Tian merely looked at Jin Ling, his gaze not any different from usual. Yes, why would he only bar the demons? That was a good question. "Why would you think that I would answer you?" Nobody in the immortal races had ever dared to question him. Well, nobody other than that bastard Xin Lan. But that guy had always been arrogant so that was to be expected.
Jin Ling furrowed his brows. "Aren't you in favor of happy couples? After all, that's what you are remembered for, isn't it? You and your partner. A marriage against all odds, a love story many are still talking about even after such a long time? I'm here because of the person I love since I think that he might be here. So why don't you tell me if that's the case? Or where I can find him if he isn't? I'll leave immediately after that."
Tian scoffed. "The person you love? I don't know what's more pitiful: The fact that that person has to put up with so many men pretending to love him even though they don't or you actually thinking that you know what love is?"
Jin Ling clenched his hands into fists. "What are you talking about? Of course, I love him! I've never loved anybody else."
Tian merely looked at him. This person … Did he really think he was a dragon? "Even if you don't like it, the fact who your father was won't change. You will have to live with the fact that your blood is that of a demon. With that also comes the inability to truly love. I won't deny that you desire him. Maybe you are different from your father and what you desire from him is not the same but still, it isn't love what you feel. You're obsessed. Just as obsessed as all the demons are."
"No. No, that isn't true. I might have the blood of a demon, yes. But I also have the blood of a dragon. Isn't it that dragons can only love one person in their life? Then why would you say that I can't love? Since I have the blood of a dragon, I should be the same. At the very least, I should be able to fall in love once."
Tian shook his head. "You also understand what it means to be of mixed heritage. It should be fairly obvious to you that you have inherited more from your demon father. So why bother to pretend? If you really understood the dragon race, understood what it meant to love one person and one person only, then you wouldn't be doing this anyway.
"That person you desire, he already has somebody else in his heart. It was your father who ruined him. And you have seen just how devastated he was because of that. You tried to take that place but you also know how miserably you failed. There is no way for you to fill the void that was left behind by the man he loved. That is what it means to be able to only love once in your life. It is unique to the dragons and even if you'd like to be a dragon, you aren't. No, you're merely of mixed blood. Part of you might be that of a dragon but I'm afraid other than your magic …"
Jin Ling gritted his teeth. "I'm not a demon."
"And still, you are sitting on the demon throne. Doesn't that mean that you've already acknowledged it?"
"I'm sitting on the throne for Jinde! It is so that there will be no more war. It is so that we can reign together over the demon and dragon realm, merging our races once again. That is what he wanted. I'm helping him fulfill his wishes!"
Tian shook his head, his lips seeming as if they wanted to curve into a humorless smile. "His wish? That is what your father promised him. It is a dream he had. A dream where there would be no more war, where peace would be between the three immortal races. He had hoped for that, yes, but then, Jian Heng betrayed him. And you of all people should know that this whole deal that man thought he had agreed to was solidly orchestrated by your father from beginning to end. And even though you know that you still have the guts to say that you love this person? That you're doing all of this for him?
"You're not. You're being selfish. Just like all the demons are. You're doing this because it fits what you want. If you are really having his best interest in mind, then you would've gone and searched for the reincarnation of the man that he loved. You would've brought them back together so that the person you claim to love can finally find the happiness he longs for — the happiness your father destroyed.
"That is what you should have done if you love him. Because you know what they say, don't you? Losing your other part, for a dragon it is like your soul being ripped apart, your body slowly being shredded to pieces. Is that what you want for the person you love? You really make me want to laugh."
Jin Ling opened his mouth but didn't know what to say. Was he truly that selfish? Was he hurting Jinde? But why? "I love him. Why shouldn't it be possible? Merely because I'm younger? Just because that man had the opportunity to meet him before me? That isn't fair!"
Tian shook his head. "This isn't about fairness. It never was. And you know very well that this has nothing to do with age or with who had the first opportunity. You know why he doesn't want to be with you. Why do you still not understand? You will never be anything else but his child for him. How could you even think for a single moment that that would change? Whether that man is there not, your role in his life won't be any different in the future. Even if you had been born before he met that man, it still wouldn't be any different. Whether you like it or not, you will forever be his child."