"So that's how it is, you can break free from this crest if you can prove your love? Is that it?"
"You believe me?"
"Of course. I'll always believe everything my love says to me."
I rolled my eyes at Haide's obvious cringe flirting.
Sitting down in the living room, I told him everything I knew about the scripture and theories to break out from War of Throne. To my surprise, Haide nodded along and agreed to everything I said easily.
'I thought he would be more skeptical.'
But I was glad my thoughts were proven wrong.
Rubbing his chin, Haide spoke, "If that's the case, why are our crests still on our hands?"
"That's a question I don't know the answer to either." I shook my head as I sighed.
If Uola was truly a God of Love and Purity, He must have known our feelings for each other. So what else was needed to prove it? He just wanted us to suffer at this point.
"Don't you find it weird that we are living in the era of gods and not humanity?" I asked.
"What do you mean?"
"Civilizations do progress, but every new science findings are always being connected to Uola, saying it's because of His grace that we can succeed. Why? Isn't that the fruit of our own labor? So why is Uola getting praised every time humanity succeeds?"
I sighed as I leaned on the sofa, "If I had the freedom to choose what wish I would hope for, I want to end the era of gods and for humanity to judge what's 'right' for them instead of being dictated by laws enforced on us by gods."
Haide fell silent at my words. He looked down at the floor, eyes deep in turmoil. I knew he was contemplating my words deeper than he should.
I patted his head to pull him out of his thoughts, "There's no need to think about that now. Let's focus on how to get ourselves out of this situation shall we?"
Haide smiled as he grabbed my hand and tapped it in assurance. "Don't worry, even if we can't break free from Uola, I'll make sure we live a long life and enjoy ourselves to the fullest."
I gazed silently at Haide's hand on top of mine. The white dragon wrapped around a crown was the exact copy of my own black one.
It still stung the back of my hand, indicating Haide as my enemy. But the warm hand wrapping my own seemed to give me an impression of certainty – it enveloped not just my hand but also my heart.
"I'll try my best too." I smiled as I returned the gesture.
We were both stubborn bastards after all.
.
.
"It was really a surprising coincidence that you're that bastard's ex-wife. How could I have not noticed you before?"
Brushing the cheek of the sleeping man in front of him, Haide fell into a thought.
Keith Zylvar had always been his enemy and would always be. He was someone Haide despised, arrogant and ungrateful. Haide wondered how such a person could obtain someone like Yolan as his arranged marriage partner.
And more importantly, if they were both couples from before the War of Throne started…
"Where were you in my past life?"
No matter how hard Haide searched his memories, the name 'Yolan' didn't ring a bell in his head.
Looking back, ever since he was born, Haide always lived in hiding. But even then, he never tasted loneliness because of his mother.
His mother's love for him was genuine, making him capable of learning how it's like to be loved and how to love someone. Unlike his mother, who's an omega, Haide was an alpha born to lead – a dominant who stood at a high ladder in hierarchy.
But before he could learn how to be a good leader his mother hoped him to be, his mother breathed his last, leaving Haide alone with no guardian figure to take care of him.
That's why Haide traced back his mother's past, leading him into the underworld – a place where crime and violence were a daily occurrence.
There, he met a 'mentor' who was kind enough to teach him a thing or two to stay alive. And there was one lesson from his 'mentor' that was engraved in his mind.
Unless it's something precious to you, don't give them any mercy.
So he wouldn't.
He wouldn't give his enemies any mercy but would give his whole heart to his friends and trusted people – just like how his mother had taught him how to love.
So after finding out his family's lineage, Haide came barging in with proof to wreck his 'father', which caused the underworld to erupt in rumors. Those rumors also helped him earn his rights as the main branch's family member.
Criminal acts the Torentto family had done was always the hot topic, and Haide was familiar with how violent the Torentto family was.
And he hated it.
Not the fact that they were used to using violence, but the fact that even after they gained fame, power and riches, they made his mother crippled and abandoned him to die with a child. A child carrying the Torentto's bloodline – someone the head was desperately trying to erase.
He swore to kill the man who abandoned him and his mother, and this was the first step to do it.
And the War of Throne who chose his 'father' as the King pushed his desire even more.
So he took that crest out of his father's hand and led the gang in his father's place. His heart was finally at peace after wielding the power he knew he deserved.
Yes, he should already be at peace now…
…
And then what?
He achieved his goal, he got all his rights, he tortured his father and killed him in the most brutal way to take revenge…
Then what?
There was no more goal to achieve in this life.
Even if he won the War of Throne and was granted a wish, then what would he hope for?
It felt empty.
He was living an aimless life with no end.
It became worse when his opponent, Keith Zylvar, kept picking fights with him. Stealing his gang's important data and sold it to the black market, exposing the weakness of his group. It was a headache even for Haide.
So Haide retaliated and killed Keith.
But in Keith's last moments, an omega woman cried with his corpse in her hand. And that scene reawakened a memory in Haide's mind.
Even a villain has someone who will cry over them, so find someone who will truly love you.
Those were his mother's words as he taught him the essence of 'bond' in an alpha and omega. And in that exact moment, he knew what wish he would like to obtain from Uola.
'I want to feel love.'
But instead of immediately granting his wish, a line appeared inside his head.
[Go back to the past and you will find your love.]
When he opened his eyes again, Haide was back in the past – exactly two years before War of Throne started.
Using this second chance, he took over the Torentto family quickly to focus on finding the person he was promised to by Uola.
And he found him.
Platinum blonde hair glistening under the light, the deep aquamarine eyes with a tint of wisdom.
When Haide first saw Yolan entered the shooting center, he couldn't take his gaze off him. He gave off a sweet refreshing scent, the smell of pheromone only an omega would have.
Since the start, Yolan was a weird one in Haide's eyes. He had always seemed unaffected by alpha's pheromone and now, this knowledge that the world wasn't supposed to know yet was uttered by him first.
'Is he also from the future?'
That was a question Haide couldn't be sure of.
But even though they had never met in his previous life, Haide immediately knew Yolan was the right person for him.
Yolan was like a quiet oak tree, standing tall even under the gaze of the burning sun. Giving Haide the shade he once felt from his mother, the shade full of love.
Yolan seldom openly declared his love. Just like a tree, he expressed his love in subtle ways. Like his beautiful smile as he observed Haide with a face full of affection, or his tender touches as he soothed Haide.
It took more observation to notice it, but Haide liked finding the small gestures Yolan made as he expressed his love.
Whenever his mind wandered, Yolan would be the first person that came to mind. Whenever he brushed his lips, the soft red lips of that man would fill his mind.
The traces of him constantly reminded Haide of his presence and before he knew it, Yolan had become his everything.
That's why Haide would protect him, the one his heart revolved in.
Killing, kidnapping – it didn't matter.
This was the only way he knew how to protect and rule, and it's always effective.
Bond? Trust? That was for Yolan, who had a heart softer than him.
He would do it in his own way. The one he was familiar with.