Last Chance [Extra #2]

Part 29

"Your name is Celosia Athanasia Vasilios?" Cassian asked tentatively, holding his breath as he waited for Celi's response.

"Yes... Why?"

"Have you ever heard of 'Immortal Royal Flame'?"

Hearing the phrase, Celosia felt a sharp pain in her head. She instinctively grabbed onto the side of her head, but the pain was too severe. It was like someone had just hit a nail into her skull that went straight to her brain.

"Celi!" Cassian panicked seeing his now fiancee suddenly wince in pain. He approached her and knelt before her, frantically asking her what was wrong.

Celosia couldn't speak. She could hardly keep her eyes open as the feeling of something stabbing her brain spread throughout her whole head. It was unbearable. She felt as if her head would explode. What she couldn't understand was why.

"Celi!" Cassian panicked, as Celosia was in more and more pain each passing second. "Celosia Athanasia Vasilios!" He called out her full name to get her attention.

And the pain miraculously disappeared.

"Cassian?" Celosia had a hard time coming back to her senses, worrying her future husband even more as he gently wiped the tears that fell from her eyes.

"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I didn't know it could hurt you," he profusely apologized, avoiding her eyes so he wouldn't have to face her wrath. Surely she was mad at him for hurting her.

She wasn't. "It wasn't your fault. It's fine. Though I must ask, what was that name you called me?"

"I won't say it again," Cassian asserted with a scowl. "What if hearing it causes you pain?"

"Then could you write it down for me?"

Cassian hesitated then obediently followed her request. He wrote down the phrase first in the Empire's language, then in the ancient Eastern language. He had learned it as he studied the history of the Eastern Kingdom, though his knowledge was limited. All he did was copy the letters from the books he found and rely on their translations to learn what they meant. However, as those translations were done by the Empire's scholars, they could prove to be wrong. The Imperial family at the time wanted to hide their crimes at all costs.

"Where have you seen this name?" Celosia asked in all seriousness. She wasn't in the mood for jokes. This name was connected to her first life, of which she remembered very little, and for some reason, Cassian knew this, even though he lived in a completely different era, a thousand years later than she did.

"I remember seeing it in a book in my father's library. I could show it to you, but I don't feel comfortable doing that. What if you get a headache again?"

"I will have to try to remember it eventually. It's better to learn it now rather than accidentally hear it again without being prepared. I just want to see the book. Please," Celosia felt somewhere deep inside her that she had to see what was written there and find out at least a piece of truth. She had forgotten almost all of her memories from her first life, and she didn't know why. It was the only life she had so little memories of. In other lives, no matter how badly injured she was right before her death, she still remembered everything vividly.

"If it's that important for you, I'll show it to you," Cassian sighed in resignation, holding out his hand to Celi so he could show her to the library.

It was filled with hundreds if not thousands of old books that looked like they were about to perish into nothing upon a mere touch. That was how old they were. Some of them, namely the ones about the first Emperor, were literally a thousand years old, so it made sense that they would be in a certain condition.