatened to drown him.

So he did the only thing that came to mind.

Taking her hands in his, he stepped back, easing Aliana off the counter until her feet touched the floor.

Then… a sovereign of Hell, a king destined to rule the Underworld, a royal who had never bowed before anyone, stepped back and sank to his knees before the woman who held his heart in her delicate hands.

“Forgive me, Aliana,” he whispered, shocking her to the core.

Refusing to let go of her hands, he bowed his head, his voice a low murmur. “Forgive me for allowing these thoughts to plague you for so long. It was ignorant of me not to realise that…you might wish to be a mother one day as well.”

His grip tightened as he leaned forward, pressing his forehead directly against her stomach. “But Ana… if I told you that in thousands of years of existence, I never cared about a mate… would you believe me?”

Aliana remained frozen, unable to comprehend what she was witnessing, as Gavriel continued to pour his heart out.

“I don’t care about any other woman out there. I never have. You are the only one I have ever cared for… the only one I desire with everything I am, and it will remain that way for as long as I draw breath.”

His voice turned almost pleading. “So please… don’t think so little of me that you believe my heart could be swayed by someone else.”

Releasing her hands, he wrapped his arms around her waist, burying his face deeper against her stomach.

“How dare you reduce yourself to a mere half-human, or claim you are not enough? You are more than I ever could have asked for, and the only woman I will ever yearn so deeply for. So, baby… can I be selfish to ask you to stay? Can I ask you to continue to stay with me… even if it will only ever be the two of us? Can I be enough for you, the way you are for me?”

There comes a moment in every person’s life when something so profound occurs that it alters everything… a defining turning point where whichever path they choose will either build them up or break them entirely.

That was precisely what this moment felt like to Aliana.

“Can I be enough for you, the way you are for me?”

She understood the true meaning behind his question.

He was offering to walk away from fatherhood, reassuring her that she alone was more than enough for him. In that single line, he was asking if she was willing to surrender motherhood in return.

Would she be content with only him by her side for as long as she lived?

‘Would I?’ The question echoed through the depths of her mind.

She squeezed her eyes shut, only for the haunting image of cradling an infant with raven-black hair and icy-blue eyes to flash across her mind once more.

A faint, bittersweet smile touched her trembling lips as she savoured the fleeting vision, before slowly opening her bloodshot eyes to gaze down at the man holding onto her as though she were his only lifeline.

The very man she loved with every fibre of her being.

The man without whom she could no longer imagine a life worth living.

“Can I be enough for you, the way you are for me?” she repeated softly, finally breaking the silence.

Lifting her hands, she gently threaded her fingers through his soft hair as Gavriel looked up at her. He met the gentle smile gracing her lips, even as fresh tears continued to spill down her cheeks.

Slowly, she bent over to his level. “Without a doubt, Gavriel.” She cupped his face in her hands, holding his gaze. “My life would have no meaning without you in it, and I wouldn’t want any future that didn’t have you by my side.”

She leaned in closer until her forehead rested against his on the floor, her voice falling to a tender whisper. “So… let us build our life together for the rest of our days. Besides, who ever said a family can only be made by blood?”

Gavriel’s eyes softened with profound tenderness as he lifted his hand, cupping the back of her neck as a breath of utter relief escaped him. “My strong Aliana.”

He brushed his nose against hers, his voice thick with emotion. “You are the only one for me. Only you…” He spoke the words like a sacred vow, and this time, Aliana was the one who closed the distance between them, sealing his lips with hers.

They kissed slowly, savouring the warmth and familiarity of each other’s embrace.

Yet it felt like more than a simple kiss.

In that quiet moment, it felt as if they were reaching beyond words to soothe each other’s souls, finding the closure and comfort they had both desperately needed.

Although Aliana’s heart still yearned for the chance to hold a little version of Gavriel in her arms, something within her had finally settled. Her fears and insecurities had not vanished entirely, but she no longer wanted them to dictate the life she shared with him.

Mate or not, she had made her choice.

She would cherish every moment with Gavriel, living each day to the fullest and loving him with all her heart, regardless of what the future might hold. She loved this man too deeply to punish either of them for something neither could control.

And so, the couple remained wrapped in each other’s arms on the floor of their estate on Caya Island.

Yet, not far away, on Cora Island, a lone woman stood at the very edge of a cliff beneath the relentless downpour, gazing out at the turbulent sea.

Her face remained concealed beneath a black hood, while her jet-black hair spilled forward, stirred by the howling wind.

Slowly, she raised her head towards the storm-darkened sky.

“A great storm is approaching,” she whispered. “I only hope you can endure it when it comes… my child.”

Lightning flashed across the distant sea.

And in the very next instant, the mysterious woman dissolved into thin air, leaving nothing behind but the falling rain and the whisper of an approaching storm.

The wheels of fate continued to turn, drawing the future closer than ever.

In a far-off, cavernous lair, Mord stood holding a small wooden box before his master, listening intently as he finished delivering his instructions.

“Do you understand?” his master demanded.

“Worry not, Master. Everything is already set in motion,” Mord replied. “Our people are already moving into position. They do not suspect a thing.”

“Good. I expect to hear favourable news soon,” his master said, before offering a sharp warning. “And Mord, the last time, you came far too close to being caught. Remember, should you make another blunder like that, I will personally end your life myself.”

“I hear you, Master.”

With those final words, his master’s dark silhouette dissolved into a pool of shadowy water.

Mord gazed down at the box resting in his hands.

Flipping open the latch, he peered inside at the smooth, circular golden object resting on the velvet lining, and a sinister smirk spread across his face.

“Who would have thought… something so small could be capable of something so devastating?” He threw back his head, his cackling laughter echoing off the damp cave walls. “The Devil… your day of reckoning is coming, and I will have a front-row seat.”