William continued watching Maximus with an unreadable expression before quietly speaking to Sera and Tamasya. "We never stopped to think about how they actually felt."
His voice remained low. "We only saw Maximus desperately searching for Lia because he loved her."
He paused. "But maybe that wasn’t the only thing driving him."
He looked toward the kneeling man. Along with love, there was guilt, there was regret, and perhaps the need to spend the rest of his life repenting.
"It wasn’t even his fault," Tamasya spoke thoughtfully.
"Everything happened because of his stepmother’s schemes."
William slowly shook his head. "Whether it was his fault or not doesn’t always matter."
His gaze never left Maximus as he spoke almost absentmindedly. "For a man, the greatest failure is being unable to protect the people he loves the most."
He fell silent for a long moment.
"That feeling doesn’t disappear. It stays with you."
"For the rest of your life." As those words left his mouth, something stirred deep inside William’s own heart.
His expression gradually changed. A question surfaced within his mind that he had never truly allowed himself to ask.
If he ever traveled back in time or somehow managed to stand before the family he had lost...
What would he do? Would he also kneel before them? Would he apologize for failing them?
Would he even be capable of speaking, or would guilt rob him of every word, just as it had done to Maximus?
For the first time, William realized that Maximus’s suffering felt painfully familiar.
Although their circumstances were completely different, the emotions buried beneath them were almost identical.
While William remained lost in his own thoughts, both Sera and Tamasya quietly observed him. Neither woman interrupted him.
They simply watched the subtle changes crossing his face. Neither of them knew exactly what he was thinking, but both immediately sensed that something inside him had shifted.
Women who genuinely loved someone often noticed changes that others overlooked, and after spending so much time beside William, both of them had become accustomed to reading even the smallest changes in his expressions.
Sera briefly looked toward Tamasya.
Tamasya returned the glance.
Without exchanging a single word, both silently confirmed that neither of them knew what memory had suddenly surfaced inside William’s mind.
Tamasya quietly attempted to question Virgo about this, and as expected, she received no answer.
The brief moment of reflection soon came to an end as William slowly inhaled before returning his attention to the reunion unfolding before him as Lia finally moved.
She slowly lowered the hands she had unconsciously raised in front of herself. Her trembling gradually subsided.
"Stand up."
Her voice was firm. It carried enough authority that everyone present instinctively turned toward her.
Even Tamasya’s wandering thoughts disappeared as her attention immediately returned to Lia. For the first time since falling to his knees, Maximus looked upward.
His sobbing gradually quieted. Without speaking, he slowly rose to his feet.
Standing before Lia once again, he towered nearly a foot above her. Yet despite the difference in height, he felt infinitely smaller.
Lia looked directly into his tear-filled eyes without flinching. There was no hesitation within her gaze anymore.
Only determination.
"Do you love me?"
Her question echoed through the silent surroundings. Maximus stared at her for several long seconds.
Without answering verbally, he reached into his storage ring. A dagger appeared in his hand. He held it by the blade before offering the handle toward Lia.
"I can do anything except stop loving you."
"If killing me will ease your pain, then I will die smiling. I won’t have any regrets."
"But don’t question my love for you."
Lia’s breathing quickened. Her eyes briefly shifted toward the dagger before returning to Maximus.
"What else?" she asked ruthlessly.
Silence followed. Maximus opened his mouth, but no words came out.
"Do you love me enough to take responsibility for me?" Lia voiced.
"Yes."
The answer came without hesitation. "Do you love me enough to take revenge for me?" she asked
"Yes." His reply remained immediate.
"Do you love me enough to protect me?"
"Yes."
Every answer grew firmer than the last. Lia stepped closer.
She suddenly reached forward and grabbed both sides of Maximus’s face with surprising strength before pulling him downward until their foreheads touched.
The distance between them completely disappeared. Their breaths mixed together.
Her eyes had become bloodshot. Years of suppressed anger, fear, loneliness, and grief surged to the surface.
"Do you love me enough to burn the entire world for me?" she asked with an aggressive posture.
"Yes." This time Maximus’s reply carried absolute conviction.
No hesitation remained within him.
"Do you love me enough..." Her breathing became increasingly uneven.
"...to kill your own family?"
"YES." His voice thundered through the air with equal intensity.
"I forgive you." Lia replied instantly.
For a single heartbeat, everything became silent.
Then Lia’s expression completely changed. Every emotion she had suppressed finally erupted. She released his face.
Her arm swung backward.
SLAP!
A slap echoed across the surroundings with explosive force. The sheer impact sent shockwaves through the air.
"AAAHHHHHHH!..."
Lia screamed at the top of her lungs. It was not merely anger. It was years of despair finally finding an outlet.
She grabbed the front of Maximus’s blazer with both hands before burying her face against his chest.
Her entire body shook uncontrollably as she cried without restraint.
Maximus staggered from the tremendous slap before barely managing to steady himself. Only after regaining his balance did he realize that Lia had finally entered his embrace.
His arms slowly wrapped around her.
One hand rested behind her head. The other gently held her back.
He hugged her as though he feared she might disappear again if he loosened his grip even slightly.
"Shit..."
William muttered beneath his breath. Unlike everyone else, he had immediately noticed the true extent of that explosive slap.
Lia had not merely struck Maximus. The tremendous force had ruptured veins beneath the left side of his face.
Hairline fractures spread through part of his skull. It was astonishing that he had remained standing at all.
A moment later, Sera and Tamasya gasped. Thin streams of blood slowly began flowing from Maximus’s nose.
Blood followed from the corners of his eyes.
Even his ears began bleeding.
Completely unaware of his injuries, Maximus continued holding Lia while she cried against him.
William quietly walked a bit forward and raised his hands.
Without interrupting the embrace, he activated Blessing of the king.
Warm golden light quietly flowed through Maximus’s body.
The fractured sections of his skull seamlessly fused back together.
The ruptured blood vessels repaired themselves.
The internal bleeding stopped within seconds.
Soon afterward, even the blood flowing from his nose, ears, and eyes completely disappeared.
William withdrew his hand without saying anything.
There was no need for them to know what had happened. This reunion had already waited far too long.
He had no intention of ruining it by drawing attention away from the two people who had finally found each other again.