Chapter 76: Two Souls

"What...?" My shoulders slumped. "H-He is... alive?" A tear quickly fell from my eye before my eyes settled on Niccolo, who looked like he wanted to approach me when our eyes met.

"Dominixe..." He stood up when he saw tears coming from my eyes. They wouldn't cease falling.

"How come...?" My heart squeezed as I felt betrayed by what I had learned today. "In my previous life... I know that you died... How come you become a different person, Valerian?!" I couldn't help raising my tone.

I was filled with anger, sorrow, and... longing. Even my wolf couldn't handle this kind of betrayal, but I couldn't sense that she hated this person in front of me.

It was as if... my wolf knew.

Niccolo, or, must I say, Valerian, opened his mouth to explain, but no words were coming out.

"He is not Valerian," Henry said.

"What?" I looked at him in disbelief. I grabbed him by his collar. "You said that they are the same person! Are you seriously making me a fool?" I harshly wiped my tears before my head turned to Luna Queen Rachelle. Then I shoved him to the floor. "Please tell me what you know if this traitor cannot explain it properly. Please! I do not want to be left in the shadows anymore... I beg you... sister."

Luna Queen Rachelle's eyes widened in surprise at the word I uttered before her lips curled up. Her smile was like the dawn of a tragic ending.

"Apparently, Niccolo has two souls, just like I said back in the forest." Her eyes settled on Demetrius before she helped him stand up and caressed his face, softening. "You should return to your quarters, Demetrius. We will talk later. Alright?"

Demetrius looked at me and Niccolo. "Yes, auntie..." He left and said that he did not need to be escorted.

Luna Queen Rachelle sighed and faced us. "As I said, the other one is sleeping. It means I am talking about Valerian."

"Huh? What does it mean? Then who is this person? Henry said that he was Valerian, but not he said that he was not! What the hell is happening?" I was desperate for answers. I was already hurting and wanted to run away from this place, but I wanted to learn the truth.

Niccolo stepped forward. "Luna Queen Rachelle is right. I am not Valerian but I am his wolf, Dominixe," he said. "In order to save and hide Valerian, I was coerced to come out and instead live as a human."

"Huh? I do not understand...That is not what happened in my previous life..." I was starting to sob. "What do you mean you are Valerian's wolf? You were coerced to come out? By who?!"

"By the help of Goddess Elixane..." Niccolo answered.

"Goddess Elixane...?"

He nodded. "Valerian was severely injured in our previous life that she swapped my soul and his soul. I was coerced to come out and fulfilled my mission... to help you as Niccolo." Then his eyes expressed sadness. "Goddess Elixane is also one of the daughters of the Moon Goddess as well. However, we haven't met her in this timeline. She came from..." He sighed. "From Demetrius' timeline..." His eyes fixated on me again. "Just like you... we also have our memories of our previous life intact with the help of other you."

"Basically, the other you had defied and touched the other reality," Luna Queen Rachelle chimed in. "They involved the matters here and tried to change the flow of reality. But Dominixe... It is not the other Dominixe who helped you regressed."

That made me confused. "I do not understand... How come? I saw myself at that moment of my death. I even saw Niccolo at that time. He was calling her!" I demanded.

"It is you all along. Your abilities as the Goddess of Time activated when your survival instinct was at risk. Your desperation to see Valerian again has made you regress to the day before you and his tragedy. The other Dominixe only helped Niccolo and Valerian," she explained.

"When you say 'help'..." I turned to Niccolo. "What help is that?"

"To predict your plans and how Valerian can meet you again..." he answered, causing my eyes to widen. "Remember when you two must meet in the Solacia, but instead, he could meet you when you were in the Calaren?" I nodded mindlessly. "Before the other Dominixe ended her life, she already instructed Valerian what would happen. Like that day when he "died," I needed to be in this position to fulfill my destiny."

"Then, where is Valerian? Why is he sleeping? How come I smelled his scent a few days after I knew he died." I shot Henry a glare when I learned what he did. "How come I could feel him the moment the time freezes?"

"I can answer that."

I growled when he stepped forward again. "Do not take another step! Stay there!" My heart was not at ease upon learning what had been kept from me. "Just tell me and answer my questions!" I snarled.

Niccolo gasped, looking melancholy at my response. "Valerian is rebelling inside me. He wishes... to let you know that he is still alive. We knew that you were in that town. And we have been aching that we are not able to see you. We even knew that you were engaged by that time..." He clenched his hands. "Valerian only wakes up from inside me if the time freezes. Or sometimes, if I am not wearing the incantation jewelry, he would stay by your side just like the time when you thought you were dreaming. That was us, Dominixe."

"Incantation jewelry?" I parroted. "You do not even have that! Are you kidding me?"

"He has it." Henry chimed in. I glared and growled at him. "It is a teeny tiny stud earring hiding at the helix of his left ear." He nodded at Niccolo as if he was signaling him something. "The incantation is to make Valerian sleep and hide his features. Since I did not get to meet Goddess Elixane as Valerian told me before, we asked the intervention of the sages to make him appear that he died."

"The sages knew it as well...?" I was feeling betrayed now that I had known this. There was so much information that I hadn't learned, and I was only at the tip of the iceberg.

"Yes."

"You sickening bastard... You played me under your palms..." I knew that trusting him was a wrong choice... It was my fault... I knew he was a manipulator, but I still trusted him since I knew he could help me bring down my father.

Henry looked like he was not feeling guilty. He only shrugged as if it was a trivial matter to him if I was upset or not. "I only take measures of what it means to protect one of my retainers, Dominixe. Fret not. Valerian's pack members are safe. We only appeared that they had died. The bodies your henchmen saw were those of the prisoners I used as decoys."

I clenched my hands, not liking this one bit. It was hard to comprehend, but I felt broken more than ever.

I did not know that this was part of his plans. Henry... You were scarier than I thought.

'Mate...'

That moment I felt shivers down my spine when my wolf kept whispering, 'mate'. I inhaled sharply as tears started to water as soon as I smelled that familiar hyacinth scent that brought happiness and melancholy simultaneously.

"Val..."

Niccolo cautiously took a step forward and held my hand after he removed that stud earring. "He is still here. I am still him. We are one, Dominixe." I closed my eyes when he caressed my wet cheek. His soft tone made me feel hurt that I wanted to be buried six feet below the ground.

Niccolo... Valerian... They were the same person, after all...

Watching his emerald green eyes become familiar with chartreuse orbs broke my heart. Even his features changed from Valerian's face.

The same face I knew before he died... Those sinful lips... sparkling chartreuse orbs... pointed nose...

They were here...

Touching and feeling his features had a sense of relief but at the same time—

"Honeydew..."

I broke down and stepped back as soon as I heard that familiar subtle yet firm tone. "No... Don't come near me." My chest tightened just at the sight of him.

I should be happy right now, right? He was alive... He was in front of me. That familiar color of his eyes made my heart go wild.

Shouldn't I throw myself and kiss him senselessly? But why was I not doing that?

What was wrong with my body? Why was I denying what was in front of me?

What could have been the reason?

"Lilith, please..." Valerian begged.

"Shut up!" Shaking my head, I clenched my hands more. I was getting hurt each second that I would stay here. "I do not want to believe this! No!" I exclaimed, crying.

With that, I started to run away.

"Dominixe!"

"Lilith!"

I heard them calling my names, but neither was making me turn my head and halt me from running away. I was too succumbed to my emotions that I decided to flee. I couldn't process everything yet.

I was supposed to suppress my feelings and use my mind to settle this. But why...? Why did my mind go blank?

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Mystique Luna's note:

Next chapter is Valerian's point of view!