CHAPTER LXVI
The Ghost of Her Touch
Celeste Point Of View:
I returned once more to that forgotten land—the land Cael had brought me to after we became one.
It was the place where the moonlight had first kissed our joined hands, where vows were exchanged not with words alone but through gazes, quiet smiles, and the silent understanding of two souls bound across lifetimes.
Here, Cael had allowed herself to fall in love with me.
And I, completely, irrevocably, had fallen for her.
Now, the land was still… too still.
The breeze carried no song, only silence. The trees stood dry and unmoving, as if mourning with me.
The once-living palace that held echoes of our laughter now stood empty, a shell without its soul.
Without her.
Every step I took within those marble halls felt like I was walking through memories—
her voice calling my name from down the corridor,
her fingers brushing mine in passing,
her mischievous smile lighting up even the darkest corners of this place.
But she wasn't here.
I wandered aimlessly until my feet brought me to her room—our room.
The door creaked open like it had been waiting for me.
Nothing had changed.
Her cloak still hung near the balcony where she used to stand and stare at the stars,
wondering aloud if they remembered us.
The faint trace of her perfume—faint lavender and frost—still lingered in the air.
I stood in front of the mirror, gazing at my reflection.
Tired. Fragile.
A version of myself I no longer recognized.
Grief had carved hollows beneath my eyes, but the love I had for her still glowed there.
It always would.
And then… it happened.
From the corner of my eye, in the mirror—I saw her.
Cael.
Standing behind me.
I didn't move.
I didn't dare breathe.
Her arms slowly wrapped around my waist from behind.
Her palm pressed gently against my abdomen,
as if still claiming a home there—right where our love once blossomed.
Her face leaned in, nestling against the curve of my shoulder like she always used to.
She felt warm. Real. So real I forgot, for a moment, that she wasn't truly there.
And then her voice—soft, almost broken—filled my ears.
> "Cel… just like always… you look so beautiful today."
I closed my eyes, the tears silently streaming down.
Every part of me ached to stay in this moment.
I didn't want to open my eyes and find it gone.
She kissed my forehead gently—a kiss that trembled with love and goodbye.
> "I love you," she whispered.
I turned. Swiftly. Desperately.
But she was gone.
All that remained was silence. And me.
Staring at the space where she had stood.
My arms suddenly empty. My chest collapsing with the weight of her absence.
I fell to the ground, unable to hold back the grief that flooded through me like a tidal wave.
She had been here. Or maybe my heart had wanted her to be here so badly that it conjured her.
But either way… she wasn't real. She wasn't coming back.
And yet, the warmth of her touch still lingered.
That room—our room—had held her once.
Now it held only echoes and shadows…
and me—broken, longing,
and still hopelessly, completely in love with her.
The Truth That Was Never Told
Flash, Chiko, and Rira came and sat beside me. Their faces were heavy with guilt, their eyes filled with the same grief that had been eating away at my soul.
Flash looked at me, his voice trembling slightly as he spoke.
"Cel… please forgive us. The three of us… we couldn't protect Cael. We failed her. They killed her without even giving her a chance to speak. Without knowing the truth."
My throat tightened. My fingers clenched into fists on my lap. I didn't want to cry, but the weight of his words pressed down on my chest like a stone.
I looked at him, voice hoarse.
"What happened, Flash? What… really happened to Cael?"
Flash took a long breath, glancing at Chiko and Rira, as if gathering strength from their presence before continuing.
"That morning," he said, "after Cael gave you your morning kiss and whispered that she was going to get you something special… she came to find us—me, Chiko, and Rira. She said she needed our help. She wanted to go to Lunaria Noir—to see King Spark first, and then… Queen Luna."
I felt my heart stop at that name. Queen Luna… Cael's mother. Her pain. Cause of her death.
Flash continued, his voice quiet and full of memory.
"When we arrived, Queen Luna stood at the top of the palace stairs. The moment she saw Cael, her composure cracked. Her eyes filled with something between longing and betrayal.
'Cael,' she said, 'do you have any idea how much I missed you? All these days… all these lies… they didn't hurt me as much as the fact that you left me. That you chose to disappear without a word.'"
Flash paused for a moment, his eyes misting.
"Cael didn't argue. She didn't try to justify anything. She dropped to her knees in front of Luna—wings slightly trembling, head bowed in shame.
'I'm sorry,' she said softly. 'I was always searching for just one color in this world—black. And in that obsession, my demonic mind never truly understood love. I hurt everyone, even those I didn't mean to. I can't promise I'll never make mistakes again… but I can promise that I'll try. I'll try my hardest to not let my darkness rule over my heart ever again.'
