Chapter 401 — A Curse or A Blessing? (9)

Chapter 401: 401 — A Curse or A Blessing? (9)

As time went on, Raniel’s memories returned. However, he didn’t know whether those who erased his memories meant for it to happen.

From what he remembered, he never really had any friends. There had only been one person he had once believed to be his friend.

But what could hurt more than being betrayed by the only friend he had ever known?

She was a girl who used to bring him food whenever he was punished for reasons he couldn’t comprehend. The punishment itself never left marks on his skin, but it burned inside his body, leaving his stomach twisting in pain after hours of going without food.

That day, as he walked down the hallway, he spotted her after a long time. She had aged considerably since he last saw her, with wrinkles forming at the corners of her lips and eyes whenever she smiled. Her skin had grown dry as well, making her look nothing like the little girl he remembered.

He had intended to approach her, perhaps even greet her after all these years. However, when he came close enough to hear her voice, the words that reached his ears made him stop in his tracks.

"Aren’t you close with that high priest? The one with the blindfold?"

"Are you insane?!" she gasped in horror. "How could anyone bear to be near that monster?" She shook her head, her expression filled with disgust. "I pitied him when I was a child. However, haven’t you noticed? He hasn’t aged at all. He looks exactly the same as he did when I was still a young girl."

"That’s true... It’s strange, indeed."

"And he’s a male omega! Dear heavens! Poor Archduke. He should have been with a beautiful woman, even if she were an omega. You know what I mean, right? It’s such a waste for him to be with a man." She grimaced, as though the very thought disgusted her.

Something inside Raniel tightened at her words. He wasn’t sure what the feeling was, only that it made his chest ache in a way he couldn’t quite understand. For a moment, he remained where he was, staring at the woman he had once thought of as a friend.

Then, without approaching her as he had intended, he turned on his heels and headed back to his room.

It wasn’t the first time someone had spoken ill behind his back, so he should have been used to it by now.

Yet, it still hurt, especially when the betrayal came from someone he had believed to sympathize with him, even if that sympathy had only been born out of pity.

Back then, he hadn’t known what friendship was supposed to feel like, but he had thought that perhaps, in her own way, she had been his friend.

How foolish of him to believe that.

A soft scoff escaped his lips as he continued walking, his footsteps echoing through the empty hallway.

"Friends..." he murmured.

He had never truly had one, so how could he have known what friendship was supposed to feel like in the first place?

***

Just when Raniel had begun to find a way to live with the grief of losing his child, he had overheard the conversation of the only person he had ever believed to be his friend.

And Ilyan... he hadn’t seen him in a while now.

As he made his way back to his quarters after training, Raniel heard faint laughter drifting through the quiet night. It sounded so much like Ilyan’s that his heart skipped a beat before he could stop himself from reacting.

For a moment, he felt a flicker of hope, only for dread to follow soon after. Who was Ilyan laughing with at this late hour?

Raniel swallowed hard before gently lifting the edge of his blindfold. Then, he looked down through the window.

A lavender-haired young man was pacing around the green yard, with a young woman following closely behind him. Her long golden curls swayed in the breeze as she walked, and the two seemed so comfortable in each other’s company that, to anyone watching, they might have looked like Adam and Eve, a match made in heaven.

Raniel furrowed his eyebrows as the unwelcome thought crossed his mind.

A match made in heaven?

He scoffed.

He didn’t like the thought. And he certainly didn’t like the feeling that settled in his chest, nor did he want to give a name to the strange ache that followed.

He bit his lower lip, his gaze lingering on the pair below. He couldn’t even tell whether the air outside was cold or warm anymore, having spent so much of his life trapped within the Temple’s walls. Still, he tried to step closer to the window, hoping to catch another glimpse of Ilyan’s face.

But the moment he moved, the chains around his body clinked, their familiar sound dragging him out of his little dreamland.

His heart shuddered.

He was a man meant to remain within the Temple, bound by its rules and the chains that kept him from going wherever he pleased.

Ilyan, however, was not.

He was free to walk wherever he wanted, to laugh with whomever he pleased, and to stand beneath the open sky without having to worry about hurting anyone or getting punished. He didn’t have chains to hold him back. He didn’t need a blindfold to protect others from himself.

And perhaps, that was why someone as wonderful as Ilyan could never truly belong to someone like him.

Raniel lowered his gaze, his fingers tightening around the edge of his blindfold. He knew he shouldn’t be thinking that way.

Ilyan had never treated him as though he were a monster, and he had promised to stay by his side.

Yet, promises were just words, weren’t they?

People could change their minds, and feelings could fade. Even the kindest person in the world could eventually grow tired of someone as broken as him.

Before he could dwell on those thoughts any longer, another pair of footsteps approached from behind, distinct from those of the guard accompanying him.

Raniel quickly pulled his blindfold back into place, concealing his eyes just as someone called out to him.

"Isn’t that Raniel?" The mocking tone was unmistakable.