Chapter 137: Before You Leave
Azriel
"You are leaving me?" I asked, the words tumbling out of my throat in sheer disbelief the very second they left Seraphel’s lips.
I couldn’t wrap my head around it—how could he possibly choose to pack his bags and go with Luceriel?
Seraphel shook his head slowly, his voice weak. "I..."
"Is this because I choked you?" I pressed, the desperation clawing at my chest like a physical blade. "Because I unleashed the ancient demon sealed inside my core? Is that why you hate me now? Why you want to leave me behind?"
Seraphel let out a long, heavy groan, forcing his pale face upward until his soft eyes locked directly with mine. "Oh, goodness, Azriel! I can feel your jealousy radiating off you in suffocating waves right now, and you look like you’re plotting a murder, but that is not why!"
"Then why?" I demanded, my voice dropping into a meek, vulnerable whisper I barely recognized as my own. "Why do you want to leave me alone here?"
Seraphel rolled his eyes, a soft, weary sigh escaping his lips as if he were already exhausted by my possessiveness. "Because of this." He stretched out his slender hand, and a brilliant, blinding golden light suddenly burst forth beneath his palm, humming with immense divine authority. "The power overflowing within my body is too much. I can’t control it."
My breath hitched and my eyes widened at the sight of that radiant glare. If that celestial energy consumed his mortal frame, he would fade away into nothingness—a permanent death. Even with our souls bound together, losing him here meant losing him forever, leaving me completely alone in this desolate realm.
The sheer terror of it gripped my heart, making me scramble for any alternative to keep him by my side.
"I can train him here myself!" Luceriel and I blurted out in unison.
I snapped my head toward Luceriel, giving him a suspicious look before realizing that his restored visions had already foreseen this exact argument.
Luceriel cleared his throat with supreme, cold dignity. "I have already witnessed this timeline, brother. And in every vision of the future, you yield and allow him to journey to Verolona with me."
"Then I’ll change the outcome right now!" I argued fiercely. "Now that I know—"
"No, Azriel," Seraphel interrupted gently, raising a trembling hand to cup my cheek. "Going with Luceriel is the only true solution. I stood outside those grand doors for a long time, listening to every single word you all spoke about your awakened demon. I don’t want to be weak anymore. I want to protect you, and I want to protect our unborn child. A few months of dedicated cultivation in Verolona will give me the strength I need—and it might even force Elysium to pause their continuous attacks on me."
I let out a low groan, casting a dark look across the faces of my brothers. Something must have transpired while I was unconscious; they had clearly leveraged their influence to convince Seraphel, coaxing him into changing his mind.
The mere thought of being separated from him felt like an open wound in my chest.
"I will be fine, Azriel," Seraphel murmured softly, his thumb tracing my cheekbone. "You possess the spatial power to check on me through our bond whenever you wish. In fact, you could even teleport into my room every single night if you wanted."
I immediately looked up at Luceriel, who had famously enacted an absolute, lethal spatial ban across his entire realm to keep out all intruders.
"Fine. I will lift the boundary restrictions exclusively for you," Luceriel allowed in a flat, unyielding tone. "Though anyone else attempting to cross my barrier will be instantly reduced to ash."
I sank back into my heavy stone seat, pulling Seraphel tighter against my chest as if he might dissolve into thin air at any given second. Overwhelmed by sheer possessive instinct and separation anxiety, I buried my face into the soft crook of his neck, inhaling his intoxicating lotus scent while unconsciously releasing thick, heavy waves of my pheromones to coat his skin.
"Brother, I know you are madly in love, but take back those suffocating pheromones!" Raizel groaned dramatically, pulling out his golden fan and flapping it frantically to disperse the thick, sweet air. "We are your brothers! It is utterly repulsive to be enticed or suffocated by your mating scent, so take it away, please!"
Realizing my mistake, I let out a low sigh and immediately reined in the wild aura, suppressing my pheromones before they could overwhelm the chamber.
"I am going to miss you," I whispered into the shell of Seraphel’s ear, my voice trembling. "Are you truly not angry with me for choking you? You aren’t running away to Verolona just to get away from what I did? I swear with my life that I wasn’t in control. If you want, I will make it up to you—I’ll bark for you, I’ll crawl at your feet like a dog, Seraphel! I’ll do anything you ask as long as you promise you aren’t leaving out of spite."
Seraphel let out a soft, melodic laugh, his arms wrapping securely around my neck as he pulled me into a tighter embrace. "I don’t need you to bark or crawl, Azriel, and I could never hate you for what happened back there. All I want right now is to spend these precious few remaining hours wrapped up in your arms before I have to depart."
