Dark Magus Returns

Chapter 1768  The Second Death

It was a surprising question that Raze genuinely didn't expect to be asked just moments before he left the hotel. The sudden silence stretched on as he didn't answer straight away, which was rapidly worrying Rayna to the point where she got a little defensive, her cheeks flushing.

"Ah, if it's something you strongly want to do entirely on your own, it's honestly not an issue! I'll just see you later at the dinner," Rayna backpedaled, taking a nervous step back.

"No, it's fine," Raze said softly, his expression shifting from surprise to something much gentler. "It just took me by surprise. Come on."

Heading outside into the bustling Alterian streets, Raze called for a self-driving, flying taxi, and the two of them slid into the plush back seat together. The confined space felt incredibly awkward for Rayna. She was anxiously wondering exactly when the right time was to finally ask him about what he was going to do tomorrow, but more importantly, she was agonizing over how she was going to smoothly ask him without sounding desperate.

Eventually, she had been so deeply lost in her own spiraling thoughts that the vehicle had smoothly landed at their destination, and neither of them had said a single word to each other the entire ride.

"Are you going to get out, or do you want me to tell the cab to take you straight back to the hotel? Although, that would be quite a wasted trip," Raze teased slightly, stepping out. He held out his hand for her to grab, gently helping her step down onto the pavement.

It was the very first time Raze had ever done anything traditionally chivalrous like that for her. Perhaps it was because his dark mind wasn't completely consumed by burning revenge anymore. He was finally just acting like a normal human being, and that suppressed, normal side of Raze was actually quite the gentleman.

When Rayna was finally able to take in the location they had landed at, she was quite surprised by how incredibly beautiful and serene the entire place was. They were standing on a pristine stone path winding through a vast, hilly area that was filled with perfectly manicured green grass and beautiful, towering willow trees.

And then, she could see endless fields of vibrant flowers—flowers that had been respectfully placed right next to particular, engraved stone markers. The heavy realization suddenly hit her.

"Are we... are we in a cemetery?" Rayna asked, her voice dropping to a respectful whisper.

"Yeah," Raze answered, his dark eyes scanning the quiet hills. "I thought I should let you know where I was going, but... I think it will be okay. I think she would be genuinely happy to know that I'm not entirely on my own right now."

Rayna immediately had an inkling as to exactly why Raze might have come here, and she didn't know how to feel. Her stomach twisted and turned with a complicated mix of deep sympathy and romantic unease. As they walked silently up the rolling hills, they eventually stepped off the main path. Raze stopped, his eyes locking onto one modest grave in particular.

"I'm a pretty bad husband, aren't I?" Raze whispered, staring blankly at the weathered headstone. "I didn't even come to see you often when I could... and after all this agonizing time, even when I finally get to see you again, I didn't even think to bring you any flowers."

Rayna quietly stepped over beside him. She respectfully offered a silent prayer, bowing her head deeply before lifting it back up to give him space.

"You know," Raze started, his voice thick with old sorrow. "Her grave... it used to get violently vandalized quite a bit. A lot of people from the underworld would do deep digging into who I actually was. They knew I was a prominent professor at the Central Academy, and they would inevitably find out who Sabrina was to me as well.

"So, my enemies would come here. They would destroy her tombstone, desecrate the earth, and destroy absolutely whatever peaceful offerings were placed here just to spite me. The city added heavy magical security eventually, but it didn't stop the determined ones. It did stop me, though. I was completely unable to visit her."

Raze clenched his jaw, the dark memories flooding back.

"People were constantly watching this specific area, setting ambushes and expecting me to eventually turn up to mourn, so I could never properly visit her in peace. But looking at it now... it looks like people eventually forgot my connection to her. They finally left this resting place in one piece."

He knelt down, his fingers gently brushing the cold stone.

"Sabrina... I just wanted to come and tell you. I did it. I finally did it. You probably saw it all from wherever you are. And you probably would have never, ever wanted me to do all of that bloodshed just for your sake... but it was something I absolutely had to do. For both of us."

No more spoken words came out of Raze's mouth, but looking at his trembling shoulders, Rayna was absolutely sure that a vast ocean of apologies and stories was currently being said inside his head. They stayed there in comforting, heavy silence for a good thirty minutes, the wind blowing gently through the grass, until Raze eventually stood back up.

"Sabrina... I've heard the old saying that people technically die twice in this life," Raze whispered, his eyes shining with unshed tears. "Once when their physical heart stops beating... and the second time is when absolutely no one remembers your name anymore. So as long as I draw breath... you are still alive with me."

Raze gave a deep, deeply respectful bow to the headstone, and then slowly turned and walked off down the hill.

They didn't head straight back to the taxi immediately. Now, the two of them were quietly walking away from the dense clusters of gravestones and were just strolling through a nice, shaded park area that the cemetery bordered. The silence between them wasn't awkward anymore; it was peaceful.

Rayna looked at him, her heart beating fast. She finally saw her opening.

"You know... if you do decide to go back home to Pagna with us... you could easily still come back here to visit her grave once a month. We wouldn't have any other pressing reason to use the Golden Globe's charge, right?" Rayna said softly.

And in a very roundabout, delicate way, she had finally asked the massive question she had been nervously holding in all day.

(Note: Dark Magus is ending on the 20th of this month, March. Chapters will go down to one per day, to allow it to end on this day. It might go back to two closer to the time, if it is not nearing the end.)