"Was it difficult?" Vaela asked, voice as soft as melting snow.

Dain had went back to sleep after greeting his brother, smiling like a fool, promising Kaden a hearty talk after a well-needed sleep.

There was only Vaela and Kaden, the others having enough awareness to know when to suddenly have a task to complete.

Now, Vaela was with Kaden in one part of the dungeon in complete solitude. Kaden was sitting on a chair made of blood, while she sat on the weeded earth, between his legs, giving him her long silky crimson hair.

Her mask was no longer on her face, same for Kaden. There, one could see how Vaela's eyes were now pure white like a blank canvas, waiting for something to paint it in starry luster.

Kaden was braiding her hair, his hands nimble and strangely professional, a small smile plastered on his handsome face.

The wind around them was soft and gentle, whispering inside their ears like a lullaby.

The air tasted soft and sweet. The artificial sun of the dungeon had sunk back to oblivion, now letting a starry picture color the night sky.

In front of Vaela was a blank canvas, and alongside her, on the right side, was the full set of her painting tools.

She licked her lips, eager to paint.

Her question echoed inside Kaden's head and his mind flashed for a moment, going back to everything he went through.

He only came to Asterion in order to go to the Church of Sorrow, intending to solve a mystery regarding his fiancée, Rea.

Yet so much happened with only that simple decision.

Wasn't it always how things were? One decision, seemingly simple on the surface, leading you to a destination none could fathom?

That was what happened to Kaden.

He got captured, imprisoned in the Madhouse, died multiple times to evolve his two intents, started a mythic quest, met the two Asterion princes, saw Aurora… and so on.

Many things happened.

But…

Was it difficult?

Honestly, that was a question Kaden would have smiled and scoffed at if it was anyone else.

But right now, at that time… Kaden was exhausted. He accepted the burden, but he needed to let some of it out. And if he couldn't even open his heart to the one who shared his life and death, then who would he open to?

So he parted his lips, his movements calm and soft as he braided Vaela's hair in beautiful knots,

"Yes." Kaden whispered, "It was difficult."

"Was it worth it?" Vaela asked once more, her hands darting on the canvas masterfully, "and did you accomplish everything you sought?"

"Worth it?" Kaden echoed, then nodded lightly, "It was indeed worth the effort and the pain. But even with that, I didn't manage to do the one thing I was supposed to do."

"Which was?" Vaela asked.

Kaden paused at that time. He looked deeply at Vaela and at her way of painting. Memories flashed.

Now, he knew why he sensed a familiar aura on her. Only Aurora would paint in that way, and the scent of Aurora was all over Vaela, cloaking her the way a veil would.

In that same breath, he noticed how, back in the mythic quest, Aurora was eerily similar to Vaela in some astonishing way. Sometimes she would say the same words Vaela once did to him, and her desire to be his eyes was identical to Vaela's own.

Kaden began to question, but he didn't question for long. He halted his brain forcefully, and simply answered. His heart started to pick up the pace, intending to go from walking to full sprint.

His chest trumpeted.

"I," he began, steaming out a thick sigh to relieve the tension inside his body, "I did not manage to save the person I promised I will."

Vaela stifled an amused laugh, sensing the racing heart of Kaden. He was truly a cute one. Yet she was no better, focusing a majority of her power to steady the stomping of her heart, and to stop her face from looking like too much blood was pooling on it.

"Do you know," Vaela said, "that saving someone, my dear, doesn't always mean keeping them alive?"

"What?" Kaden asked, confused.

Vaela took an expansive breath and explained,

"There is something far deeper than just making someone unable to die." She said, "You can stop someone from dying, but that doesn't mean you can give that someone the will and the determination to strive into this world."

"So at that time, what would it matter if you made that being escape death? The moment you turn your back, my dear, that person would jump at the slightest opportunity to join the otherworld."

She paused briefly, then in a soft whisper…

"For there was no will inside. And there is no life without the will to live."

Her hands went faster on the white canvas. Slowly, shapes began to form. A back, two arms, a hug.

Kaden was still braiding her hair, yet his fingers were slowing down, his eyes widening as understanding began to dawn upon him.

Once again, his crimson starry eyes began to shimmer.

He cursed silently.

Vaela continued smoothly, her voice holding a distinct emotion.

One Kaden knew all too well.

It was one he had felt from Meris. And it was one he had felt from his family, though different in flavor.

It was also one he had felt during his meetings in the mythic quest, with Vert and Estelle. But there too, different in flavor.

