The night was quiet, except for the low splashing sound of the spring water sprayed on the statue of Goddess Isdar in the courtyard.
The hexahedral diamond-shaped crystal column stands in the middle of the courtyard, emitting a soft white light in the dark night.
In one corner of the room, the little milk lion curled up on the soft cushion, like a ball of hair, with its little fluffy head buried in the two short legs, making a snoring sound.
It slept soundly, completely unaware of what had just happened in the room.
The night wind that had been blowing violently for a while just now softened again, swept across the water surface of the Crescent Pool, lifted a translucent veil, and blew into the open floor-to-ceiling windows.
The golden forehead moved slightly. Sitting on the bed, Garlan turned his head and glanced outside the window where the light green flower buds were swaying gently in the wind.
As soon as he moved, the arms holding him tightened, but he seemed to be afraid of his pain, and then loosened immediately after tightening.
Garlan's hand lightly patted Heimos' back.
Heimos hugged him and wrapped his arms tightly in his arms, as if afraid that he would disappear.
His head was buried deep in his neck, and his dark hair fell on his shoulders.
That appearance, like a big dog that has been away from its owner for too long, so it must rest on its owner's lap to feel at ease, no matter how much it holds Garlan, it refuses to let go.
Garlan didn't say anything, didn't do anything, just let Heimos hold him and hug him back.
He could feel a slightly soaked touch on his shoulders.
He still didn't say anything, but from time to time he would gently caress Heimos's back with his hands.
I don't know how long it took, the crescent moon had already crossed the sky, and before I knew it, it was already midnight.
"Heimos."
Garland let out a soft cry.
After a short pause, Heimos finally raised his head slowly.
His lips were still pressed tightly.
From the beginning to the present, the man's thin lips have not made a sound.
Under the soft light, it could be clearly seen that the corners of his eyes were red at the moment, extremely red.
The face with sharp lines and arrogance like a blade is now full of tears.
Perhaps it is because of this great contrast that it makes people feel more distressed.
A strand of wet white hair fell in the corners of her red eyes.
Garlan looked up at Heimos. He raised his hand and wiped the tears from Heimos' face with the palm of his hand.
His fingers ran through the strands of snow-like hair, and then he saw the deep scar on the corner of his eye.
It's Heimos.
From the look in the eyes of this person, Garlan knew that this person was Heimos.
But what he didn't expect was that Heimos turned out to be Heimos.
There are still burn marks on the hands without palm prints, and there is a scar that extends to the ear at the corner of the eye.
This is the Heimos from two thousand years ago.
He was not reincarnated in this age like his brother or Cayhorth.
Garland remembered.
Brother Kamos said that the barrier of time is extremely powerful, and the power required to let the soul cross the time is enough to shatter the throne.
It is absolutely impossible for a person to cross the torrent of time together with his body.
Unless the world is destroyed and the rules are broken.
Why would Heimos...
But Garland didn't want to ask.
Because it is not necessary.
This person is right in front of his eyes now, he doesn't say a word, just keeps shedding tears, like a child who has suffered a lot of grievances, which makes him feel distressed.
So he didn't ask anything, just looked at him and raised his hand to wipe the tears off that face.
"I wanted to find you."
Garland said, his wet fingertips, which had just wiped away the tears, stroked Heimos's forehead lightly.
His eyes fell on the unusually conspicuous strands of white hair between the jet-black forehead.
"Although I don't know where you will be, will you remember me... and how long it will take me to find you."
Heimos, who pursed his lips tightly, did not speak immediately, his red eyes still fixed on Garlan.
"But you said it."
The man finally spoke.
He spoke slowly, word by word, stiff as if he hadn't spoken for a long time.
The voice was not only low, but horribly hoarse.
"You told me at that time..."
He raised his hand and grabbed Garlan's hands.
He gripped tightly, his brown fingers digging deep into his white wrists.
He looked at Garland with accusing eyes.
"You said, you don't want me anymore."
Garland took a breath.
He didn't respond for a while, and just stared at Heimos in a daze.
In a word, the memories of that time flooded into him.
He remembered his powerlessness at that time, and the words he said to Heimos with a smile at that time.
It was obviously painful, whether it was the body or the deepest part of the body, it was so painful that it was hard to breathe.
However, he still had to say that sentence to Heimos with that calm tone and a smile.
[I don't want you anymore, Heimos.]
Garland lowered his eyes.
Heimos held his hands in his hands, but he bowed his head and lowered his eyes.
The blond hair that fell from his cheeks covered his face, casting shadows on his side cheeks.
He bit his lower lip slowly.
He kept thinking about what to say when he found Heimos.
Is it 'sorry', or...
Now this person is right in front of him, but he can't say anything.
He did the cruelest thing to him.
He clearly knew what he meant to him, but he still left him there alone.
[Guard Aaron Landis as you guard me.]
He knew that every word Heimos said to him had been fulfilled.
This man is always like this, always sending his everything to him without hesitation.
But he took advantage of Heimos's love for him in this cruel way, and made Heimos make that promise.
Even in the name of protecting Aaron Landis, everyone, and even Heimos, he couldn't deny it.
Now, facing Heimos, he couldn't even say 'sorry'.
In front of this man, a 'sorry' is so pale.
