Chapter 228 - Find Me
Theodore suddenly lost his calm and shouted at Azriel, "I did not kill her."
And Azriel shouted in an even louder voice, "Yes, you did. You lured Athena to hell and then you pushed her in the hellfire. Tell me how I must have felt when my own brother killed my wife? And tell me how I must have been through when my other brother supported a criminal like you?"
He sneered and said with a disgusted look on his face, "But what was I even expecting? Both of you are Devils."
Theodore took a deep breath in and spoke in a voice that reflected a mixture of frustration and anger towards Azriel, "How many times do I have to tell you that I was not the one to lure Athena to hell?"
Azriel just rolled his eyes and turned his head away from Theodore. If he was not extremely hurt right now, then he would have loved to punch Theodore on his face.
Theodore was not going to give up just yet. He removed the wet hair that was stuck on his face and sighed. And he spoke a bit softly, "I didn\'t want to talk ill of your dead wife but let me tell this clearly once again. She was the one to lure me there saying you wanted to meet me.
And when I reached there, she tried to seduce me. I outright denied her and even scolded her saying that I would tell everything to you. I already knew that she was not being faithful to you. She had several other lovers. But she threatened me not to tell you or else she would jump into the hellfire.
She was standing way too close to the hellfire and when I tried to reach her to pull her away, she slipped into the pit on her own. I instantly called Lucifer and asked him to get her out of there. But unfortunately, he was too late. By the time he brought her out of the pit, she was already dead.
(A/N: Lucifer is the only one who won\'t get hurt by the hellfire. Hellfire is his ultimate weapon.)
I am telling you once again that we did not kill your wife. And you not accepting the fact that she cheated on you, or the fact that she tried to rope in your own brother, or the fact that she was the one responsible for her own death does not make the fact false."
Theodore placed his hand on Azriel\'s shoulder and gently nudged him, "It has already been nine Millenials, Azriel. When are you going to accept the truth, and when are you going to stop blaming me and Lucifer for killing your unfaithful wife? Can\'t you forget about her? Can\'t you let her go for your own good?"
Azriel was still facing the other way and was pretending not to hear a word that Theodore was telling him. Theodore let out a ragged breath and thought that he would come to talk with Azriel the next day.
He got up from that wet and muddy place and took a few steps away from Azriel. Then he spread out his wings and flapped them to shake the water off. He was ready to leave his arrogant brother to sulk on his own.
However, before Theodore could leave, Azriel sat up and said, "The spell will lift on its own when Adeline actively seeks you out herself. Just don\'t try to force her to remember you because it will only be counterproductive." He did not say how many spells among the three that he had cast on Adeline would lift on its own.
Nonetheless, Theodore felt greatly relieved at that moment when he heard that the spell would lift itself.
All he needed to do was wait for Adeline to remember him. He believed in Adeline, he wanted to believe in his woman. He believed that Adeline\'s love towards him was strong enough to pull her to him. He believed that their love was true enough to make her seek him out on her own.
"Thank you, Az." Theodore had not forgiven Azriel for making him and Adeline go through all that pain but having a little hope of reunion was better for him than having no hope at all. He then flapped his wings and flew away.
Azriel\'s lips curved up a little because it had been a long while since his brother had referred to him as \'Az\'. And he kept on watching Theodore as he flew away from him.
The rain had already stopped by now. Theodore flew for some time in order to dry himself. And when he was not dripping water anymore, he teleported himself to Adeline\'s room.
Immediately after arriving in her room, he first changed his appearance to his normal form. However, he still didn\'t look that normal though, because of all the bruises and cuts that he had all over his face and his body.
Adeline was still fast asleep in the same position in which Theodore had left her earlier. He walked up to her bed and sat down as lightly as he could. He gently placed his palm on her cheek and called for her, "Adeline."
Adeline slowly opened her eyes. And the moment she did so, she gasped and sat up abruptly. "You… why are you still here?" She looked around to find something to hit that man with but she realized that she was already back in her room. "And how am I here?"
A chill shiver ran down her spine fearing that he did something to her in her sleep. She looked at him while trembling in fear and asked, "What did you do to me?" She slowly shifted away from Theodore and was about to make another run.
Theodore felt a pang in his heart seeing Adeline getting that scared of him. But he could not blame her, it was not even her fault. She was as much a victim in this as he was.
Before Adeline could jump out of her bed, Theodore held her by her shoulders and looked deep into her eyes.
All of a sudden, Adeline\'s mind went completely numb. She was no longer in control of her thoughts. All she could see was a pair of glowing red eyes. And all she could hear was the sad voice of that man.
Theodore had put her under his compulsion again. She had already forgotten the good memories with him and he did not want her to remember their unfortunate encounter in the Dragon Crypt. He did not want her to remember him as a monster. That piece of memory was the worst possible memory that Adeline could retain about him. So he was going to make her forget that as well.
And he began creating fake memories for her, "Listen to me very carefully. You met your Deity, and he cast some spells on you. After that, you rested in one of his rooms for some time. You looked around that room and it was really beautiful."
Erasing her memory like that was hurting him too much. His eyes rims were filled with tears as he continued to twist her memories, "You liked a sword that was displayed in that room very much. You played with that sword for a while. And your Deity brought you back to your room. You were already tired, so you went to sleep as soon as you got to your room. Do you understand?"
Adeline replied without showing any hint of emotion in her voice, "I understand."
It was now time for Theodore to disappear from her sight until she found him again. But he was finding it very hard to leave her side. He felt something very uneasy in his throat as if something was stuck there. He gulped several times to make that feeling go away but it was of no use.
He kept on staring at Adeline\'s emotionless face and something very overwhelming overtook him. He tried taking in deep breaths but his eyes began to get blurry as it was covered with tears. And for the first time in his entire existence, warm tears started to roll down his cheeks as if to accompany him in his sorrow.
After silently shedding his tears for some time, he lovingly gazed at Adeline and whispered, "I hope you find me soon… just like you found me all those years ago."
He leaned forward to take one last kiss. The moment he pressed his lips against hers, his emotions became way too unbearable for him. He felt as though his heart was pierced a million times and was thrown into the hellfire.. And before the insurmountable grief would consume him completely, he turned into a dark mist and vanished.