Chapter 73
Footsteps approached soon. Noxia didn’t bother to lift her face to look at the person.
But the moment his hand touched hers, her body shuddered as if burned, and before she knew it, she jerked her head up.
She saw black hair and deep blue eyes—a face that had changed immensely from the past, yet was still unbearably the same.
When her memories were dormant, she couldn’t recognize him, but the being consumed by an ancient soul now whispered freely to her former lover.
“Why are you here?”
She asked the question even though she already knew the answer. Seeing his face turn pale, she felt an old pain and a cruel pleasure at the same time.
“Here to try killing me again?”
A twisted desire to hurt him as much as possible intertwined with the heart that still ached at even his smallest scratches, clawing at her soul with a dreadful dissonance.
“Did you come looking to do that again this time?”
One encounter was enough for their fate. Their relationship, forcibly extended beyond its natural lifespan, had become a cursed bond, and the deep longing had transformed into bitter resentment.
Jade Lannon gave no answer to Noxia Deccan’s reproachful retort. He simply knelt silently, bowing his head to her.
The once pure and whole lovers of ancient times had met again as a despairing soul and a cursed immortal. This was a reunion where neither could smile.
Chapter 11. The Ancient King
In history, King Promeon was recorded to have died young.
According to heroic poems, which contained literary exaggeration, he swallowed the stolen fire from the gods’ palace, suffered internal burns, languished, and died.
But that was not true. It was true that Promeon swallowed the fire, but he didn’t die from burns—and in fact, he had never truly died.
After discovering that Promeon had used Pellene to infiltrate the gods’ palace and steal numerous divine artifacts, including the Eternal Fire, the gods were enraged and cursed them both.
The god Pellene, friendly to humans, was punished with repeated reincarnations into mortal bodies, while the human Promeon, who dared covet a god’s treasure, was cursed with immortality.
At first glance, the curse of immortality didn’t seem harmful. It was a privilege that any human would covet, so much so that the words “punishment” or “curse” seemed almost ironic.
But the clever gods knew the truth: unless all humans gained immortality together, for Promeon to live forever alone was certainly a curse.
If Promeon had been divine from the start, he could have mingled with the other gods, and it would have been no problem.
But he was born human, grew as a human, and everyone he cherished was mortal.
His lover, family, and friends all aged and passed away one by one, while he remained bound to the world forever—a horrifying fate.
Even when he fled to another world after losing the war with humans, having his divine treasures stolen, the gods who cursed him laughed with delight.
Ah, though the war was lost, revenge was successful. The audacious human who stole the fire and the foolish minor god who helped him received their just deserts.
When Promeon eventually realized he did not age no matter how much time passed, he consulted with Hermane and prepared his own funeral.
King Hermane spread rumors that her husband and the kingdom’s great general, Promeon, had died, then solemnly declared the state funeral.
They did not want people to know that Promeon had become ageless.
If the people knew, they would try to worship him as a new god, but Promeon had never sought to overthrow the old gods for that purpose.
Hermane and Promeon had to part ways this way. The gods had certainly exacted their revenge on the human king and hero. Enduring the heart-wrenching pain, the two chose separation.
Promeon officially became a wandering spirit, and Hermane became a wise and compassionate queen who ruled her kingdom for many years.
Hermane never remarried. Before Promeon was officially declared dead, the child born of their union became the next ruler.
Time passed, and the era came when Hermane grew old and a new king ascended. As she lay on her bed awaiting the end in peace, a shadowy presence approached.
“Hermane.”
Capable guards stood before the queen’s bedroom, but Promeon, now possessing immortality and other divine powers, entered the room naturally without needing to blind their eyes.
“Promeon.”
Hermane opened her clouded eyes wide. Unlike her wrinkled and aged body, Promeon remained young and beautiful, exactly as he had been when aging had been forcibly halted.
As Hermane slowly reached out her trembling hand, Promeon gently took it, knelt by her bedside, and kissed the back of her hand. Even aged, her skin was soft under his burning lips.
