Chapter 76 – Love

"So?" Aldrin said with a questioning yet flat tone, sitting in his large shadowy chair, looking at the wide smile on his wife’s face, the two of them alone in the Shadow Meeting room. "What did Cassius want?"

His voice was strange. And if it were anyone else, they would not only fail to notice the difference in his monotone, they would never guess the reason behind it.

But Sefira knew her husband better than she knew herself, and guessed instantly why Aldrin was sulking like a young boy even if he showed nothing of it outwardly.

At that, she tore her attention from her phone and turned it toward him.

Her lips pulled into a grin. "You’re jealous, aren’t you?" She said with open smugness.

"Are you going to answer," Aldrin said, his lips twitching, "or not?"

"I will, darling." Sefira said, grinning wider. "However, before I get to what my lovely baby wanted from me, I must — and I emphasise the must — first tell you that my little boy got me a gift."

As she said those words, her face shone so brightly one might have thought she had been promised the entire Kingdom.

Yet it was far simpler than that. And that was precisely what made it so worthwhile, so beautiful in her eyes and in her heart.

A million people might gift her something for a million different reasons. But that one gift? The one that came from her most cherished person? That was the gift that would quietly outshine every other.

Not because it was necessarily special in itself. But because it came from someone special, which made it special.

And beyond all that, there was something deeply satisfying about watching your own child grow old enough to begin giving in return. Not because the parents had asked. But because he wanted to please them, to thank them in a way he knew he could never fully manage.

Yet he could only try. So try he did.

That was the real reason Sefira Hood Desdemona was proud. Not because of the gift. But because of the act.

And that pride and happiness were shared by Aldrin, who looked at his wife with a smile so faint one could only catch it by looking very closely at his handsome face.

"I am relieved, Sefira." He said softly. "It means, at least, that we raised our son well and taught him one of the most fundamental laws of our family."

"Family first." Sefira said with a smile, walking toward him, her steps deliberately clicking across the room of living shadows. "Always first. The world can hate us..."

"...but if we have each other’s backs," Aldrin continued, following her with his shadow-like eyes, "then it’s not us who must fear the world."

"It’s the world that must fear us." Sefira finished, grinning, now standing an inch from him.

She stretched out her beautiful right hand, adorned with rings and bracelets, pressed it to his chest, and pushed him backwards in his chair.

With enough space now between him and the table, Sefira mounted her own husband and wrapped her arms around his neck.

Aldrin mirrored her, his own arms finding her waist.

Their breathing fell into a rhythm, each inhaling the other’s scent. A scent they knew far too well and would never tire of.

"Then we can be proud." She whispered, pressing her forehead to his, eyes closed. "Our children each have their own difficult sides. But they all love each other. And that’s all we ever wanted."

"Indeed." Aldrin said. "And it’s thanks to you, Sefira." He stifled a quiet chuckle. "I doubt the children would have turned out like this without your hand in it. I... am not good at that."

Sefira laughed, shaking her head.

She had always known her husband was a man of few words, someone who had struggled to show love even before they married.

And because it was so difficult for him, he had chosen instead to quietly document each of his children’s lives in private, trying to love them in his own way.

It was sincere. But it was something that might not have reached them if not for Sefira, who had always made sure the children understood their father’s presence in everything good in their lives.

So Aldrin Ravil Desdemona was grateful. And Sefira even more so.

"Don’t thank me, darling." She kissed his forehead. "You have done far more for me than I have ever done for you. You killed a High Priest of the Church of Death for me. You barged in on that fateful day — that day when, to forge a stronger relationship with the Church, I had been chosen to become one of their Ringed Sisters — and you took me from them with nothing but your strength and your love."

Aldrin’s face changed, as if made deeply uncomfortable by his wife’s gratitude, unable to respond properly.

"No... worries." He said stiffly.

Sefira burst out laughing.

More than thirty years of marriage, and she still couldn’t get enough of this demure, sweet side of Aldrin.

"You will never change, will you, darling." She managed between laughs. "And I don’t want you to. Stay like this forever."

Aldrin only smiled faintly.

"And," Sefira pressed on, "that brings me to the request my baby wanted to make."

"Tell me." Aldrin said, immediately attentive.

At that, Sefira’s face turned slightly solemn. "He wants to go to the Capital one week before the Royal Meeting."

Aldrin frowned instantly. "Why?"

"To get closer to my family, he said."

"No other reason?"

"Not one he chose to share with me."

"Will it be safe?" He asked. "The Church of Death might attempt something against him."

"That’s exactly what I was thinking, darling." Sefira grinned coldly. "Which is why I have been thinking... perhaps it’s time to visit the Church and seek the High Priestess to soothe my mind. For I am a sinner."

Aldrin mirrored her expression.

"So am I." He muttered. "And I need guidance."

Husband and wife looked at each other wearing the exact same expression.

And anyone watching them at that moment couldn’t help but notice how similar Aldrin and Sefira looked. Not from shared blood, but simply from years of mirroring each other’s expressions, until this devilish couple had ended up resembling something close to siblings.

Without another word, the two vanished from the meeting room, deciding to personally inform the Church of Death that the Last Born of the Desdemona would be arriving in the Vorn Capital City.

In a very respectful manner, of course.

...

Meanwhile, at the same time, inside the Amaris Mansion, Isolde was seated before a purple piano in one of her family’s numerous music rooms, practising with full concentration.

Her black hair was pulled up into a chignon, showing her stunning face clearly, the scar at the edge of her lips visible.

Wearing a long shirt that fell past her knees, barefoot, eyes closed, Isolde was playing a famous piece by Arakawa called Your Lie in April.

A beautiful yet deeply forlorn piece that tugged at something inside her chest each time she heard it.

She had always loved it, but had never had the heart to play it herself, her mind too consumed by other concerns, choosing smoking as an escape rather than the piano.

Now it was different.

Isolde found herself smiling, head swaying gently with the rhythm, as her delicate fingers moved across the keys as though they were the most fragile and precious things in the world besides her husband.

The sound that came from it was heavenly, despite this being her first time touching a piano since she was three years old.

Only then did Isolde remember how much she had loved it. How much her parents had praised her for her talent at the very beginning.

But talent would be an understatement.

Isolde Amaris was a born genius at the piano. A person with the capacity to reach the famed Realm of Master.

And so, unconsciously, as if it had always been waiting inside her, she began to reach for that realm.

She continued playing, her mind resting on her husband, the man who had given something precious back to her, and her fingers picked up speed. The sound grew better...more personal. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

On top of the piano sat her phone, recording everything. A video she planned to send to Cassius afterward in exchange for some well-earned praise.

Yet while she was submerged in it, fully lost in the music, Isolde received a notification from her husband. A message that read simply, and lovingly:

<Darling, I have a gift for you. Aren’t I the best husband? Praise me!

PS: Still waiting for that video. Show the best husband your talent.>

And unknown to anyone, even to Cassius himself...

...that would be the first gift Isolde had ever received from anyone in eighteen years of living.

—End of Chapter 76—