I went with Nathan outside the dungeons. After so many years, I will be heading towards love and happiness at last. Therefore, I should feel motivated. But that was not what I really feel right now.
When we reached the gate, we saw a white horse. My eyes widened when I saw that it was Alexandros who was currently using it.
He was already remarkable in the mortal world but he was beyond words now that he was in his own kingdom. This was what he was always meant to be. A king.
I bit my lower lip to stop myself from crying. Even if I could see how majestic he was, I still couldn’t help but wish that he was born in my world or I was born in his.
If he was a mortal, I no longer had to choose between him and our daughter and my family. It didn’t matter if he was not as elegant as he was now. Even if he was a simple man with simple abilities, we would be fine. I just know it. Demi and I didn’t need to live in a castle. We could be happy in a bungalow as long as the three of us were together.
My daughter and I were never picky. We would never ask for too much except for a complete family.
But then again, at the end of the day, I had to accept the fact that I fell in love with a very extraordinary man who could offer me all the best things in the world… except for a complete family. I could feel my heart breaking to a hundred pieces just by thinking about it.
Alexandros was wearing a single-breasted blue uniform. It had a white buckskin belt with sword slings. And he looked… great. His uniform fitted him impeccably, with every detail tucked perfectly into place as if it was made for him.
The horse stopped in front of me. Alexandros swiftly climbed down from it.
“I’m sorry,” he said as soon as we stood next to each other. “I know I should just let you leave. But heck, I have missed you for eight long years, Alison. Let me be with you for eight minutes, at least.”

(Alexandros)
I TOOK a couple of deep breaths while Alison and I both stood in front of the massive puzzle which I hung at the center of the living room in my castle. I brought her here after I picked her up through my horse.
I know I could have brought her someplace else but I still didn’t have that much energy to travel. It was hard enough to ride a horse. And to remain standing beside Alison was already requiring me too much of an effort.
According to the doctor, it would be impossible for me to restore my strength and magic. That’s why now, I was just like an ordinary human. Alison seemed more capable than me now because of her mark. But at least, she would be able to guide our daughter.
I smiled at the thought. How many times I fantasize of being with them? Of being with Alison? I had lost count. But I didn’t want us to meet this way. I didn’t want to put her in a situation where she would feel the need to choose. I didn’t want her to feel pressured. Most of all, I didn’t want her to see me this… weak.
But when I remembered what Alison told me this morning, my smile had faded. I was a hero to all the Armethians, but I became a villain to Alison and our daughter. Me being a king was useless when it came to them. I failed them and I couldn’t even protect them.
All of Alison’s bad experiences were brought by the supernatural beings who hadn’t given up on coming after her. They knew they could not hurt her physically that’s why they attacked her family members to get through her. Their aim didn’t change. It was to destroy her light.
The assistant who took away her stepfather’s hard-earned money, the driver who bumped onto her mother and made it appear as an accident, the officers who denied her from getting accepted in the companies she applied for, and all of the people who had brought her misery all worked for the supernatural beings.
They kept on pressing her, hoping that she would succumb to darkness later on. I had seen all of that from my vision for the past years that’s why I became more determined to open the portal to rescue Alison and Demi but the odds had never worked in my favor.
But just last night, for the last time, I had another vision. My subordinates finally caught the supernatural beings who were after Alison.
Things will get better once she comes back from her real world. While I was living there, there was one more thing that I learned. It was the fact that sometimes, you encounter broken people who wanted to hurt you because you were whole. The same thing happened to Alison. The only difference was that, the ones who wanted to hurt her were broken supernatural beings.
But I felt proud to discover that Alison had never given up on her light. She may not be shining as bright as she used to be now. But what mattered was that Alison was still shining. She did not allow herself to drown or to linger in the darkness.
I stared at her for a long time while trying to engrave all of her in my head.
At long last, she was just within my reach. She was so close that I could touch her. I no longer had to whisper the words I love you in the wind, hoping that she could hear it from wherever she was. She will clearly hear every word I will tell her now.
But the past years seemed to have taken all my courage away. Even with my current state, I would still rather deal with the enemies, than Alison and I being like this.