The Iudex's day off

Chapter 68 - Forever

Wriothesely's POV

 He was clearly in pain.

 He was in so much pain that he collapsed.

 He, who no matter what, always stood upright through everything.

 But even so, as soon as I spoke those words, instead of being in pain, he looked absolutely horrified.

 It was as if he dreaded the idea so much that it pushed away the pain.

 "No."

 He blinked a few times, shaking his head.

 "No, no, no, no, no..." He repeated over and over again.

 "Neuvillette-"

 "No, you can't. I can't-"

 "Neuvillette, it's my choice, not yours-"

 "It is as much my choice as it is yours! If I don't want you as my mate I-"

 "So you don't love me?"

 "What?"

~

Neuvillette's POV

 I looked at Wriothsely in complete and utter shock.

 That question caught me completely off guard.

 "Tell me you don't love me and I'll leave. I'll leave and you won't have to see me again."

 "I- I-"

 Come on!

 Just spit it out already!

 It's just four words!

 It's not for you, it's for him.

 If I admit it-

 If he stays he will surely convince me.

 And if he does, he'll surely die.

 "I don't- I don't-"

 "Say it."

 "I don't love- I don't-"

 "Neuvillette-"

 He didn't finish his sentence. He couldn't.

 Not as time froze.

 "You're going to hurt him again." An early familiar voice spoke.

 "You- You brought him here! You told him! Why?!"

 He chuckled, no longer a dragon, now his figure a carbon copy of mine.

 "Wouldn't you like to know? Well, I want to know as well. Who knows. Maybe your guilty conscience got the better of you. I've never done a single thing you had not truly desired. I can't. In the end, I'm just you, after all."

 He couched down, meeting my eyes.

 "You want to do it. You ache to do it. Why not let him convince you? Let him convince you. Give into your instincts and end this miserable existence of mine."

"You-"

 "You know I shouldn't exist. Wrio was right when he said that people's thoughts don't usually walk around. They don't. Not for humans and not for dragons either. The only reason I exist as an entity is because you've held back for so long that enough raw power has piled up to form me. And I've been here, locked up for centuries."

 "I'm sorry..."

 "You should be. I really don't understand why mortals cling to their lives so desperately. Not when just simply existing is such a bothersome thing."