Dear Immortal Tyrant

Lina clutched her white dress and realized where the nickname came from. Nicknames were only shared between extremely intimate lovers. Yet, he gave her one less than an hour after meeting. 

Lina glanced at his shoes, polished leather, but his black military uniform stood out. Golden stripes on his shoulders, stars on his chest, and a terrifying beret on his head. He was the epitome of someone that could abuse their power.

Lina linked her hands behind her back to hide the shaking. 

'If you see the military, don't run. Don't be scared, just know you're much better than the common blood. You are blue-blood, you are a Yang. They're nothing but shields.'

He didn't feel like a shield. Instead, Lina felt as if he was some great defender. Her heels obnoxiously clicked with each step, reminding her of how useless she was. With trembling lips, she remembered the bitterness in her chest.

Mila was allowed to train. Mila was given all the privileges of a Yang heiress from gunfights to military fighting techniques, both the legal and illegal kinds. She was raised to be the eldest of her family, shouldering the responsibilities, thus, knew the most.

"Are you going to pout the entire way?"

Lina's head snapped up. "I wasn't."

"Can't stand a peasant walking in front of you?"

"You have an inferiority complex," Lina shot back.

He came to a curt stop. She swallowed. He slowly turned around, revealing an expression that stopped her heart dead in her tracks. She could feel the anger quickly die down. This was the face of a man who commanded an army. Just a lethal gaze silenced her.

"I was just telling the truth," Lina deadpanned.

'Yes, but men of your social status won't hesitate to smack you into line for speaking the truth,' Estella's voice rang in Lina's head.

"I…"

"You?"

Lina pressed her lips together. "I don't judge anyone's background."

His stare grew dark and mistrustful. He tightened his jaws. In a swift stride, he approached her. She quickly backed away, but he grabbed her elbows. She opened her mouth in disbelief. This man had no manners!

"I'm sure you don't, dove." 

Lina was surprised by his daring nature. He bent the rules to his command. He behaved as if he created it. Suddenly, she froze. He stroked her hair into place, tucking it neatly behind her ears. When his gloved finger touched her skin, she felt cold. His grip was loose, but he was strong enough to hold her in place. Without warning, he pulled at the end of her dress, smoothing out the roughness.

"What are you doing?" Lina asked, breathless by his unexpected kindness.

The Commander said nothing. He gingerly adjusted her sleeves and brushed the flyaways down. His gentle caress made a mess in her stomach. She could barely hear beyond her pounding heart.

Lina was no stranger to soft touches like this. Altan was always pestering over her, fixing this and that. But when this man did it, she barely breathed. Lina began to touch the hair that he fixed, causing him to pause.

"You look like a victim," he told her.

"Thank you," she stated.

He gazed deeply into her eyes, said nothing, and scowled. He was searching her face for something, but what? She didn't know. Then, he dropped his hands, turned his head to the side, and clenched his jaw.

Was he arguing with himself?

She didn't know.

Without warning, he began to walk again.

Lina was forced to catch up with him. She began to pick up her pace and sure enough, they were back in the main street. A few more corners and she finally recognized her own territory. She slowly blinked, realizing she had gotten herself lost in the southern parts of Ritan—the Medeor territory. 

To think she'd be attacked there…

"Are you a Commander?" Lina naively asked him.

Lina's footsteps fell by his side. She peered up at him with curiosity. He kept his eyes forward.

"Do not speak to me."

Lina deeply frowned. "You get to call me by an intimate name and touch me, but I can't even talk to you?"

"You and I belong to different worlds at this time."

"I—"

"Whatever you're thinking, forget it."

Lina wished she could just kick him in the shin. He was irritating. First, he was affectionate with 'dove' and then he groomed her back to perfection. Now, he was separating the distance between them. His mysterious aura only made her even more curious.

"Why?" Lina teased. "Afraid you're unable to stand by my side?"

He came to a cold stop. The temperature around them dipped. He squared his shoulders and turned to her. He wore a stoic expression, like nothing in the world fazed him. Yet his eyes spoke bounds that she could not unravel. She was pulled into the abyss of his pupils, where his deepest darkest secrets rested.

"Yes."

Lina's humor dropped. "I didn't mean it."

"It is the truth," he reminded her.

Then, he turned his head to the club. "Now go, dove."

Lina's lips parted. She gazed to the side and sure enough, she realized there was a large crowd near them, all gathered at Belle Night. She was so engrossed by him to even feel the stares going her way. Then, she spotted Belle speaking to a man with a smile on her face, but Lina knew better. She saw Belle's angry eyes.

"W-wait—"

He was gone.

Lina should've turned back. She should've pretended to not know him. Or, at the least, pretend to see Altan in the distance, approaching them steadily. But she did what her Papa always told her to not do. She did what the people would shun her for.

Lina grabbed onto his sleeves.

The Commander stopped dead in his tracks. He lowered his gaze to her fingertips. She held onto his uniform like a hesitant child following a guardian. His hand twitched to touch her again. 

To feel the softness of her skin, to hear her familiar voice, and witness her blinding smile. He couldn't forget. Hundreds of years later and he couldn't get her out of his damn mind.

'She's dead,' he reminded himself. 

But she was standing in front of him, alive and wealthy.

"Your name," Lina breathed out. "You never gave it to me, Commander."

Name?

He slowly blinked. He had gone by no name, except his address as King. People always thought it was strange, up until he met a good friend who immediately recognized him. With people already referring to him as King, he knew he couldn't risk telling her the name she used to cry out underneath him. 

"Kaden," he smoothly lied. 

"So foreign," she pointed out.

He narrowed his eyes. "It's derived from Ritan's—"

"Second King of Ritan," Lina realized with a slow blink. "You look like him too."

Kaden froze.

"Kaden," Lina repeated, the name rolling off her tongue. Then, she presented him with a daring smile. "Instead of Dove, call me Lina."

Kaden's attention swept over her. She was expecting him to return her grin. This was the face of a woman who had the entire world swooning over her, but didn't even know. The thought of anyone else tripping over their shoes looking at her pissed him off. 

His eyes turned into slits. He grabbed her fingers, his thumb brushing upon her dainty nails. She let out a shaky breath, her eyes lowering again. The same effect. She was still attracted to him, even in this life. He hated the eagerness of other people, except for her. Only she was the exception to everything he hated in life.

"I already know your name, dove of mine."

Dove of mine.