The body of the person hugging him gave the slightest trembles as if too afraid Arthur would notice. However, as he looked at the princess, Arthur would have never expected his leaving would elicit such a reaction.
"Diana?"
"Shut up," she said, a sniff following right after. "Shut up, shut up, shut up," as she kept repeating, she made sure to pound his chest with her face buried in it. Then, she stopped. "You reek of blood."
"I had a few battles," Arthur felt self-conscious all of a sudden. His spiritual energy surrounded his skin, and he made sure to remove all of the blood.
"…" came a pause from the princess. "Did you get hurt?"
"No," he lied, not willing to share the details of the battle. "I came here to train as well. My growth has staggered ever since I…" he didn't finish his sentence, but Dia didn't pursue.
"I see," the princess retreated, and Arthur couldn't see any change from her usual expression except for her red nose.
"I'm sorry," he knew he had no reason to apologize, but he did so anyway. "I'm sorry for not telling you. I knew you would want to accompany me," as he said so, his fingers touched her cheek. Then, with his thumb, Arthur flicked her nose lightly with a smile.
"What are you doing?" Dia was annoyed before she calmed down. "You didn't want me to come with you?"
"I knew that it might be a trap. I didn't want to endanger you, that's all," Arthur didn't say anything about leveling up. "You were having fun on your date, so I didn't want to interrupt," he teasingly smiled.
"I," Dia looked down so that Arthur doesn't see her face as she muttered, "wanted you to interrupt us."
"Well, I'm not that childish."
"Well, maybe you should be," Dia mimicked in displeasure as she huffed. "Why didn't you care when she asked me on a date?"
"Why should I?" Arthur paused as his heart skipped a beat. His fingers retracted as his hand fell by his side. "Do I have the right to object for such a thing?"
"You do," Dia thought for a bit and nodded. "I wouldn't accept if you don't want me to."
"And you would accept if I say nothing?" Arthur tilted his head. "Then aren't you just giving priority to my wishes over yours?"
Diana looked down again, and Arthur saw her grab the edge of her robe. Then, the answer came as an affirmative nod, but Arthur shook his head.
"This is not what I wish for," Arthur told the princess as he retreated a bit. "Whatever you want to have, then I want you to have it. Whatever you want to do, I want you to do it. I'm not going to impose my desires on you."
"Then," the princess took the step that Arthur retreated, "what if I want to have you?"
Her question dissolved into the air like a paper tissue in water. Arthur blinked his eyes and blinked again as his heart skipped a beat.
His short-fused brain might look like a calm reaction in the princess's eyes, but Arthur's mind descended into a state of chaos and confusion. He had an inkling but never expected the cold princess to be direct about her desires.
"What do you mean?" Arthur could feel his face growing hot. "We are already dear friends, so what are you…" he tried to change the subject and make it about a platonic friendship.
"No," the princess took another step forward. "You said I can have whatever I want, and I want you to be mine. Not as a friend, but as something more. This is my whole-hearted confession."
The princess was ruthless and left no way for Arthur to get out of his current predicament. Her eyes were unwavering, and there was no hesitation in her demand. It was as if she made up her mind about wanting him, and she wouldn't have it any other way.
It was the first time Arthur felt yearned for this, a possessive kind of desire that wanted him so badly. The princess wished him to be hers alone, and that made Arthur panic.
"I told you before, I will leave eventually," Arthur reminded her, and the princess's face betrayed no emotions.
"We can find a way," Diana grabbed his hand, pressing it tightly. "I can come with you, or you can stay with me. It doesn't matter what method we use, as long as…"
"Are you willing to forsake Alva for me?" Arthur interrupted the princess. "If we take this path, then there are only two outcomes: you either lose Alva, or I lose my home."
"But if we don't take this path, I'll lose you," she inched closer. "I don't want any of those three."
"You are unreasonable," Arthur sighed. "Whatever we choose, something will be lost. We can't choose everything this time."
"But if we don't try, then what's the point?" Diana's crystal blue and red eyes seemed tempting to be lost into, but Arthur knew better. After he released her hand, his finger pushed a strand of hair behind her ear as he sighed.
"How marvelous it would be to allow myself a moment of reprieve?" Arthur's voice was tired and broken. "But I can't do it. I can't give up on my return, just like how I know you can't lose Alva."
"So, you are choosing to lose me?" the princess asked in a shaky and whispering voice that dug through Arthur's flesh. The question stripped him bare, but Arthur knew that there were only two answers.
One of them would mean to lose his friends and family or to have Dia lose her kingdom. The other one that he didn't want to think about was losing the girl in front of him.
"To be desired by the person I desire is such a reassuring feeling, a feeling I'm grateful for having," Arthur said. "But I believe this is as far as it should go. Anything more will end up in heartache."
"I… understand," Dia nodded and turned around. Arthur couldn't see her face as her wings stretched wide. "I'll be going back to Aquamia first. Don't overtrain yourself."
As she left those concerned words, which she spoke despite how hurt she was, Dia's wings carried her away. Arthur stared at her departing figure as a stabbing pain struck his heart.
'Did I choose the wrong thing?'
The princess told him of her feelings clearly, but he rejected her feelings. However, there were many times where the princess was angry on his behalf, worried, and many times where she made Arthur feel loved.
Their beginning was a masked one which ended up in hate. However, Arthur still remembers how he used her to save himself and how she planned on sacrificing him. Their relationship only estranged afterward, but it changed when they struck a deal to achieve their goals.
The princess saw his growth as Arthur witnessed how her icy walls melted for those around her. She saw his wrath and confusion, and she was the only one to ask for his name.
It was the first time for Arthur to feel such a way toward someone. Not the hormone-induced passion he felt toward Hazel, and not the one-sided affection that he felt toward Emma, but a selfless love where he wished for Diana's happiness and well-being, even at the cost of his own.
"Yet," Arthur grabbed his left chest, "why does it feel so painful to do the right thing? And why, despite hunting alone for a few days, did this loneliness only appear now?"
It wasn't because he was alone, but it was the knowledge that, somehow, he will always be. As if there was a fateful prison that prevented him from being with his family, with his friends, and with the one he loved.
"This trip to Alka has been nothing but one of suffering," Arthur sighed as he looked at his palm and clenched it. Then, the growls of a monster came from within the forest beside the river. Then, as he turned to it, he saw a giant moving monster made of branches and trees.
As the monster roared and rushed his way to kill him, Arthur wondered why it was him of the unchangeable fate. He imagined a stone tablet out there, with his fate being unchangeably craved on it.
'Ah,' Arthur's fire exploded around him as he stared tiredly at the monster. 'If such a stone tablet exists,' Arthur raised his hand, 'then I'll break it.'
The fire descended as Arthur brought his hand down, and it brought destruction to the land. As his eyes reflected the glowing fire, Arthur was lost in thoughts.
***
[Unable to absorb this stat.]
Arthur breathed out as he looked at the countless giant bats around him. He was deep underground to hunt for the perception stat, as it was the only one who didn't reach 300 points. Now, however, he couldn't get any stronger.
His muscles were still spasming from the fight and the crazy increase in all of his stats. Now, all he had to do was to evolve. It was finally time to become a Vetus-Ranker.
