"Gorez Goz is so brave and romantic! He was willing to shave his beard for the woman he loves!" Kylia exclaimed with joy.
"Hahaha," Del laughed at Kylia's enthusiasm.
Suddenly, Kylia's mood changed quickly, causing Del to be surprised. Her sudden change in mood made Del wonder, "My fate, what's the matter?"
Kylia did not answer, she just looked down and remained silent. Finally, she spoke again, "Del... the beautiful woman didn't like Gorez Goz because his face was covered by a thick, long beard. Only after she saw his handsome face could she accept him."
"So?"
"Is facial beauty really that important?"
"Yes, it is. Perhaps beauty is not the most important thing, but having a beautiful face can make your life easier," Del answered truthfully.
Kylia's eyes began to well up, and frustration started to appear on her face. "What about me then!? I have an ugly face!!!" she yelled angrily.
"Eh?" Del was surprised by Kylia's sudden outburst. "But... but... my fate... you are the most beautiful woman I have ever met in my life. And I am the strongest cultivator in my world who has lived for hundreds of millions of years. Doesn't that mean you are the most beautiful woman in the world?" Del didn't understand.
"Del... I'm not a naive child who can be easily fooled like that. You only think I'm beautiful because of our Fate companion relationship! Without it, I'm just a cursed and ugly girl in your eyes," Kylia cried even harder.
Del was speechless and didn't know what to say. He could feel that Kylia's anger was not directed at him, but at herself. Right now, Del truly regretted not reading an article or book about how to calm down a woman who was feeling low self-esteem.
He knew that even if he praised Kylia and explained how beautiful she was, it wouldn't be useful in this situation. As a result, Del had to think hard to escape from this awkward situation. Fortunately, he had a great brain on his head, and inspiration came to give Del enlightenment.
He immediately stood up from his seat and tightly held Kylia's hand. Although Kylia tried to struggle to release his grip, Del was much stronger than Kylia.
"Kylia, come with me somewhere," said Del in a tone that could not be refused. He dragged Kylia's hand to walk with him.
The two of them walked towards a deeper area of the flower garden. Here, small flowers began to decrease and beautiful flower trees began to appear. Del continued to drag Kylia's hand to walk further inside.
As her feet stepped, Kylia's mood became calmer. But the feeling of annoyance still existed in her heart because Del did not immediately answer her question. She began to feel that their relationship was only because of the Fate Companion. Without it, Del would never care about her.
Annoyance turned into fear. Kylia depended heavily on Del. They were always together, and Del was always there when she felt alone. Del was a light in the midst of darkness and a warm home in the midst of a snowstorm. It had always been that way and would always be.
But now Kylia felt that Del didn't love her. He was only forced to love Kylia because he was bound by the Fate Companion. Kylia felt very scared. She was afraid that Del would really disappear from her side. She wouldn't be able to do anything because Del was so perfect.
Before that fear turned into regret, Del suddenly stopped.
In front of them was a tree that was at least 7-8 meters high. This tree had shiny green leaves and very fragrant flowers with various colors, such as white, pink, and yellow.
"Kylia. Do you know what tree this is?" asked Del while pointing to the beautiful tree in front of them.
"..." Kylia didn't answer, her face still lowered with tears in her eyes.
"This is a Kamboja (Frangipani) tree," Del answered.
(I will change Sacred Cambodia Tree to Sacred Kamboja Tree. Initially, I thought they were the same tree, but after rereading, I realized that they are two different types of trees.)
Hearing the name of the tree, Kylia's face lifted. The name of the tree was the same as the name of the physique that Kylia had.
"You're right, this tree is the same type as your physique. However, this tree is too weak and small to become the World Tree. Nonetheless, I feel that you and this tree have something in common. Would you like to hear the story of the Kamboja tree?"
"..." Kylia didn't answer, but Del continued to tell the story.
"Once upon a time, there was a loving couple. Every day they felt happy just by looking at each other's faces. They joked, argued, cried, laughed, and struggled together.
"Their love was so great that the husband could not leave his wife, and the wife could not live without her husband. But sometimes fate feels jealous of happy people.
