I Was Reborn in Another World, But I Awoke Inside a Corpse

Chapter 180: The Distance Between Us

The moon over Lilyshade hung low and golden, casting its soft light across the polished terrace just outside Asmodeus's private quarters. The air was still warm, touched with the faintest whisper of perfume from distant blossom trees.

Isaac leaned on the railing, staring out across the city.

He didn't speak.

Not at first.

He was beginning to understand something.

He didn't fear silence here anymore.

Asmodeus emerged from within, her robe a loose wrap of midnight blue and violet, her hair unbound and trailing behind her like silk caught in starlight. She made no effort to hide the softness in her presence tonight. She didn't need to.

She joined him at the railing.

For a moment, neither of them said anything.

Just breathing. Just being.

"I used to think," Isaac said quietly, "that the only time I felt safe was in the middle of a fight."

She turned slightly, curious.

"Why?"

"Because if everything was burning, then at least I knew why I felt on edge."

A pause.

"And now?" she asked.

He exhaled. "Now I feel calm, and I don't know what to do with it."

She smiled, faint and wistful.

"That's not weakness, Isaac. That's healing."

He turned toward her, slowly.

His eyes held something uncertain.

"I don't think I know how to be loved like this."

Asmodeus didn't tease him.

Didn't smile.

She stepped closer.

And reached up with both hands—softly, gently—resting her fingertips along either side of his jaw. Not pulling. Not claiming.

Just touching.

"You don't have to know," she whispered. "You only have to feel."

He closed his eyes.

Let the warmth of her hands settle into his skin.

And when he opened them again, she was still there.

Still looking at him.

Not as a queen.

Not as a demon.

But as a woman who wanted him—not for power, not for legend—but for who he was beneath it all.

His hand rose, almost on instinct, brushing against her waist. She didn't pull away.

Instead, she leaned forward until their foreheads touched.

No kiss.

Not yet.

Just closeness.

So close that even a breath would change everything.

"I don't know what this is yet," Isaac murmured.

"Neither do I," she answered softly.

"But I know I want it."

That made her smile.

This time, she did lean in closer, her lips brushing just beside his—not quite a kiss, but enough to burn.

"Then stay," she whispered. "Not as a warrior. Not as a guest."

Her voice dropped to a hush.

"Just as you."

He didn't answer.

But he didn't move away.

And under the velvet sky of Lilyshade, in a place where desire had once meant hunger, and love had once meant pain, two souls began to redefine both.

Together.