NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 31: Where Love Was Buried
"Some betrayals are born not of hatred… but of helpless love."
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🏰 [Scene: The Forgotten Cathedral – Province of Ven'dael, Shadowed Ruins]
Hidden in the sunless hills of Ven'dael stood the Cathedral of Nine Flames, a ruined chapel long thought to be a myth. It was once a sanctuary for forbidden lovers — gods and mortals who dared defy divine law.
Now, it lay in ruins.
Cracked stained glass. Shattered pews. And one long-forgotten altar, still glowing faintly with a familiar fire.
Aedric stood before it, his hands trembling.
> "This is where Selene hid him," he murmured.
"Where she chose to be mother… and traitor."
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👣 Flashback Echoes – The Hidden Life
The air shimmered with old memories.
The book of the Unwritten pulsed again, and without his command, a new page turned.
A vision bloomed around Aedric — not an illusion, but a memory-record, left behind by Selene herself.
He watched…
Selene kneeling at the altar, praying.
> "He has your eyes," she whispered to no one.
"But the gods will come for him… as they came for you."
She placed a small flame-shaped pendant in the offering bowl.
> "Forgive me, Aedric.
You were the fire.
I was the wind.
And wind always runs… when fire grows too bright."
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💔 The Confession
In a sealed chamber beneath the altar, Aedric found her final message.
A mirror etched with blood-runes. And a letter.
> "If you're reading this, it means you've found him."
Her voice echoed from the glass.
> "I never stopped loving you.
But I couldn't fight them.
So I made a choice…"
A pause. A breath.
> "I gave the second fragment to the only being who could hide it from the gods — me."
> "When I die… it will return to the flame."
Aedric clenched the letter.
> "Then I must find her… body or soul."
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💀 Grave of the Broken Wind
Selene's grave was hidden behind the cathedral — a simple stone marked with no name, only a swirl of flame and wind intertwined.
As Aedric knelt before it, the flame pendant from the vision in his hand began to glow.
A swirl of ash rose from the stone.
And Selene's soul appeared — faint, fading.
> "You came," she whispered.
"Even after everything."
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🗨 The Final Conversation
> "Why didn't you tell me?" Aedric asked, voice low.
> "Because you were dying," she replied.
"Because if you'd known… you would have fought them all.
And they would have killed him."
Silence.
> "So you let me die alone?" Aedric asked.
Selene's ghost blinked back tears of smoke.
> "No.
I died with you, Aedric.
Every night I stayed silent."
She reached for his hand, trembling.
> "Do you still hate me?"
He stared at her.
And whispered:
> "No.
I remember you.
And I remember… why I loved you."
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🌟 Second Fragment Claimed
The flame pendant shattered.
And from it, light poured into Aedric's chest.
A rush of warmth. Laughter. A child's whisper:
> "Mother says I'm strong… like Father."
He clutched his chest.
> ✅ Second Fragment Acquired: Riven's Joy
You have restored the soul-memory of the boy's happiest days. His emotional essence burns within your Flame Core.
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🛡 New Skill Unlocked
> ✅ Burning Heart
Once per battle, you may ignore fatal damage for 10 seconds if defending someone emotionally bonded to you. Flame power triples during this state.
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🌓 Final Scene – Caelen's Countermove
Caelen stood before a sealed coffin deep in his arcane sanctum.
Beside him: a girl — pale, eyes blank, stitched with silver runes.
> "Bring her to life," he commanded the Necroscribe.
The creature nodded.
The coffin creaked open.
> "If he seeks love…" Caelen whispered,
"Let me show him what love corrupted looks like."
From the coffin rose a mirror of Selene — broken, hollow, and rewritten.
Her eyes glowed red.
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