Chapter 254: Seris’s Devotion
Chapter 254: Seris’s Devotion
While Rhain was isolated within the innermost chamber, meticulously plotting a bloody war against the Royal Court, another quiet conversation was taking place under the moonlight.
In the outer chamber, the air rippled slightly.
A streak of brilliant blue light descended, resolving into the elegant figure of Myrielle.
Seris, who had been sitting anxiously on a stone bench, immediately stood up.
"Master?" Seris asked, her pale purple eyes widening slightly. "Why are you here so late? Did you all find a solution to save my husband?"
Myrielle looked at her precious, pure-hearted disciple.
"Seris," Myrielle began, her voice unusually heavy. "There is a solution. But it is an incredibly difficult one. It is something that Rhain has already flatly refused."
Seris’s heart skipped a beat. "He refused? Why? What is the solution?"
Myrielle let out a long, quiet sigh.
She knew Rhain would be furious with her for this, but she had to do it to save the lives of two greatest prodigies she had ever known.
Myrielle took a deep breath, and softly, carefully, she explained exactly what had transpired in Dean’s Island.
When Myrielle finally finsihed, Seris’s beautiful face went completely blank.
Her husband... marrying another woman?
Her delicate body trembled, and her face turned completely pale.
Tears immediately welled up in her pale purple eyes, threatening to spill over.
Myrielle felt a pang of profound guilt. "I am sorry, Seris. I know it is cruel to even ask this of you. But Rhain’s pride is too vast. He would rather go to war against the entire dynasty than accept a marriage he does not want, especially when it means hurting you."
Seris lowered her head, the tears finally falling, staining the stone tiles beneath her feet.
Sharing the man she loved more than her own life with some other woman... the thought itself was like a knife stabbing her heart.
But that pain was instantly overshadowed by an even darker thought.
What if he died?
What if his unyielding pride and his desire to protect her feelings led him to be hunted down and slaughtered by the powerhouses of the Royal Court?
Seris didn’t even dare to imagine that scene.
Compared to losing him forever... sharing him was nothing.
Seris slowly raised her head.
Her pale purple eyes, which had just been filled with heartbreak, were now blazing with an unbreakable resolve as if she had made a very important decesion of her life.
------------------
Next morning.
The doors of the inner chamber finally swung open.
Rhain stepped out, his mind was still formulating the logistics of utilizing the Celestial Elixir Pavilion.
But as he stepped into the courtyard, he abruptly stopped.
Standing directly in his path was Seris.
She was waiting for him.
Her beautiful face was pale, her eyes red and puffy from crying through the night, yet she stood perfectly straight.
"Seris?" Rhain’s calculating demeanor vanished instantly. He stepped forward, his eyes filling with deep concern. "What’s wrong? Why are you crying?"
"Master told me everything," Seris stated directly, her melodious voice trembling slightly.
Rhain’s footsteps halted.
His dark grey eyes instantly turned cold.
’Vice Dean,’ Rhain thought, a flash of genuine irritation crossing his mind.
"Seris, you do not need to listen to her," Rhain said softly, reaching out to cup her cheek. "I already told you, I will handle the Royal Court my own way. I am not marrying anyone else."
"No!"
Seris took a half-step back, avoiding his hand.
Rhain froze, his eyes widening in rare surprise.
It was the very first time she had ever pulled away from him.
"You are going to accept Matriarch Seraphine’s offer," Seris demanded, tears welling up in her eyes all over again. "You are going to marry her, and we are going to secure the Monarch’s protection."
"Absolutely not," Rhain flatly refused, his voice turning firm. "I am not throwing myself into a political marriage just because some arrogant Matriarch thinks it’s the only way to save my life. I have my own methods to survive, Seris."
"Your methods?" Seris cried out, her voice breaking. "You mean fighting the entire dynasty alone? You mean constantly shouldering all the burden while Domain Masters hunt you down?"
"Seris listen to me..." Rhain tried to step forward to comfort her.
But before he could speak another word of comfort—
Swoosh—!
The surrounding temperature plummeted to absolute zero.
A blinding flash of glacial light erupted in her snow-white palm.
The icy-blue sword of highly condensed Heavenly Glacial Essence materialized in her grasp.
In a single, fluid motion, Seris raised the razor-sharp blade and pressed it directly against her own pale, delicate neck.
The chilling edge of the blade bit into her skin.
A tiny bead of crimson blood instantly welled up, contrasting shockingly against her snow-white neck, while a layer of frost began to spread across her collarbone.
Rhain’s heart simply stopped beating.
The monster who had killed the Crown Prince’s clone into a bloody paste without a second thought.
The man who had stood completely unfazed facing the domain masters.
Right now, he was completely and utterly paralyzed
"Drop the sword," Rhain ordered, his voice cracking with terror he had never felt in his entire life. "Seris, please. Drop the sword right now."
"I won’t!" Seris sobbed hysterically, her hands trembling but the blade remaining firmly pressed against her skin.
"I have always worked so hard! I endured the freezing pain of my physique, I cultivated day and night, just so I could finally stand by your side! I wanted to be your shield! I wanted to protect you!"
Her voice broke into a heart-wrenching wail.
"But I am still too weak! I can’t protect you from the Royal Family! And today, because of your love for me, I have become the very obstacle standing in the path of your survival!"
Tears streamed down her beautiful face, dripping onto the icy blade.
"If my existence is what stops you from accepting that lifeline... then I will kill myself right now!"
"Seris, please..." Rhain pleaded, "Just drop that sword..."
"I don’t mind a second wife!" Seris screamed through her tears, "I don’t care if you marry Lyra! I don’t care if you marry a hundred women! As long as you are alive... as long as you survive... that is all that matters to me! But I refuse to be a widow. Husband, If you die, I will follow you to the underworld immediately!"
Looking at the fierce, suicidal resolve in her tear-filled eyes, Rhain felt his entire world crumble.
He had lost.
Completely and utterly defeated by his own wife.
Rhain slowly lowered his trembling hands.
"Drop the sword, Seris," Rhain whispered hoarsely. "I... I will listen to you..."
Seris blinked with her tearful eyes.
"You promise?" she sobbed.
"I promise," Rhain said, closing his dark grey eyes, "I will accept the Matriarch’s offer. Just... please, drop the sword."
Clatter.
The icy-blue sword dissolved into a shower of harmless frost.
The moment the blade vanished, Rhain closed the distance in a single stride, pulling her violently into his arms.
He held her so tightly it was as if he was trying to merge her body with his own.
His hand gently brushed over the tiny, superficial cut on her neck, sending a wisp of pure essence to instantly heal the wound without leaving a scar.
Without even him realising, tears were spilling down his cheeks.
"You stupid, foolish girl," Rhain murmured into her silver-blue hair, "Please, next time if you are angry with me, you better stab a sword in my heart than doing that again..."
Seris buried her face into his chest, clutching his dark robes as she wept uncontrollably, relieved that she had managed to save the man she loved more than life itself.