“Promeon, I’ve missed you…”
Hermane whispered in a thin voice, her weakened body robbing her voice of strength, making it hard to understand.
But Promeon, with hearing beyond human limits, caught every word. His sharpened gaze never left his lover’s face.
“I’ve missed you too, Hermane.”
Promeon confessed softly. He could not honestly admit that he had been watching over her all this time.
He had lingered around her without her knowing, staying indirectly with her, yet he constantly longed for her.
Promeon kissed her hand again, then rested his face against it, rubbing his cheek against hers. The old woman’s warmth was fading. Promeon felt the approaching death.
“Thank you for being with me until the very end. I wanted to see you at least once more before I die. If I hadn’t, I would have felt wronged even in the afterlife.”
“Hermane.”
“I’m sorry for leaving alone. I’m sorry for leaving you to suffer alone…”
“Hermane, don’t apologize. It was all my choice.”
“But it was a choice because of me. You stole the fire for me.”
Tears welled in Hermane’s wrinkled eyes. Promeon wiped them away with gentle hands, kissing her forehead as he tried not to cry himself.
“It was a choice for not just you but all of us. And in any case, it was my own decision. You didn’t force me. So never blame yourself.”
Had Promeon not stolen the fire from the gods’ altar, Hermane would eventually have discovered how to create fire herself and taught the rest of humanity.
In that case, the gods’ wrath would naturally fall on the queen. Already considered too clever for a human, they intensely disliked her.
Promeon chose to play the villain instead. Luring Pellene to infiltrate the gods’ palace was entirely his own act.
Hermane only realized the extent of his actions after he stole the fire, and she was horrified.
Thus, the gods’ wrath fell much more strongly on Promeon than Hermane, and before they had the power to curse both, they left one damaged and departed.
Crushed under a never-ending curse, Promeon did not regret the choices he had made.
Even if he could turn back time, he would act the same. He confessed that his choices were for Hermane and everyone, but strictly speaking, that was a lie.
Unlike the benevolent king Hermane who cared for all, the hero who protected the king was narrow-minded and selfish.
The king protected the people; the hero protected the king alone. So Promeon’s sacrifices and devotion were always for one person, then and now.
No matter how he denied it, Hermane guessed the truth.
Having loved only one person in her life, she wept endlessly at the last moment, feeling his warmth.
“I love you, Promeon.”
The queen whispered. The cursed hero, holding back tears, kissed her.
Even as a being forced into the divine realm, he could not stop the approaching death. He could not share his damn immortality. The hero had to let his lover go.
Promeon watched Hermane’s funeral from afar. He could have concealed himself and attended closely, but he could not bring himself to do so.
Watching her body burn was unbearable. Seeing only ashes afterward pierced him with cruel reality.
The one he loved, still loved, the only person he would continue to love throughout his interminable life—she had passed. No longer in this world.
Watching from afar, sneaking to hold her hand while she slept, hearing people call her name, seeing her smile at others—it was all over.
Now Promeon was truly alone. Completely alone. No lover, no parents, no siblings, all his friends from human days aged and disappeared. In a world gradually forgetting him, he remained alone…
The gods had executed a cruel revenge.
The human who became godlike for coveting divine treasures had become utterly isolated.
Promeon stayed in the Hermane Kingdom for some time.
Although Hermane was gone, their child now ruled the kingdom, and he could not leave, bound by his attachment and duty.
But as time passed and his emotions dulled, even his affection and sense of responsibility for his descendants faded.
After witnessing his great-grandson pass at an old age and the throne pass to his own child, Promeon left the kingdom without hesitation, wandering the world for a long time.
He did not feel hunger or fatigue, nor need rest. He wandered aimlessly, ignoring direction and season.
He did not return to the Hermane Kingdom for a long time. Checking the traces of his lover left throughout the kingdom was painful.
When he occasionally returned, unable to resist longing, he was always startled by how much the scenery had changed, feeling lost as if in a desert, wandering in a daze.
He was truly a being preserved in eternity. Had he been born so, it would not have felt unnatural—but being originally human, left alone while all else flowed on, was unbearable.
