Chapter 204 204

Chapter 204 204
Hearing his voice, the witch springs up from the bed and shields Anton with her body, never stopping the healing spell. She looks exhausted, but utterly determined to protect her beloved to the very end.
“Don’t worry,” I tell the green-eyed woman. “He won’t hurt you.”
But Laverna doesn’t move, staying tense and hostile, never taking her wary eyes off Kays.
“Iza, it’s not easy to trust someone who keeps trying to kill you.”
“As if you’re any different,” the dark-haired man snorts, studying his old friend. “I won’t touch you. I promise.”
The girl exhales and silently returns to Anton, no longer looking at anyone else.
“Lavi, you need to eat and rest,” I say, sitting beside her. “I brought you clothes.”
“I… I can’t leave him,” she says in a trembling voice, wiping away a tear with her sleeve. “The longer I keep healing him, the sooner he’ll wake up. I just want him to wake up so badly.”
“Listen…” I hear uncertain words from Kays, as if he’s forcing them out. “I’m sorry about this guy. He jumped out too fast.”
“Oh, sure—so you’d have hit her instead!” I snap at him, and he rolls his eyes in irritation.
“I… I’m not very strong at healing,” Karadeylis admits, “but let me take over for a while. It was my fault he got hurt.”
“That’s a great idea,” I immediately agree. “You can wash up, change, eat, and get a bit of rest in the meantime.”
“I can live without food,” the witch mutters stubbornly, watching her red-haired man.
“You’ve always been stubborn. No wonder you two get along,” Kays grumbles, and I see his magic flow from his hands, taking over the healing.
“As if you’re any better—you’re impossible to move too,” Laverna snorts, but with effort she finally gives in and steps back.
She takes the things I brought and disappears into Anton’s bathroom. After a quick wash and changing, she comes back out at once, watching her beloved. I offer her food, and this time she doesn’t refuse.
“Listen, I can’t keep quiet about this anymore,” I say, looking at the two of them. “I don’t know what happened in those caves, but I can see you. Both of you. You’re both light. Neither of you did the terrible things you blame each other for. I don’t see those crimes in either of you—and when someone is guilty, their crime always flashes before my eyes first, like pus bursting from a wound. But you… you’re family to each other,” I say, looking at them with hope and sorrow for all the years lost to hatred.
“Did you really not do it?” Kays asks her quietly, and I can see how much this hurts him—just as it hurts Laverna.
“And you?” the green-eyed woman asks through tears.
“They’re my family… Yes, I was angry at them because of my wife, but I loved them. And I loved you, too. I never cursed you or them.”
“I loved them too,” her voice trembles as she wipes away her tears. “All of you became my real family. I had no one else but you. You remember what we were like… close, happy, always there for each other. I never cursed you. Not you, not them.”
“Oh, Lavi…” Kays whispers painfully, and it seems his eyes grow damp as well. “Forgive me for everything. Come here, little one.”
He opens his arms, and Laverna steps into them, crying.
“And you forgive me,” she sobs. “I missed my friend so much.”
“I missed you too,” he murmurs into her hair, holding her tightly.
I stand there realizing I’m crying too. Two stubborn fools… five hundred years of hatred… and all it took was one honest conversation and the will to listen to each other.
“I’ll leave you alone,” I say, wiping my tears as I look at this heartbreaking reunion. “You need time to catch up on at least a piece of the friendship you lost. I’ll be in my room. Talk to each other. You need this.”