Lila returned to her quarters, the weight of her choices and emotions pressing down on her like a silent storm. She barely noticed her father's arrival until he stood beside her, his presence a steady comfort amidst the whirlwind in her mind. Noah regarded his daughter quietly, reading the conflicting emotions etched in her face.
Seeing the furrow of doubt shadow her features, he finally asked, "Lila, are you questioning your decision?"
A heavy silence followed, and Lila let out a shaky breath, her voice no louder than a whisper. "Did I make the right choice, Father?" She lifted her gaze to meet his, seeking wisdom in the familiar depth of his eyes. "Choosing… choosing to stay beside him. I feel like I'm trying to hold a fragile, burning thing. Can I ever trust that it's real?"
Noah's face softened as he reached for her hand, his grip both gentle and reassuring. "Power is a valuable thing," he began, his tone thoughtful. "It can shield you, elevate you above many dangers in life. But it's not an answer to everything. Yes, power will keep you safe; it will prevent the world from taking advantage of you. But it's love, my dear, that makes life worth the risk. Power will protect you, but love…" he paused, brushing a gentle thumb over her trembling fingers. "Love is what makes all the suffering meaningful."
Lila's face crumpled, her carefully composed mask slipping away as she let herself feel the weight of his words. "I love him," she confessed, her voice breaking, and with that, a tear slipped down her cheek. "I don't know when or how, but it's like he's always been there, rooted into my heart."
Noah offered her a tender smile, his expression full of understanding. "Then there's your answer, my Lila. The heart often knows what the mind hesitates to understand. If love is your reason, then let that be enough."
"But what if it's not enough?" she whispered, her voice strained. "What if it all breaks, and I lose everything?"
"Lila," her father murmured, resting his hand over her heart. "You can't live by shielding yourself from every possibility of pain. Love, when true, will withstand the storms. And if you lose—if there's pain—then that pain will teach you, it will strengthen you in ways no power could." He tilted her chin up so that she met his gaze. "Have courage, my dear. Sometimes, the path that scares you the most is the one that leads to your deepest happiness."
She spoke softly, confiding her doubts, "Father, love seems such a frail thing. How can something so ephemeral be anything but a vulnerability—a weakness?"
Noah's eyes softened as he looked at her, seeing his daughter caught in the balance between her heart and her mind. "Lila," he began, his voice like a calming tide, "strength is not just found in armor or in power; it lies in the courage to be open to another, to let someone in when you know they may break you."
He gently took her hand, brushing away a single tear that trailed down her cheek. "Love, my dear, is what we live for. It can feel like weakness because it lays bare our heart and soul. But only the strong can truly love, for only they are willing to risk losing something so precious. Without love, Lila, we exist—but with love, we truly live."
Lila's lips quivered as she looked away, a pang of realization seeping in, yet her hesitation lingered. "But if I let myself feel this way, if I allow myself to need him...won't I only hurt when it's taken away?"
Noah's voice softened further, and he smiled a little, his pride shining through. "Perhaps," he said gently, "but life is filled with loss regardless. With love, you'll find a kind of strength and joy worth any risk. If you love him, my dear, and he loves you, that is a bond no empire could replicate. So ask yourself, Lila—what is it you truly desire? To stand alone, or to know the courage it takes to love?"
As Lila's silent tears fell, a part of her heart finally began to open, her father's words breaking down the walls she had so carefully built around herself. The answer had been there all along, waiting only for her to believe in it.
≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾
Axel stood quietly in Lila's room, the moonlight casting a soft glow over her resting figure. She was still, her breaths barely audible, and the only sound that filled the room was the gentle rhythm of her heart. He allowed himself to focus on it, almost obsessively, feeling an odd, overwhelming sense of comfort each time he caught the faint pulse beneath her skin.
There was a time, not so long ago, when Axel had walked fearlessly in the shadow of death, indifferent to its constant proximity. But now, everything was different. He felt, almost helplessly, that this life—her life—was bound to his own in a way that made him vulnerable for the first time.
A strange laugh caught in his throat as he realized how absurdly pathetic he felt, almost desperate, as if the world would fracture should her heartbeat cease. He had been a man of unfaltering strength, unwavering control, and yet here he stood, entirely at the mercy of the woman lying before him. The notion terrified and humbled him, a weight that pressed against his chest with a strength he couldn't ignore.
Axel reached out, his fingers brushing a stray lock of hair from her face. He felt a soft sigh escape her lips, and his heart jolted in response. All his past bravado, his fearlessness, had fallen away; his pride, his power, were mere illusions in the presence of this fragile truth. The idea that she could be taken from him, that her pulse might one day fade into silence, was an agony he could scarcely bear.
He let out a quiet breath, almost a prayer to whatever power governed life and death, silently pleading for more time, more heartbeats, more moments with her.