Chapter 1208: Directness

"To burn down the Spirit World."

Atticus just stared at Zoey for a long time. And she met his eyes with a calm stare.

Her eyes had changed.

The first time he saw Zoey in that clearing, he’d seen her forced eyes. The eyes of someone with a goal and a determination to see it through.

Knowing her over the year, he had found out what that goal was. And while he found it naive, he still admired her resolve.

But what Atticus was looking at now was different.

Zoey’s eyes weren’t determined. Determination meant someone had recognized how perilous the path ahead was, and had prepared their heart for it.

But her eyes were too calm for that.

It was as though everything she said was simply a fact. An event that would happen.

"What about your goal to save all of Eldoralth?" Atticus asked.

Zoey chuckled and turned away from him. She gestured to the vast landscape, the world.

"What’s there to save? You’ve done all of that already."

"Are you jealous then?" Atticus’ words were blunt. But he felt they were necessary. He didn’t sense jealousy from her anymore, but he wanted to know where her head was.

She laughed, shaking her head.

"I’m guessing you didn’t hear. Well, it was all a lie apparently. My goal. My feelings. Everything."

"What do you mean?" Atticus narrowed his eyes slightly.

Zoey smiled and began to recount the events of everything.

The Spirit King’s century long plot to take over Eldoralth. The marking of the Starhaven family. Lumindra’s involvement.

The Spirit King’s manipulation, of her goal, her feelings. Everything.

And by the end of it, while Zoey still held her smile, Atticus wore a deep frown.

"That’s insane."

"Right?" Zoey chuckled. "I thought the same thing too. He’s a crazy bastard, that Spirit King."

Atticus didn’t miss the temperature drop at the mention of the Spirit King.

’She’s really angry.’

The smile on her face couldn’t fool him. It was clear that she was boiling on the inside.

’Understandable… but…’

Atticus wasn’t one to put a damper on someone’s goal, but he was in the business of speaking truth, especially to those close to him.

And Zoey had won that right.

"So, how did you intend on burning down the Spirit World?" Atticus asked.

"Hm." Zoey turned to him. "You know… I was expecting more reaction than this. ’I’m so sorry about that, Zoey. It’s going to be fine.’ Maybe even a hug. But you’ve always had a way of breaking expectations."

"You spent eight months in mourning," Atticus said. "I just didn’t feel like you needed that right now. Was I wrong?"

Zoey shook her head. "No, you’re right. I’ve gotten over my feelings already. It would just be a waste," she said. "When you hug me, I don’t want it to be because of pity."

"What do you want it to be because of then?"

"Because you’re infatuated with me. Because you want to be close to me. Because you just wanted to feel my skin."

"Not love?" Atticus asked, curious.

Only Lirae had ever asked him if he loved Zoey, and he had meant his answer.

Atticus’ definition of love was twisted.

Someone who meant the world to him. Someone he wouldn’t hesitate to massacre an entire world to protect. Someone whose death could make him burn down everything out of revenge.

He had known Zoey for a year at the academy, and that had ended badly. The subsequent years, he hadn’t been close enough to her.

She was someone close, but not yet on the level of his family.

Zoey smiled gently. The kind of smile that could cause wars.

Atticus didn’t let his calm expression shift, but he had really forgotten just how beautiful she was.

"You barely know the true me. It’s understandable if you don’t love me." She spoke like she already knew how he felt.

"Do you love me?" Atticus asked.

"I want you."

"Why?"

Zoey paused. Her calm expression finally cracked as she closed her eyes.

"Because you’re still here."

She could feel Atticus’ questioning gaze, so she continued.

"After everything that happened. After I rejected you at the academy. After I admitted I was jealous of you for no reason at all, admitted I wanted what you had, that I envied you…"

Tears broke down from Zoey’s eyes as she spoke, but her smile remained.

"Even after I’ve lost everything now, every one of my family, even after the Spirit King almost used me to destroy the whole planet…"

She took a step closer, placing her palm on his cheek, looking at him as though he was the most precious thing in the universe.

"Even after everything, you’re still here. Looking down at me with those same gentle eyes. I’d have to be the most stupid person in this universe not to want you."

The silver moonlight shone down, illuminating the two of them in the middle of a garden of flowers.

It was a beautiful moment. But one Atticus didn’t know how to feel about.

And he couldn’t help but curse his inexperience.

How was he supposed to act? Simply accept her back? Be distant and let her suffer a bit to gain his attention?

His thoughts were too many, and his high processing speed didn’t help.

It felt like a major decision. One that needed care.

Was the both of them… possible?

God knew it was what he wanted when he met her at the academy. But years had passed. Things had changed.

Now… her entire ego had changed. Was she still the same person?

’She is.’ Atticus answered himself.

She was still the same Zoey. He could see it. Just… with a different goal.

Her disposition had changed. Her eyes had changed.

And that change made his heart beat harder.

’Is this why?’

Atticus had always wondered why he’d entertained Lirae and Maera. He wasn’t stupid, he knew they liked him.

He also knew he was far too obsessive to simply let Zoey go. But still, he’d entertained them.

Not because he wanted to lead them on, but because he’d been attracted. To their directness.

Lirae had come for him instantly. So had Maera.

And as someone who was naturally direct, Atticus found that appealing.

He appreciated it.

And now, as Zoey took a step forward, more direct and open than she had ever been, he found himself liking it.

All of it.

So, when she reached for his lips… he didn’t resist.