After some time, she cleared her throat. Her eyes were still fixed on the puzzle when she said, “It would have been a masterpiece if only you finished it.”
“I couldn’t. I feel like everything would really end if I do that. I didn’t finish it on purpose.” I laughed but it sounded bitter even in my own ears. “At least, through the puzzle, I’d get to feel that somehow, we weren’t over yet.”
“Why? Are we really over now? Is that what you think?” When Alison turned to me, sadness crossed her eyes. “I’m glad I saw you at the dungeon. I really wanted to talk to you.”
“What do you want to talk about?”
A tear slipped down her cheek. “The truth, maybe?”
I heaved a deep sigh. For such a long time, I felt like there was this bullet struck inside me that no medicine or magic could remove. I thought the bullet would disappear once I get to see the only reason why I held on no matter how difficult, no matter how painful. The only reason why I lived was her. But now that I had seen her, the pain remained. “I don’t know how to start.”
“You could start by telling me what’s in your heart,” Alison answered in a soft voice. “Tell me, what… happened to you, Xandros?”
“I… I’ve lost my way back home.” My voice trailed off. “It’s not that I didn’t want to go back, Ali. I tried so hard, believe me. I just… couldn’t find the way back. Alison, in my own way, I tried to fight for you every day from here. I tried to fight for our family, for our love, and for our daughter. I never abandoned you both. I would rather die than do that. Every moment, every hour, and every minute, I fight for us even if I was no longer sure if I still stand a chance with you or if you still love me the way I love you.”

(Alison)
“NATHAN told me about what he saw in your past. The guy you met in New York who had the same face and name was my subordinate, Alison. There are eight Alexandros Sormonts back in the place where you belon. They are stationed in different parts of the mortal world. That was one of the spells I crafted. The plan was that they had to look like me in order to capture the Armethians who will try to bring chaos in your world. It was their way of making it up to the mortals that were affected by Arnav Chandler’s attack.”
Silence between us stretched for a long time before I asked, “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t want you to worry. And I thought I had time to tell you after the wedding but things happened. I was Arnav’s only target that’s why I had to be the trap to lure him in. They drank my blood so that the Armethians would give them the same vibe that they only get from me. I believe that was the reason why you were convinced that I was the one you saw since I wasn’t really able to complete the spell.
“At that time, they knew that I surrendered my magic to Nathan. That’s why I will no longer be involved in their quest to catch the Armethians. Originally, only the supernatural beings were supposed to see my face that the knights were using while my true face was supposed to be concealed in their eyes, so that the humans will be the only ones who will get to see the real Alexandros Sormont.”
“Then why did that happen?”
“The spell was supposed to be completed after our wedding, after I removed the link I had with Nathan. But because of the incident with him, I wasn’t able to continue the spell, that’s why things got mixed up. I’m sorry if I never had the chance to tell you about it.”
“Oh, God.”
I clutched my chest in an unbearable pain. When my knees had lost strength, I searched for the couch and immediately sat there because I wasn’t sure I wouldn’t fall. I covered my face with my hands.
And to think I screamed at him a while ago. I hurt him. I had lost my sanity the minute I saw him. But he, on the other hand, was calm which made me feel all the more guilty for my outburst.
For the past years, I’d been breaking constantly. As a matter of fact, I break… almost all the time. But it was only at this moment when I felt myself completely shatter.
I glanced at Alexandros. He was struggling, too. And he was more heartbroken than me, than anybody else here. He was grieving and at a loss ever since. Why… why must he keep experiencing horrible things?
“We may look the same. But there will always be that one difference that only you among the humans could spot on. It’s the way they look at you and the way I look at you. And most especially, the way they make you feel and the way I make you feel. If I see you, I will never pass you by, Alison. I will stay. I will not leave without a reason. I didn’t try so hard to be with you only to let you go so easily.”
Alexandros’ gaze locked onto mine and my heart crashed against my ribcage.
“Do you still remember the time when we watched a movie?”
I nodded. “The female lead had an amnesia.”

“That’s right. You asked me about that. And I told you that people like me would never be in a similar condition. Even if somebody use a spell on me to make me forget you, it would never work. Clavia tried. And so did the other officials when they wanted me to give up. But you stayed right here,” Alexandros pointed his finger in his temple. And then he patted his chest. “And here, too.”