Chapter 2078: Someone You Loved (Part 1)

"On top of that, their role model is an old-ass Dragon who only minds his own business. Ours is going to be a dashing young man who dirties his hands to usher in an era of progress and peace." Sylpha said

'By my Mom, when the Queen puts it like that, I'm tempted to forget what big of an asshole you actually are and join your fan club.' Solus projected the image of Tiamat-inspired merchandise going from t-shirts to action figures.

The music ended and the Queen gave him a graceful courtesy before taking Meron and Kamila out of the dancefloor.

"It should be my turn now, correct? After all, I always come second." A familiar voice said with a sad chuckle.

Lith didn't need to check his dance card to know it was Phloria.

"Outranking a Queen is hard." Lith shrugged. "Even if you did beat her to the punch, the valet would have just switched your names."

"Fair enough but it doesn't make it any less unpleasant." Unlike the Queen, Phloria barely needed to tilt her head to look at him in the eyes from up close. "Care dancing with an old friend?"[1]

She didn't wait for an answer, threading her left hand into his right and putting Lith's arm on her waist while she was still talking.

"I would love to." Lith smiled as her decisiveness and the golden lily pendant around her neck brought back countless memories. "But now I'm curious about your rush.

"Usually during events of this kind, aside from my mother no one else signs up to dance with me but pricks who know they won't have another occasion to approach me.

"We can dance whenever you want at your place or mine. It's not like we don't spend time together already."

"We actually don't." Phloria sighed. "At least, not the way I would like to. We only meet to work, study, or train. Even after you quit the army, you rarely found time for us outside Faluel's lair.

"Then, things got even worse when you were forced to escape to the Desert. Do you realize that I had to learn about your marriage from my mother and that the last time we met just for the fun of it was during the second ceremony?"

"Yeah. Sorry about that. Things have been a little hectic." Lith's senses warned him that something was off.

Phloria's movements were as lithe and graceful as always, yet he could feel through her hand how tense she was. She was smiling a lot, but only because she was forcing herself to.

Her hazel eyes sparkled too much under the magical lights of the room, something that could only be explained with an insistent tear she was fighting back.

"No need to apologize. I'm not without fault either." Her sky-blue dress matched the streaks in her waist-long black hair while the olive tone of her skin emphasized the gold of her necklace.

That along with the deep v neckline brought Lith's eyes to her bosom more often than he would have liked.

"After you Awakened me, I've been pissed off at you for a long time. I avoided you on purpose while trying to make heads or tails of our forced relationship." According to the rules of the Awakened Council, Phloria would belong to him for 100 years or until she was deemed ready.

"When I finally wrapped my head around all the madness that your life is, neither of us had a moment to spare. If I were a superstitious woman, I'd think that destiny worked hard to keep us apart." She sighed more and more often.

Her smile was fading and her movements became clumsy from time to time.

"First there was Kamila between us, then Solus, and before I could even think, here we are. You've gone a long way from the grumpy kid who dragged me to dance on the ceiling of the Distar's manor."

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The memory of that night, when Lith had used gravity magic for the first time and ruffled the feathers of hundreds of nobles for one of his schemes made them both chuckle.

It was the first honest laugh for both of them, but for completely different reasons.

For Lith, that night had been one of the happiest of his life. Back then, life was much simpler and he was just a magical student having fun instead of a Magus involved in a physical and a political war at the same time.

To Phloria, instead, it had been the moment when her young heart had sparked with a feeling that only in her adult life she had recognized as love. It was the beginning and the end of everything.

"You are now able to smile from your heart like I always wanted you to. You've found a woman who loves you so deeply that she chased you through two continents to be with you.

"You are now the Supreme Magus and maybe, one day, you'll find a way to be even more." Her right hand moved to his cheek, caressing it with her thumb uncaring for Court etiquette.

"Those are all reasons for me to be happy for you, but they also force me to face reality. There is no more place for me in your life." A spark of Spirit Magic opened the clasp of the necklace that Phloria caught in mid-air.

"What are you doing?" Lith asked as she threaded her fingers through his again, feeling the cold metal of the golden lily between their hands.

"No matter what happens in the future, I'll always be your friend. If you ever need me, you just need one call and I'll run by your side." Tears streamed from her eyes, but her smile never faded nor did her voice crack.

"I loved you. I loved being your strength during your darkest times. I loved every single minute we spent together and I deeply regret the decision of breaking up at the end of the academy.

"Yet there is no turning time back. I can only live with the consequences of my choices and move forward. I needed to talk with you on the dancefloor because I want this conversation to end the moment the music stops.

"I don't want either of us to linger on what might have been one second longer. We have wasted too much time on that, or at least, I did. I'll never forget the feelings I had for you but at the same time, I can't let them burden me forever.

"You've built an incredible life for yourself and now I want to do the same." Only when Phloria let go of him and gave him a curtsy did Lith realize that the dance was over.

Phloria wiped her tears with first magic so that no one but him ever knew what had just happened.

As she walked toward her next dance partner and Milea Genys approached him, Lith's eyes fell on the palm of his right hand.

The golden lily pendant was still there, heavy from the happy memories and broken promises it carried.

***

Griffon Kingdom, White Griffon academy, two days later

After the gala, Lith's life became a vortex that rarely gave him a moment of respite.

[1] Recommended Soundtrack: Someone you loved by Lewis Capaldi

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