Zayden’s body unconsciously jumped over the fence and stood inside the sealed area.
He then slowly walked toward the poles in the distance.
Each step was heavy.
Each step made his heart crumble.
He found it difficult to breathe.
His throat felt dry, and something slowly came out from it.
He felt pain in his throat.
His trembling eyes slowly watered.
His mind brought back the many beautiful memories he had shared with Aria.
He remembered the first time they met. The meeting that changed him into the man he became.
At that time, when he was much younger, he attended a banquet and met a lonely girl.
That girl was wearing a much simpler dress compared to the other guests.
He couldn’t help but wonder why no one talked to her, which made her seem lonely.
Her beauty should have already attracted some people, but no one came to her.
After a few moments of thinking, he decided to muster up his courage and greet her.
But because he himself was the type of man who became clumsy when in front of women, he instead showed his stupid side.
He almost slipped near her.
But that slip was enough to make that charming woman show her beautiful, small laugh that could entrance many men.
"Oh... uhm... hi," the young Zayden greeted stupidly after he almost embarrassed himself to death.
The woman smiled.
"Hi," she returned the greeting.
She found Zayden to be a funny man.
"My apologies, miss, but let me introduce myself. My name is Zayden Dravenhart. May I know your name?" Zayden asked.
Still with a smile, the woman returned his introduction.
"So, it’s the young master of the Dravenhart family. It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Aria Reinfort."
From that moment, the two humans’ fates were already connected.
As time passed, Zayden eventually came to know Aria’s background.
She was actually the daughter of Grand Duke Reinfort, born from a drunken mistake involving one of the maids in his mansion.
Because of her mother, she became the unwanted child in the family.
Her life was quite hard.
But maybe because of her mother’s humble origin, she had a much softer and kinder character than any noble lady he had ever known.
Even in his opinion, she was too pure to exist in that kind of noble family, where many of her siblings and even many others did not treat her amicably.
That was also the thing that made him attracted to her.
As time passed, their relationship grew closer and closer.
And finally, they developed feelings for each other.
Their romance story was full of challenges that usually only appeared in romance stories.
The type where they supported each other and made sure to face every challenge together.
He was only the son of a baron, while Aria was the daughter of a grand duke.
Although her mother was a maid, she was still the daughter of the Grand Duke.
The Reinfort Grand Duchy was one of the three Grand Duchies of the Vermion Empire.
The difference in their status was too great.
But thanks to the achievements he kept building, the Imperial Family took notice of him, and even Devron made him his personal knight.
Because of that, Grand Duke Reinfort finally allowed Aria to marry him.
At that time, he felt like he was the happiest man alive.
He felt complete.
He felt like he had achieved something much greater than any achievement he had ever accomplished.
"Zayden, let’s build a home somewhere where we can enjoy our time together peacefully."
"Zayden, I like this place. Let’s build our home here."
"Dear, what do you want to eat? I will make it for you."
Aria’s voice continued to echo in Zayden’s mind. His consciousness was like it had split into two parts.
Half of his consciousness was in his memories, while the other half was back in the current reality.
The reality that made him feel like he was falling into a cold darkness.
With each step he took as he approached one of the poles, a memory poured in his mind.
"Happy birthday, my love! I hope you live a long and meaningful life."
"Zayden, I think I’m pregnant!"
"Zayden, what do you think our baby’s gender is? Is it a boy or a girl? I don’t care whatever it is. I will love them all."
"Zayden, it looks like our baby is a girl! What do you think is a good name for her?"
"Zayden, please be safe. I hope you can come back without getting hurt. Our child and I will always be waiting for you here."
Her sweet voice, each of her expressions, each of her movements—all of them became more vivid.
But then, her healthy and living figure, her beautiful face, her long blonde hair, and her blue eyes...
Now overlapped with the figure of a hanged dead woman on the pole.
It was like the illusion of the past shattered, replaced by the cruel fate of reality.
There was no life in her face anymore.
