Chapter 1097: Weeping In Beauty's Embrace
Princess Aila soaked in the scented bath filled with flower petals.
This was the second time she had done this, and both times were in preparation to meet William at night.
The first time William stayed with her, she fell asleep, and had no recollection of what happened afterwards. Even so, she knew that William didn't do anything inappropriate to her. Back then, she felt both relieved and disappointed at the outcome of their "first night" together.
Relieved because nothing happened while she was sleeping. Disappointed because a part of her longed for William's warm embrace.
In the dreams she had, it had always been like that. The silver-haired William would make love to her, and hold her as if she was the most precious thing in the world.
That feeling of love, and intimacy, that had crossed over space and time had reached her heart. The angelic Princess would be lying if she said that she didn't long for William's touch. Just like the one that held her, whenever she closed her eyes to sleep.
Perhaps it was due to her wish to see that silver-haired William, or perhaps it was due to her anxiety throughout the entire day, Princess Aila fell asleep due to how comfortable the bathwater felt.
An hour later, a dark mist appeared beside the bathtub, and transformed into the black-haired teenager who had asked to meet with her tonight.
William looked at the angelic beauty that was sleeping peacefully inside the bathtub. Her face rested over the back of her hands, as she dreamed of the brave Einherjar in her memories.
The Half-Elf arched an eyebrow as he used his ability to look into her dreams. A moment later, the black-haired teenager raised his hand, lifting Princess Aila's body with his magic so it floated above the bathtub.
He then summoned a bath towel and covered her body snugly with it. Using a bit of wind and fire magic, William dried off her body as she carried her towards the bed. Princess Aila was in the middle of her passionate dream when her mind caught hold of the fact that something was touching her face.
At first, she tried to swat it with her hand, but it didn't change anything. Instead, the touching even increased, and it no longer focused on her face, but her body.
Feeling alarmed, Princess Aila opened her eyes, only to find herself lying on her bed, staring at a handsome, yet cold-looking, young man who was holding a bath towel in his hand.
"Are you finally awake?" William asked as he casually wiped Princess Aila's chest using the towel in his hand. "You shouldn't sleep in the bathtub, you know."
"W-W-W-What?!" Princess Aila felt as if her brain had lost the ability to form coherent words at the moment. The only thing she could do was stare at William, who was still drying her body with the towel as if it wasn't a big deal.
"What's wrong?" William asked. The corner of his lips were slightly raised, and there was a hint of mischief in his eyes. "Oh, do you mind lifting your leg a bit? I need to wipe that place. It's still wet."
Because she was still in a daze, she obediently lifted her right leg and allowed William to wipe her thigh. Only when he was finished did she finally come to her senses, which made her entire face turn beet red.
"I-I can wipe myself!" Princess Aila grabbed the bath towel in William's hand and used it to cover her body. "You don't have to do this, Lord William. I'm no longer a child."
"Of course I know that you are no longer a child," William replied. "You've grown in the right places. If only Brianna's older brother, Connal, could see you right now, he would definitely regret not being able to marry you."
Princess Aila's cheeks turned a shade redder when she remembered her almost husband to be back in the Kyrintor Mountains. If not for the fact that William had intervened back then, she might still be there right now, and perhaps a mother of two, perhaps three, children already.
The angelic Princess' body subconsciously shuddered after thinking about such a possibility. Although it had been many years since that fateful day, she still wondered what her fate would have been if not for William's timely interference.
"Do you regret it?" William asked as he stared down at the angelic beauty on the bed. "Do you regret not being married to Connal?"
"I don't regret it," Princess Aila answered firmly. "I didn't want to marry him in the first place."
"Then, who do you want to marry?"
"T-That."
Princess Aila had recovered enough wits to stop herself from blurting out "I want to marry you" in front of the black-haired teenager that was making her heart beat wildly inside her chest.
Before she could even think of anything else to say, William abruptly stood up and walked away from the bed.
He then crossed her arms and turned his back on the Princess, who had a confused expression on her face.
"Playtime's over," William said. "Please, put something on, so that we can talk about a serious matter. Of course, I don't mind if you plan to stay in your birthday suit. Either way is fine with me."
It took the angelic Princess a few more seconds to register the words that William had just said. When she realized that she was practically butt naked, she immediately took a nightgown out of her storage ring and wore it properly.
She was in such a hurry that she had completely forgotten about her undergarments, but she no longer cared about them. Princess Aila knew that if William really wanted to do anything to her, there was no way she could resist his advances.
"I'm done," Princess Aila stated after she had calmed the beating of her raging heart inside her chest. "What do you wish to talk about, Sir William?"
