HOW TO LIVE AGAIN (girlxgirlxgirl)

Thirtyone; Epilogue

"The four of us"
57

🦚

Waking up to new life with a gasp.

Belvedere wakes up with a gasp. It's like he feels the breath of life flow into him. He breathes and breathes and breathes, the air flowing through, light prickling in his eyes. He feels new. Like he's been born again. Everything that weighed him down is gone. The price is paid, the debt is gone, and now he's free again. One death for years of trouble, one death for another. Belvedere has paid the blood that stains his family, and now he's alive again. Before he can even see, Belvedere is awake. He is awake to his own feelings, and he is awake to everything that happened before, and everything that is going to happen after this.

There won't be anything in the world left for him to worry about. Belvedere wakes up to a new place, where he will live by new rules. And what will be the most important part of his new world? What will keep him sane and grounded? Keep him reminded of what he paid to get rid of those that stained him? Belvedere finally regains his vision. There is only one person above him, one human who truly matters. Now his debt is paid, and the only person he wants to see again is the one that he loves the most.

"You can wear my covering"

Belvedere looks up. The man takes off the piece of fabric that covers the lower part of his face, for the first time. Maybe it's the situation, but he really looks handsome. Belvedere wants to cry. The price of fabric is offered to him. Belvedere feels his hands shake, and can't accept it. A tear escapes his eye and he looks down, not knowing if he feels ashamed or tired.

But it's those gentle hands, surprisingly gentle actually, that tie the fabric over his lower face, covering the bruise. The fabric might also 'mistakenly' wipe his tears, but they don't mention it. Belvedere looks up at him again, this time with his face covered. Something new starts to form in his head. A new thought.

"Yugo... please lead the way this time"

Belvedere smiles at his husband. He opens his mouth, and through the harshness of his throat, the noble man still finds the right words to say.

"Yugo, you'll lead the way again, won't you?"

And the taller man sitting right in front of him, can't stop staring. Around them there is warmth, as the breeze from outside is mild, and the sun is high and bright. It smells like flowers and lotus water, it's the palace of flowers they are in. The bedding beneath him is soft and fine, made from the best silk this kingdom has to offer. His clothes are dry and gentle, made from a white material that would enhance his healing process. There is something sticky over his wound, the one that will leave an ugly scar on his throat. Belvedere only smiles.

For Aryan, he got a bruise that eventually healed.

For Yugo, he'll get a scar that'll stay forever.

It's not familiar, the ugliness. It's a strange thing that looks so... off on his face. It doesn't fit. Everything else is so smooth, so perfect. His perfect eyes, shining ever so beautifully. His perfect nose, perfect skin, perfect hands, perfect figure. Since birth he has been the most beautiful in the capital, and now?

There is a glaring flaw on his face, something that stands out and erases all other beauty.

He looks disgusting

Belvedere remembers his own words, and he just can't stop smiling. This is the scar that will stand as a glaring flaw on his face, and erase all beauty. Not the bruise that Aryan inflicted on him, but the scar that he inflicted upon himself, to save the one that he loves.