Before I leave. The phrase echoed repeatedly in my mind like a cruel, mocking chant. The separation anxiety clawed at my chest so violently that it felt like my soul was physically tearing apart. The fear that sending him away would lead to some irreversible tragedy made my whole heart ache with unbearable weight.
"If you two are quite finished with this nauseating display of public affection, we have far more critical matters to handle," Luceriel cut in, his posture rigid and his tone utterly bored. "Sariel has taken Zephyrus into custody."
"Where is that bastard?" I declared, dark lightning dancing off my shoulders as my grip on Seraphel tightened. "I’ll tear his soul apart with my bare hands."
Sariel shook his head, leaning forward against the table. "I have already dealt with him. I cast him into a deep, frozen slumber within my ice dungeons, ensuring his spiritual energy is completely sealed so he has no pathway to contact Elysium."
"I can break his mind through torture, extract every detail of Elysium’s plans, and then let Seraphel incinerate him using Castiel’s divine light," I countered darkly. "Would that not be the proper course of action?"
"No," Sariel refused flatly.
I narrowed my eyes, staring at my brother with deep suspicion. "Why are you so adamant about interrogating him in secret? Why protect him from the rest of the us, Sariel?"
Sariel opened his mouth to snap a response, but Seraphel patted my chest gently, speaking before he could. "Calm down, Azriel," he muttered softly. "Sariel fought Zephyrus entirely on his own while protecting me. He earned the right to conduct the interrogation under his own authority, didn’t he?"
The Sins exchanged long, silent glances across the broken table.
Recognizing the truth in his words, we gave brief nods, agreeing to drop the line of questioning for the moment.
"Great. Now that this matter is settled, the human and I shall set off for Verolona tomorrow morning," Luceriel announced, rising from his high chair.
"What?!" I shouted, nearly leaping to my feet while keeping Seraphel cradled safely in my arms. "Isn’t that far too sudden? Why in the seven realms must he leave tomorrow?"
"The earlier he departs, the better off we all are, brother," Lumiel responded on his behalf, his tone unusually calm.
I searched the faces of my brothers, finding only firm, unanimous nods of agreement.
"With how rapidly that raw celestial light is accumulating within his unrefined meridians, it is imperative that his training begins without delay," Anomas added soberly. "Unless, of course, you would prefer your mate to spontaneously burst into divine flames, forcing you to search the mortal realms for his soul once he reincarnates while your curse rots you from the inside out."
At the mention of the curse, the dark, malicious voice residing within my core snarled to life, echoing a terrifying command inside my skull to snap Seraphel’s neck right then and there.
A burning surge of bloodlust rushed through my veins, threatening to shatter my self-control.
I let out a strangled, painful groan that caught Seraphel’s attention. He looked down at me, his eyes filled with genuine, tender concern. "Azriel? Is everything alright?"
"Everything is fine," I managed to choke out through gritted teeth, even as my guts felt like they were being consumed by demonic fire, begging me to end his life. "Everything is fine."
As the brothers began to stand, Malachi stepped forward into the council chamber, bowing his head respectfully. "Your Highness, I found a dead concubine by the tower of prosperity before the teleportation. He had tried to stop it.’’
I raised my head, my eyes flashing a dangerous crimson at the news. "And which traitor might this concubine be?"
"Lioren, the son of Lord Vaust," Malachi reported clearly, his voice formal. "He attempted to disrupt the underlying spatial array before I neutralized him. He is undeniably conspiring with Elysium and orchestrated a key part of the siege."
Seraphel’s brows furrowed in confusion, and he looked up at me. "Wait... if you were so powerful, how did Eiren manage to capture you in the first place?"
My jaw tightened in deep embarrassment. "I was struck from behind... at the base of my skull."
Lumiel and Raizel immediately broke into loud, mocking laughter. "The almighty Sin of Lust, brought down by a blow to the back of the head during a romantic ambush!" Raizel snickered, waving his fan. "Your endless sex escapades almost destroyed the entire Kingdom!"
"Shut up, both of you!" I snapped, glaring at them with pure fury. "That isn’t what happened at all!" Turning my attention back to Malachi, my expression turned ice-cold as I issued my decree. "Lioren is merely a low-level pawn; Eiren was the true mastermind behind the ambush because he was the one who struck me. Seize Lord Vaust immediately and throw him into the deepest dungeon. Track down Eiren, his entire bloodline, and every surviving concubine who took part in this siege, and drag them directly to the Hall of Justice. I shall hold court and deal with their execution in a few hours. Right now, my time belongs entirely to my mate."
I stood up, holding Seraphel securely against my chest.
Just before stepping through the threshold of the room, I paused and glanced back toward Lumiel and Raizel.
"Thank you, brothers," I said softly, my tone sincere. "In my absence, you saved Katula."
Without waiting for their responses, I carried Seraphel away into the quiet corridors of the palace.