The Dragons' Bathhouse: A Reverse Harem Enemies-to-Lovers Soulmate Romance

40

They must have wanted that if they tried to kill her.

"N-never. Never. We never wanted you dead, it hurts us. We only wanted you gone. Safe. Safe." Keegan repeated as he clung to her. "Away from us. Far away."

It was ironic, his words. Ironic. And she laughed, she laughed, and she laughed. It was small and sad in the silence of the room. It sounded lonely and angry, bitter and resentful. She stopped, panting a little as her face melted into one of neutrality.

"You were the reason for my death sentence." She repeated as she would to a small child, her face blank and neutral. "You two were why I almost died." Inside, she pleaded to them. Please deny this. Please tell me 'no'. Please give me excuses. They gave her none of that. Only more words to confirm her worst nightmare.

"W-we should never have let you go. We regret it. It was all our fault. Please, please, we're sorry. Please forgive us. Please."

Eden smiled weakly as she glanced at the twins, her eyes flickering over features she could barely see. They did not deny her accusations. They did not deny anything. They were the reason for her punishment, for her pain. And now they were here with her because they regretted it. They were here because of the niggling sense of guilt that tugged at their hearts, an unwanted worm in their souls.

Her body went cold, as if a bucket of ice had been dunked over her head, as if she were submerged within snow. And she could not breathe, the inhaled oxygen into her lungs was never quite enough. A weight sat on her shoulders, over her body, over her chest.

She wanted to die.

"You never wanted me. This arrangement. Your love." She flourished her hands, gesturing to the room as she stood, waving at the dream that they had weaved for her in her amnesia. A dream that was too good to be true. She loved them. She loved them so much she would have done anything. Her expression crumbled at the thought. "It was all based on guilt. The two of you. This was all just guilt. Guilt and the pull of our souls. You lied to me."

"N-no n-no, we learned to love you. We do now, we love you so much. Please. Eden, we love you more than anything in the world. More than our own lives, Eden, please."

Kaizel wept, and the blob of his figure knelt at her feet with his brother. The two of them were gripping on her clothes as they cried, sobbing as they spoke. They held her and she bent down, caressing their cheeks. And still, the gold spilt, like a memory, like a mantra, a reminder of their status as soulmates.

But all good things would always come to an end.

"Listen to me," she mumbled, her chest aching at what was to come. "I forgive you if you will forgive me. Your debt to me has been repaid, you don't owe me anymore. I forgive you." She smiled at them, her tears flowing down her cheeks, wetting her clothes.

She repeated. "I forgive you. So you don't have to love me." She turned, ripping her clothes from their weak grasps. "And you don't have to return my love."

"Eden? Wait, wait—"

She slipped her fingers over the symbols of the bathhouse, revealing the hidden staff door.

"EDEN!"

She vanished.

Kaizel

"T-the human is not in the vicinity. She w-was too quick! She was last seen at the portal to the Human Realm." The medusa cowered at their feet, trembling as she spoke. She was only still here because they had yet to find a better replacement. But the Grandmother was done for, having attempted to kill the soulmate of the princes and Kaizel would see to her punishment personally after the event ended. "She has left the Spirit Realm."