The Villainess Wants To Retire Chapter 248: The Truth of The Dragon pt 2

The weight in those two words made my chest tighten.

"Why?" I asked. "Why not yet? What does that an?"

"YOUR LIFE IS AT RISK, VESSEL. AND IT IS NOT YET TI FOR TO ERGE."

"I don’t understand. What do you an it’s not yet ti?"

The dragon’s massive form shifted, wings rustling like thunder in the distance. "THERE ARE TWO REASONS. FIRST... A GREAT EVENT IS COMING. ONE THAT WILL RESET YOUR WORLD. AND I KNOW THIS IS NOT YOUR FIRST LIFE."

Everything inside went cold.

My breath caught. My heart stuttered. The world seed to tilt slightly on its axis.

"What do you an?" The words ca out barely above a whisper.

"I HAVE BEEN ALIVE SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THIS WORLD, VESSEL. EVERY SHIFT IN REALITY, EVERY RESET, EVERY ALTERATION... I AM AWARE OF THEM ALL. AND I KNOW THAT YOU CARRY MORIES THAT DO NOT BELONG TO THIS TILINE."

Gods. He knew. Had known all along.

"Then you must know the truth of our world too," I said, my voice shaking slightly. "That we’re... that this is all... "

"I DO NOT WISH TO KNOW."

The firmness in his voice stopped cold.

"THAT TRUTH IS YOURS TO CARRY, VESSEL. YOURS TO KEEP FOR YOURSELF AND SHARE ONLY WITH THOSE WHO ARE ANT TO DISCOVER IT ON THEIR OWN. I HAVE NO DESIRE TO UNDERSTAND THE NATURE OF MY CAGE. ONLY TO EXIST WITHIN IT."

I stared at him, trying to process that. A god who deliberately chose ignorance. Who could know everything but decided so truths were too heavy to bear.

Maybe he was wiser than I’d given him credit for.

"Tell about this event," I said. "The one that will reset our world. When? How? What do I need to do?"

"WHEN THE TI COS, YOU WILL SEE IT. YOU WILL UNDERSTAND. UNTIL THEN, PREPARATION IS ANINGLESS."

Frustration flared hot and bright. "Why are you so secretive, old man?"

"WHY ARE YOU SO NOSY, YOUNG WOMAN?"

"I’m nosy because I want to know how much ti I’ve got left!" The words burst out of , sharper than I’d intended. "I’m living on borrowed days, Pyronox. Every mont I exist is a mont I shouldn’t have. So forgive for wanting to know if I should be counting hours or weeks or... "

I cut myself off, breathing hard.

"IS IT BECAUSE OF THE CHILD OF WINTER?"

The question landed like a gut punch.

I knew imdiately who he ant. Soren. The ice emperor. The man whose kiss still burned on my lips like a brand I’d never be free of.

I didn’t answer. Couldn’t answer. My face heated despite my best efforts to control it, warmth creeping up my neck and across my cheeks in a blush I absolutely did not need right now.

Pyronox studied in silence. Then, with devastating gentleness: "YOU HAVE FALLEN IN LOVE WITH THE CHILD WHO BEARS AENITHRA’S MARK."

"I haven’t," I said automatically. Too quickly. Too defensively.

"I CAN FEEL EVERY EMOTION YOU EXPERIENCE, VESSEL. YOUR HEART BEATS WITH MINE. YOUR BLOOD CARRIES MY FIRE. I KNOW WHEN YOU LIE."

Caught. Completely, utterly caught in a lie I’d been telling myself since... since when? Since the hidden forest? Since he’d caught falling? Since he’d looked at in the market like I was sothing worth protecting instead of fearing?

"I can’t afford to fall in love," I said, the words coming out quieter now, more honest. "Not when I don’t even know if I’ll see old age. My body is going to give out eventually, Pyronox. No matter how strong I am, no matter how much power I carry... I’m mortal. Mortal bodies aren’t ant to house gods. And if you decide to erge, to take full form..." I swallowed hard. "I die either way. So I’m not exactly the luckiest person to build a future with."

"AND YET YOU THINK OF HIM."

"I don’t want to leave him cruelly like that." My voice cracked slightly. "I don’t want to make promises I can’t keep. He’s already waiting for to wake up. I know he is. Soren would wait forever if I asked him to, and I can’t... I can’t do that to him. Can’t let him hope when there’s nothing to hope for."

Even as I said it, I knew it was too late. Knew that sowhere in Nevareth, Soren sat vigil beside my unconscious body, holding my hand, waiting for to open my eyes. And I’d promised to co back. Had kissed him and promised and ant every word.

Gods, I was such a fool.

"YOUR LOVE REMINDS OF A PROMISE," Pyronox said softly. "ONE MADE LONG AGO."

I looked up at him. "What promise?"

"THE ONE SHE MADE TO ."

"She?" My breath caught. "You an... "

"AENITHRA."

The na hung in the air like a prayer.

I stared at the dragon, seeing him differently now. Seeing past the divine power and ancient rage to sothing underneath. Sothing that looked almost like...

Sadness.

Deep, aching sadness that had lived in him for so long it had beco part of his essence.

"AENITHRA WAS EVERYTHING TO ," he said, and his voice carried the weight of centuries of loss. "MY EQUAL. MY OPPOSITE. MY BALANCE. WE SHAPED THIS WORLD TOGETHER, GAVE HUMANITY THE GIFTS OF FIRE AND FROST, WATCHED THEM BUILD CIVILIZATIONS FROM NOTHING."

His massive eye closed for a mont, and when it opened again, sothing in it looked almost human.

"BEFORE THEY TOOK AWAY FROM HER."

"Who... "

But I didn’t get to finish the question.

Sothing pulled at . A force I couldn’t identify, couldn’t resist, yanking backward through space that shouldn’t exist. The beautiful landscape began to dissolve, frost flowers lting into light, mountains crumbling into particles of silver.

"Wait!" I tried to reach for sothing, anything, but there was nothing to grab. "Pyronox... "

"WAKE, VESSEL," his voice echoed through the collapsing realm. "YOUR EMPEROR WAITS."

Then everything went white, and I was falling, falling, falling toward consciousness and a world that sohow felt more complicated than when I’d left it.