William turned around to look at the beautiful lady in front of him. He once again walked towards the bed and sat on top of it.
His gaze landed on Princess Aila's still blushing face as he told her why he asked to meet with her.
"Do you still have the power to erase memories?" William asked.
"E-Erase memories?" Princess Aila stuttered. "Yes. I can still erase memories, but there is a condition."
"Condition?"
"Yes. The one whose memories I will erase must agree to have their memories erased. Then and only then can I erase their memories. I could no longer do it one-sidedly like I did to you… in the past."
"Oh?" William found this condition quite interesting. Back then, the Aila who was also a Vanir, had one-sidedly erased all of his memories of their time together. For this very reason, the Half-Elf couldn't remember her, even after he had seen the dreams that the Princess was having.
For him, the time that he shared with the Aila of the past no longer existed. Although he felt pity for his previous lifetime, the one who chose to end things was Aila and not him.
"I think this new condition is good," William said after looking at the Princess who was looking back at him with a sad expression on her face. "Consent is important."
Princess Aila nodded. "I agree."
William then moved closer to the princess until their faces were only a few inches away from each other.
"When you erase people's memories, do you store them somewhere or are they completely erased?
"I can do both, but the methods that are used are different from each other."
"Explain it to me."
Princess Aila nodded. "When I need to erase someone's memories, I will need their consent. When consent is given, I only need to press my palm over their forehead and the memories they want to be erased will instantly disappear without a trace. These memories can no longer be recovered.
The second method is taking their memories from them, and storing it in my own memory. In order for this to happen, I will need the person's consent then I will have to…"
"Have to?" William asked because Princess Aila's entire face had turned beet-red once again and was unable to continue her explanation.
"I-I will only be able to take their memories from them and store it in my own memory if I kiss them."
"Only a kiss? With how deeply you are blushing, I thought that it was something more serious."
Princess Aila pouted after seeing that William was making fun of her.
"I haven't kissed anyone before," Princess Aila said. "So this is a first for me. The memory transfer is quite complicated. Depending on how many memories that you want me to erase, we might need to do it a couple of times until all traces of it disappear completely.
"Is there something specific that I must do in order for you to take specific memories?"
"Yes. You need to think of that particular memory. It will be easier if the memory you wish to erase is about a person. All you need to do is think of that person, and I will do the rest."
"I see," William closed his eyes as if fighting an internal struggle inside his head.
Five minutes later, the black-haired teenager looked at Princess Aila with a determined gaze.
"Let's do it," William stated. "Take my memories and store them in your own. There will come a time when I will ask you to return them to me. Can you do that?"
"I can."
"Promise me."
Princess Aila placed her right hand over her heart and made a heart-felt pledge to return WIlliam's memories, if ever he wished for them back.
"There's one more thing that I'd like to add," William said. "No matter what happens, don't remind me of the memories that you've taken from me."
"May I know why?" Princess Aila inquired out of curiosity.
"If you do, I don't know what will happen. It is possible that I might try to kill you because of it."
"Seriously?"
William nodded with a serious expression on his face. Because of this, Princess Aila felt that she was about to carry a great burden. A burden that William had carried for a very long time.
A minute later, after sorting out her feelings and preparing herself for the task she was about to do, Princess Aila cupped William's face. She was still blushing because instead of William kissing her, she would be the one to kiss him instead. Also, it was her first kiss. The mental hurdle was simply too high.
Even so, seeing the sadness in William's eyes, her curiosity got the better of her. She wanted to know what kind of memory the Half-Elf wanted to be erased so badly that he specifically asked for her help.
The moment her soft lips pressed over William's, she saw fireworks illuminating the dark sky.
A scene of two teenagers kissing within a field of flowers appeared in her head. While the Angelic Princess was immersed in the feeling of love and warmth that emanated from William's memory, she didn't notice the single tear that streamed down the side of William's face.
Not long after that, more tears followed as William lost one of the most precious memories in his heart. Unfortunately, it would not be the first, nor the last one that he would lose tonight.
As if she had tasted something very sweet and delicious, Princess Aila sought William's lips and took those wonderful memories from him. Soon, only the sound of kisses could be heard in Princess Aila's room.
She had lost herself in the sensations that accompanied William's memories and pressed her body against his, forgetting the fact that she had been too embarrassed to even look at him a few minutes ago.
There, in the arms of the angelic beauty, William wept silently.
He wept for the memories that he had lost, and the love that he had tried so hard to protect. William knew that when morning came, he would no longer remember Belle. This was the price he had to pay, in order to truly awaken the Power of Darkness that had already taken over half of his soul.