The Veil of Darkness
Chapter 400: Elaine X Esmeray (Part Four)

Chapter 400: Elaine X Esmeray (Part Four)

Elaine stared into the eyes were so familiar to her yet she was unable to recognize them at the moment. The one thing she never expected to see in those eyes for herself was possessiveness.

But right at that moment, the King of Darkness was looking at her as if she was his most treasured person and he would destroy the whole world just to keep her by his side.

Her lips still carried the warmth of the kiss and her mind repeated his words over and over.

"What are you doing?" She asked, her voice a mere whisper as she had lost all her strength. Her body was barely holding her up and she suddenly found herself grateful for the support of the wall at her back.

Esmeray stepped forward and closed all the remaining space between them, almost pushing their bodies against each other’s. His hands found her waist and he finally answered while staring right into her eyes. "I’m doing what I should have done a long time ago."

"K-kissing me?" Elaine stammered while asking the question.

A smile appeared on Esmeray’s lips, a very rare sight of him for Elaine. He slowly nodded his head before speaking - "That as well... but I’m talking about ending your doubts about my involvement in our relationship."

Elaine didn’t say anything and just stared at him, waiting for further clarification, and she did get it, one that left her shocked.

"It’s true that I kept my distance from you and always treated you as the Crown Princess of this Realm instead of my mate, but that wasn’t because I didn’t love you, Elaine. I have loved you since forever, and nothing can change this truth."

His voice was so soft, his words were so genuine... yet, Elaine couldn’t bring herself to trust him. She felt like it was another one of those dreams where she pretended that he was deeply in love with her and cherished her just like she wanted him to. She found herself shaking her head as she whispered - "I don’t believe you. You have never cared about me all these years. You never noticed me no matter how hard I tried. You never..."

"I did." Esmeray didn’t let her finish and hurriedly confessed. "I have always cared about you. I always noticed you... I just didn’t let it show."

"But why?" There was desperation in Elaine’s voice and her eyes sparkled with unshed tears.

"Because I promised your fathers that I will never hold you back from reaching your full potential." Esmeray finally confessed and watched as surprise took over the hurt in her eyes. "It was a promise made for your benefit because your fathers and I, both wanted to see you become powerful and worthy of the throne. I promised to keep my distance frkm you until you finish your studies and did everything to make you focus on your progress instead of a romantic relationship with me. But none of us realized that we would end up hurting you in the process. The realization hit us really late despite the warnings that your mother kept giving us from time to time.

"Stupid."

"Who? Your fathers?"

The glare that Elaine gave him made Esmeray chuckle at her cuteness. "My apology, Your Highness. I was just joking. Of course, the stupid one here is me."

Elaine let out a sigh as she folded her hands across her chest and glared at the man standing in front of her. She was having a hard time deciding at whom she should be feeling more angry at - her mate or her extremely overprotective fathers. It seemed like it was time she should sit down and talk with her fathers to make them understand that it was time they should let her handle her life.

"So, why are you telling me this now?" She asked him.

"Because I’m now finally free from that promise since you have finished your studies. And I no longer want the misunderstandings between us to keep building." Esmeray explained. "I must not have been a perfect mate in the past but I want to change that now. I want to make up for all your complaints."

Elaine stared at him in silence for a while, trying to see if he was actually serious or not. After observing him for a while, she concluded that he was indeed serious. Keeping her cold demeanor, she asked - "Going to make up - how?"

A smile curved the corners of Esmeray’s lips as he clicked his fingers and a booklet materialized in his hand. "Here’s a little help from your mother. This contains the list of things I will probably need to do in order to earn your forgiveness."

The booklet disappeared from his hand before Elaine couldn have gotten her hands on it.

"You needed my attention, care, warmth, love, and I failed to provide any of them. So, from now on, I will give my all to you." Esmeray spoke softly as he once again stepped closer to her. Looking into her beautiful eyes, he asked - "Can you forgive me, and give me a second chance to become your best soulmate?"

Elaine was still having a hard time believing her ears. Just a few moments ago, this same man was determined to ignore her, but now, he was making promises she never expected from him but always wanted. Would she be considered stupid if she believed him?

"How can I forgive you when you haven’t even started working on your faults? Just accepting your mistake and asking for forgiveness isn’t enough for me." Elaine responded in a determined tone.

The corners of Esmeray’s lips only curved further at her comment. "Then should I start? How about I fulfill one of the things you always wanted to experience with me?" He asked with a straight face that didn’t betray his true thoughts at all.

"What is it?" Elaine asked cluelessly, wondering what was the content of that booklet.

"This..." Esmeray whispered as he closed the remaining space between their faces and kissed her again, causing their bond to fill with life instantly.

Elaine was shocked for a moment because of the second kiss that came as suddenly as the first one, but this time she didn’t stand there like a statue, instead, she wrapped her hands around his neck and returned the kiss.

She might be giving in too easily after all the pain and sadness she suffered for years, but what she really wanted was the love of her mate, and she was finally getting it. She felt content just with that.

Just like the saying - Light and Darkness belonged together, each one was incomplete without the other, Elaine was also complete with Esmeray. She forgave him because he never meant any harm to her. He loved her just as much as she loved him.

From that night onward, their bond and relationship only grew stronger. Just like her parents, Elaine too faced her own hardships that built her into a strong future queen of the Seelie Realm, and Esmeray was always there beside her to guide and protect.

Light and Darkness were once again together, living with love and happiness... just like the rest of the four realms.

THE END!

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A/N: Thank you so much to all those who followed the story till this Chapter - the ending. Your constant love and support has been my biggest motivation.

This story might not be the best one on this platform, but I did my best to make it a beautiful journey for you all as well as for me. Hopefully, you all enjoyed it.

Please leave your reviews after finishing this Chapter so that I can know your thoughts on the story.

Thank you once again!