The feeling dripping from Vaela's voice was heavy and crushing, as if wanting to devour him whole. Yet Kaden found himself willing.

Strange, he thought, heart speeding up again.

"So don't beat yourself too hard, my dear." Vaela murmured, "You have the right to be merciful to yourself, in the same way you are to others. You might not have extended the life of Aurora…"

Kaden's heart skipped a beat at the name,

"…but you have given her life, for what she was living was not one. You freed her from enslavement, and you followed her in her quest to bring down an empire. You showed her how life could be beautifully cruel, and how it was worth living despite the dark times."

Kaden's hands no longer moved, his head hung low.

"You made her wish to live longer, and with that came the wish to live with you and for you."

Prometheus could no longer speak. Vaela smiled, her painting finally done.

She put her painting tools on the ground, then swiftly pivoted her body.

She faced Kaden, saw him lowering his head, hiding his tears.

Tears began to flow down her cheeks too, seeing his own.

She unhurriedly raised her hands, her fingers dirtied by paint, but she didn't care. She grasped Kaden's face between her palms, raised it so that they could look at each other's eyes.

Vaela's smile deepened, one achingly beautiful on her teary face.

But how could it not be beautiful?

After all, a woman in love, as a melodramatic smart author once said, was truly a beautiful one.

Kaden was transfixed by it. For a brief moment, he saw the vision of Vaela and Aurora smiling at him before merging into one being… the one in front of him.

His eyes widened, now finally understanding.

"Do you understand now?" Vaela laughed softly, "You saved her, my dear. And I am the living proof of your effort and your suffering."

"Aurora might be gone, but I have her within me, and thus I am more complete."

She leaned her head forward and placed her forehead against his, "I am no longer Vaela Cerveau, The Seer. I am also neither Aurora Starborn, The Last Star…"

She paused, then…

"…I am both of them. I am Vaela Aurora Crimson, The Crimson Star." She cracked a grin, "and I am your eyes."

"So hold your head high, my dear."

Her voice cooled, then turned into a whisper,

"Aurora died with life inside of her." Their eyes were locked together, "You didn't fail, Kaden. You didn't."

Kaden absorbed all these words into him, tears trickling down, understanding everything Vaela had just uttered to him.

Aurora was no more, but she left in her place the Vaela in front of him. Vaela had inherited her memories, her feelings, and her whole existence.

At the end, just like him bearing the burden of Aurora's existence and death, she was bearing the same, just differently.

He smiled faintly, wiping slowly his tears,

"Will you be able to bear it?" He asked, voice rasped with emotion.

Vaela smirked, "If I cannot, then no one can."

Kaden laughed heartily.

"But…" Vaela continued, bringing her head even closer to Kaden, "…I admit I have some urge I cannot resist, my dear."

Kaden froze. Vaela was just an inch from him, their breathing dancing together, their noses kissing shyly, while their lips whispered to each other in a forbidden language.

He crooked a smile,

"Mind you, Vaela," he said, "I am still fifteen years old."

Vaela rolled her eyes, "Aren't I your sugar mommy?"

"That's not the definition of sugar mommy."

"I will create my own then." She got an inch closer, her lips trembling and her face flushed red despite her brave act.

She was old compared to Kaden, but Vaela had never kissed anyone. This would be her first time.

But fortunately, or unfortunately, she didn't plan to kiss him that day.

"You have your two fiancées already." Vaela said, "I will only touch your lips once my existence is known to them and your family. For now…"

She craned her neck to one side and gave him a smooth kiss on his right cheek.

Kaden's eyes widened.

She parted her lips from his cheek, leaving behind a glaring crimson lip-shaped mark. With a satisfied smile she looked back at Kaden, whose eyes seemed lost and dazed.

Vaela cackled, her heart overwhelming with too much pink feeling,

"Did I already say it?" She asked between bursts of laughter.

Kaden looked at her, still dazed, "W-what?"

Vaela's face split into an open beaming smile,

"I will die for you, Kaden Warborn." She said, "Do you know that?"

Kaden fell silent, understanding the meaning behind those words. He closed his eyes, lips pulling upward,

"I will die for you too, Vaela."

He paused, then…

"But I already did."

"What?"

Kaden now laughed. In that process, his eyes inadvertently caught the sight of the painting Vaela had done.

He froze, eyes dilating.

It was a painting of his back with the life-like Mark of Burden embraced by Vaela in a tight overwhelming hug.

Seeing this, once again, he laughed, for he knew that the burden he was carrying…

'It's worth it.'

—End of Chapter 359—

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