She Belongs To The Devil

Theodore\'s face turned serious after a while as he recalled what his father had told him, that he had indirectly caused the deaths of a lot of humans.

And he spoke in a serious tone, "I wanted Lillian to feel the pain of losing someone dear to her but things didn\'t go as I had planned. Those maids lost their lives instead of Edwin."

Adeline didn\'t want Theodore to go through the guilt trip again so she tried consoling him, "Theo, but you did extend my father\'s life. The maids didn\'t deserve to die, yes. But we can\'t change it by lamenting over it now. What we can do is be careful from now on."

"I should have been careful today," Theodore took in a deep breath when the memory of him holding Rebekah\'s heart began flashing in front of his eyes. "Your father would have lived even longer had I not–"

Adeline immediately covered Theodore\'s lips and said assertively, "Before you apologize again, I want to say that I am very grateful to you. My father would have been another victim of that witch had you not interfered. I got to have him by my side for two more years because of you, Theodore."

Adeline gently placed her palm on his cheek and tried to make him understand that those extended two years were already a blessing, "And do you know what that also means? You probably even prevented Wyverndale from falling to ruins."

"If something were to happen to the King before a future ruler was selected then it was guaranteed that there would have been power struggles for the throne. And considering how Lillian and Edwin were the ones with most military backing, either one of them would have been ruling over Wyverndale right now."

Theodore had a disgusted look on his face when she mentioned that. "Ugh! I cannot even imagine one of them ruling Wyverndale."

"Exactly!" Adeline had a wistful smile on her face when she recalled the precious moments that she shared with her father in the past two years. "And I got to share so many beautiful memories with my father in the past two years."

Her eyes teared up a little and she began talking in a suppressed voice, "I got to learn so many things from him, I got to introduce you to him, I got to gift my mother\'s portrait to him, and I even got to collect two more birthday scrolls from him."

"We shared so much laughter together." Adeline was trying her best to control her tears and not cry in front of Theodore. However, she was constantly wiping the tears that refused to stay inside her eyes.

And she said in a whisper while sniffing, "So you don\'t have to keep on apologizing, Theo. You averted the danger away from my father several times. And now the death finally caught up to him… It would have caught up to him sooner or later."

Adeline stared blankly for a while and whispered sadly, "But it would have been better if it had caught on much later…" Adeline then couldn\'t control her pent-up emotions any longer and she ended up bursting into cries.

Theodore shifted closer to Adeline and wrapped her in his embrace. And he softly whispered, "I know. I also would have loved it if we could have lived together as a happy family for much longer."

Adeline kept on wailing breathlessly while burying her face in her pillow. And Theodore didn\'t try to stop her. He kept on holding her and stroking her back.

No matter how much Adeline tried not to cry in front of Theodore, she just could not help it.

No matter how rational her brain tried to be, her heart was not convinced and couldn\'t accept that she would be losing her father soon.

After crying to her heart\'s content for quite a while, Adeline calmed down on her own. "I will wash my face and come," she whispered to Theodore and got up while hiding her face.

She didn\'t want to show her swollen eyes to Theodore and abruptly jumped out of the bed. But that almost made her tumble because her legs were still weak.

"Careful, Adeline!" Theodore hastily got off the bed to help Adeline. "Let me carry you."

He picked Adeline up before she could say anything and teleported her to the bathhouse. He would have loved to walk there while carrying her but there were onlookers in between Adeline\'s private chamber and the bathhouse. And he did not want the guards to get the wrong idea.

Adeline was also glad that he teleported her instead of insisting on carrying her and walking like he used to. She quickly cleaned herself with the cold water. After splashing her face, she somewhat felt refreshed and the burden that she was carrying in her heart felt somewhat lighter.

Adeline then thought about what she was going to say to her father. "Should I tell him that his time is limited? Or should I just let him be oblivious?" She sighed and thought again, "If I was in his place then I would have loved to know it…"

"Are you ready to go back?" Theodore asked his woman who had been staring at her own reflection in the water for quite a while now.

Adeline was jerked back from her thoughts. She got up and nodded, "Yes. Let\'s go."

It was not necessary to pick her up again but Theodore did it anyway. He gently carried her in his arms and teleported back to the room. He then lay her down on the bed and tucked her inside the blanket.

Theodore also got inside but was almost startled by Adeline who shouted as if something had happened to her, "Ugh! The pillow is so wet."

She threw her pillow down from her bed and tugged the pillow Theodore was sleeping on, "Share it with me." She was giving a sweet smile as if she had not just cried her eyes out just minutes ago.

"Sure," Theodore was not sure if her mood was now really okay or if she was just pretending to be okay. He thought that the latter was true.

Theodore lifted his head and pushed the pillow towards Adeline.

Adeline wriggled closer to Theodore and put her arm and leg on him. And she closed her eyes with a smile on her face because the warmth from Theodore made her feel very comfortable and sleepy.

And she whispered to him in a drowsy voice, "Theo, thank you for everything that you have done for me. Thank you for giving me a second chance at life. Your existence has been a boon to me. So don\'t go around asking to die instead of me or anyone else. Your life is too precious for me. You should keep on existing till eternity so that I can also keep on existing through you… as your memory."

Theodore felt a lump in his throat when he heard her say that. He couldn\'t even speak. He simply hugged her and gave her a warm kiss on her forehead.

And he thought to himself, "I hope we both will get to live till eternity… together. Eternity would be a punishment for me if I would have to live on without you."

And as though Adeline had read his mind, she whispered again, "Eternity sounds a little scary though.. But we will make a lot of memories together, enough to last with you for eternity."