Legacy of Hatred

Marriage wasn’t too much of a big deal even for mortals. The rite changed depending on culture and status, but even Liam knew what it entailed, mostly because he had delivered meat to a few back in the village.

The rite required a few witnesses, but it mostly consisted of three bows. The couple bowed to the Heavens, then to their parents, and ultimately to each other. With that, the marriage was complete.

Richer environments involved written proof of the event, but it was still quite a simple ordeal. Yet, Liam felt like he had underestimated it when he witnessed Grace’s reaction.

Grace tilted her head away to look up at Liam, her eyes slightly wide, her cheeks a bit flushed. That was one of the rarest faces she possessed. She usually took everything in stride and could say something even in the most unforeseen circumstances, but she appeared properly stunned now.

"Yes?" Grace timidly agreed. "Of course!"

Grace’s face snapped down, but she pressed herself against Liam, fidgeting.

"I had it planned for way later," Grace admitted, "But I guess we could take a break. Purchasing land and a house would be easy, and we could use your alchemy to remain hidden while we raise our children."

Countless calculations seemed to be going on in Grace’s mind, but everything stopped when she recalled something.

"Ah!" Grace exclaimed, her face snapping up. "I vow to be a loyal and devoted wife. I shall never bring shame to my husband. I will be a caring lover for you and an attentive mother for our children so that you can peacefully lead our household to prosperity."

Clearly, the gap in Liam and Grace’s education was wider than even the cultivation stage’s. He was a total country bumpkin, while she came from one of the wealthiest Clans in the western region.

Grace might have been shunned at birth, but that hadn’t stopped her from learning customs appropriate to her standing, as proven by her last statement, since she seemed to have committed it to memory.

Noticing Liam’s surprised face told Grace that she had jumped the gun. She lowered her head once more, this time without leaning on Liam, pursing her lips.

"Why did you ask me to marry?" Grace probed.

"Adrian said that I had to do right by you," Liam paraphrased, "And that you might have left me for my indecisiveness."

A trace of embarrassment surged through Grace. Her cheeks flushed even further, but she wore a small pout before her question arrived. "So, you don’t want to marry me?"

"I’ll marry you as many times as you want now that I’ve seen how happy it makes you," Liam blurted out. He barely ever saw Grace in that state anymore nowadays. She had gotten used to their relationship, but Liam found it too adorable to resist.

Grace laughed, her pout melting, her head going back to Liam’s chest more affectionately than earlier.

"Master Liam, you can only marry a lady once," Grace jokingly scolded. "It’s considered the most important day in a lady’s life, more than her first night with a man, although they usually happen together."

"Does it mean we are already married?" Liam asked. In hindsight, Grace had always taken changes in their relationship quite seriously. Liam believed it to be her character, and it was quite normal to do so, but maybe her status had played a part.

’She was meant to be a princess, alright,’ Liam nodded internally.

Grace didn’t reply. She began caressing Liam’s chest, lost in thought, before a defeated sigh escaped her mouth. "We can’t stop and have a married life for a while, can we?"

Liam wanted to say otherwise, but he had already answered that question with Adrian, and the situation hadn’t changed. There truly wasn’t any safety to be found in the entirety of the Kingdom. Even if Liam’s alchemy could solve the issue, there was another problem.

"Complacency is the sin of the weak," Liam repeated his Master’s words. While taking a break might be possible, the couple shouldn’t. They had to continue getting stronger because strength was the only real protection in the world.

"It’s impossible," Grace agreed. "I’ll still think of you as my husband from now on and change the way I address you, among other things, but a married life isn’t in the cards for us yet."

Grace didn’t look it, but Liam could spot some disappointment. The clingy little girl she had never gotten the chance to be clearly had basic girly dreams.

"We are cultivators," Liam reassured, holding Grace closer. "We are Dao partners."

Grace looked up, and Liam only had to feel her grip on his robe tighten to lean down to kiss her. They obviously kept it short, and she turned in his embrace afterward, her back against his torso, staring at the yellow cloud in the distance, but her mind still very much on the previous topic.

"Liam, I never had anyone," Grace announced. "And I believed that was how it was supposed to be. A lonely life for a worthless birth."

Usually, Liam would get angry or jump to reassure Grace at those words, but he remained still now, knowing her speech wasn’t over.

"When you took me," Grace continued, "You became my everything, my friend, my partner, my lover, and my prince. It might sound preposterous, but I also consider you my family, my real family."

Grace took Liam’s hand, centering it on her waist, using it to rub it meaningfully.

"You don’t have to marry me," Grace exclaimed. "We are cultivators. It’s beneath us, and we never needed it. I only wish you see me as your family, too."

Grace stopped the assisted rubbing, pressing Liam’s hand on her, the intensity of her resolve conveyed by that simple touch.

"And one day," Grace declared, "I’ll give you what you have been robbed of."

Something shattered inside Liam’s mind, like a limiter on his feelings that somehow still existed. Grace had indeed been thinking about their family already, and not only that. She had even taken into consideration what the Bloodline Screening had stolen from him.

While the topic of children had popped up multiple times during the relationship, that was Liam’s first time seeing it in such a light. It definitely wouldn’t undo what he had lost, but he could scarcely believe the tide of emotions rushing through him now.

And that tide had a single target, which Liam turned in his arms so that he could face her. At once, he knew. That was the greatest woman in the world, and he was the luckiest man to have ever lived because he could call her his.

"How can I ever repay you for existing?" Liam asked, a small smile filling his vision.

Mischievousness flashed on Grace’s face, but she soon lowered her gaze, timidly brushing her hair behind her ear like she always did back then, before uttering her price. "Make love to me until I forget I ever lived without you."

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