Chapter 18: Delia, Marry Me!
Lei landed on the lakeshore, looking at Delia, whose eyes sparkled with tears of excitement. He felt an impulse to pull her into his arms. Though he had this urge inside, he himself stood before Delia, his mouth open, not knowing what to say.
He had a thousand words in his heart, but when they met, not a single one could be spoken.
"Linley is still the same." Delia smiled. She took the initiative to extend her left hand.
Looking at that fair little hand, Linley was stunned for a moment. Delia pouted and glared at him, saying, "Idiot, are you asking me to cast a flight spell just to get to the center of the lake?" The distance from here to the center of the lake was dozens of meters; Delia couldn't cross it without using flight magic.
Seeing the look in Delia's eyes and her outstretched hand, as lustrous as ivory, Linley finally reached out his right hand and interlaced his fingers with Delia's.
"Ah, Linley, I'll be going now." Sesslar spoke up at that moment.
Linley and Delia both blushed almost simultaneously. Linley turned his head and gave Sesslar a speechless look, but Sesslar winked at Linley, then quickly sped away on his own.
"That's just how Sesslar is." Linley held Delia's hand, lightly tapped his foot, and a whirlwind surrounded the two of them. Lightly and airily... Linley and Delia floated to the center of the lake. The two walked to the steps at the edge of the central rock and sat down side by side.
They were still holding hands. Feeling Delia's soft little hand, Linley felt as if he were standing on a cloud. Delia's face was also slightly flushed, and the atmosphere between them suddenly became ambiguous.
Suddenly—
Linley spotted Bebe in the lake water not far away, his little head poking out, his lively eyes watching Linley and Delia sneakily.
"Ah, Boss! You two continue, I'm off to play. Keep going!" Bebe, seeing he had been discovered, immediately submerged himself. However, neither Linley nor Delia noticed that on a branch of a large tree far away in the Blackcloud Mountains, a Thunderbolt Storm Eagle was secretly watching them.
"Pfft." Delia immediately laughed. "Linley, Bebe is really adorable."
Linley nodded and smiled. "That's just how Bebe is. By the way, Delia, after you returned to the O'Brien Empire last time, you only came today? Did something happen?" Linley remembered that when Delia left, she had said she would come find him soon.
"Mm." Delia nodded, but then fell silent.
The series of events that had happened in the imperial capital had truly saddened Delia. She was very disappointed in her parents. When Linley brought this up... Delia's mood also sank.
"Did something happen? Tell me about it." Linley tightened his grip on Delia's hand.
"You really want to hear?" Delia gazed at Linley from close up.
Linley nodded.
"If you hear it, then you have to marry me." Delia suddenly said.
"Uh..." Linley was caught off guard by this sudden attack and felt a bit flustered. Delia was indeed the only woman Linley truly loved at this point, but asking him to marry Delia immediately... Linley still had some reservations deep down. His first experience had left him with a kind of defense mechanism.
Towards women, he dared not invest his full emotions.
Fear. Of being hurt again.
"I'm just joking!" Delia laughed, then pouted coquettishly, "Linley, you could at least humor me a little." Delia's words also helped Linley ease his embarrassment.
Delia took a deep breath. "Now I'm going to start telling you. Do you still want to hear it?"
Linley immediately nodded.
Delia calmed her emotions, held Linley's hand, looked at the tranquil lake before her, and slowly began, "Linley, that time I received the letter from my family and immediately went back. But after I returned, I found out... my grandmother was perfectly healthy. There was no problem at all."
Linley frowned.
Delia's letter had told him her grandmother was in good health. Linley already sensed there was some hidden truth behind this.
"Later, I found out that my parents had learned from my teacher that I stayed in the O'Brien Empire to be with you. So my parents used this trick to make me leave you." Delia smiled bitterly at Linley. "It's a clumsy trick, isn't it? But I still fell for it."
Linley asked doubtfully, "Your parents doing this..."
"For the sake of the family."
Delia sighed. "Back then, you hadn't yet established a foothold in the Chaos Territory. Almost everyone on the Yulan Continent thought you were a member of the O'Brien Empire. And the O'Brien Empire and my Yulan Empire have always seen each other as great enemies."
Linley understood. The two most powerful empires on the Yulan Continent were these two.
"In my parents' view, if I married you, it would mean having an important relationship with a Saint-level powerhouse from an enemy nation. The Yulan Empire's Emperor would definitely reduce his trust in our family. So, my parents didn't want me to be with you."
Delia glanced at Linley. "Of course, that was just my parents' assumption. They didn't know... we hadn't even discussed marriage yet."
Linley could only rub his nose.
Delia said bitterly, "There were many suitors pursuing me in the imperial capital. My parents urged me to marry someone else. I didn't want to! I really hated it! Linley... at that time, I truly wanted to come find you immediately. But I didn't want to break ties with my parents. I love my parents!"
"I understand." Linley comforted her.
He naturally understood Delia's feelings, because he too was someone who cherished his family and his parents.
"I really wanted to come find you, but I also didn't want to lose my parents." Delia bit her lip, her voice dropping. Linley could clearly feel Delia's grip on his hand tightening.
