The ga of silence began again between them. But this ti it brought along tears on both their eyes.
Astrid had wanted this. Had been craving it. Not just hearing from him that she was his world or that he saw her the sa way. She wanted everything revolving around her head to be a lie. Everything she had recently discovered about him to be just false accusations thrown by her panicking mind.
And it was.
All of it was false. He wasn’t using her. He wasn’t collecting weapons. He wasn’t a mastermind playing chess with human hearts.
But the price of that truth was watching the one person she thought was unbreakable finally break. The sa man who had fought the world with a middle finger raised and a grin on his face was now sitting across from her utterly defeated. In a pain far greater than any wound she had ever seen on him.
He looked at the table and said. "That’s what I ant when I said I try to keep my world small. Because the pain I get from the very people in it hurts more than I ever imagined."
Then punches ca.
One after another and right at his chest. They did minimal damage, not because they were intended to be soft, but because they ca from Astrid whose real strength only awakened in battle. Right now she was just a girl hitting the chest of the man who had torn her apart and put her back together in the span of one conversation.
"You are an absolute idiot!" She punched again. "You thought you could carry it all alone?! You thought it was right to shoulder the weight while keeping the people who stupidly followed you completely in the dark?!"
Another punch. "Why didn’t you tell ? Was it the fear of losing? If so, do you realize how backwards that is?!"
Her punches beca softer and slower with each word. Now she was pounding his chest with the bottom of her fist. Not attacking. Asking.
Jax replied quietly. "It would have done nothing but bring the pain faster than its arrival ti."
Her punches picked up speed again. "How would it have done nothing?! Because then I would have known what I was fighting for! Instead of fighting so jealousy drama, I would have been standing with you against any threat! Just like you do for us!"
Jax looked at her teary eyes. Her breaking self. But it wasn’t the tears or the pain on her face that hit him the hardest. It was her words.
After all of this. After his betrayal. After every reason she had to walk away, she wasn’t demanding an apology. She was demanding to join his war.
She continued. "You dummy, you deserve this. Every bit of it. You are the complete opposite of what I imagined. You are a coward. You are scared. You have always faked in front of others. Not your identity but your own self. You try to act all tough but inside you are nothing but a coward. A terrified boy pretending the monsters under his bed don’t exist."
Her punches stopped. Her cheek rested on the very chest she had been attacking.
"I don’t know which version of you I fell for." Her voice dropped to sothing soft. "But know this. I won’t leave you. I won’t run away from you. And I will not let you run away from . That’s final."
She stayed against his chest. "I won’t pretend I know everything. I know from my father that champions and the demon generals will soon bring a calamity our world has never seen. He said they have limitless growth and that even in their initial stages, so champions nearly conquered half the world and caused heavy losses on humanity. So I know how ugly things might get when they reach the kind of power that makes nations crumble. Which ans I also know one thing with absolute certainty that..."
Her voice hardened.
"You are slacking off, you bastard. And I’m telling you right now, if I ever catch you wasting ti on another romantic distraction instead of getting stronger, I will end you myself."
She pressed her face deeper into his chest.
"I refuse to watch my slave look powerless on the day I’m standing on the frontline fighting for the world and..." Her voice dropped to sothing barely audible. "...and for him."
She looked up at Jax who was stunned.
"You said I am your world. Then treat like one. Have so trust in—"
She paused.
Because the face above her wasn’t the person she had seen monts before. The broken man was gone. Replaced by the sa person she had always feared speaking a word to. Because that grin always brought sothing disastrous.
He said with the grin firmly in place. "I don’t recall adding you to my world. Stop assuming things."
Her grip on his shirt loosened.
"Oh wait." He tilted his head. "Was it because you asked if you belonged there and I responded with ’ask yourself’? And then you just... assud? Filled in the blanks yourself?"
In the next mont Astrid moved.
Her hand found a fork on the table. She grabbed it and launched it at his face with the speed and intent of soone who genuinely wanted to redecorate his skull.
But Jax just smiled. He didn’t block. Didn’t flinch. Because he knew.
The fork stopped inches from his eyes. Astrid’s hand was trembling but locked in place. Her rage was screaming at her to push forward but she couldn’t.
Then the curses ca.
"You insufferable, despicable, ROTTEN fool! I swear on every god watching that I will be the END of you!"
Before the next curse could leave her mouth, Jax pulled her in. His arms wrapped around her tight. Pressing her against his chest in a hug that left no room for forks or curses or any of the walls she had just rebuilt.
And then she heard sothing she had never heard from him before. Not after any teasing. Not after any mockery. Not after any of the thousand small cruelties he had inflicted on her pride.
An apology.
"I’m sorry, Astrid." His voice was genuine. No layers. No setup. Just the words. "Sorry for everything."
Astrid felt sothing bloom in her chest. She was nervous. But her body was telling her to live in this mont. So she hugged him back just as tight and said.
"You better be."
Ti passed. And when the two finally separated, Astrid had gone beetroot again. The tips of her ears were practically glowing.
She pulled herself back to her senses with a fake cough. Adjusted her posture. Straightened her dress. And then said.
"So how many are there?"
Jax blinked. "How many of what?"
"How many girls do I have to compete with?" Her voice carried a resolve that didn’t match the redness of her face. "How many tis will I have to get my hands dirty so they know their place? So they understand that they don’t stand a chance against . That I am always superior. And will always be at the top of the list."
Jax said. "You know, that’s a really aggressive approach for soone who just told she doesn’t even know what she’s feeling."
"That’s still true." She crossed her arms. "But I am the daughter of Claude Aleris. And I always account for every possibility. So I will remove every obstacle in my path. Now answer my question."
Jax made a face that sent a chill down her spine. She knew he was cooking sothing.
"Remove? How far are you going to take it? Because it seems really—"
Astrid cut him off. "I would have changed a bit but the way I was raised and what I’ve experienced, it won’t go away. And I won’t let it either. I will go as dirty as I need to in order to have you all to myself."
She leaned forward.
"I an, you haven’t seen the side of that earned the tag of Troublemaker Heiress. So yes, in short, I can go as far as needed." She paused. "But hey, don’t get wrong. I won’t go as far as the grave."
Jax should have been shocked hearing her warnings. Instead he smiled. And when he spoke, the teasing in his voice was unmistakable.
"Even if one of them is your best friend’s mother?"
Astrid’s soul left her body.
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