Celebration Banquet IV

"As I said, you don't love me," I retorted, my voice firm. "You love—"

"I know," Alyssara interrupted, still smiling, her jade eyes gleaming with something unreadable. "At least, that was the case in the Southern Sea Sun Palace."

My breath caught.

"That was the case."

The weight of those words settled in my chest, pressing against something fragile and unspoken.

I wished Luna were awake. If she were, she could have helped me navigate this madness, but she hadn't stirred since the battle. Her injuries ran deeper than flesh, and she was still healing somewhere beyond my reach.

"I fell in love with that Arthur first," Alyssara continued, her fingers moving deliberately as she slowly unbuttoned my shirt, her touch cool against my skin. "I wanted you to become him."

I wanted to stop her. Wanted to push her away.

But I didn't.

I let her speak.

Because something in her voice told me this was important.

"But not anymore," Alyssara murmured, tilting her head, her jade-green eyes drinking me in as if I were a painting she had spent years perfecting. "I love you, Arthur Nightingale."

She leaned closer, her lips brushing against my ear, her voice dropping into something softer—something terrifying.

"And that's why, when you reach your peak…"

Her smile widened.

"I will defeat you. I will cage you. I will imprison you."

Cold.

That was the only way to describe what I felt in that moment. A chill that had nothing to do with temperature crawled down my spine, seeping into my very bones.

Because this was not simple possessiveness.

This was something else entirely.

I had seen obsession before—I had seen it in Cecilia's gaze, in the way she clung to me. But this?

This was worse.

For Alyssara, I wasn't just something she wanted.

I was her world.

The idea of me belonging to anyone but her was not even a possibility in her mind.

Her finger traced slow circles across my chest, her touch feather-light yet unrelenting. "I want to kill them, you know," she whispered.

I didn't have to ask who.

"The four princesses you keep so close. The ones hanging off your arms, stealing your time."

There was no malice in her tone, no heat of jealous rage. She stated it as fact.

"But I'm not stupid," she continued, sighing dramatically. "I'll break you my own way. And when I'm done, you'll love me so much that you'll reject them."

Her lips curled into a smirk.

"You'll beg to be imprisoned by me."

I exhaled sharply. "That will never happen."

Alyssara's eyes softened, as if she pitied me.

"Arthur," she said, her voice like silk, "do you know who made you?"

I stiffened.

"There are three people responsible for your existence," she continued. "Art is one of them. But even they can't calculate everything. Not perfectly."

She leaned in, pressing a single finger against my lips, stopping me from speaking.

"Like me," she whispered. "My existence is an anomaly in their system. You still believe you'll be fine if you keep following their script? If you let them decide your every step?"

I said nothing.

Because I knew she wasn't lying.

"You don't know anything, Arthur," she sighed, her expression unreadable. "But I do."

Then, her smile returned.

"You are a gamble, Arthur Nightingale."

She cupped my face in her hands, tilting my chin upward, forcing me to meet her gaze. "And if I wanted to, right now, I could take you away. I could imprison you forever, and no one would be able to stop me. No one would even be able to find you."

I knew she was telling the truth.

"The only reason I'm not doing it," she whispered, "is because I want to break you first."

Her crimson lips brushed against my cheek, feather-light.

"In the end," she purred, "my existence already tampered with the gamble they set in motion using you."

She pulled back slightly, her jade-green gaze locking onto mine, shimmering with amusement.

"Art can't protect you from me."

"That doesn't mean I can't protect myself," I shot back, my voice steady. "I'll reach the top, and when I do, I'll kill you."

Alyssara only smiled, tilting her head as if amused by the idea. "Being killed by you would be a good ending for me, Arthur," she murmured. "Because I know—you'll mourn for me when I die."

"I will never mourn for you," I said, my tone sharp.

"You can say that now," she sighed, shaking her head, "because you don't have the memories of the previous timeline."

Something deep inside me twisted.

"When you do," she continued, jade eyes gleaming with certainty, "even you won't be able to help yourself."

I clenched my fists.

"I won't protect you again, even if I love you, Arthur."

There was something absolute in the way she said it—final, irreversible.

"I saved you against Vorgath," she admitted, "but I can't do it again."

Her fingers ghosted over my collar before she let them drop.

"I won't be your crutch like Art was," she whispered, stepping closer, her breath warm against my skin. "Because if I do, you'll never even be able to touch my level."

I swallowed the surge of emotions in my throat. "Then let me go, Alyssara."

"You act so stoic, but you're shaking right now, Arthur~" she teased, her lips curling.

Then, she moved.

Her fingers grasped my collar, pulling me forward.

And she kissed me.

Soft.

Warm.

Familiar.

A shock ran through my spine—not just from the action, but from something deeper.

As soft as ever.

Wait.

As soft as ever?

When had she kissed me before?

What... was I remembering?

Alyssara licked her lips as she pulled away, her gaze half-lidded, sultry and unnerving all at once.

"I love you so much," she murmured, her fingers brushing against my throat, "I want to rip apart the seal in your mind just to make you remember."

Her lips met my neck this time, teeth grazing over skin before she bit down.

A sharp sting shot through me.

"Ow," I hissed, wincing. "Stop, Alyssara!"

She licked the bruise she left behind, the heat of her breath sending a shiver down my spine.

"Should I just destroy the seal?"

The question was playful, but her tone was anything but.

Then, suddenly—she stilled.

Her body froze, her posture shifting, like a beast recognizing another predator in the room.

Slowly, her lips curled into a smile.

"So I was wrong," she murmured, voice softer, colder. "A monster like you is still in this world."

I didn't have to look. I could feel the presence behind me.

Alyssara stepped back, exhaling through her nose. "I won't do anything anymore."

She winked, her jade eyes twinkling with amusement.

"See you later, my love."

And then she was gone.

The air shifted. The silence stretched.

I turned my gaze into the shadows of the tower, watching as a lone figure stepped forward from the darkness.

A woman.

Long black hair, darker than the night sky itself.

"Thank you… mother," I murmured.

Her footsteps were slow, deliberate. "When did you figure it out?" she asked, her voice carrying the weight of something old, something inevitable.

I looked at her—the woman who should not be here, but was.

The woman who had watched me from the beginning.