And then… something changed in Luna's expression. The rage melted, and in its place came sorrow. And pride."
'It's okay, Cael,' Queen Luna told her, walking down to where she knelt. She lifted Cael's chin, brushing back a lock of hair from her face. 'I understand now. Maybe I always did. Go—go first and see the Queen Elyon. Apologize to her. Tell her everything. Tell her about Celeste, too. She's been worried sick about her daughter for days now.'
'Go, my daughter,' she whispered. 'Go make things right.'"
The Last Betrayal in Frosthevan
Cael had left with us for Frosthevan, unaware of the trap that had already been set in motion behind her back.
While we were making our way to the northern lands, Witch Laila and the Queens—led by Queen Elyon herself—were already preparing their scheme. They had reached Frosthevan before us, moving like shadows in the silence, orchestrating something dark beneath the shimmering facade of the palace.
Deceiving the Mother Fairy wasn't easy, not even for a witch. So Laila chose another way—she provoked Drakon, the ancient serpent of illusion, and lured him into helping her. Together, they crafted a powerful illusion—so real, so vast—that we didn't suspect a thing. By the time we, the four of us—Cael, Rira, Chiko, and I—stepped into the palace of Frosthevan, the gates had already closed behind us.
It was a trap.
Suddenly, the doors slammed shut, the air shifted, and everything around us turned cold.
We were sealed inside.
Cael walked forward, calm yet determined, and sat down on her knees before Queen Elyon—your mother. Her voice trembled slightly, but she spoke with a raw honesty that shook all of us.
"I'm sorry," Cael said softly. "I know I went against all of your wishes when I married Celeste. I know I should have sought your approval first. But please… please believe me when I say this—I did marry her to hurt her. I did it for power. But now I love her. I truly, deeply love her. I would never betray her. I would never hurt her."
Her words hung in the air like a prayer.
Queen Elyon looked at her, quiet for a long moment. Then, she spoke.
"It's alright, Caelum. I can see the change in you. You're not the same person you once were."
There was a softness in her voice that made us breathe—just for a second—as if hope had a chance.
But we were wrong.
So terribly wrong.
From behind her throne, Queen Elyon slowly reached for a dagger—Tharros—a blade forged under the full moon, one that was only used in executions of those marked as unforgivable.
Before any of us could react, Chiko, Rira, and I were ambushed—silenced with magic and pinned down by guards. We struggled, screamed, but no sound came out. They gagged us, held us back. All we could do… was watch.
Queen Elyon walked toward Cael, her face now cold, merciless.
And as the full moon rose above Frosthevan's crystal dome, she plunged Tharros deep into Cael's back.
Cael let out a choked gasp, her wings trembling, her entire body stunned in pain. Blood bloomed like a black rose on her back as she turned her head, tears running down her cheeks.
She looked at Queen Elyon—not with hatred, but with heartbreak.
"Why…?" she whispered. "Why did you kill me?"
Her voice cracked, but she continued to speak even as she collapsed onto her hands.
"I didn't want to die. I wanted to live… I wanted to live with Celeste. I wanted to stay… to love… to become better. Please… please save me…"
But there was no mercy in Elyon's eyes. Not even a flicker.
She drove Tharros into Cael again. And again. And again. Until Cael's body stilled—her wings falling limp behind her like withered petals.
And just like that, she was gone.
We screamed silently, watched helplessly as her body slumped to the floor, her light extinguished right before our eyes.
Cael's body remained there, untouched… as if waiting.
Waiting for you, Celeste.
Because even in death, she believed you'd come.
And when you finally arrived… you know what you saw.
You saw the truth.
You saw what they did to her.
The one who wanted to love.
The one who wanted to live.
Killed by the very people who refused to believe a demon could ever be capable of love.
I couldn't hear anymore. The tears I'd been holding back finally broke free, sliding silently down my cheeks. My chest rose and fell in painful sobs as I imagined her—my Cael—on her way back to fix everything, to protect me… and instead, she was hunted.
Framed.
Slaughtered.
Not because she was evil.
But because the world refused to see the light inside someone who had once lived in shadows.
I brought my knees to my chest, holding myself tightly as if I could hold together the pieces of my broken soul.
The guilt. The grief. The anger.
It all merged into a single scream buried deep within me.
She wanted to change.
She was changing.
And they killed her anyway.
To be continue....