Chapter 1181 Thank You For Keeping Your Promise To Me
Ljosalfheimr, the Capital City of the Elves which was hailed to be one of the most beautiful cities within the Nine Realms of Yggdrasil.
William and Acedia looked at it from a distance. Even the Half-Elf had to admit that those words weren’t enough to give the majestic Elven City justice.
However, when he looked at the beautiful Elf beside him, all he could see was a sadness that permeated her entire being.
“What’s wrong?” William asked. “Are you not happy to be here?”
Acedia shook her head before lightly squeezing William’s hand.
“I was exiled from Ljosalfheimr when I was twelve,” Acedia said softly. “They said that if I stayed in the city, I would only endanger everyone because of the curse in my body. Since I was an orphan, no one really cared whether I was sent away or not.
“I do not know who my parents were, because the orphanage didn’t find any written letter on my body. They only found a name embroidered on the cloth that covered me inside the basket.”
Acedia paused before looking at William with a bitter smile. It was a beautiful smile, and yet, the pain she felt could be seen in her eyes.
“Acedia,” Acedia stated. “That was the name that was embroidered on that piece of cloth, and thus, it became my name.”
William frowned when he heard this, and wondered how a twelve-year-old was able to survive alone in that place where he had found her.
As if reading his mind, Acedia leaned on his body as she looked at the Elven Capital with longing. She stayed like this for a few minutes as William held her in his embrace.
“For some reason, I don’t need to eat or drink,” Acedia stated. “This uniqueness of mine allowed me to live alone in that cold and lonely place. The wild animals didn’t come near me, and even if they did, I was not afraid of them. All I did was sleep, sleep, and sleep more. This routine continued until the day you came into my world.”
A sigh then escaped her lips as she looked up at the black-haired teenager, whose eyes had locked onto hers. Acedia could see how much the Half-Elf cared for her, and it allowed her to say the things that came from her heart.
“Thank you for coming to my world,” Acedia said. “I was very lonely. I thought that I was going to die alone in that place, but when you came and I thought that, maybe, a different fate was waiting for me.”
William wanted to say something, but he held it back. In actual history, Acedia had lived alone in Violet Ever Garden still waiting for his return. However, since he had died in Midgard, his promise to return was never completed.
He spent his life in Asgard, while protecting the Nine Realms from the threats that came from the giants of Jotunheim and Muspeilheim. When the great war, Ragnarok, threatened everyone in existence, he, alongside the Gods, fought with everything they had.
Unfortunately, their best wasn’t good enough as they fell one by one. As he was about to take his last breath, after failing to stop the Army of Destruction led by Surtr, Acedia appeared in front of him and held him close.
She was there when the fires of Surtr descended upon the world, until both of their bodies turned into ashes. Only in his last moments did he remember her face, and his unkept promise to her.
As the black-haired teenager looked into her eyes, these distant memories resurfaced inside his head. His hand then wrapped around her body and pulled her close to him until their faces were only inches apart.
“I’m sorry,” William said with tenderness. “I returned late.”
He was feeling really guilty about leaving her alone in that lonely place, with only his clothes to remind her of him. William knew with every fiber of his being that Acedia had held on to his belongings, as she slept through the years, waiting for his return.
“It’s fine,” Acedia replied. “You’re now with me, and that is the most important thing. Thank you, Will. Thank you for keeping your promise to me.”
Acedia placed her hands over William’s shoulders and rose on her tiptoes to kiss him on the lips. The kiss lasted for a few seconds before Acedia pulled back with a smile.
Suddenly, her body started to glow.
“It’s time for you to continue your journey,” Acedia said as she cupped William’s face with her delicate hands. “I will wait for you in the roots of the World Tree”
After saying her parting words, Acedia smiled before her body turned into particles of light and flew towards the sky.
Their reunion, and parting, was like the fleeting breeze that came suddenly, and disappeared just as fast.
Even though William knew that she had now been reincarnated and was currently waiting for him back in the Sacred Grove, the feelings that she had kept in her heart finally reached him.
The time that had stopped in Alfheim now moved, and William knew that his time in the Elven World had also come to an end.
However, before he left, he summoned Astrape, Bronte, and Titania to his side. Together with the three Deities, he razed Ljosalfheimr to the ground, until it too, disappeared from the face of the world.
Although he knew that doing this would accomplish nothing, his heart demanded that he make the Elves pay their dues, for abandoning a twelve-year-old girl, alone in that cold and lonely place that was far away from her home.
Only when the last embers died down, did William turn around to leave the destroyed city behind him.
The three ladies accompanying him didn’t even give the Elven Capital a second glance as they followed behind the black-haired teenager, whose bad mood had finally settled. After a few minutes had passed, Titania gathered her courage to ask William, who was flying in front of them, the question that hovered on her lips.
Since he hadn’t asked Astrape to transform all of them into a lightning bolt to head to their next destination, Titania decided that William was still reminiscing about the beautiful Elf, who was no longer by his side.
“Master, where are we going?” Titania asked.
“Vanaheim,” William replied as he stopped mid-flight to turn around and face the Deities who were currently serving under him. “Tell me, have any of you fought Gods before?”
Astrape, Bronte, and Titania shook their heads. They had stayed inside the Forbidden Grounds for a very long time, and never had the opportunity to meet a God during their long lifetime.
“Well, you girls are in for a treat,” William stated in a voice that had a trace of killing intent. “You’ll be fighting a few of them soon.”
