‎Rasmus dipped into the river and let the stream wash his body with the cold water. He never thought that being one with Rullein would make him nauseated and sick like a really bad vertigo. He heard, felt, and saw what Rullein heard, felt, and saw from the lives and emotions she devoured from thousands of people.

‎Rasmus wasn’t the only one who felt sick, Rullein also felt the same way. She felt her whole body was being twisted and pulled from every direction. She felt that way because the Dragon’s Blood within Rasmus’ body and his Orthias bloodline threatened to devour her.

‎Rullein had to stay in her original form, an orb laying on the ground under a big tree. She couldn’t manifest her human form because she got weakened from becoming one with Rasmus earlier.

‎Rasmus let his head go above the water and tried to relax as he remembered how it felt. Although it was an unpleasant experience, he felt something else, something within him that he had never felt before. He felt an itch that he never had until Rullein entered his body, the itch that if he scratched it hard enough, it might open something within him.

‎”You smell like Rullein…” A familiar voice could be heard behind Rasmus.

‎Rasmus slowly tilted his head up and saw Aris staring down at him with her expressionless face. He didn’t say a word, but he slowly turned around to look at her because he noticed something was different about her.

‎Aris removed her clothes, completely naked and then slowly walked down to the river and sat beside Rasmus. She looked down at her reflection, staring into her own eyes as if she didn’t recognize the face that the water reflected.

‎”Yes, I smell like… ashes…” Rasmus muttered and splashed water onto his face. “It was her idea to enter my body, saying that she could travel anywhere I wanted but only to the places that she had ever been,” he explained.

‎”I know…” Aris said, her eyes never leaving her reflection. “I saw you two from afar when you went to the capital city. I watched everything,” she glanced at Rasmus’ wet face and hair.

‎Rasmus turned to look at Aris’ face, their eyes met and they both remembered the last moment they had before Aris left. It was Aris’ moment of vulnerability, something that she had never shown to anyone or that she knew she had.

‎”You look more puzzled than before, and you look like you have found an answer that you didn’t want to believe,” Rasmus said and saw Yur, in its owl form land on the tree branch where Rullein was resting below. “Your journey for an answer didn’t go well?” He asked and stared into Aris’ eyes again that never left his.

‎Aris broke eye contact and looked at the woods in front of her. She didn’t want to think of what she had been through, the answers she had gotten. She felt bitter in her mouth when she tried to remember it.

‎”One is overcomplicated and the other one is oversimplified. I don’t know what to believe or what I want to believe…” Aris muttered, her gaze empty and distant.

‎

‎Rasmus slowly turned toward Aris fully with his brows raised, interested by her answer. Aris on the other hand hesitated to tell him about it because she didn’t want to even think about it anymore, or at least not at that moment. However, there was always something about him that made her feel at ease when she spoke about anything to him. She slowly took a deep breath, trying to construct on where to start and when to finish the explanation.

Once Aris knew where to start, she began to tell Rasmus everything about her conversation with Serena, or the real soul inside her body, Lilith. She told him about fate, about one’s purpose in existence by God’s will. She felt bitter when she tried to recall that conversation she had with Serena, but it wasn’t as bitter as she thought it would be. She began to feel comfortable telling what she experienced to Rasmus, and wondered if it had always been like that when she was around Rasmus. She didn’t understand why she felt comforted by being with someone because she had never felt that way before.

Aris continued to tell Rasmus everything was like a broken dam that released a heavy flow of water. She didn’t realize that she had told him everything, even all the conversations she had with Aristoria, her predecessor. She revealed that her path was predetermined and that something would happen to her in the future that caused Rasmus to lose his calm.

“Before I left, I asked Serena about God and fate. She believed that everyone’s fate had been determined because that’s her reality, her truth, and the proof of her fate to be condemned. What Aristoria said was also similar to hers. She said that whatever I chose, it would lead me to that point in the future,” Aris muttered, looking down at her reflection once again, but this time it didn’t feel foreign or alien to her.

Rasmus didn’t say a word nor did he react to her story, only silence and kept staring at her.

“Serena told me that… the only ones who could give me the answer to that were Videl and you,” Aris revealed as she lifted her head to look at Rasmus.

“And did you ask Videl that question?” Rasmus asked with his brows raised.

“No,” Aris shook her head as she exhaled deeply. “But I’m asking you now. I want to hear it from you,” she stared Rasmus in the eyes.

