"If my little girl starved, what kind of father would I be? I'd be heartbroken."
"I'm already old. I don't want to spend whatever years I have left crying my eyes out."
In that moment, looking at the white hairs that had grown in from worrying over me, I felt the walls around my heart crack for the first time in years.
So there was someone in this world who loved me after all.
All at once, I didn't want revenge anymore.
I buried Soulreaper beneath the hibiscus tree and buried all my hatred along with it.
But Aldric shattered my hard-won peace with his own hands, all over again, and dug my hatred back up from the roots.
I lifted my gaze toward the sky where his voice had come from and spoke, each word deliberate and distinct. "Aldric. It's been a long time."
Before the last syllable faded, a flash of white light split the air.
In the space of a blink, Aldric appeared before me with Elara Abbott in his arms.
He looked exactly the same as before. That face, beautiful enough to ruin kingdoms, hadn't aged a single day.
The woman cradled against him glowed with the same vitality.