Solflare: The Painter's Secret-Chapter 175: Stolen Moment IV: Last Dance
Footsteps echoed loudly as she stood up and lunged toward Leon. She wrapped herself so tightly that Leon wasn’t able to free himself.
"Lily," Leon whispered, finally getting his pace, then crouched down, cupping Lily’s face in his palms. "It’s only for some days." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞
Lily smiled, but her smile faded quickly. "But you won’t be here, and Mom too is at the hospital."
A small laugh escaped Leon as he shook his head twice. "But you’re a big girl now." He teased, squeezing her cheeks.
Warmth flew through Lily’s skin as Leon gave her a forehead kiss. She regained her smile, watching Leon stand.
Mr. Lee stood there, mesmerized by the brother-sister love, then smiled faintly. He neared Leon, placed a hand on his shoulder, then leaned against his shoulder. "You might be forgetting something."
Leon’s eyes dulled for a second, then widened. He rushed back into his room, opened his drawer, then pulled out the two cloths his mother had gifted him, the red and the gold ones.
He came back, the red wrapped around his neck, the gold on his arm as if carrying them had made him a promised king.
He turned to Min-seo, then nodded. Min-seo smiled, then replicated the nod, then lowered her head, a subtle sadness flashing in her eyes.
Leon walked out of the mansion without glancing at Min-ji, who stood inside the kitchen, busying herself for nothing.
Hei Yung and Hei Luo followed Leon, then exited as well.
Mr. Lee tilted his head slightly toward Feng, then smiled once. "Go with them, I’m keeping Lily company."
Feng nodded back, then also exited the mansion.
The sweet tone of the birds’ cries, mixed with the harmonious flying of leaves and the amber rays of the morning sun, shone on Leon’s skin as he stopped by the fountain.
He closed his eyes, took in a deep breath, then exhaled while cracking them open. The sound of the fountain water dripping echoed like that of his mother’s hum as he moved past it.
Hei Yung and Hei Luo walked past Leon, who had stopped abruptly.
Hei Luo placed a hand on the roof of the Lamborghini when he halted right next to the back door.
A warm smile lanced across his face as he watched the environment, the trees, the birds, the fountain, and the mansion itself, then whispered, "He’s indeed becoming a man after all."
Leon glanced at the mansion, Lily standing by Mr. Lee’s side at the entrance, then waved.
Lily waved back, tiny tears dripping out of her eyes. But she wiped them off the moment Leon neared the vehicle and slid into its seat.
Mr. Lee lowered his gaze to Lily, smiling.
Thirty seconds after the Agathan vehicles and Feng’s BMW drove off through the giant iron gate of the Storm mansion, a silver Ferrari screeched to a stop.
Mr. Lee frowned slightly, but released his muscles when he remembered who the car belonged to.
Lily lifted her eyes toward Mr. Lee, then shifted them to the vehicle.
Leaves swirled around the front and side of the vehicle as the driver’s door pushed open.
Zoe’s white hair flared upward like flames when a gust of wind from the trees brushed against her warm, leaving face.
She closed in on the front of the mansion, then bowed. "Good morning, Mr. Lee."
Mr. Lee greeted her back, then led her inside, making sure her sharp breathing slowed.
Min-seo walked out of the kitchen, threw a shocked stare at Zoe, then froze.
Min-ji saw her sister suddenly go still, then also rushed to see what had caused that. For her, her forehead crumpled as her soul became full of rage.
Lily walked slowly to Zoe, who requested to stand, and wrapped her arms around Zoe’s waist.
Zoe crouched down to Lily, smiling. But the girl didn’t smile back. She simply watched Zoe’s eyes, then asked, "Are you really going to marry a different person?"
The words struck Zoe so deeply that she instantly forgot why she had come there in the first place.
She straightened herself, neglecting the pain that kept on flowing through her bones, the remnants of the unhealed wound.
She stared at Mr. Lee, then asked, "Where is Leon?"
Mr. Lee held Zoe’s gaze for a fraction of a second, then blinked once, but slowly. "He just left. He is going back to catch his flight to Agatha."
Zoe froze for a second. She looked at Lily’s face, tilted her head to Min-seo, then rushed outside.
"Aunty Zoe," Lily screamed the name, but Zoe didn’t respond. She simply slid into her car and drove off.
After the dust following the vehicle had settled, Lily threw an unemotional expression at Mr. Lee. But Mr. Lee simply smiled.
The Thule Federation airport was full of people when the Agathan vehicles came to a stop. But neither the guards nor the station officials made Leon stop.
Everyone, including the citizens who were going to board their flights, gazed their way, watching the two legendary soldiers walk behind the painter’s kid as if they were his personal bodyguards.