Her golden hair had turned white, and most of it had been lost.
Her eyes were slightly open, but there were no beautiful blue eyes anymore.
Instead, they were replaced by pale, deadpan eyes.
A rope was tied around her neck and attached to the top of the pole, while her hands were tied behind her back.
The figure was also wearing the dress that Aria liked to wear when she was at home.
The dead woman was also still wearing her wedding ring.
Her body was already in the middle of the decomposition process, albeit much slower than the body of someone without cultivation.
Zayden could still see some flesh and skin on her body, especially on her arms and face.
"Aaa... aaa... aaa..."
Tears finally fell from Zayden’s eyes as he reached the woman’s pole.
His lips could only produce an unclear voice.
He found it difficult to breathe at this moment.
Zayden lifted his trembling hand and touched the woman’s feet.
His touch was soft, as if he were afraid of damaging her feet even further.
His tears streamed down more profusely, and finally, he could utter the word he wanted to say.
"Aria."
The dead woman in front of him was none other than his wife.
Aria.
The woman that he loved and cherished.
Now, she had already left him.
"Aaahhhh! Aaahaaaa!"
Zayden cried with all his heart, his face touching his wife’s feet.
He did not care about his surroundings anymore.
He just cried like a baby.
His voice was loud, but it sounded so pitiful and full of sadness.
A soothing wind swept over Zayden, as if nature itself wanted to ease his pain.
It was as if his cries made nature itself feel his sorrow and even react to it.
The dragon that saw all of this sighed. His sigh could be heard across the subspace.
Seeing this, he knew that Zayden might have started questioning his own decision to stay in the Abyss back then.
He might be filled with regret and self-blame for not coming to his wife when she was in danger.
His heart would be fighting with itself, questioning what was right and what was wrong.
This was something that might develop into an inner demon that could endanger the life of a cultivator.
However, the dragon still believed that what Zayden had chosen was the correct decision.
This kind of tragedy was common in the cultivation world.
But the thing that differentiated each tragedy was the ending of the story.
If Zayden had really chosen to leave for his wife at that time, the dragon could only lament Zayden’s fate and feel pity that he would never become the owner of The Divine Dragon Soaring the Heaven Spear.
He was pretty sure Zayden would not have been able to change the outcome because Zayden was too weak to face a behemoth like the Imperial Family.
Zayden would have died before he could save his family.
But because Zayden had chosen to stay and train, he would have a chance to pay back everyone who had done this to his family.
He might not be able to save his family, but at least he could bring justice to them.
After a few minutes of crying his heart out, Zayden’s cries finally started to calm down.
He was still touching his forehead to Aria’s feet.
He was still sobbing.
Only after a few more minutes did he lift his head and look at his wife’s face again.
Then he turned to look at the other bodies.
He recognized them.
They were the staff in his house, whom he and Aria had already considered part of their own family.
Two maids, a butler, and a cook.
But he did not see the two figures who had also stayed with Aria.
Just like Rick had told him, one of the maids and the family’s guard were not here.
Zayden then looked at his wife again and, without hesitation, cut the rope with a wave of his hand.
His hand moved like a spear, cutting through the rope.
Aria’s body instantly fell, but Zayden softly caught it using his energy and then held her in his arms.
He looked at his wife’s face, which still retained some of her beauty, for a moment.
Without hesitation, he placed a kiss on her forehead before gently putting her down.
He also put down the rest of the corpses, whose conditions were much worse than Aria’s.
Their decomposition process was much faster than hers.
After putting them down, he looked for anything that could cover their bodies in his storage ring.
When he did not find anything inside his ring, he searched through some of the rings he had taken in the Abyss.
In the end, he managed to find a few pieces of cloth, and with them, he covered all the corpses.
He still stood there motionlessly for a few minutes, looking at their corpses, especially Aria.
He then looked at the line of dead plum blossoms.
From where he stood, he still couldn’t see his house, as the house was still on much higher ground.
He decided to take a step toward his house.