Arastella POV
For long moment, the heavy silence resting between us like a physical wall before he finally spoke.
"A long time ago, everyone lived in their different realms," he began, his voice dropping into a low, distant murmur. "But there were two young teens who were madly in love. They crossed realms to be together and have a child."
I couldn't help the heavy, instinctive sigh that escaped my lips. Castel paused instantly, shooting me a sharp, warning glare—a look that plainly said, Don't do that shit again.
I quickly straightened my posture, schooling my face into a neutral expression, and gave him a curt nod for him to continue.
"Because everyone feared what that child's power would do to the realms, a whole war broke out," Castel continued, staring fixedly at the stone floor. "But the ones that hated the child more were the dragons."
"That's not true," I blurted out automatically.
Castel turned his head sharply, his mismatched eyes flashing with dangerous heat. "This is not your story, it's mine. So shut the fuck up and listen."
I swallowed my protest, locking my jaw as he looked away again.
"As the war continued, the other realms realized they could unite and benefit from this child's birth, so they teamed up against the dragons," Castel said, his voice tightening. "Those beasts stopped at nothing to get that child. While his parents were fighting the Dragon King to protect him, he watched his father being eaten alive... and his mother begging for mercy."
A violent pang hit my chest. My immediate instinct was to deny it, to tell myself that there was no way my father could ever be that cruel. But as the memory hung in the air, sickening truths surfaced from my own childhood. I remembered how the elder dragons used to consume the fallen, how they tore into flesh without remorse. I remembered the cold, merciless displays of sheer power my father used to maintain absolute authority over the realm.
A sudden, unexpected heavy sadness washed over me for the boy in the story. Without even realizing what I was doing, my hand reached out and softly patted Castel's back.
Castel froze, turning his head to look at me. A faint, shy smile touched his lips, catching me off guard. The moment I realized I was comforting the man who had locked me in a cage, I snapped my hand back, flushing red, and violently wiped my palm against the fabric of my dress.
Castel let out a dry, breathy exhale and kept going. "He escaped with an inch of his life and met a man who took him in. He told him he was to be King... but to be King, he needed to be feared."
Cion, I thought bitterly, the image of that vile man instantly flashing in my mind.
"He would take his blood and use it for whatever he wanted," Castel said, his hands clenching into tight fists against his knees. "He would beat him, tie him up, starve him, and blame him for his parents' deaths—all in the name of making him a King. Then one day, he brought a girl home. She smelled like his parents and looked like his mother, but he couldn't believe they were still alive after what he had seen."
My throat tightened. To endure all of that as a child... I thought, my pulse hammering. My father had never treated me like that, but the pieces of the grander puzzle were finally falling into place. It explained why the dragons had grown so weak, why our bloodlines were fading, why we were pushed to the very brink of extinction.
I wanted to speak, to ask a hundred questions, but I swallowed hard and forced myself to remain silent.
"It turned out the King kept his mother alive, eating pieces of her at a time until she gave birth to the girl before finally consuming her," Castel said, his voice dropping into a flat, deadly monotone.
"Then he started feeding on the child, because her body could grow its parts back... until the man found her and took her away. But every time the boy saw her, he remembered his mother, his father, their pain, their screams. Using the boy's blood, the man was able to seal the dragons away in the Void."
I looked down and noticed Castel's right leg shaking violently against the mattress. Wanting to offer some form of comfort—believing that no living soul deserved to endure such horrific agony—I reached my hand out toward him again.
Castel didn't take my hand. He didn't even soften. Instead, he turned his head and glared at my outstretched fingers with cold, razor-sharp intensity. Awkwardly, I pulled my hand back and rested it in my lap.
"The boy thought that was the end," Castel murmured, his shoulders tense. "But it was only the beginning. The beatings got worse because he was still too weak. He still had a heart, still had emotions... he fell in love with a girl through his grief and trauma. And in his instability, he accidentally killed her."
Castel stared into space, his voice hollow. "His heart was taken the day she died. That was what made him into a King. That was the day the entire nation learned to fear him. He has been alone ever since—a puppet playing a role behind the shadows. And then..."
He slowly turned his head to face me, a bitter half-smile touching his lips.
"...he saw her. The girl with the red hair."
My heart did a strange, erratic flip in my chest.
"The girl that made his heart come back whole," Castel whispered, his gaze locking onto mine. "A girl who wasn't a puppet. Who did not fear him. But who was the daughter of the man who slaughtered his family. Because she gave him his heart back, he spares her life... but she keeps taking it for granted. At what point does he finally break, kill her, and give into the madness everyone wants? Everyone expects?"
He stopped talking abruptly and stood up from the bed. "The story is done."
I bit my bottom lip hard, staring at the man standing before me. He was a monster in the eyes of my people, but he was also a boy who had been utterly ruined by my father, by my kin, and by the very handlers he was forced to trust. I didn't condone his cruelty, and I certainly didn't excuse the cage he had put me in, but looking at him now, I saw the truth. He wasn't just a tyrant. He was lost. Broken. A person shaped by endless, nightmare-fueled survival.
I took a deep breath, slid off the edge of the mattress, and stood up to face him.
Opening my arms wide, I felt an intense heat flood my cheeks. I quickly turned my face away, unable to look him directly in the eye as I offered the gesture.
"None of this is your fault," I said softly, my voice trembling slightly. "That doesn't mean what you did to me was right. However... after hearing your story, let's try to get along. I can't promise you that I will accept you... or love you."
I lowered my eyes, staring at the intricate patterns of the carpet beneath my feet.
Footsteps sounded against the floor. I heard the rustle of his clothes as he closed the small gap between us.
Castel reached out, his warm fingers reaching beneath my chin. He gently lifted my head, tilting my face back up so I was forced to look at him. My eyes were slightly teary—a pathetic mix of sheer embarrassment and deep, aching compassion for the pain he had carried alone for so long.
Unable to hold back the impulse any longer, I launched myself forward and wrapped my arms tightly around his waist, burying my face against his chest in a fierce, uncompromising hug.
"Enjoy this while it lasts," I muttered, trying to hide the flush on my face. "There's no telling how long it will be before you get another one."
Castel let out a soft, low chuckle that vibrated straight through his ribs. He wrapped his broad arms tightly around me, holding me securely against his body, and buried his face deep into the crook of my neck.