On the large land at the other side, where the actual planes were, the private Agathan aircraft was on the tarmac. Its engines hummed to life when Hei Yung and Hei Luo walked ahead, passing Leon.
Soldiers descended from the MRAPs, arranged themselves in a welcoming line, then slammed their arms to the side of their heads, saluting.
Feng smiled as he took in a deep breath, the memory of his first and last visit to Agathan Special Force reeling in his head.
"Leon," he called out to Leon, then neared him, placing a hand on Leon’s shoulder. Feng pulled out a golden box that had a starlike ring picture on it, then slowly handed it to Leon. "This will come in handy when the time is right."
Leon glanced at the ring box, then at Feng, and whispered in his head. ’Who am I going to put this on her finger?’
"Storm," Hei Yung called out to Leon, standing by the open door of the craft, smiling.
Feng tapped Leon’s shoulder twice, loosened the boy’s shoulder, then whispered, "Go before they get angry." He brushed it off with a subtle laugh, then nodded once.
Leon slowly walked backward, watching Feng’s smiling eyes, then finally turned toward the aircraft.
He wrapped his fingers around the box, hesitated once, then walked slowly toward the stairs that led to the door of the aircraft.
Just as he moved past the saluting soldiers, climbed the stairs, and was left with just the threshold to the aircraft itself, he paused.
He lowered his head to the box, his boots, then lifted it and watched the sudden, direct looks on Hei Yung and Hei Luo’s faces.
When he turned, he froze.
From a distance, leaves flowed with dust as the heels of a lady slammed against the ground continuously.
Leon’s heartbeat quickened as he turned and ran forward, meeting Zoe. He closed the distance in a flash and grabbed her with both hands.
He pulled back the moment he felt heat rushing through Zoe’s skin, then looked at her sweating face.
"Why," he asked, but his voice wasn’t smooth. "Why did you come, Zoe?"
Tears traced down Zoe’s cheeks as she locked eyes with Leon. She didn’t speak. She didn’t tilt her head to Feng, nor to the soldiers. She simply watched Leon’s brown eyes.
Just as she blinked, she whispered, "I would rather die than be with someone I don’t love."
Chilled air spiraled around them as if binding their souls together as the words settled deep in Leon’s gut.
He became speechless for a second, then when he broke free from it, he didn’t hesitate for a single word.
"Will you be my wife, Zoe?"
Zoe’s cheeks flushed, the speeding tears slowing, her eyes widening. Clouds gathered in the sky above them, thunder striking through the sky.
In a flash, rain began drizzling on them as if time had waited for them to get this close.
Feng stood there, hands in his pockets, nodding while smiling. Though he was shocked when he realized the rain wasn’t even falling anywhere else except for the little circle around Leon and Zoe.
The aircraft engine hummed continuously. Hei Yung and Hei Luo stood at its entrance, watching the two lovebirds get wet with the surprising rain.
While the rain drizzled at the airport, the sky above the junction with the sign "Way To Hell" reddened as thunder and lightning continuously blasted the sky and the trees, setting them ablaze.
Deep in the trenches of the land was a vast building that had torn-off bones scattered around it. Inside the building was a throne made of fresh human bones.
The walls absorbed the fiery light that shadowed them, emitting the smell of fire while the air carried death with it.
Countless men stood at the front of the throne, watching the person sitting calmly on it as if the human bones were nothing but a piece of wood, then bowed.
They all screamed in unison. "Hail, son of the Lord of the Mortal World."
Jade sat calmly on the throne. His hands rested on the handstands, palms on the skull, while squeezing the skull with his fingers, smiling.
At his front, Darian knelt down, his head bowed. Two other guards from Qing’s clan bowed at his side, their faces touching the bloodied ground, shaking tremendously.
The praises faded when Jade slowly opened his eyes. White light burst out from them. Not lightning, not sun, just white consumable flames.
The crackling sound of bone echoed from the throne as he pushed himself up. Every step he took sent a blast of air flowing harshly through the room.
Sweat dripped on Darian’s face when Jade loomed over him, his hand slightly stretched over him. The room fell into a deep silence; not even the sparks from the fiery lamps flew through the air.
He crouched down, placed his left palm on the back of Darian’s head, then asked one simple question. "Did Darian lie to a Baek?"
Before Darian could answer, a strong compressed wave of air radiated from Jade’s body and blasted outward.
The force from the blast sent the men circling the throne flying. But seven of them stood still, watching, smiling. D.D. Demon stood at the front of the six, his hand resting in his pocket.
When the two guards at Darian’s side tried lifting their heads, their entire existence got erased.
They blasted into motes of blood and water and splashed on Darian like a second skin, as if Jade’s gaze could determine whether a person should live to see the morning light, or not exist anymore.
