Dancing on the golden ashes-Chapter 292: Together...

Those words… Did he mean it? He… I feel a soft warmth rise where my heart should be. It's increasing—rapidly. So fast I can barely breathe. It's hot… too hot. But in his arms, I feel… loved.

Love.

Love is the key to the last sin… That's what she meant. But how?

What did the other part of her words mean? Does Seong-hoon remind her of the Creator… or did she also love the Seong-hoon of her time?

But right now… I have more important matters to take care of. Him. And her. One is looking at me with love. The other—with killing intent.

And my heart… it's rebuilding. Slowly. Vines flow out from the blazing core in my chest. I can feel them wrapping around me, threading through flesh and soul, almost like a cocoon—forming from both inside… and out.

"I can feel again..." I whisper into his ear, my voice barely a breath against his skin.

I feel Seong-hoon's body tremble slightly. He's reacting—his body taut, heat rising between us. My breath is hot, too hot, thick with lust I can't contain. It's leaking out of me, filling the space between us like smoke. I want him. So badly. The desire is primal. All-consuming. But not now. Not yet. I can't afford to lose myself now.

"Big sis… your chest. What is—?"

I silence him with my lips.

A kiss, deep and slow, pressing all my emotions into him in one breathless moment. Sweet and strong. Soft and sure. I don't need words. He doesn't either. This is enough. His lips taste like something warm and alive, like strength I once forgot I had. Right now, this is all I can give. Because the world is still breaking. The war isn't over.

I pull away, just enough to meet his gaze, my fingers curling lightly against his chest. "I need to fight," I murmur, the words hot between us. "And you, my savior… wait for me here."

I smile. Genuinely. Not as a mask or shield, but because I mean it. Because for the first time, I want to come back. My chest is burning—blazing with a fire I've never felt before. Something ancient. Something new. And with every breath, I feel it growing. My power surging, overflowing. I need more. I want more. I will take more.

But then—"No!"

His voice is sharp. Unyielding. His arms tighten around me, firm but not cruel, and suddenly I'm not the only one trembling. He's shaking too. With purpose. With fury. "I want to fight with you! I'm done running. I'm done always being protected by you. It's my turn. My responsibility—to protect you."

He pushes me back gently, just enough so our eyes meet again. His red gaze pierces through mine, unwavering, fierce, and beautiful in the chaos. "I must."

He's always been stubborn. Reckless, too.

But now… now maybe more than ever.

Yet it makes me smile. A small one. Faint. But real.

Maybe it's enough to forget—just for a second—all the pain I've swallowed over the years. All the loneliness. All the nights I screamed in silence with no one to hear. No one to hold me. Until now. Until I finally realized that… maybe I was never truly alone. That somehow, through all the madness, I always felt close to him.

"You're right," I say, my voice soft, steady, but layered with something sharper. Deeper. A challenge. "But once more—if you want to fight alongside me, then you need to be as strong as me."

His gaze shifts instantly.

There. That flicker. Panic? No… not quite. Maybe sadness. Maybe… reluctance. A quiet shadow of fear blooming behind his crimson irises. He's strong. Gods, he's strong. But not enough. Not yet. Not to stand beside me as I am now. He's not even strong enough to be a king, let alone an emperor.

But still…

There's something in him. Something that's always burned—quietly, stubbornly, like a coal refusing to die no matter how long the night stretched. And now I see it. I feel it.

I smile again. Wider this time.

Because I have an idea.

And if I'm right… then maybe we can burn together.

Not literally. Hahaha! No.

"Touch my chest," I say softly.

But of course, he gets all flustered. His cheeks flare red, his expression twisted in panic like I just confessed something obscene. It makes me roll my eyes.

"Here and now?! Maybe later—this is not a good time or place—but I mean, if you want..." Seong-hoon's voice cracks like glass under pressure. Shaking. Hesitating. He looks like a kid caught sneaking into the adult section of a bookstore.

It's funny.

"Idiot," I mutter, and smack his head with my fist—not hard, just enough to make the point.

"Here." I grab his hand before he can argue, and guide it directly to the center of my chest—over the blazing core that pulses like a newborn sun inside me.

And the moment he touches it—

His body jerks. Eyes widening. Power crackles between our skin. The vines rush out like serpents unleashed from my ribs, slithering up his arm, into his chest, curling around his soul with invisible roots that anchor into something deeper than flesh.

And I feel it.

Not just his rising energy, not just his power surging like a storm waking from sleep—but something else.

A thread.

A link.

Our hearts—mine reborn, his still mending—connect. Bound by something more than magic. More than sins. Something real.

Something that doesn't need to be spoken to be known.

We are tied now. By heart. By flame. By whatever comes next.

"Enough... that's enough, I said. Get away from him!" Kaelthira's voice suddenly rises, sharp and venomous, laced with a fury that shakes the air itself.

And then I feel it.

An immense pressure slams into me—crashing down like a divine hammer. The sheer amount of killing intent pouring from her is overwhelming. More than I could've ever imagined. More than any mortal or god should be able to wield.

But I don't flinch.

I simply stretch out my arm.

A black veil unfurls from my fingertips—silent, absolute—wrapping around us like a protective womb. Her attack connects with it a second later, exploding against my barrier like a storm breaking on an unshakable cliff.

But it doesn't matter. It doesn't reach us. It can't.

Because I'm no longer the trembling girl clawing her way out of pain and silence.

No…

I'm the ruler of everything that breathes. I am Lee Gaon. The Immortal Emperor. And this—this is my domain.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