"But I also told my parents that if you established a duchy in the Chaos Territory and were no longer aligned with the O'Brien Empire, then they wouldn't stop me from being with you." Delia said. "So, I endured."
Linley placed Delia's hand on his lap.
Delia looked at Linley, a smile on her face. "I was waiting... waiting for you to establish your duchy. But then, my parents suddenly said that I should marry the Yulan Empire's Emperor and become the Empress."
"Mm?" Linley felt a surge of anger inside.
Delia's parents were truly going too far.
"I refused. That time, I got angry at my parents." Delia shook her head helplessly. "I had always been filial to my parents, but that time I lost my temper. I told my parents plainly that I would rather die than marry any of those people."
Linley's heart was filled with emotion. For a woman to go this far was truly touching.
"I waited... Finally, I received your letter. You had established the Baruch Duchy." Delia looked at Linley. "I was so excited at that moment. My parents would finally no longer stand in our way." Linley was also overjoyed at this moment.
In Linley's mind, Delia should have spoken to her parents and then come over happily.
"I told my parents the news, but... my parents actually still tried to persuade me to marry the Emperor." A trace of bitterness appeared on Delia's face.
"How could this be?" Linley's expression changed.
Even at this point, they were still like this. Linley could fully imagine how Delia must have felt at that time.
"Yes, how could this be?" Delia's eyes held a hint of sorrow. "I went over happily, only to get this result. Actually... I should have expected it. My father is the clan leader; of course, he has to consider the family. In his view, the Emperor was excellent, held a high position, and was beneficial to the family. Marrying the Emperor would have been perfect. But... he never once thought from my perspective."
Delia took a deep breath. "So, I no longer had any hopes."
Delia looked at Linley. "I came. I no longer care about my parents. I left the imperial capital and came to find you."
Looking into Delia's eyes, Linley felt a surge of emotion within him—it was gratitude, it was pity, it was contentment!
"Delia..." Linley wanted to say something, but it felt like a lump was stuck in his throat, and he couldn't get the words out.
The girl before him...
For him, she could endure ten years of lonely waiting.
For him, she could disregard the temptation of the power of being an 'Empress.'
For him, she even chose to leave the parents she loved and come to him alone.
...
Linley suddenly felt a sense of shame. He suddenly despised himself, resented himself!
"A girl has given so much for you, and you, from beginning to end, haven't even given her a single promise." Linley's heart accused him.
"What am I waiting for? What am I hesitating about?"
He looked at Delia's expression. Delia's feelings had always been clear; she had always been waiting for him... and he had always been hesitating. But today, Linley realized that while he was always wavering, always worrying...
What he had already gained was very precious.
"Abandoning everything, waiting for ten years, and she's still waiting... without any promise from me." Linley looked at the tear stains at the corners of Delia's eyes, and suddenly his heart clenched, and a roar echoed inside him, "Am I going to let Delia wait forever like this, until one day her heart dies of sorrow and she leaves alone?"
Linley's heart ached sharply.
"Crack~~~"
The layer of ice in Linley's heart completely shattered at that moment, melting away entirely.
Linley didn't want to wait any longer.
He didn't want to wait himself!
And he didn't want Delia to wait any longer!
"Linley, what's wrong?" Delia saw Linley's expression and asked with concern.
Linley suddenly reached out both hands and grasped Delia's shoulders. Delia felt a tremor in her heart. Linley gazed at Delia, took a deep breath, and said solemnly, "Delia... marry me!"
Delia's eyes went wide, and she stared blankly at Linley.
As soon as he said those words, scenes of the past with Delia flashed through Linley's mind like lightning—from their first meeting at the Ernst Institute of Magic, seeing that cute little girl, their time together as teenagers, the farewell kiss that night in Wushan Town...
Scene after scene.
His heart felt very warm.
With a wife like this, what more could he possibly wish for?
"Linley." Delia swallowed hard, her eyes wide as she looked at him. "What did you just say? Say it again, please?" Delia's voice trembled.
Linley gazed at Delia and said, word by word, "Delia, marry me! Marry me, Linley. Be with me forever, never to be separated. Okay?" Linley's voice also trembled. At this moment, Linley felt nervous.
Yes, nervous.
Delia looked into Linley's eyes, and tears suddenly streamed down her face.
How long had it been?
How long had she been waiting for this day?
Back in her youth, when her feelings were still hazy, she had already hoped for this day, hoping that Linley would be her Prince Charming.
Day after day, she waited...
Back then, she was a young girl in her teens, and now she was a twenty-eight-year-old woman. For over a decade, whether it was Alice being with Linley, or Linley disappearing for ten years, or her parents' obstruction, none of it had made her give up.
What she feared most was...
Linley giving up on her!
She had been waiting all along. She didn't even dare to pressure Linley into making a promise!
"Are you willing?" Linley looked at Delia's tear-streaked face, his heart deeply moved.
Delia suddenly hugged Linley tightly, whispering in his ear over and over, "I am willing, I am willing, I am willing..." Feeling the warmth of Delia's body, Linley felt an unprecedented sense of fulfillment.