Dare To Love A Dragon - Chapter 82

Francis stood at the balcony of the palace and stared down at the kingdom that he once called home. So much has changed since then, the kingdom looked better than it ever was before. He had to applaud the queen for the wonderful job that she had done, she had made life so much better for everyone in the kingdom. But he couldn’t help but feel sad, the people that he cared about had their lives change for the worst, he wished more than anything that he could be able to bring back the happiness that used to exist in the palace.

His heart was heavy with guilt, he blamed himself for all the lives that were ruined. As he thought about everything from the start he found that he was the root cause of all the problems. It all started with him and his destiny that linked him to Alex, his destiny entangled many other lives and ruined them in the process.

He understood the pain that Ander was feeling. After being a ghost for sixteen years and being distant with his loved once he came to understand how the boy must. Not getting the love that he deserved all his life he had grown bitter and hateful. He blamed himself for it, when he saw the desperation in Ander’s eyes and the will to live vanishing from his eyes. It made his heart ache in pain, at the end of the day the truth could not be changed that Ander was just a child. He didn’t deserve to have his life snatched away from him for mistakes that weren’t his.

His destiny was to blame for the things that he did as a child and who better to understand than himself when he also went through the same thing with Alex. The way he turned out was caused by how people reacted to him after it all happened, for him it was different. Despite knowing that he was the chosen one they didn’t discriminate him but showered him with love and affection. Love that he could sense the young boy was yearning for.

He raised his hand up to his face and wiped the tears that had formed in his eyes. He knew in his heart that he had to fix the problems and bring a smile to the royal family, in order to do that he had to start with the person who was at the center of everything. But Ander had shut him out, he couldn’t go to the male and he knew why. He must have put up a spell to keep him away.

“Give me a chance to make amends for my mistakes,” he said in a pleading voice. He closed his eyes in pain, the image of Ander right before he jumped off the bridge was very visible to him. He found it hard to get that image out of his head, it was so painful for him to see but was impossible not to.

“Why do you care?” he heard Ander’s voice ask him. He opened his eyes in surprise and gazed in the direction that the voice came from.  He watched Ander stare at the distance with his back turned to him, he looked peaceful with the wind blowing at him slowly. He seemed undisturbed by the problems around him, he walked up to the boy and took his place beside him.

“Would you believe me if I said that I understand?” he inquired of the male.

“I know you understand, everyone does. They just don’t care enough,” Ander replied still staring into the distance.

“I care,”

“I know you do but you care more for other things than you do me. Everyone has different priorities and I always end up as an option that no one chooses. They care but not enough,” he stated making francis feel guiltier than he already felt. He expected Ander to be mad and to yell at him or scold him and blame him but what he found was the opposite. He didn’t seem like he cared to argue with him anymore. He didn’t seem angry anymore.

“I admit that for a minute there I had disappointed you by making you feel like you are only an option for me but that all will change. I only need one chance to prove to you that you aren’t an option.”

“If you must prove it then it means that I am an option but relax, I have no intention of fighting for your love or affection. The truth is that I have waited sixteen years for love, I was always known as the boy who was without a father. In the palace I lived with the pity of the servants from the life that destiny had made for me. No friends, no father and no freedom; that is my life and I have no intentions to change it,” he said and turned his head to look at Francis.

Francis was filled with tears listening to Ander, seeing the darkness in his eyes and the aloof expression on his face he couldn’t help but feel pain in his heart. ‘I hope that I am not too late,’ he thought.

“You need not worry. I am here now and you don’t have to wait for someone to love you anymore. Not just me but your mother, aunt and uncle also love you so much. You need to stop concentrating on the negative and see the people who care for you,” he said in between his tears and held Ander’s hand.

“I can feel you,” Ander stated surprised. “How can I feel you?” he asked him.

“That is not important, the important thing right now is you. Tell me, how do you feel?”

Ander’s eyes returned to normal, he gazed into Francis’s eyes to see the sincerity in his words. He found that he meant every word he said to him. “Don’t you think that you are sixteen years late?” he asked in a soft voice.

“I am late but it is better than never coming at all. I’m here and I am never leaving ever again,”

“I don’t value life,” he said after a few minutes. “That’s what you said right? Why did you change your mind?” he questioned.

“I have no excuse for my words, you have every right to be mad at me for them. You didn’t deserve to hear those things from me,” he said apologetically.

“Well then how are you going to make it up to me. How are you going to balance it?” Ander asked him.

“Balance? Balance what?” he asked confused as to what the boy was talking about.

“You love my father and Avan a lot right? So how are you going to balance your love with the three of us?” Ander asked him. “I have an idea, why don’t you love me just a little bit more and love the other’s a little less,” he said.

Francis bust out laughing at how ridiculous Ander sounded, the boy had surprised him a lot, he didn’t need a lot of convincing to change his mind. He just needed someone to take the first step in trying to fix their relationship. To show him that he can be loved and deserved to be loved.

“Okay, I think that I can do that for you,” he said and embraced Ander in a tight hug. He poured his heart out into the hug for the male, he wanted to shower him with so much love that he would forget all his anger and be happy.

‘Now wait and see how I take back what is mine. You love Avan and my father more than me and I am certain that you would choose them over me but do not worry from now my only goal is to create hatred in your heart for those two. Only I belong in your heart,’ Ander thought with a sinister smirk on his face. His eyes glowed with an evil glint and became soft when Francis broke the hug.

“I have a gift for you too,” he said and gathered all the splinters, he returned all the splinters into Francis. He hugged Francis and wished that he would be free. He needed Francis back in order for him to stop being considered the villain of the story. Everyone else was going to take up that role as he needed to be the hero because the hero always gets the love.

Francis was shocked beyond words when he was freed, he had never expected for Ander to give him his life back so easily. His heart was filled with happiness and warmth, his opinion of Ander improved greatly as he returned the hug.

“I take it that you like your gift,” Ander commented enjoying the warmth that Francis was giving him.

“I loved it just as much as I love you. You are the best son a man can ever ask for,” he said wholeheartedly. Ander frown when he heard Francis call him a son but didn’t say anything. He would go along with it for now but he was definitely going to change his feelings for him. ‘Soon you will call me your lover,’ he thought with a smile.