Under the soft light, the drooping slender eyelashes cast a deep shadow on the boy's cheeks.
The boy's lower lip was clenched tightly, and his teeth were deeply sunken, to the point that the lips were slightly white.
At this moment, Heimos suddenly lowered his head, leaned over, and kissed Garlan.
He held the other person's lips, and the soft tip of his tongue opened the teeth of Garlan's clenched lower lip with extremely gentle movements.
He loosened his gripped wrists and held Garlan's head in both hands. The tip of his tongue gently licked the white part of the boy's lips as if soothing.
Extremely pitiful.
After a while, Heimos raised his head, put his forehead lightly on Garlan's head, and rubbed it.
"Don't bite."
He says,
"I'm not angry anymore."
Obviously he was still complaining a second ago, but now he is coaxing the person in his arms in a low voice.
"I just deliberately scare you, I'm not angry."
He held Garlan's head in both hands, his forehead rubbing lightly against the blonde hair.
The warmth from the other party's forehead softened Heimos's gaze.
His fingers kept stroking the hot skin, which was completely different from the cold body he remembered.
That kind of warmth penetrated into his body, as if to dispel the coldness of more than two thousand years.
As he spoke, he gently kissed the corners of the eyes, forehead, and tips of the ears of the boy in his arms.
"Stop biting."
He said in a husky voice.
"I feel bad."
The chest that seemed to be under heavy pressure suddenly became sour, and even the tip of the nose seemed to be sour.
Garlan stretched out his hand and hugged the person in front of him tightly.
He tried his best to endure the thick bitterness at the tip of his nose, and buried his entire face into the other's broad chest.
It was a hug he was all too familiar with.
He closed his eyes and pressed his cheeks against the man's strong chest. Through that thin layer of muscle, he could hear a clear heartbeat coming from the depths of the other's chest.
one more time.
Strong and powerful.
Make him feel unspeakably at ease.
[Wherever you are, I will come to you.]
[Even if it is hell.]
Every word he said to him was a promise.
…
…
That night two thousand years ago.
In the dark night, the brilliance of the stars fills the sky.
The top floor of the White Royal Palace, the temple at the highest point of the palace, has a dome roof, and all four walls are relief stone statues of the gods of Aaron Landis.
The night was terribly silent.
The black-haired man squatted in the center of the empty temple, and the boy's cold body was held in his arms.
He raised his head and looked slowly around the reliefs of the gods on the stone wall of the temple with frightening eyes.
"I know you can hear me."
At the price of his achievement of unifying the continent, he asked to make a contract with the gods.
At first, the gods were silent and did not respond to his words.
And he no longer speaks, indifferent.
For two days and three nights, he remained motionless, like a stone statue.
The gods, who could no longer be silent any longer, finally responded to him.
[If 'he' does not return, your soul will be trapped in this body forever and will never be liberated.]
The gods had warned him so.
[Even so, do you want to make this contract?]
The man nodded without hesitation.
The sighs of the gods resounded in the void.
[as you wish.]
From the moment of the pact with the gods, time stood still on Heimos.
Since then, his heart has stopped beating.
From now on, time will not pass on him.
Those few strands of white hair that were like snow in an instant were a symbol of the contract.
Until Gallan sets foot again on the land of Aaronlandis, his time will forever stop at the moment of the covenant.
…
After making a pact with the gods, he walked out of the royal tomb to inherit the throne.
Completing the tasks of the gods and reaching the thread of destiny is his only goal.
Other than that, he doesn't care about anything.
Because time stands still, his appearance has not changed in the past decades.
Although everyone was surprised by this, because of their fear of him, no one dared to talk much.
Thirty-two years later, he entered the royal mausoleum after completing the task and began to wait in a deep sleep.
And this is more than two thousand years.
…
Holding the beloved who had been waiting for two thousand years in his arms, Heimos's low and hoarse voice sounded in the quiet night, saying his contract with the gods.
Garland listened quietly.
It was not until the end that he raised his hand and touched the handsome face that was no different from two thousand years ago.
He said softly, "You didn't think about it, what would you do if I didn't go back two thousand years, or I couldn't come to Aaron Landis because of an accident?"
"Then go to sleep."
Lovingly embraced the warm body of the boy in his arms, said Heimos.
He put it lightly.
"It's okay not to wake up."
If he didn't fall asleep, he would probably fall into madness during the long wait.
If the person in his arms is not there when he wakes up, he would rather sleep forever.
"I don't need reincarnation."
He says,
"Whether it's you two thousand years ago, or you two thousand years later, it's all 'you'."
"Without this contract, two thousand years later, the 'me' you encounter may not necessarily be me."
"I won't allow it."
Reincarnation
No, he never believed in an afterlife.
He only needs this person in front of him at the moment, as long as now.
Perhaps thinking of something unpleasant to him, Heimos tightened his arms.
His tone was cold.
"Even if that is the reincarnated me, I absolutely can't stand 'him' touching you, let alone being nice to him."
Garland was dumbfounded for a moment.
After a while, he raised his hand and poked Heimos' cheek.
"It's stingy."
"Whatever you say."
The man, who was showing his great desire for exclusiveness, grabbed the hand that had poked his cheek several times, lowered his head, and blocked Garlan's mouth with force.
"Not even another me," he said. "You can only be mine!"
Only belong to me.