Suffering

Hearing that name once again after so many years Keltal felt shivers run down his spine as he remembered every moment in the past that she called him that. But these were no shivers of happiness or pleasure. No it was disgust and displeasure as he basked in the memory of all the times he had actually enjoyed being called that by her. "I actually liked being looked down on." Thankfully now he had woken up from that time but it became a history he definitely wanted to bury. Now though Althea was standing in front of him and bringing up his old wounds.

"My name is Keltal, remember that from now on. Calling me such a name even now..."

"Oh did I make you upset? I would never mean such a thing."

Giggling like an innocent child Althea swayed her feet back and forth as she sat in his desk chair and relaxed a little while looking at the man in front of her. "Can he even be called a man though?" With that another set of giggles escaped her mouth. Looking at her sitting in his chair and acting the same as he remembered Keltal wasn't the least bit surprised with the situation in fact he despised it.

"It seems you haven't changed one bit since the last time we were together."

"Oh what is that supposed to mean? Are you implying that you have changed?"

With some slight intrigue she arched her eyebrow as she looked for any signs of change in his mood or face but she actually wasn't able to detect anything. Back in the past she could read him like an open book but now she couldn't see anything so far.

"Ha if you still think I'm the same scum as before then you're sorely mistaken Althea."

"So you think that forgives your past crimes? Isn't that cute. In my eyes you're still the same boy as before."

"My changes can't take back what I did in the past or earn me forgiveness. But I'm striving to be something different and change unlike someone who refuses to change no matter how many years have passed."

"Oh is that a challenge?"

"No. It's my pride."

"Pride you say? Can you proudly tell your family such a thing and still be loved or forgiven by them I wonder."

Althea knew he had a family now so she hoped to rile him up and see his old self coming out by that comment but she was greatly disappointed when he still stayed the same and in fact seemed to become even more confident in her eyes as his smile grew wider and bolder.

"They've already been told by me personally and they still accepted me. So no Althea you're wrong this time."

"I see, so that's where your boldness comes from. Honestly if you were like this back then who knows I might have let you get away with it. But alas."

Letting out a seductive breath she sighed as she smiled to herself seeing this new and different side of Keltie she had never seen before. But things still wouldn't work out the way he wanted unfortunately.

"Hmph. I'm glad I failed." Recailing that moment where he tried to rape the King's daughter because of his obsession he fell into self ridcule but thinking of all the positives that came out of it in the end he cheered up a little untill Althea delivered the final blow.

"Even if you say that? The true question isn't whether others can forgive you. That's just finding ways to heal your ego and make yourself feel better. No, no the true question is whether I can forgive you as well as can you forgive yourself. Why else would you be boasting about changing so much and what others think if you really believed either of those things to be true. Am I wrong?"

With that sentence being said she could finally bask in the joy of watching Keltie finally show some emotions beside confidence and some slight anger since first arriving here. She watched as he slightly deflated as a sorrowful look flashed past his eyes but she still caught it regardless. She knew she had won with that. Hearing that enter his ears Keltal's body froze stiff as thoughts flashed back to that day and all the emotions he had felt since then and thinking about it he knew Althea was right and the fact that she was right was what frustrated him the most.

No matter how much he changed or did good things in Althea's eyes he could never be forgiven and in his own eyes as well. To him he had to spend all of his life making up for the one mistake. When he first attempted it he didn't know any better and it wasn't until afterwards did he learn the hard way which led to such changes. No he didn't love Althea anymore he had learned and gotten past that and now had a loving family who was his world. "All I want is her forgiveness though." But he knew she would purposefully never forgive him even if she did because she'd rather watch him suffer his entire life instead.

Feeling that sadness rush through him he lost his momentum as a silence loomed over the room. Althea watched him be depressed and loved every second of it as she watched him suffer. For her this was one of her greatest enjoyments. Especially after what he tried to do to her so she could care less about any of his feelings or others. Finally after a couple of minutes had passed Keltal slowly opened his mouth and asked a question that took a lot of courage and effort to even say anymore. The confident and courageous him of before was no longer anywhere to be seen.

"What..about my...brother..Dustill."

"Hmmm???"

Lightly tapping her chin she thought about how to answer him.

"He's alive for now. How long that will last is up to his own stupidity. I wonder if history will repeat itself."

Some relief washed over him as he heard that his brother was still alive. That meant there was still some hope of seeing him again in the future.

"Now on to my business Keltie. You should know why I'm here."

The Question he dreaded the most had now come and just after suffering such emotional damage. He figured Althea was doing this on purpose.