That Prince Is A Girl The Vicious King's Captive Slave Mate by Kiss Leilani

Chapter 269

Emeriel’s tears flowed freely now, impossible to contain. “Please stop. Seeing you like this is tearing me apart.”

A third tear fell, his face contorting in anguish. “I am so sorry-”

“Do not apologize, please.”

“I am so, so, so sorry, Emeriel. This was all my fault. It was all my-”

“Stop blaming yourself!” she hissed fiercely. “Every misfortune that happens is not your fault, do you hear me? It was meant to happen! It was unavoidable! We must try to move past it! We mourn what could have been, but we cannot blame ourselves endlessly.”

Another tear fell, and she wiped it away, her own tears flowing like a river. “We are living beings, Daemon. We are bound to make mistakes, and sometimes… accidents happen. Some things are simply meant to be. Some things cannot be prevented.”

As she spoke, her words resounded deeply within her.

All these years, she had blamed herself. Some nights, in the darkness, she had even blamed him. She had hated them both for what happened.

“Casting blame solves nothing,” she continued in a softer tone. “It only makes the pain worse. How can we heal and move forward when we let guilt take the reins?”

“Riel… it hurts.”

“I know.” She wiped his tears on her sleeve. “It is okay, let it out. I’ve got you, my dearest Beloved. Let it all out.”

She pressed his head to her midriff, her arms encircling him passionately. As his body trembled in her hold, she stroked his hair soothingly, petting him.

“It is okay to release it all. Do not give guilt the power it craves. Guilt peels away the salves on a wound, leaving it raw… scarred… never to heal.”

The wind swept through the meadow, tugging at their clothes, whispering through the grass.

soaking into her dress. “Everyone meant to belong to me dies,”

run, Emeriel. Run far, far away from me.” Yet he held her tighter. “I should

her fingers through his hair. “And you, Your Grace, cannot run from me. Because

The raw emotions radiating from him were like waves crashing against a shore.

of this would have happened.” “You made the right decision. Look at me.” Emeriel cupped

me away, and I’m so sorry it

that.”

she held on, her thumb tracing circles against his skin. “You needed to find yourself! needed to find myself. I was a slave, and you had been feral for centuries. You hadn’t even had time to grieve,

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Chapter 269

all of a sudden, I was thrown at you. Someone you did not choose. Someone from the very species that took your family, who has the potential to replace what you lost. How could anyone expect you

and he didn’t meet her eyes, but

Neither of us was ready for the severed bond or the pain it brought. But that separation was necessary. It forced us to grow. To understand what we truly wanted. We needed that time apart, Daemon. We needed to find ourselves

head returned to rest against her middle, and Emeriel resumed stroking his

to ebb, taken

she found herself comforted too.

blame she had carried for so long–the self–recrimination and what ifs–they

so much lighter. Freer. The burden she

unnoticed. She lost track of how long they stayed like

the night moved on. The stars, the moon, and the wind bore witness to this vulnerable time. This heartbreaking moment where she stood and watched her male break apart before her, piece by slow, agonizing

didn’t move.

to ache from standing too long, and her waist ached

stirred, his hold loosening

“Do you

asked in a tender

the pain. “You, Emeriel, are a rare treasure. Thank you

thank me. Not for that.”