Chapter-28 Gates, Ghosts, and Gentle Lies

On a gentle cold night, silver light filtered through some tall trees, inside a nearby forest, the ruffled by the soft cold winds.

"Hurry!"

A breathtaking young woman. Standing at 5'7" with a slender, graceful build, porcelain soft warmth skin that glowed under moonlight, and her striking heterochromatic eyes… one a deep violet, the other a shimmering silvery-gray draw people in with their dreamy, mysterious allure. Framed by long, silken green hair streaked with strands of silver-black,

She wore a, silver ear cuffs shaped like falling feathers, and a glowing sapphire ring.

She wore flowing pastel gown made of light cotton and chiffon, with puffed sleeves and delicate lace trim along the neckline and cuffs. A pale lavender corset wraps gently around her waist, not for battle but for elegance. She wears soft leather flats and a flower crown woven with wild blooms.

A small steel gate creaked open by her hand, a bright smile on her face. As she lightly stepped on quickly.

Behind a few paces behind her, was a emotionless face, thought inside they had warmth through them.

She laughed at something small, something simple. Perhaps a thought, perhaps just the way the moon peeked through the trees. He didn't understand it… but found himself watching her smile more than the stars overhead.

"I like nights like this… the cold silver moon washes away the city's shadows, if only for a little while." she said softly, looking back at him.

Lucian nodded, his curled slightly… just barely into a faint smile. "The night… has its own beauty. You seem to belong to it."

She tilted her head. "You trying to flirt with me?"

"No," he replied. "If I were, you'd know."

She chuckled. But under her breath. "That's what scares me."

They walked in silence for some time, feet crunching the soft blue grass and fallen leaves. A pair of small foxes darted out from a bush. Scared and Confused, she immediately knelt down, extending her hand. He crouched beside her, watching as the animals sniffed her fingers… cautious… then wrapping its body around her hand.

She looked at him. "They're not afraid of you?"

"I'm... not what I used to be." he murmured.

She smiled, reaching to gently touch one fox's fur. He followed her hand and brushed its soft body, fingers brushing hers for just a second. She looked up… their eyes met.

He didn't move. Didn't pull away. But inside, something stirred.

He wasn't sure what it was.

His other hand reached and touched the pendant on her neck. The pendant hung on a fine silver chain, shaped like a star-shaped flower in full bloom. Carved from obsidian and veined with white stone, it shimmered like frost kissed by moonlight.

The other half pendant she gave Lucian was said to glow faintly during moonless nights… a sign she was thinking of him… But he never noticed, that it stopped glowed.

Was it love? Desire? Or just... the warmth he hadn't felt in so long that he'd forgotten its name?

They continued walking. A deer approached next, soft and graceful. She held out a bit of dried apple from her a previous tree. He watched her from afar.

To be so kind… unguarded, pure. I traveled the whole dreadmoor continent for something new… Is this it? Is this what I really want? Then why does another face keep surfacing in my mind? Why does guilt still weigh me down?

For a brief moment, his cold heart… ached. Not in pain… In longing.

At last, they emerged from the woods… into the garden.

It lay hidden behind the manor's edge, half-forgotten and overgrown, but still breathtaking. Vines of midnight blue flowers crawled over crumbling stone arches, glowing softly under the moon. A shallow pond mirrored the sky. Fireflies drifted lazily through the air like falling stars.

She gasped. "It's beautiful…"

He stepped beside her, he watched the moonlight touched her face.

And for once, he looked not at the sky or the shadows… but only her.

Suddenly, she grabbed his hand, her touch soft but trembling. They stood face to face, and in a heartbeat, she wrapped her arms around him. He hesitated for just a moment before holding her just as tightly.

"Thank you, Lucian," she whispered, her voice breaking slightly. "Without you… I don't think I'd be alive right now."

She wasn't just talking about surviving another day. She meant the darkness that had been swallowing her from the inside… the weight of expectations, the silence after her father's fall, the loneliness of fighting a war no one else could see.

She was never meant to inherit the family mantle, but after her older siblings vanished mysteriously, the burden fell to her.

She tried multiple times to leave the city, but was bound by a family curse… The curse was said to have been cast centuries ago by a betrayed seer, ensuring that no daughter of the clan could ever leave the city without falling gravely ill.

Lucian exhaled, his tone dry but honest. "Well, you found me. Just a broken man being hounded for trying to help the very people your father once saved… the same people who should've praised your family."

"You saved me. From dying, those yaque i could have been skinned. If you won't so brave in believing those vile…"

He stopped himself. "I promised to help you, didn't I? And I meant it. I didn't do it for the clan… I did it for you."

He nodded, his voice quieter. "Maybe that's what this was all along. Not revenge. Not salvation. Just… my journey to find you. You've reminded me of what I've forgotten. That there's more than bloodshed and control."

Cassie's eyes shimmered with a warmth he hadn't seen in a long time. "No, Lucian. You found that yourself. You let yourself feel again… for others, for me. I just stood beside you while you remembered who you were."

Her fingers grazed his cheek as she smiled gently. "And I… I opened myself to you too."

She leaned in, lips nearly touching his… but Lucian's head snapped toward the distant hill.

A towering formation of jagged stones stood there, triangular and ancient, silhouetted against the fading light.

"What's that?"

Cassie followed his gaze, and for a moment, her expression faltered… until a mischievous smile tugged at her lips. She realized what had almost happened… and what hadn't.

"My father once told me it was a gate," she said softly. "To another world. One filled with limitless paths. He believed those who walked through it would be changed… if they were brave enough to confront who they really are."

She turned back to him. "Maybe we you return, we should go. Not to run. But to find out who we really are… together."

Lucian stared at the stones, their bodies remained still unsure whats next. Then he looked into her eyes again. She was glowing… not just with happiness, but with hope. And yet, something inside him trembled.

He swallowed hard, forcing a faint smile as he held her hand tighter.

Maybe… I'm not the man she thinks I am. And maybe I never was.

Cassie saw something flicker behind his eyes… hesitation, regret, something unspeakable.

And she knew… Part of him wasn't fully hers. Not yet. But that was okay.

She didn't want perfection, she just wanted real.

So she smiled again."I'm not asking for forever, Lucian. Just… walk with me a little longer."