Chapter 497: A Kiss *

“We are here.”

Aelindra spoke as she pointed at Kael and Lavinia’s house in front of her.

“Are you sure you will be alrig—”

Kael wanted to ask but then—

“Kael, I know we have been too reliant on you ever since you came here, but this doesn’t mean we need you for the simplest of tasks.

Leave the Sky Kingdom healers to us, Tarevian already has his men gathering people who need their magic the most.

We will push those healers to their very limits, don’t worry about it.”

Aelindra chuckled, patting her non-existent biceps. Then, she stared at Kael and—

“You have had a rough day, you should go rest, not to mention…”

Aelindra glanced at Lavinia. Even though her normal, expressionless poker face had returned, she was still holding Kael’s hand as tightly as she could, and with how her hand was trembling, her poker face did not do much to hide the state she was in—

“You have more important things to focus your attention on.”

Hearing those words, Kael did not argue any longer. He too wanted to spend some time alone with Lavinia, and seeing how Aelindra was pushing for it herself, he stared at her and nodded with a grateful look on his face.

“Thank you.”

“We should be the ones thanking you.”

Aelindra smiled.

The Warden of Provisions then pointed at their house and—

“Now go.”

Kael nodded, and with Lavinia’s hand in his, he walked away.

Aelindra watched them leave and only walked away after the doors were shut.

…

On the other side, the moment the door behind them closed, Lavinia’s composure broke.

All the calmness she had held in front of others—the stillness, the strength, the sharpness in her eyes—it all vanished in a heartbeat.

Her hand, still clutching Kael’s, tightened, and before he could even turn, she jumped onto him.

Her body collided with his chest, and the sudden force pushed them both backward.

“Lavi—”

Kael called out in surprise. Everything happened so fast that even he, with his scary-fast reflexes, could only balance himself in a way that the fall would only hurt him.

His back hit the wooden floor with a dull thud, with Lavinia falling right on top of him. The thud sound echoed faintly through the quiet, empty house.

“What are yo—”

Kael tried to speak, but his sentence never left his mouth.

She didn’t let him finish. She crushed her mouth against his in a fierce, hungry manner, sealing every word before it could leave his lips. Her fingers dug into his dark hair, pulling him closer, refusing to give him even an inch of space.

The kiss was not gentle; it was desperate, almost angry. All the fear and longing of the last few hours were poured into it.

“Wait—mmph—”

Kael tried to talk again, mumbling against her lips.

She kissed him harder, almost as if she was offended that he dared to speak even now.

Her tongue slipped past his parted lips, searching, claiming, and tasting every inch of his mouth as if she wanted to prove he was real, that he was alive, and that… he was here, with her.

She moved over him, knees bracketing his hips, her whole body pressing him down into the floor. Every time he tried to speak, she stole the breath from him, deepening the kiss, tilting her head to take more as if she was trying to eat him alive.

And Kael…

His hands came up to her waist, his half-hearted protest fading fast. A low, helpless groan escaped his throat, and finally, finally, he, too, stopped fighting.

His fingers tightened on her hips, pulling her closer instead of pushing away. He kissed her back with the same fire, his tongue meeting hers, matching her hunger until the room spun and the only sounds were their ragged breathing and the soft, wet slide of lips.

Long, burning minutes passed—before finally, Lavinia moved her mouth away. Her chest heaved; her lips were swollen and shining with Kael’s saliva.

Kael stared up at her, dazed, completely absorbed by her beauty. Lavinia was already beautiful, but with the string of silver now connecting their mouths, her heaving chest gasping for air, and the desperate, intense look in her eyes as she stared at him, it was unfair.

The stimulation wasn’t something Kael could take. His entire face burned, unable to get this sight out of his mind and think coherently.

But even then—

Kael knew he had to say something. He forced himself to collect his thoughts, and when he was finally ready to speak—

The Mage beat him to it.

“Do not do that ever again.”

She spoke, her voice shaking with all the leftover fury and terror that still hadn’t calmed down.

“Lavin—”

Kael tried to talk.

“You are not allowed to leave me behind and walk into a battle alone ever again.

Is that clear?”

Her voice cracked on the last word, and her eyes—those bright, violet eyes that usually glowed with calmness and level-headedness—now shimmered with fear, anger, and… something else.

Something… fragile.

Fear, relief, love, anger—all of it blazed through those eyes, emotions so intense that as he saw it, Kael was… overwhelmed.

He stared at her in silence.

He could feel it, everything she was feeling—the fear of losing him, the helplessness she must have felt while she waited for him to return, the pain of waiting and not knowing.

Imperia had already told him what she was like for the last few hours he wasn’t here—staring at the Communication Crystal with her hollow eyes, not moving away even for the slightest second.

Even now, when he was here and had been with her for the past hour, the woman hadn’t calmed down. Her fingers were still clutching his shirt, her knuckles white with how much force she was using.

“I thought you—”

She tried to speak again, but this time, her voice completely broke down as she felt a strong lump in her throat, her eyes turning moist with every passing second.

Kael saw her, and he reached up, gently touching her cheek.

“I’m here,”

He spoke as softly as he could.

“And I promise it will never happen again.”

He whispered.

Those words alone drained all the intensity from Lavinia’s eyes. For a moment, the two of them stared at each other in silence, then—

Lavinia leaned down and kissed him again—this time, much, much slower than before, but the intensity did not die down.

It was a kiss that said I was so scared

, a kiss that said never again, a kiss that tasted like forgiveness and need all at once.

Kael’s arms slid around her back, holding her gently now, as though she were the most precious thing in the world.

When they finally parted, Lavinia let out a shaky breath and lay beside him, her head resting against his shoulder. Her breathing was still uneven, her chest rising and falling quickly as the silence returned to the room.

Kael wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer.

Neither of them spoke for a while. The light that came through the window cast a soft glow across the room.

Lavinia’s eyes finally turned towards him, and in a quiet, exhausted voice—

“These past few hours went… out of our expectation.”

She commented.

Kael exhaled lightly as a small smile appeared on his face.

“That’s one way to put it.”

He nodded, looking into her eyes as he pulled her closer.

The two of them stayed like that for a while until finally—

“You should get some sleep.”

Kael spoke as he rubbed her back.

“What about you?”

Lavinia asked.

“I… I fear Aurelia and the other prisoners might do something.”

Kael answered. Even though he had used the Null Sanctuary Collars, in the end, the collars were given to him by the Sky Kingdom Soldiers. Who knows? They might have a way around them.

Lavinia stared at him for a while. Seeing his distrust and thinking about everything that happened to him these past few hours, she tightened her hug around him and—

“So do you plan to stay awake till they are gone? That would take days, you know?”

“…”

Kael didn’t answer. He knew it wasn’t the most optimal solution and that he was being paranoid, just that…

“Trust the people around you. Even if something happens, the Velmourns aren’t weak. They will be able to handle themselves till we get there.

Not to mention…

We have Imperia’s ants keeping an eye on them, don’t we? The moment they do anything out of the ordinary, we will know.”

And as if to get Kael’s mind out of this, Lavinia suddenly smiled and—

“Also, shouldn’t you be thinking about how our Imperia has much more power and authority than before? Thirty-five thousand new ants—that’s more than three times the ants she had before, a number large enough to cover the entirety of Heights and still have ants left.

Shouldn’t you be more excited about how that’s coming along?

Within the next few hours, your daughter will basically be omniscient.”

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