To Love A Villain

Chapter 221: New Journey

>>Enya

The snow had started to pick up again, light flakes dancing in the glow of the street lanterns. We wandered slowly, no particular destination in mind, just weaving through the quiet streets like the world had softened enough to give us space.

Ahin’s gloved hand was still wrapped around mine. I could feel his warmth through the layers, grounding me in this moment.

We stopped near a frozen fountain, its water stilled in mid-cascade like a sculpture caught in motion. I leaned against the stone railing, letting my eyes drift upward to the darkening sky.

"You know," I said quietly, "in our past life... we were going to run away."

Ahin stilled beside me. "I remember."

"You said you’d stay with me. Even when you knew it was dangerous."

His gaze shifted to mine, steady, unwavering. "Of course I did. You were always the only place I wanted to be."

I smiled, though there was a thread of sorrow woven through it. "I remember how staying... meant you died."

The words lingered in the cold, a weight neither of us wanted to name but both of us carried.

"I used to wish we had a place," I murmured. "Somewhere to go. Somewhere that wasn’t a corner or a secret or borrowed time."

"For halves," he said softly.

I nodded. "For people like us."

Ahin looked away, his breath curling visibly in the air. "I saw it, you know. When I was in the extractor. The pieces you changed. The way this timeline bent around your choices. Emrys trusts you now."

I laughed, sudden and small. "He does. Only because Einar once told me Emrys just wants attention from his siblings. So I gave it to him in this life."

Ahin chuckled too. "I’m happy it turned out well."

"It wasn’t that hard," I said with a shrug. "He sulks when he’s ignored. I just gave him little things. Company. Help with reports. Let him act like he was in charge sometimes."

"Smart," Ahin said, amusement warming his voice.

"And now," I added, tilting my head toward him, "he trusts me enough that he’d actually get me anything I wanted."

"Anything?" he asked, one brow raised, teasing.

"Anything," I confirmed with a grin.

He gave a thoughtful hum. "He might just buy you a country then."

I laughed out loud. "Well, the Wellington family is rich enough to buy a big island."

That made both of us stop.

Not because it was a joke, but because suddenly... it didn’t feel like one.

The idea hung in the space between us — a silly thing, maybe. Or maybe not.

A place.

Not a house or a room or a forgotten border town. A place of our own. For half-breeds. For people caught in-between. A place that didn’t belong to someone else first.

Ahin was the first to speak, voice quieter now. "What would we name such a place?"

I looked at him, the snow catching in his lashes, the firelight from the lanterns flickering in his eyes.

"Anything," I said. "Something like... Rugen Island would do."

He smiled at that. A slow, thoughtful kind of smile.

"Rugen," he repeated, like he was testing the shape of it in his mouth.

I squeezed his hand.

We stood there together in the cold, two people with too many memories and not enough time, dreaming aloud in the middle of a snow-covered town — daring, maybe for the first time, to believe in something bigger than survival.

Maybe... in this life, we could do more than just run.

Maybe we could build.

It was something that could be thought about. We have a very skilled mage too. Although Hael is hard to deal with. If we talk to Amber, we can get him to enhance the island so that only halves can enter the place.

And maybe... just maybe... we could build a country for people like us.

With Emrys’ help, we’ll have all the funding needed too

The scent of grilled skewers and baked honey bread drifted through the open market square, weaving between stalls like it had a mind of its own. Snow crunched beneath our boots as Ahin and I wandered past the rows of lantern-lit vendors, bundled against the cold, cheeks pink from the wind and laughter.

"Try this one," I said, handing him a paper-wrapped dumpling that steamed in the air. "It’s filled with smoked boar and winterroot."

Ahin took a bite, eyebrows raising in pleasant surprise. "Okay, that’s good. That’s very good."

"I told you," I said smugly, popping one into my own mouth.

We shared the dumplings as we moved, stopping here and there to warm our hands over firepots or sneak samples from generous shopkeepers who recognized my family crest and insisted on gifting food "for the Lady and her companion."

Ahin always looked a little awkward when people called me "Lady," but he never corrected them. He just stayed close, fingers occasionally brushing mine, brown eyes flicking to my face when he thought I wouldn’t notice.

