"She did," Morgaine whispered, with not the slightest doubt.
By his words, she didn’t just say, I love you.
She showed it with her actions, and a single good action was worth more than a hundred promises or declarations.
"How could something that powerful not work out?" she asked, perplexed... and hopeful.
"Because it didn’t seem like that at first. The truth was, we had a deal in place. She helps me save Endearth, and I give her freedom."
"Have her regain her freedom? Was she a captive of yours!?" Morgaine asked suspiciously, and he shook his head.
"She was powerful, dangerous even, but locked up."
"The deal was the only way I could bring her out while also keeping Endearth and myself safe."
"So all she did at first, one could say, was just her keeping her end of the deal to get what she wanted, right?"
"Hmmm," Morgaine hummed softly, before asking again.
"Did you ever regret it? Did you ever wish she had stayed enough for you to say yes to the letter?"
"Or like regret of not being with her in the end?"
Ryuk shook his head.
"No, I don’t regret not being with her in the end."
"You don’t?" she asked, almost in disbelief.
"I don’t, really." Ryuk said with a shrug.
She watched his normal goofy mood return, though he still replied seriously.
"The relationship started as a simple deal. You’re there for me, and in return, I’ll get what you want the most."
"She stuck through her words, and naturally, I stuck through mine, dispersing the contract at the end of everything, and she went on her path."
"One could say it was a business deal with a little bit of harmless spice."
"It could have budded into something more, but that doesn’t mean I regretted that it didn’t."
"In the end, if I have to choose between the relationship having grown into something more, compared to all I am and all I have now..." He said as she felt his hold around her gently tighten.
"Then, I would still choose this current life of mine without a second thought."
The unconscious action of his, mader her smile sweetly, and she forced out the whisper,
"So in the end, you still chose me?"
"No."
He said, pulling her closer, while his cheeks rested on her head.
"You were never a choice to begin with," he responded, as she silently sniffled, buried her face into his chest.
For a second, Morgaine felt herself lesser.
Nothing more than a second choice because the first never worked out.
Nothing more than a second choice because the first never worked out.
But how could she not feel that way?
Compared to Aster, how had she ever proven to him she loved him?
All she ever did was be a headache, get in trouble, force him to risk his life coming to save her... and in his darkest moment, when he needed help the most.
Where was she?
By his side? No.
She was there, holed up in her royal castle, doing nothing but hoping.
It was one of her scariest nightmares: Of not being worthy enough to stand by his side, and one day being replaced.
But his words, of always choosing to stick with her, never seeing her as a choice to be taken or dropped, brought her to tears.
A warmth radiated through her, stronger than anything she had ever felt.
But she was pulled out of it when he said—
"Don’t get too comfy with that, though."
"Huh?" She said, turning to Ryuk, and watched him reply with a smug smile.
"She left her contact number on the letter too, so she’s just a call away."
He said it with a happy grin that made a vein appear on her temple.
"A girl’s number on your device!? YOU DICKHEAD!" she shouted, as he burst out into loud, mocking laughter.
"I know you’re one jealous thing," he teased, watching her pout with a loud hmph.
A thought crossed Ryuk’s mind, reminding him of something, and his brows furrowed a bit, something Morgaine noticed.
"Wut’s wrong?"
"I’ve just been thinking about that... other consciousness of yours," he said.
"The Grand Elder told me it only happened because you specially allowed it. I’ve been wondering how true that is..."
"He’s right, and it wasn’t supposed to go that awry." She responded.
"No one could have imagined the Throne of Consciousness in me would reject the less stronger consciousness and refuse me control over my body."
"And since she had access to some of my memories, she was able to learn my behavioral patterns and deceive people into thinking I was the real person."
"Even the Clan Elders and the Grand Elders never knew the difference, and thought they were still speaking to me, with her only showing up during cultivation moments."
"So, you not coming home...?" he asked, and she nodded.
"Yes, that wasn’t me."
"She guessed that if she had come home to you guys, you would have easily noticed something was wrong. So she opted for a video call."
Morgaine explained, and Ryuk hummed before remembering something.
"Even with a video call, though, Mrs. Lynia was still able to tell," he replied.
"She did?"
"Yes. She told me, ’The one who called wasn’t the Morgaine I knew.’ And it was what led me to appear in the Dominare Grounds in the first place."
"It was also how I instantly recognized you weren’t the one," he said, and Morgaine hummed before smiling sweetly.
"I guess I might need to love to that... old hag," she whispered into Ryuk’s ear, toward the end of her words.
He chuckled, whispering back:
"She’s more beautiful than you, though."
"Shut up," she shouted in anger.
"It isn’t a lie, though," he said, watching her huff.
The truth was, Morgaine was beautiful. Incredibly so.
But Mrs. Lynia?
She wasn’t just beautiful, she was charming.
One who had recognized her beauty and perfected it with a fitting attitude and mannerism.
Comparing Morgaine and her was like comparing a prodigious soldier who had yet to undergo training but had the potential to be a commander, versus a prodigious soldier who had already completed their training.
She was everything but an "old hag," like Morgaine claimed, and for now, she was winning that beauty contest.
"About Odette, Ryuk," Morgaine suddenly called, and he turned to her.
"What about her?"