A Curse (The Love Story) GL

CHAPTER XLVIII

"The Locked Vessel, and the Warrior's Silence"

Celeste's POV

The next ritual began beneath the quiet gaze of the goddess.

A marble idol stood tall before us — carved with vines, wings, and wisdom — as if she had been waiting centuries for this very moment. Her presence filled the chamber like air itself: unseen, but utterly unignorable.

Olivia and Ivory guided Cael and me to kneel before the sacred statue. The floor beneath us was cold, polished stone… but something about the space made my heartbeat slow — as if time had paused, just for us.

> "This is the ritual of trial and trust," Ivory said softly.

"Where patience is tested… and help is not offered freely."

Then she turned to me, placing a small, round earthen pot into my hands.

It was sealed shut with a flat clay plate, carefully bound using flour-dough hardened by time. And I had to open it — using only one hand.

I took a deep breath.

The pot was heavier than it looked. My fingers strained against the dough that sealed the top. The surface was stubborn, rough, almost mocking in its resistance. I tried once, twice, a third time… but the lid refused to budge.

My hand trembled slightly — not just from the effort, but from the eyes watching. I could feel Cael beside me, silent and still, like a statue carved from shadow.

> This was my task.

I had to prove something.

To myself. To the goddess. Maybe even… to her.

But just as I was about to try again, harder this time, something unexpected happened.

> Cael's hands moved.

Not in some dramatic gesture. Not with ceremony or ritual precision. Just… a simple, quiet choice.

She reached out.

And gently… took the sides of the pot in her own hands, steadying it.

> That was all it took.

With her there — grounding it — the resistance faded. The balance shifted.

And the lid came free.

I sat in stunned silence for a moment, holding the now-open pot in one hand, staring at it as if it had just bloomed into starlight.

> I hadn't done it alone.

She had helped.

And in doing so, she'd shattered the rules of the ritual.

Ivory's voice broke the silence, laced with surprise.

> "Cael… why did you interfere?"

Olivia raised a brow, mirroring the same unspoken question.

Cael shrugged, pulling her hands away with casual indifference.

> "Because I want this over with. I have other things to do."

Her tone was clipped. Impatient. Almost cold.

But I saw it.

The way her fingers had lingered just a second too long on the pot.

The way she had looked at me before she turned her eyes away.

> That wasn't duty.

That wasn't impatience.

That was instinct.

She hadn't helped because she wanted to hurry the ritual.

She'd helped because… she couldn't watch me struggle.

Even if she wouldn't admit it.

Even if she wrapped every good deed in thorns and sarcasm.

> Cael had chosen to reach for me.

And it was just a small thing — a pair of steadying hands.

But for a warrior who never showed softness… it meant everything.

I glanced at her — the warrior bride cloaked in fire and silence — and for a moment, I didn't see the lie she told the world.

> I saw the truth.

The woman who would always reach for me, even if she pretended not to care.

And I knew:

This ritual wasn't just a test of strength.

It was the quiet unveiling of love too stubborn to speak its name.

> And I would hold onto that.

Until she was ready to hold it with me.

"The Eternal Mark"

Celeste's POV

And now… the final ritual.

The one that would bind us not just in ceremony, but in soul.

Ivory stepped forward first, holding a shallow, wide plate filled with deep crimson dye — the sacred color of love, trust, and eternal promise in our realm. It shimmered like liquid fire, catching the light with a strange glow that felt alive… like it had a heart of its own, beating in time with ours.

> "This," Olivia whispered, "will be your mark upon these walls.

A symbol of your union.

A vow… no time or curse can ever break."

Cael stood beside me, silent, unreadable. But when Olivia raised the plate between us, she didn't hesitate. We reached for it together — her right hand, my left — and dipped our palms into the warm, viscous red.

The sensation was strange — thick, warm, almost sacred. Like we were dipping into history itself.

Then Olivia gestured to the palace wall — black marble, untouched and sacred — waiting to carry the mark of our bond.

We stepped forward.

> Without speaking, we raised our hands —

And pressed them, side by side, onto the stone.

Her right.

My left.

Together.

The dye seeped into the marble, glowing faintly — two handprints forever etched into the heart of this ancient palace. As soon as we touched the wall, the color shimmered… and something inside me clicked into place.

Like the final puzzle piece of a love I hadn't even realized was incomplete.

> With that mark, I had stepped fully into Cael's life.

Into her world.

Her soul.

> I was now eternally by her left — her vamang —

The place closest to the heart.

And that meant something.

Something sacred.

Something final.

I wasn't just her bride.

> I was hers — body, heart, and spirit.

And nothing — not even death — could pull us apart now.

I turned slightly, watching the handprints glow softly on the wall behind us. And in that moment, a fierce, overwhelming vow bloomed inside me.

> I would protect her.

I would shield her.

I would love her…

Until even the stars forgot how to burn.

No curse.

No prophecy.

No shadow would ever claim her again.

Not while I breathed.

Olivia and Ivory approached us then — their faces gentle with understanding. Ivory placed a hand on my shoulder and smiled.

> "It is done," she whispered. "Now, one last thing remains."

They led me away — not Cael — just me.

Up spiraling staircases carved from moonstone. Through halls lit by ancient lanterns that flickered with otherworldly fire.

Until we reached a door at the very top of the palace.

They opened it.

And I gasped.

The room beyond was unlike anything I'd seen before.

> Walls made of deep, polished black marble that shimmered like starlit water.

Flowers of every imaginable color bloomed in crystal vases — soft pinks, violet blues, ghostly whites — their fragrances blending into a scent that felt like memory and dream.

The mirror near the bed didn't just reflect light — it reflected presence. Like it had been brought from another realm altogether, and now stared back with eyes older than time.

And the bed…

> Black, grand, regal.

Draped in pure white sheets. A union of Frosthevan and Lunaria Noir.

Light and dark. Moon and night. Me and her.

I was stunned.

Speechless.

> It wasn't just a room. It was ours.

Olivia smiled gently, walking ahead as she straightened the edge of the bed.

> "Cel," she said softly, "Ivory and I did this together. We poured everything we could into this space… to make it reflect both your worlds."

Ivory added with a playful grin, "And yes, we even argued over the curtain colors. But I think it turned out rather perfect, don't you?"

I turned to them, heart swelling with a gratitude too big for words.

> "Thank you," I whispered. "Truly. For everything."

Ivory's smile faded a little. She looked at me, searching, and then asked — her voice uncharacteristically serious.

> "Cel… you do love her, don't you?"

Her question struck deep — not because I doubted, but because I had never said it out loud.

> "Yes," I answered, with no hesitation.

"With everything in me."

Olivia stepped closer. Her usual playfulness was gone too. She looked at me like someone entrusting their last hope.

> "Then please… lead her back."

My brows furrowed slightly.

> "Lead her back?" I asked.

She nodded, tears gathering at the corners of her eyes.

> "Cael has walked through fire alone for too long.

Her fate… her future… even the prophecy etched on her shadow — it's all heavy and cruel."

She paused, her voice trembling slightly.

> "But we believe you can change it.

Not with magic…

But with love.

With you."

Ivory touched my hand gently, squeezing it.

> "She won't ask for help. She'll never admit she needs saving.

But we know the truth.

And so do you."

Olivia stepped back, her gaze soft but fierce.

> "You are our last hope, Cel.

Don't let her fall."

I stood there, in the room they built for us, the stars breathing against the window, and the scent of a hundred flowers twirling in the air.

And I promised silently…

> I won't.

No matter what comes.

I'll bring her back… to love. To light. To me.

To be continued….