Reborn, Its Time To Save My Family And.. My Enemy!
Chapter 239: Die With Me!

Chapter 239: Die With Me!

Oliiva still felt conflicted when Damon held her tightly in his arms and nodded at Rhistel.

"Do you have enough funds?" Damien nodded and then signalled Lilliana to follow them. The girl hesitated only for a second before running behind them.

Rhistel looked at the angry crowd from the window again and went to look for Oriana. She was already awake by the noise and staring outside.

"They would kill us?"

.....

"Not us! They only wanted Olivia and Lilliana." Oriana flinched at those cold words.

"I will not give them my sister." Rhistel chuckled softly as he leaned toward her.

"I thought you do not like your sister. I had heard that my wife is selfish and greedy." oriana blushed. She tried to push him away when his soft breath creased her neck.

"You have heard it right, my lord. I have been very greedy and selfish to the point where I have only used my sister and kids for my benefit. I was under the impression that I was helping them. But I never realized my actions were like poison to them." her voice shook and her eyes dimmed as she remembered her time in the capital city. "I was blinded by the shine of their social gathering. I thought that was all for life. But now, I know it was not true." she turned to meet his eyes.

"When I came here, I was expecting a duke dressed in fine silk. But I saw you dressed like commoners walking on the street haggling over an apple. I thought you were a fraud." he laughed at that and she looked at the window again.

He could see fear crawling in her eyes.

"And now.." he pulled her to him again. "What do you think now?"

"Now.. I am lucky that I have met you. You have changed me for the better. Now I understand, as long as we are not starving for food and have enough to cover our bodies, we do not need more money. What we need is a family to share that warmth and love to fill our hearts." her voice low as she looked at her hands.

She did not dare to meet his eyes as she could feel its heat burning her cheeks.

"Then do you love me, oriana." oriana froze. She had thought about the question a thousand times in her mind. But she had never thought that he would ever ask her this.

After all, their marriage was not based on love. She was already lucky that he had respected her and protected her.

"What about you, my lord? Do you love me?" Rhistel held her cheeks and lifted her head so that she could meet his eyes.

"Would you only answer if I reply first?" she bit her lips at his teasing voice. She was not a young girl. She had already given birth to two kids. She had enough experience in bed.

She knew how to whisper sweet nothing and open her legs. She knew how to moan and whimper so that a man’s ego would be inflated enough. She knew how to give them pleasure.

Yet, a simple question had left her stunned and dumbfounded. Oriana’s breath hitched. She looked away from him, her fingers twisting the hem of her sleeve.

"I... I don’t know what love is, Rhistel," she whispered. "I never did."

"I spent so long chasing status, making sure my dresses were perfect, that my words were graceful, my smiles strategic. I only thought of how people saw me. I learned how to please, how to impress, but not how to feel. I never stopped to ask myself what I truly wanted." Her voice cracked. "And by the time I did, I had already hurt everyone I should’ve protected."

She swallowed thickly and dared a glance at him.

"I thought love was gifts and grand gestures. Or being adored at parties. But... Now I think maybe it’s what you did. When you walked barefoot through the snow to find me when I ran off in the storm. Or when you told the vassal family I was your wife, even when they mocked me as an abandoned widow."

Rhistel’s gaze softened, his thumb brushing a tear from her cheek she hadn’t realized had fallen.

"I’m not angry, Oriana." His voice was low and rough but she felt softness in it. She blinked at him in surprise.

He leaned closer, his hand slipping gently around the back of her neck, grounding her.

"You said you didn’t know what love is," he murmured, "but I do. It’s not just a feeling. It’s choosing someone again and again. It’s standing beside them even when it’s hard. Even when it’s dangerous."

She nodded slowly, her lips trembling.

"Then let me ask you something," he continued, his forehead brushing hers. "If it came to it, if everything fell apart tonight... would you die with me here? Would you sacrifice your life to save Olivia and Damon?" Oriana froze. Her eyes widened, but she did not pull away.

She didn’t answer right away, but her fingers curled around his sleeve.

"I would," she said quietly. "I’m afraid. But I would."

Rhistel smiled. It wasn’t his usual smirk or the cold mask he wore in front of strangers. It was warm. Real.

"Then you already know what love is," he whispered. "Sacrifice is its purest form."

He kissed her then, gently, reverently, as though she was something precious. Oriana’s heart stuttered in her chest, and for the first time in a long while, she felt light. Not because she was perfect, not because she had become a duchess or lived in manor as a madam again, but she was ready to sacrifice all those things happily for him.

"I’ll protect you," Rhistel said when they parted. "Not because it’s my duty. But because I want to grow old with you, Oriana. I want you beside me. Stay here, I promise that I will return for you."

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