That night, Kiyohime was sitting alone on the deck of the White Pearl, gazing at the ever lasting stars in the sky.
Sipping on her wine, she released a wistful smile as she thought about how Sol was enjoying his date after coming out from Tartarus.
‘It’s good to be young.’
She let out a chuckle. When Sol had asked her for a good spot for a date, she had been quite lost about what to do. It was only thanks to Aqua that she managed to avoid making a joke out of herself.
Still, looking at him becoming so close to a phoenix made her feel a little agitated.
“Why is your beautiful smile marred by a frown?”
‘Speak of the devil.’
She sighed and looked at the intruder with cold eyes.
“Nent.”
Nent smiled seemingly unbothered by the cold reception. Looking at the wine on the table, she smiled even more brightly.
“Purple Destiny. I didn’t know you still had that bottle with you.”
Kiyohime’s eyes narrowed dangerously before she once again sighed.
“It’s said that with every sigh, a little bit of happiness leaves us.”
“The happiness already left the moment you took a step on my ship.”
“Our ship, you mean.”
Kiyohime pursed her lips. This ship was indeed something that belonged to both of them.
It was a powerful weapon of mass destruction, but nearly half of the functions needed Nent’s energy in order to bring out its true might. This was why it had been relegated to just a transport tool since a few centuries ago.
As for Purple Destiny, it was a special batch of wine bottles that had been created with Hathor's help, but whose sole and only drinker had been Kiyohime and Nent. After all, the main ingredient for that wine was the blood of the two of them.
The purple part of the name came from the mix of their hair's respective colors. Blue and Red.
As for the Destiny part…
Kiyohime released a final sigh and stopped arguing.
Even though Kiyohime stayed silent, the fact that she didn’t outright chase her away from her ship was already a plus for Nent.
Taking a seat, she looked at the bottle as various emotions flashed in her eyes. Finally, with reddened eyes, she finally spoke,
“I am sorry.”
Kiyohime was astonished, to say the least. She was a dragon and prideful as she may be, she knew that Nent’s pride was no less than hers. For such a woman to apologize in such a meek way was truly incredible. However…
“You think just saying sorry after five hundred years can change everything?”
“I…”
Nent opened and closed her mouth a few times but was at a loss for words.
When was the last time she apologized to someone?
‘Hah…’
Her mind drew back to the scene of her helplessly bawling her eyes out at the sight of the lifeless bodies of her two friends.
It hadn’t been the first time she had lost people close to her. But all those who died before that did so heroically during a war where they fought for their own conviction.
Compared to that, what happened to Hansel and Gretel….
“*Sigh*”
This time it was Nent who sighed as she took Kiyohime’s glass and gulped the wine in it.
“Hey! Why are you drinking using my glass?”
Kiyohime blushed a little when she remarked that Nent lips were on the same spot hers previously were.
“Oh?”
Nent rose an eyebrow at the reaction and couldn’t help but chuckle before giving a suggestive smile.
“I remember we did way more than share an indirect kiss. Why are you acting so embarrassed?”
Nent casually threw a bomb that would rock the entire realm if it was heard.
It was a secret only shared by the two of them. Something not even their own families knew.
Nent had tried to crack a simple joke in order to liven the atmosphere. Unfortunately, she had chosen the wrong words.
Kiyohime’s face became completely cold at the reminder of the relationship she once shared with Nent.
“You dare mention this?”
A deep and heavy aura began to fill the zone as if a calm sea was about to rage and throw a terrifying tempest.
“I am sor—”
Swiftly realizing her mistake, she tried to take her words but-
“Don’t apologize!”
Kiyohime stood up abruptly and screamed right into Nent’s face. Her eyes had already changed into a slit and the aura she was emanating was just short of turning a full blow killing intent.
Looking at Nent deep in the eyes, Kiyohime continued, each of her words more bitting and cold than the previous one.
“Nent Castitas… I hate you. From every fiber of my being, I despise you. Your filthy name fills me with disgust and I wish for nothing more than to crush you and reduce you to smithereens.”
Dragons were amorous creatures and even Tiamat nearly had a mate in the past.
Why then was Kiyohime still alone and never entered any relationship?
The answer was in front of her—She was in love with Nent.
During the war, the two of them had been the greatest partners and Kiyohime was not shy about confessing her feelings. But she had always been rejected by Nent. This was something only the two of them knew.
All of this changed 700 years ago when suddenly, Nent accepted her love.
Kiyohime was very happy.
She could still remember how she babbled and acted like a complete fool blinded by happiness–This was how much it meant to her.
She didn’t know why Nent suddenly accepted but she did know about what happened to the darwin siblings and she simply thought that Nent had accepted because of her sadness.
Even so, Kiyohime didn’t mind. She thought that her love would help in supporting Nent through a hard time. She was ready to be there for her whatever had happened.
Surely then, her love would truly be reciprocated, right? — at least, that was what she thought.
…How naive she was.
“You lied to me. You made use of me. Abused my trust and feelings for you only to throw me away like trash once you realized I was useless to your goal and then threw your sight on my brother like the despicable wench you are.”
Her words toward the end became a literal hiss as she poured all her grievance.
Nent had never loved her.
The only thing she tried to do was to create a powerful offspring by trying to meld both their energy in an experiment to see if two divine beasts could use their energy to conceive together.
In the end, Kiyohime had been nothing more than a convenient tool. A failed tool to boot.
“And now what? You are sorry? Haha… What? Did you expect that I would jump down in happiness and say that everything is alright? Do you think my five hundred years of anguish are a joke?"
Her lips twisted in a disdainful smile.
"Take your apologies and stuff them in the place where the sun doesn’t shine.”
At the end of her words all that was left was a heavy silence disturbed by Kiyohime's shaky breath.
Lowering her head, she took a deep breath and exhaled before gazing once again at Nent. A faint polite smile appeared on her face.
“I am sorry for my previous outburst. It was quite unsightly.”
Nent’s face grew pale. Even when Kiyohime had been raging and raving, she still managed to keep calm under the torrent of insults.
But right now, she could feel her heart beat uneasily.
“I suppose you came to apologize because you fear that I will explain our past relationship to Sol and tarnish your image in his eyes? If so, don’t worry. I am not someone who loves to gossip. I had already given him enough warning by now. Who he chooses to fuck doesn’t matter to me.”
“Please, Little Hime…”
Kiyohime ignored Nent as she adjusted her collar.
“I already told you that you lost the right to call me like this long ago.” Her voice was scarily calm as she continued, “You can have the wine if you want. It’s the last bottle anyway. I guess it’s truly fitting.”
Giving a bland smile, Kiyohime gave a graceful bow full of elegance and departed from the ship.
Now alone, looking blankly at the bottle, Nent poured herself a glass of what was once the proof of the relationship between the two of them.
The opposite of love wasn’t hatred, for hatred showed you still cared about the other person deep down.
Indeed.
The opposite of love wasn’t hatred…It was pure indifference.
“How bitter.”
Nent said as she drank the wine.
Whether she was talking about the taste of her wine or her own feelings… Only she could know.
(AN: I have been setting this reveal since ch 194. Haha, I wish I could have seen your face guys while you were reading this chapter.
By the way, what do you think of Nent's apologies? What would you have done in Kiyohime's place?)