"One day, the husband suddenly fell ill. His body weakened to the point where he could no longer work. Every night blood came out of his cough, and his body became thinner and thinner until his bones were only covered with skin.
"The wife did not leave her husband, she stayed by his side and took care of her sick love. However, the husband did not recover.
"Time passed, and days turned into months. The husband grew weaker with his unhealed sickness. The wife never complained, she still accompanied her husband with a bright smile on her face.
"But unfortunately, this story did not end beautifully. The husband did not recover and had to die in his wife's arms. Although they did not cry, they held back their tears to comfort each other. Before his last breath, the husband asked his wife to forget him and find a new partner so she could be happy.
"The wife just smiled at her husband's request. But when the breath disappeared from her husband's body, the wife finally showed her sadness. She cried for days until tears no longer flowed from her eyes.
"Although she wanted to fulfill her husband's request, happiness could no longer be found in this world. The prolonged sadness made her sick, but it wasn't the pain she felt, but the relief that arose in her heart.
"She felt her time would come and she would meet her husband again. Her wish was granted by the world. The wife passed away after a month of sorrow. The villagers who knew the story of the true couple buried the wife next to her husband's grave."
"As time passed, days turned into nights, months turned into years, and years turned into decades. From the grave of the wife grew a tree with beautiful flowers as its crown. The tree had lush leaves that protected the grave of the husband from the scorching sun.
"Every day, the tree would drop its flowers onto the grave of the husband, as if it was an unending declaration of love.
"That tree was the Kamboja tree." Del finished telling the story.
Kylia fell silent, looking at the swaying Kamboja tree in the wind. After a moment, she gathered the courage to ask, "Del, did you really love me?"
"hmm... why do you ask that?"
"Because you never say you love me!" Kylia replied quickly.
"..." Del did not immediately reply.
"Are you not going to answer?" fear crept into Kylia's voice.
"Until now, I have never really understood what love is... for someone who has already reached the level of power I have, things like love seem ridiculous. If there is something that can connect someone to another person, I will immediately recognize it... and you know what? In every couple that I see, there is no such thing as 'love' between them... I just see some couples connect because they are too familiar with each other; lust, greed, there is a strong karmic bond between them or some machination of fate.
"There is no such thing as love, it is just a parable to identify an unexplainable connection by the weak," Del replied without any change in his expression.
"So what kind of word do you use to identify our connection?"
"As I have always said, you are my fate and I am your fate."
"Fate? Just like that? I am very disappointed with you, Del!!! So, you think we are together just because you have the physique of an Ayam Cemani and I have the physique of a Sacred Kamboja Tree!!! Then what happens if some random guy appears out of nowhere and he has the physique of an Ayam Cemani?"
"I will kill him," Del replied flatly, coldly, without any fluctuation, as if he were discussing what kind of breakfast he would have.
"And if some random girl appears out of nowhere with the physique of a Sacred Kamboja Tree, then it's your job to kill her," he continued.
"Kylia, what I mean by fate is not something like a fate companion or a link between our physiques. What I mean by fate is something that I declare as an unchangeable fact!" Del looked into Kylia's eyes without flinching, as if he wanted to fill her golden eyes with darkness in his.
"Kylia, if you prioritize someone other than me, I will erase that person. If you try running away from me, I will chain you. If you think you can hide from me, I will burn this world to find you. If you choose to die, I will revive you. There is no other option for you except to be with me, live with me, hug me, kiss me, and fuck me.
"Our connection is fate, and that is because I say so."
The words that came out of his unshakable confidence, born of unimaginable effort and hard work, followed by hundreds of millions of years of suffering and loneliness, created a promise that was as real as reality.
Amidst her trembling body and teary eyes, Kylia felt like she was caught in a whirlpool of darkness that led her into a bottomless pit. Trapping her in loneliness and piercing coldness down to her bones.
It gnawed at her decaying flesh and sucked her blood, which was now accompanied by pus. But it was not fear that Kylia felt, but a strange arousal that made her stomach tickle, her head numb, and her heart race.
Only three words could Kylia utter in response to Del's statement that sounded more like a forced declaration of love,
"Yes, My fate!"