Omega's Rebirth-Chapter 487: Do Things Right ()

At the mention of the familiar name, Neveah tensed up unconsciously and she only eased up when Xenon’s hand snuck around her waist, pulling her closer to his side.

Neveah was not certain why Xenon was bringing up Misha out of the blue when he had never talked about her, not even once till Neveah had found out for herself.

Not just Xenon, but no one in Dragon Keep would talk about it, it was not hard for Neveah to realize it was a difficult topic.

"Xenon... you do not have to say anything to me about it, I understand it is difficult for you." Neveah said to Xenon.

"I do not have to, but I want to... I want you to know. What happened the last time weighs heavily on my heart Veah, and I cannot hope to compensate for the hurt I have caused you..."

"This time, I want to do things right. I want to lay my heart bare to you..." Xenon said earnestly.

Neveah could hear the guilt in Xenon’s tone. Neveah had already let go of that event, but Xenon himself was still burdened by it.

"She was my true bonded...Misha." Xenon revealed quietly.

Neveah knew this, she had heard from Lord Skiren at the Ever burn cave, that Misha had come many decades before to undergo the first merging and claim Xenon’s flame.

"A few centuries after the overthrow, the Nymphs of the Myriad Forest declared their mating hunt."

"They were allowed freedom to carry out their cultural practices since Jian ascended the throne and they were not the only ones who made attempts to misuse and abuse this freedom..."

"Almost leading us to believe we had made the wrong choice freeing the stronghold from Asrig’s tyranny." Xenon continued, 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Asrig, it was a familiar name to Neveah and it did not take her too long to recall that this was the name of the previous dragon king, King Jian’s brother... the one who was not even allowed a memorial.

"I had been assigned on a routine inspection of the fortresses when word reached me, that the nymphs of the Myriad Forest had exceeded the limits of their forest in the course of their mate hunt..."

"Taking captives from neighboring villages by force... and even leaving a few innocent townsmen dead in the process. They dared undermine Jian’s supreme law, oppressing a weaker race, I could not tolerate it." Xenon said, his tone dark as he stared ahead.

"I stormed the Myriad Forest, razed down a third of it as a warning, I placed a permanent ban on the mate hunt of Myriad Forest and demanded the release of all the captives."

"The nymphs of the Myriad Forest tried to put up a resistance, but they stood no chance. They had no choice but to surrender... swear absolute loyalty to dragon dynasty in return for their lives."

"And it was on this day that I met her... " Xenon recalled, he paused briefly, his eyes going closed, the memory was one that was too hard on him to relive.

"She had snuck into the Myriad Forest, hidden herself amongst the captives in a bid to escape from the witch hunters..."

"At the time, witch hunting was a prevailing practice as the annihilation of the witch race by rite of bounty hunting had been one of Asrig’s most terrible decrees."

"It took us decades to wipe out the witch hunters and completely quell the terrible act. The witches were already an endangered race but not so close to extinction as they are now." Xenon said, believing Neveah had not heard of witch hunters yet.

But Neveah did know of witch hunters, witches were more rampant in wolf territory than they were here in the stronghold, the same way vampires and werewolves were mostly found beyond the seas.

The hunting of witches was an ancient practice that various species had embarked on due to ages long feud that no one could even recall it’s origin, yet it was enough to move hundreds to come together to form hunting bands with the sole purpose of eradicating witches.

"When we first met, I had no idea who she was to me... amongst all the captives, she was the only one who had nowhere else to go with her clan completely decimated."

"I took her back with me to Dragon Keep and kept her by my side, I only thought of her as someone in need of protection...but over time...we grew close and after two years, we discovered our bond." Xenon revealed.

"She was the first woman I ever loved in my lifetime, Veah... and I loved her even before I knew what she was to me." Xenon confessed.

Xenon passed Neveah a glance, wary of her reaction but Neveah just nodded slowly in understanding.

She did not expect to have been the only woman to have had Xenon’s heart, what she could not accept was being a replacement to the original.

"We were together for...decades. All three mergings completed, we were officially wed. Misha was my bonded, my rider and my wife."

"I was going to start a family with her...have children, that was how certain our love had been..." Xenon continued.

"When she told me she wanted a simple life, I thought to retire... pass my title on to another. I was going to abandon my brothers for her, my oath...My King... that was just how much I loved her." Xenon whispered.

Neveah’s heart ached at the pain in Xenon’s tone, she leaned her head down on his shoulder, hoping to provide some comfort and Xenon pulled Neveah even closer to his side.

"And then one day... everything changed. I would like to believe it all changed then, but the truth was... Misha had always been suspicious, her unclear background... the story of her family or how she had come to be in nymph territory,"

"Nothing added up and all along, I was the one who had chosen to ignore it."

"Because I believed that her past did not matter...her true identity did not matter, so long as she was willing to share her future with me." Xenon chuckled in derision.

"Veah...I was so wrong...so terribly wrong." Xenon admitted in a pained tone.