We passed a stall with fried flatbreads and sweet herb butter, and I pulled him toward it before he could ask. The vendor handed over a pair wrapped in thick parchment, still hot enough to sting our fingers.

"Burnt my tongue," Ahin muttered around a mouthful, then laughed. "Worth it."

"I told you to blow on it first."

"You also told me I’d like the vinegar candies. That was a lie."

"Okay," I conceded, laughing. "That was a gamble."

We found a low stone wall at the edge of the square, overlooking the frozen river and the twinkling lights beyond. The stars were just beginning to poke through the velvet sky, their reflections shivering in the ice.

It was a wonderful feeling

***

The snow had softened the world into something dreamlike. The town was quieter now, the late afternoon sun casting everything in gold and frost. A thin veil of mist curled along the edges of the river, and the distant bells from the temple chimed softly, like the sky was humming.

Ahin had insisted we go out.

"For what?" I had asked, curious but not suspicious.

"You’ll see," was all he’d said, tugging on my glove and leading me away from the manor like he had a secret burning in his pocket.

Now, as we strolled through the outer garden path where snow rested gently on every branch and archway, I noticed something strange—someone had cleared the path ahead of time. Fresh lanterns had been strung between the bare trees, each one glowing softly with warm light, flickering like little stars caught between the branches.

"Ahin..." I said slowly, stopping.

He just smiled and kept walking backward, holding my hand. "Just a bit farther."

I followed him around the curve of the path, and then I saw it: in the center of the clearing stood a small wooden table dusted in snow, and resting atop it was a white bouquet — lilies, fresh despite the cold — tied neatly with a silk ribbon. Beside it sat a small velvet box, nearly hidden in the folds of fabric.

I stared, speechless.

Ahin let go of my hand and stepped forward. He brushed the snow off the table and picked up the bouquet. When he turned back to me, he looked nervous — not scared, but like something mattered more than words could carry.

"For you," he said, offering me the lilies.

I took them with trembling fingers, the scent soft and clean — so familiar, like something from a dream. "How did you know?," I whispered.

"How could I not?"

He stepped closer, and I saw the velvet box now in his hands. He held the box out, gently, reverently, like he wasn’t just offering a ring, but everything that came with it.

"I was going to wait until spring," he admitted. "But you were smiling so much today, and I realized... I didn’t want to wait anymore."

He opened the box.

Inside, nestled in deep velvet, was a delicate silver band shaped like entwined vines, with a single pearl-white stone at its center — simple, elegant, and unmistakably me.

"Enya," Ahin said, voice low and steady. "You’ve always been my beginning and my end. No matter how many lives we live, it always comes back to you."

He took a breath.

"Will you marry me?"

Time slowed.

The snow swirled softly around us. The light caught in his hair, in the stone of the ring, in the bouquet I clutched too tightly to my chest. I felt warmth rise to my throat, behind my eyes, so full it ached.

"Yes," I said, my voice thick with wonder. "Yes, Ahin. I will."

A wide smile broke across his face, and for a second he looked younger — lighter. He slipped the ring onto my finger, and it fit perfectly. As if it had always belonged there.

I leaned in and kissed him, snowy lilies pressed between us, the scent of them forever burned into this memory.

When we finally pulled apart, breathless and laughing, I said, "You really planned all this?"

"Of course," he said. "Even got Einar to sneak the lilies in through the back gate."

I blinked. "Einar knew?"

"Yes," Einar came out from behind the trees.

"YES!!" Along with Rika who was very excited. And behind them both walked Emrys, quietly but with a soft smile.

Oh...

My heart softened but I felt so fulfilled in that moment, I could not describe it in words.

I was just so happy that everything worked out.

I turned to look at Ahin

And no words can describe how happy I am to start a new journey with the man I love

The End

Author’s Note

This is where their story ends. I know it was short but that was the plan.

I know some of you will be thinking that Einar had a sad ending coming, where is that?

I didn’t write it because I didn’t want the novel to end on a sad note.

But yes, his fate is sealed.

He does die

But it happens after Enya and Ahin get married.

They are with him when he breathes his last and then they both, along with Rika, leave to walk a new path in life and create a place for people like them.

I hope you all enjoyed the book and I hope you all will come and read my other books too.

Thank You for reading!