“You want my opinion about fate and predetermine path?” Rasmus asked as he looked up at the bright blue sky. “It’s complicated to explain how it works. Not because I can’t explain it, but there are layers of it,” he muttered and turned his head to look at Aris again.

Aris chose silence and fully opened her ears to listen to Rasmus this time.

“The most simplest explanation of fate whether it is truly controlled by a higher being like God or not, then my answer will be not entirely,” Rasmus answered with confidence. “For example. You have seen hell from my memory, and you saw those people being tortured for their sins and deeds. Now, do you think they were destined to become sinners? To suffer for eternity?” He asked with his eyes narrowed.

“I don’t know, but that’s what happened to Lilith. She was made to become an example to women for being disobedient,” Aris answered.

“If God that petty to create a living being just to be punished, then what’s the point of creating a being of having free will? What’s the point of creating a world when God controls everything? Just to satisfy the ego? Is God really that petty?” Rasmus asked again with his brows raised. “A being that is said to be the highest, the omnipotence to be bothered with controlling everything just so everything moved smoothly. No, if a child misbehaved, you punished them and used that child as an example. The child did something wrong by their own will, and you punished them as a reminder to the other children that if they did the same thing, they would receive the same punishment. God didn’t create Lilith to be punished, but God chose her as an example for disobedience because she did it to herself, not because God made her do it,” he explained.

Rasmus stared into Aris’ eyes and made sure that she understood what he was saying. When he saw nothing but a reflection in her eyes, he knew that she was listening and understood his explanation.

“Now, as I said. Fate isn’t simple and has so many layers. Something that’s obvious where fate plays a huge role in your life is your existence, being born into this world. That’s God’s will, your fate for life in this world. What you chose the moment you breathed the air for the first time until this day, fate plays it tiny part, nothing too significant but not too insignificant. Our encounter, is it fate? I believe so because no way would I be able to meet you if you didn’t choose to take an interest in me back then,” Rasmus said as he used the flowing water around him as an example by letting the water flow freely until he blocked it with his arm, forcing the flow to find a new path which his arm was acting as fate.

Aris tried to understand Rasmus’ words thoroughly, and slowly she understood his view of fate. She found it somehow logical because if there was something illogical that couldn’t be answered or explained, that was when something beyond their understanding made it happen.

“But then what about my future that Aristoria said to me? That something will happen to me in the future?” Aris asked.

“I don’t believe in a predetermined path that a higher being has prepared for us. No, I will never believe that. Not out of pride or arrogance, but because it doesn’t make sense after every fate that I have explained to you has something to do with your free will except something crucial like your whole existence to be born in this world,” Rasmus answered without hesitation and with confidence.

“Then how are you going to explain what Aristoria saw?” Aris asked with her brows furrowed.

“What she saw wasn’t a predetermined path that God had made for you. If you chose to jump off the cliff, you would fall. What she saw was everything that you chose that led you to that moment. It’s not predetermined by God, it’s your own choice that led you to that moment. With that being said, you chose that path. I don’t agree with her that believing it’s predetermined, but I agree with her when she said that you’re the one who walk that path, by your own free will and choice,” Rasmus answered as he stared into her eyes.

Aris looked down at the water and stared into her reflection once again, and this time she saw herself, recognized her face. She felt like she could breathe again without that heavy pressure that had been pressing against her chest.

“Then, does that mean I can change it?” Aris asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

“You could, or not,” Rasmus answered ambiguously. “If you’re so focused on trying to avoid that path, but then in the end it was the path all along that lead you there. Who are you going to blame?” He asked.

Aris closed her eyes, realizing that Rasmus was right and that it was similar to what Aristoria had said to her that it wasn’t about the fact that she could avoid it, but that her own choices might lead her to that point whether she expected it or not. She slowly moved closer to Rasmus until she was right in front of him, staring right into his eyes with that expressionless face.

“If you were in my position, what would you choose to believe?” Aris muttered.

“I’ll challenge it. If in the end that I accidentally fulfilled it, then I would break free the moment after it happened. It’s not about to avoid it, but to challenge it and to be free from it because I know that there’s no such a thing as fate that controlled your whole decision,” Rasmus answered.

Aris formed a soft smile when she heard the answer from Rasmus, something she had never even considered. She moved her gaze from his eyes back and forth, knowing what to do and what she needed to prepare.

“I was right to choose you to answer this question,” Aris said as she took a few steps back away from him. “Thank you,” she said, the smile never leaving her face.

“Anytime,” Rasmus smiled softly at Aris as he nodded.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep