Lackey's Seducing Survival Odyssey

Chapter 1223: Aether made her cry, Man? Why man?

”H-How are you here?” Nyx Shadowfall asked with a shocked and trembling tone, her voice breaking as her feet instinctively stepped back, her eyes darting up and down in disbelief.

It was really Aether standing before her, his form so vivid that her mind couldn’t comprehend it. How could he appear here... in the afterlife?

Did that mean he had died to get here?

Did that mean he had thrown his life away just to stand before her now?

Aether only stared at her. He didn’t answer, his gaze holding something heavy and unreadable.

”What?” Nyx blinked, tilting her head slightly.

Aether finally spoke, ”Do you hate... living?”

Nyx’s lips parted for a fleeting second, but no words came out. She faltered, her throat tightening, before she turned her head away from him, her slender fingers curling tightly together as if she could hold herself steady.

”It’s not that I hate it... rather, for me, who was born between Life and Death... both of them hate me. I could never live, nor could I die... In the day, I live with the constant fear of dying... and at night, I die with the endless fear of living.”

Aether blankly stared at her back, his eyes following every trembling movement as her words struck him.

He wasn’t born between Life and Death... so he could never truly understand the torment she carried. Even if he had seen fragments of her memories, those visions were like images on a T.V. screen — you only saw them from the outside. You could never truly feel or understand what was inside them.

Slowly, Aether reached forward and placed his hand gently on her shoulder, his touch firm yet trembling faintly.

”I may not understand what you are going through, Nyx, or even begin to grasp the pain that defines your existence... but if there is something I have seen in you, it’s that... you love souls, and... you love living.

Otherwise, you wouldn’t have been digging graves, clinging to fragments of life just to extend your existence.”

Nyx lowered her head, her voice breaking as she answered. ”I... I am not... I didn’t do it because I loved it. I just did it for my family. It’s not like I wanted this... I was forced to live like this, Aether... I was forced into this life without a choice.”

Aether smiled softly, though his eyes carried a deep ache.

”Even so... you loved them all, didn’t you? Your family. You endured this far, suffered all this time... then why not continue to live? Why stop here after everything?”

Nyx shook her head, her hair falling forward as she stepped away, creating distance between them. ”No... my time ended long ago. An unstable soul like me cannot prolong both living and dying... I am nothing more than a mistake that should have ended.”

”Come on, Nyx, think about your family!” Aether’s voice grew firmer, almost desperate. ”So many souls sacrificed so much just for you to stand here. They carried you this far. Just one more time... live for them.”

But still, Nyx shook her head, her footsteps dragging her further away from him as though every word only pushed her further.

Aether raised his hand... his palm flickered between solid flesh and formless mist, breaking apart and reforming. He flinched at the sight; he was running out of time.

”Then... what about me? What about my resolve? I came this far... I risked everything for my wife to live with me again!”

Nyx didn’t turn, her voice sharp and cold,

”That’s not my problem! Your one-sided doing? I didn’t ask for you to come. I never begged for your presence here. Just leave me!”

Aether frowned, ”One-sided thing? That’s... wrong, Nyx, and you know it! Everyone keeps saying I’m doing what I want, chasing only what I desire... and not what you want.

Do I really look like that to you? Do you truly believe that? Even though you were the one who came into my life!!” His voice rose, breaking with anger as he shouted,

”You came into my life, you stole me away, you treated me like a toy, and then you threw me aside like I was nothing!

DO YOU THINK THIS IS A ONE-SIDED THING!!!”

Aether’s voice thundered so violently it almost shook the very space around them, the force of his words echoing as his eyes flickered between black and normal, his fury barely held together.

Nyx flinched at the impact of his voice, her body trembling, but still she didn’t turn toward him.

Aether’s voice cracked with raw anger and pain as he continued,

”When you took me as your husband... did you ask permission?

Did you even fucking ask me before you claimed me? Before you fucked me? You even used another woman on me to teach you!

Did I ever... EVER raise my voice at you for that? Did I ever once curse you for that? And yet you dare to say that I am the one forcing myself on you? That I am selfish?

If anything... you are the selfish one, Nyx. You are the freaking selfish one!!”

