The King's Beloved

[Music Recommendation: "Scars of Time" by Yasunori Mitsuda (Chrono Cross OST) - available in Spotify or Youtube] ~ Please listen to it in a loop while you read this part to experience the utmost beauty of this scene ~

A few days have passed since then. It all happened in a blink of an eye. There were a lot of things that needed to be fixed—rooting out the evil from the Magi's government, punishing those people who chose to follow Avarus, rebuilding the destruction, and so much more. In fact, those were just the tip of the iceberg. But most of all, they needed to fix their broken relationship with the human race. Their relationship started on the wrong foot… but now was the time to mend that.

The next day after the war, Elliot received his crown as the true heir to the throne. It was done in a very simple and quick manner—only the officials and important people attended. Usually, it was done with all the Magi present and in a long ceremony, followed by a celebration in all towns and countries there ever was in Gaia. Too bad, they didn't have the luxury of time to do all that. Anyway, they could do a formal coronation once everything was settled.

As soon as the coronation ended, Elliot began with his work. He instructed everyone what needed to be done, carefully dividing the work unto who would perform it best with the help of his Judges—Clavis and Calum. Yes, after the coronation, Elliot still entrusted Calum with the highest position next to him. He gave him a choice, if he wanted to live peacefully and be somewhere out of politics, or if he wanted to serve the people. Calum, wanting to at least atone for his sins, decided on the latter. After all, Azalea would be returning to her real home since they were planning to free the human race. So he wouldn't—

"Calum!" Azalea shouted his name from afar. Her voice was shaking, as if sounding desperate.

When Calum turned around, he saw that she was crying. It had been a few days since they last saw each other because he tried his best to hide from her. But there he was, caught during his conversation with Elliot. He tried to run away but Elliot stopped him. Azalea ran towards him and embraced him tightly, much to his surprise. He always thought that… Azalea wouldn't forgive him after everything he had done to her.

But then, the moment that Azalea embraced him, he was unable to fight his deep longing for her. Along with it was the guilt he felt for her. With head bowed down and eyes to the ground, unable to think of what to say, the only thing he managed to tell her was…

"I'm very sorry… for everything."

Azalea cried more and shook her head. "It's okay. I understand. And I love you more than your flaws. Just promise me not to do it again, okay?" She smiled and looked him in the eyes.

At these words, Calum sobbed. To think a woman as kind and benevolent as her chose to love someone like him… he couldn't begin to comprehend how and why him of all people. Someone like her deserved someone so much better than the jerk he was. But still, she loved him.

Elliot felt relieved seeing them reunite. It was the first time Elliot met Azalea but he could tell with his eyes that she was a really good person. Suddenly… he didn't know what got into him—probably a gut feeling or whatnot—but he asked Azalea…

"Do you want to be one of my Judges?"

Azalea and Calum were shocked. Calum knew Azalea and yes, she could definitely do the job but she's a human! And she didn't have any magic in her! Well, unless they… do what Clavis did to Selena. Actually, Azalea should have it by now. Maybe they just didn't realize it?

"Ahm…" Azalea was at a loss of words. "T-That's very sudden."

"Ha-ha-ha!" Elliot chuckled. "Yes, it is. Sorry about that. But think about it. I believe you have the making of a great leader. After all, you were my cousin's queen. If he made you queen, surely, you had the making for it."

Azalea blushed. "T-thank you, your majesty."

"You have nothing to be thankful for. Instead, I should apologize. I can't make you my queen. After all, I already have my own queen. Though we'll probably do her coronation once all is settled. We still have a whole planet to save."

With a serious tone, Calum and Azalea agreed. "That's right."

"Calum, Azalea, there's still a lot of work to be done. And I need your help to do it while the rest of us work on saving our planet."

"You can count on me," Calum immediately agreed.

Azalea chuckled. "Well, I guess I'm not given much of a choice. But I'm not complaining," she jested. Turning to Calum she said, "Your cousin is very assertive, huh?"

"Ha-ha-ha-ha!" And with that, they all ended up laughing.

After that, Elliot, Rania, the Guardians, the Sorties twins, and Selena gathered once more. Together, they discussed the next steps they needed to take in order to save Gaia.

"First, we need you to complete the remaining gates, Elliot," Ducis said. "I know we already have the Guardians of Grace and Love with us but you still need to go to their temples to take their crystals. That is the only way to complete the form of the Zweihänder. And you will need it in your battles ahead."

"I understand. But we need to be quick. We only have 40 days left until Gaia perishes."

"After finishing the gates, what should we do next?" Rania asked them.

Amare stepped forward. "About that… we need to go back to Gaia and defeat Vindicta. She's the real reason why the planet is still suffering up to this moment."

"In that case, once the remaining gates are completed, our next destination… is Gaia."

"Yes!"

~ END OF VOLUME 3 ~

Coming up Next: Volume 4

Dawn Arc: When The Sun Rises Again…   

The truths had been revealed. The Root of Evil was trapped in an endless torture. The human race finally earned their most awaited freedom. But the problem still remained for the Magi—their planet was still on the brink of destruction. Will they receive their salvation? Or will it be too late for them? Join Rania, Elliot, and the Guardians, together with Clavis, Illuminaire, and Selena, as they spend the last 40 days to save Gaia…

What awaits them at the end of the journey?

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Hi Beloved Readers!

Hope you're all doing fine.

I just want to inform you all that this September, I'll be working on a BIG project and I'll have to put in all my efforts into that just until September ends since it's my deadline to submit the rest of my manus------ (Go to my Profile for more hints. After that, it will be easy to tell. XD Though I'm not announcing officially yet since its not yet final, but yeah... praise be to God for this wonderful opportunity. T_T I'm literally crying because I didn't expect my book will be accepted but it did and I cried 10 times or maybe more until I can't cry anymore. T_T)

I can't thank you all enough for all the support you've given me especially to all of you who made it to this chapter. All the comments and encouragement, even those asking for more chapters are such a push for me that even if I'm a very pessimistic person most of the time, I got the courage to continue on my craft. I really love writing, you might have noticed that by now. And really, thank you all so much for everything especially for staying even if I'm not a very reliable writer.

Don't worry, you'll get to see how the story ends first before it goes into Kin**e or Paper***k. I'm so excited for this opportunity to better my first draft of this story and make it more crisp and complete like a real traditionally published book. I really hope the end product satisfies you all. There will be changes since it will be edited by a professional and all that, but the main theme and plot will be the same, just with new events, hopefully. I'm not 100% yet of how it will turn out but I'm excited. Ha-ha-ha. XD

I hope you forgive me once again for this 1 month hiatus. Once I'm back I'll continue Volume 4 and congratulations on finishing books 1 to 3 of TKB! I salute all of you! Stay tuned for Volume 4 and see you again on Oct 1, 2021.

Lots of Love,

Macy Bae