Elysia's POV
They called him many things: the King of the Underworld, the Lord of the Dead, the Shadow Sovereign.
But to me, he was simply Kaelen Nightfall.
The man I had loved across lifetimes and through centuries.
Yet I was nothing but a shadow, standing behind a ghost he could never let go.
Lillian Ravenspire. One of the Twelve Flower Spirits.
His first love. His fiancée.
After she died, Kaelen hated me for a thousand years.
And me? I was the intruder. The placeholder. The fool.
Still, I gave everything.
I poured my heart's blood into summoning her soul just so he could see her one last time and smile, even if it wasn't for me.
And how did he repay me?
With the coldness of the grave, he coldly said, "Instead of trying so hard to please me, why not trade your life for Lillian's return?"
My heart didn't break. It shattered.
I couldn't breathe beneath the weight of such cruelty. So I climbed the Execution Platform and jumped.
I followed him through every lifetime I can't even remember. One more death meant nothing.
But then, Kaelen jumped after me. He burned what remained of his soul to catch me before I reached the Underworld's abyss.
With what little strength he had left, he cradled my dying spirit in his arms. And with his last breath, he reached for the blood pact that bound us across lifetimes and broke it.
"Elysia," Kaelen whispered, his voice unraveling with his soul, "in the next life… don't chase me in the next life..."
When he died, the world cracked.
Even Emperor Alistair, the High God of the Heavenly Realm, shed tears of regret. "If I had ended the bond between you and Kaelen earlier, and if I had allowed him to marry the flower spirit, Lillian Ravenspire, from the start, would this tragedy have occurred?"
Meanwhile, Cassian Blackthorn, Guardian of Souls, cast me out from the Underworld with a wrath colder than Kaelen's own.
"He saved you across different lifetimes," Cassian snarled. "Why couldn't you just let go? Why didn't you die instead?"
The heavens mourned. The stars whispered. And eventually, the gods came to the same conclusion:
Letting me love him was the real mistake. Even I believed it.
So I made a choice. I cast myself into the River of Lost Memories, trading away a hundred lifetimes of reincarnation for one final chance to rewrite it all.
This time, I wouldn't chase him. This time, I wouldn't love him.
And this time, I would fulfill everyone's wishes… even if it shattered mine.
——
"Elysia."
Kaelen's cold voice cut through my thoughts like a blade. "How long will you keep chasing me?" he said flatly. "So what if we've shared lifetimes together? I don't love you. Even if I marry you, it'll only be out of obligation, not love."
Kaelen's eyes were cold as he tossed the marriage contract into my arms as if it were nothing, like I was nothing.
"Are you still willing under these circumstances?"
Right then, I woke with a jolt.
The searing agony of the River of Lost Memories still clung to my skin like fire gnawing at flesh and bone.
My entire body trembled.
But it wasn't from pain. It was a joy.
I was alive again. I had been reborn from a thousand years in the past.
Tears welled in my eyes, but I didn't wipe them away.
"Tell me the truth," I whispered, voice unsteady. "If you had a choice, you wouldn't have married me, would you? No matter what I sacrificed, no matter how many times I saved you, your heart was never mine. It was always Lillian's."
A flicker of regret and sympathy passed through his eyes. But only for a moment.
"Yes," he said as if that answer didn't cost me everything.
I swallowed hard, forcing a smile that was anything but real.
"Compared to Lillian," Kaelen added, "everyone else is just someone to settle for. You know this, so why ask? But can you, Elysia?"
His answer came without hesitation. "I can."
Everyone knew I loved him. Even the stars gossiped about it.
In my life among the mortals, I gave him everything. I broke sacred laws, abandoned my divinity, and surrendered my place among the gods. Yet not once did Kaelen Nightfall love me back.
I was once the Goddess of Frost, but now, I have become a lost soul, wandering in the Underworld.
Still, with what little essence remained, I erased my name from the marriage contract.
Kaelen paused briefly. But then he walked faster as if he couldn't bear the weight of what he'd just seen.
"You bound yourself to me across endless ages. You made me owe you more than I could ever repay. Even Emperor Alistair and Cassian say I should marry you. Do you really think one 'no' will fix this?
He stopped.
"Elysia Frostborne," he said, not looking back, "don't test me. I said I would marry you. I'll keep that promise."
With a flick of his sleeve, he turned away. And just like that, he was gone.
I crumbled.
One trembling hand clutched at my chest. It felt like invisible hands were crushing my heart into powder. Every breath I took was stained with blood.
But the truth had always been there.
When we ascended as gods, our names were carved into the first line of the Stone of Fate. Kaelen chose to descend, bound to endure centuries of mortal trials, each one marked by love and loss, longing and regret, desire and betrayal.
But through it all, he always smiled at me. And every time, I thought that meant something. Each time, I thought maybe he felt the same. I foolishly thought my devotion, my willingness to follow him through life and death, had finally been heard.
When we returned to the Heavenly Realm, I went before the Heavenly Emperor and asked for a blessing for our marriage.
I married Kaelen, believing I had finally won his heart. But after Lillian died, the truth revealed itself in the coldest way.
Every night, in his dreams, he called her name, but never once mine.
Looking back, the truth shattered me.
I loved Kaelen through every lifetime and burned for him at every end. But to Kaelen Nightfall, I was nothing more than a promise made out of pity.
A mistake he couldn't release—a burden born from gratitude, not love.
So, I threw myself into the River of Lost Memories and gave up a hundred lifetimes of rebirth for this one chance.
And just before my spirit was cast back through time, the God of Fate whispered, "Time will reverse, and you will die and be reborn, but any changes will cost you your lifespan. You have three days, no more. Every change you make must be paid for by yourself. If you want to change your destiny, you must change three fixed points in time. Are you willing, Lady Elysia Frostborne?"
And with my last breath before rebirth, I answered, "Yes."