Aether clenched his fist so tightly his knuckles cracked, his entire body trembling as he stomped hard on the ground, his furious eyes burning like fire.

”Not your problem? Oh, please... nothing is ever your problem after all! You’re the problem, Nyx! You’re the freaking problem for me!!” he roared again, his voice echoing like thunder.

”She just comes into my life, decides what she wants, does whatever the hell she pleases without asking me, and then... she fucking dies without even saying one single word to me... and after all that, she dares to say I’m the one forcing her?” His voice cracked as he muttered under his breath, rage mixing with pain.

”What the fuck is that supposed to be?”

Just then—

”W-What about you then?!” Nyx’s voice broke through, louder than before, though she still didn’t turn to face him. Her shoulders trembled as she shouted back,

”Even though I am your wife, you sneaked out at night like a thief, hiding in the shadows, and spent your time with another girl... being all lovey-dovey while hiding your truth from me.

You... being Victor, and how many women were in your life before me, huh?

What the f-fuck is that then?!” Her words were sharp and painful!

She hadn’t wanted to bring that up. Those words were buried deep inside her chest. But since Aether pushed her past her limit, she had no choice—she let them spill.

Aether’s eyes widened slightly, and he acted like he was surprised... shocked even, to hear her throw those words back at him. ”W-Well... I... I mean...” His lips stammered before he shook his head sharply, forcing himself forward.

”So what? So what if that’s true? It’s not like you did nothing either, Nyx! You fucking hid your true nature all along, lying in that damn casket like some idiot, pretending as if nothing happened the next day. What the fuck is that then?!”

Nyx’s body trembled furiously, her voice breaking. ”I—” But before she could add anything further, Aether cut her off with a furious snarl.

”Even now! Even now you fucking died without a single word to me!

Am I that much of a stranger to you? A fucking ghost knows what’s going on with you, and yet your husband—your fucking husband—didn’t know a single damn thing?

Huh?!

All I received in the end was a dead body! I protected you until the very last breath and this is what I get? Is that how much you hate me?!

TELL ME!!!”

His voice cracked violently at the end!

Nyx’s body trembled uncontrollably as she lowered her head, unable to utter a single word. Her lips moved, but no sound came.

She couldn’t answer him.

Aether’s breathing was heavy as he snorted, his shoulders heaving, ”Stupid, stupid, so stupid!!” he growled, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his hand as if trying to calm himself down.

Honestly, he was pissed.

Pissed beyond words at her. She had the nerve to hide everything, bury every truth, and yet still question him as though he was the one in the wrong?

What’s more... she died just like that, as if leaving before fucking him, as if her death was some kind of twisted act of greatness.

The nerve she had!

The audacity!

He was so enraged. He had come here with the intention of dealing with her calmly, of speaking with her gently and bringing her back, but this woman... this woman had the gall to throw it all back at him and claim he was forcing his will onto her.

The fuck she thought she was!!

See, Aether wasn’t the kind of man who shouted at his woman, even when she did something wrong. That wasn’t who he was. But what happened today... what unfolded before his eyes... had pushed him past his limit.

She was dead, damn it!

She died again! And he went against the very Laws themselves—against those bastards who were probably waiting, plotting to twist his fate, fuck him!!—all for what? All because he wanted to see her again, to bring her back!

For a second, silence fell between them. Only silence. The space around them was empty, suffocating, until—

Sniff... sniff...

Aether blinked. He looked at Nyx’s back. Her shoulders were trembling slightly, almost imperceptibly. He hesitated before stepping forward. Slowly, carefully, he reached out and placed his hand on her shoulder.

”Are you... crying?” His voice softened, almost disbelieving.

But there was no answer.

Leaning closer, Aether tilted his head, and his eyes widened when he saw her face... her cheeks were wet, her eyes red and swollen, her lips trembling, her face riddled with tears and streaked with snot.

Fuck!

... Did he push her too much? Did his words cut her deeper than he intended?

She quickly rubbed her eyes with the back of her hands the moment she realised he was looking at her. Turning her head slightly, she forced her trembling lips to speak.

”I... sniff, sniff... I am not... sniff... c-crying!”