Chapter 84 || BOUND AND TORN BY PROPHECIES
A New Flame Amid Ashes
The chamber was dimly lit, hushed, and sacred. Outside, the
palace continued its dance of duty, but within this space, time moved more
slowly—held by sorrow, tethered by the presence of two souls bound in agony.
Mili lay curled in the soft furs, her golden scales dulled
to a muted ivory sheen. Her breathing was shallow, almost imperceptible, but
she was alive—barely. Nearby, Niki and Spark watched her like sentinels, their
bodies protectively wrapped around her delicate form.
But as evening crept in, Mili stirred. “Spark. Niki,” she
whispered, her voice weak but steady. They both lifted their heads at once. “I
want to be alone with Taehyung today. Just for today.” Niki hesitated. Spark
tilted his head, worried. “I promise,” she said softly. “I’ll be fine. Just a
little time with him. Please.”
The two dragons exchanged a glance, then slowly nodded. With
a final nuzzle, they slipped out silently, leaving the two alone.
Taehyung sat at the far corner, his back to her, lost in his
thoughts. His eyes were distant, like they were staring into a storm that had
no end.
Mili’s voice, though faint, reached him. “You know they’re
right.” He turned his head slowly, eyes narrowing. “Who?”
“The council,” she said. “And even Jungkook.” A flicker
passed through Taehyung’s expression. “Don’t say his name like he’s not here.”
Mili smiled, a fragile thing. “he is here. In me. But you have to hear what I’m
saying.”
He didn’t move.
“Do you know what the main purpose of Jungkook’s existence
was?” Mili asked. Taehyung remained silent. “To bring you to life,” Mili
whispered. “So you can protect your kind. So you can save the dragons. He lost
his life, Taehyung, but his purpose—her soul’s mission—is fulfilled. You’re
breathing, alive. And yet if you let your kind go extinct, all his struggles…
everything he endured… would be for nothing.”
Taehyung finally turned, slowly. His expression was calm,
but the shadows beneath it twisted like a tempest. “So you want me to mate
someone?” he asked, voice dangerously low. “You don’t care if I mark someone
else, touch someone else, fuck someone else I don’t love—just for the sake of
duty? My feelings don’t matter, huh?” Mili blinked slowly. He stood now,
looming.
“Just because I’m a crown prince, I don’t get to choose the
life I want? I should have been born a commoner. At least then, no one would be
forcing me into a bond I never wanted.” Mili chuckled softly, her voice
rasping. “You think I’m telling you to be with someone else?”
Taehyung’s eyes narrowed.
“I didn’t say that,” she continued. “There’s another way.
You don’t have to mate Vaelora or anyone else you don’t want.”
Taehyung stepped closer, arms crossed. “Have you gone
insane? Only the first intimacy between a royal dragon pair can trigger the
hatching. You know that. And Jungkook—” His voice broke. “he’s gone forever,
and I don’t know how to bring him back.”
He turned his head away. “So, no, there’s nothing we can do.
I will never touch anyone else. Which means the eggs will remain dormant
forever. I don’t care if they all go extinct. Maybe we will try to find another
way.” Mili’s eyes sparkled softly, a warmth returning briefly. “He’s gone… but
I’m still here.”
Taehyung’s gaze darted to her.
“And his soul is bound with mine,” she said. “That means
he’s still inside me. Until I stop breathing… he’s alive, with me. He is me. I
am him. Just in a different form.” His breath caught. “What are you saying?” he
whispered. She didn’t answer.
Realization hit like lightning.
His face went pale.
“No… no. You’re too weak. You can’t withstand my dragon. I
am not even sure if it will work. No one had ever done that. An-and you are weak.
You won’t survive it, Mili. If I touched you like that… if my dragon rises…”
“It could cut short your time left,” he finished in horror.
Mili nodded slowly. “Yes. But I’m fading anyway. You know I am.” He shook his
head. “I w-won’t do it. I-I c-can’t— no—”
“You must.”
“No!”
“You will,” she said gently. “Because if you don’t, they
will force you. And if you did not give in to them, dragons will go extinct,
then Jungkook’s death means nothing. His sacrifice, his pain, all of it will be
discarded. He never accepted you because he never wanted you to be the reason for
your kind's vanishment. You will throw it all in the waste.”
Tears lined Taehyung’s eyes.
“This… this is all we can do now,” Mili whispered. “Let Jungkook’s
presence within me become what he was always meant to be—your salvation. Your
future. The mother of your kind.” He collapsed to his knees beside her.
“I don’t know if I can do it, if it's the right thing to do,”
he said, voice raw. “You’re not doing it alone,” she replied, her claw reaching
out to touch his hand. “We’re doing this for him. For everyone. Because he’s
still here. And because you still love him.” A long silence stretched between
them, filled with unshed tears, aching hearts, and the burden of impossible
choices.
Taehyung finally bowed his head. “For him… always.”
.
.
.
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