" Missed me? "
It was a simple question on Max's part and he did not expect Asiva to break down when he asked it.
Right now Asiva had no idea that while she was crying because the isolation between herself and Max had reached a time duration of 6 months, the separation for Max himself had reached above 4 decades.
Technically it should have been Max who cried, but the moment Asiva began shedding tears Max transitioned into the role of consoling her as he said nothing and just tenderly stroked Asiva as she cried her eyes out.
" Y-yes, I missed you a lot! " Asiva said while sniffing and sobbing as she finally managed to get free from Max's grip and turned to give him a hug.
For a good five minutes she did nothing but hug Max tight as her tears slowly dried away and she regained her composure.
Only then did she let go and look at his face as she noticed the change in his facial features and eyes which looked like they had seen everything there was to be seen.
Max looked very mature now, his eyes like a deep ocean which gave Asiva a very secure and homely feeling as if he had everything under control.
Playing cutely with his beard as she ran her fingers through it, she gave Max the cutest smile ever as she said " Okay "
Max chuckled, of every scenario that he had foreseen for their reunion this was definitely the cutest one.
Asiva did not inquire about his changed looks, she did not demand to know what took him so long.
All that mattered to her was that he was back and she was just happy to be with him again.
It was Max on the other hand who eventually started talking about work and the situation of the Bloodfall clan as Asiva answered him meekly and honestly about everything he asked.
" Max…. " She said suddenly when the two of them were in the midst of discussing the army situation, interrupting what Max was saying as she looked longingly at his face.
" Yes? "
" I love you- " Asiva said as she buried herself in his chest with a soft smile.
Max did not understand what was happening here. He did not know what made her unshakably strong wife behave so needy and weak today but he did not dislike it.
Holding her closely Max stopped talking about work, realising that there must have been very difficult events transpiring if Asiva felt so weary and broken down.
It took Asiva two hours to return to her prime minister mode and have her spirits back high as only then did she start speaking objectively and look at the bigger picture.
She retrieved Ravan's mask for him, an artefact she had guarded ever so closely ever since the clone handed it over to her and helped him put it back on.
The moment Max put Hazriel's gifted mask back on, his facial features became indiscernible and his already difficult to inspect stat panel became completely hidden.
With the mask on, He was Ravan Bloodfall once more, the man who needed to prove to the vampire society that his absence from administration was for good reason.
" Asiva, my love- " Max said tenderly as he tried to soften the blow of his departure once more.
" Mmm? "
" I'll get going now, I'll reunite with Sebastian and help devastate the Barbarians.
It'll take me two days but I'll be able to completely resolve the border situation on both planets in these two days, at least I think I will-
After I do, and I walk back here in Dombivli Victorious!
Do come to the palace gate to welcome me officially okay? " Max said as he revealed his plans for a grand re-entry.
" Only if you kiss me when you come- " Asiva demanded
" Okay " Max agreed instantly as Asiva smiled and wished him the best on his adventure.
**********
( Meanwhile, The Council Of Monarchs )
There was a depressing pressure in the council room as everyone could not help but look towards the injured monarch Hades who sat there heavily bandaged with a deep gash across his chest.
The wound was healing at a snail's pace, an effect caused by the nature of the divine spell that caused the injury.
Beniogre was present in today's meeting as well and she had been the one to suppress the inflammation and the secondary effects of the injury personally, but not even the goddess of life herself could heal the gash in Hades's chest, which was a testament to the enemy's strength.
" So Lucifer is in possession of the seed of darkness? The tier 10 treasure the seed of darkness? " The elf monarch asked, anger evident in his voice as he demanded answers from the council as to how did such a terrifying artefact find its way into Lucifer's hand.
" Him having the artefact is probably the reason behind why he can unite the other dark faction sovereigns under one single banner.
The bastard has the capability to kill us in battle now- " Neatwit said enraged as he made an educated guess about the circumstances under which the usually selfish dark faction sovereigns seemed to have united Lucifer's banner.
Hades sighed, he was the one who had been blindsided and ambushed.
As the god of death, he had never felt closer to death than today as he knew that if he had been even a fraction of a second slower then Lucifer would have split his body in half and he would not have been as lucky as he was to just suffer this deep gash.
" Now is not the time to squabble amongst ourselves….. The celestials have taken interest in this matter. A war-game might be forced upon us " Micheal said as his angelic voice silenced the entire council room and drew attention to the words that he was speaking.
The celestials had taken interest in this matter, that could only mean more hardships were sure to follow.