Return of the Legendary Runesmith - Chapter 419

Chapter 419: Chapter 418- Their past
Avirin couldn’t die—not in the true sense. Immortality clung to him like a curse, refusing to let him rest. If he wished, he could live on for centuries more.

But he also understood the cruel truth of his existence.

His power was too great. Too tempting. His skills could save nations or destroy them. And those who wanted to use him would never hesitate to target the people closest to him.

Especially Bella.

He had watched her grow. Protected her. Loved her like his own blood. And the thought of her being used against him was enough to freeze his immortal heart.

That was why he made a decision—one that tore him apart quietly.

He would disappear.

The world believed he had retreated deep into the mountains, stepping away from society because age had finally caught up to him. They thought he was taking his final breaths.

He let them believe that lie.

He never told Bella where he was truly going—only that she would never see him again. His voice had cracked when he said it, but it had to be done.

Avirin planned to end his life before his existence brought chaos or conflict to the world he had tried so hard to protect.

But before he left this world forever, there was someone he needed to meet.

Someone he had made a promise to long ago.

The only person he owed something to.

Querella.

She had saved Bella when Bella was just a child—sick, weak, and chained like a tool in a slave shop. Bella had been infected with a deadly virus, one that would have taken her life within days. But Querella, with her strange knowledge and fearless skillset, had snatched the girl away from death.

Avirin could never repay that.

And so, even if only for a minute, he needed to keep his word and meet the woman who had given Bella a second life.

Querella—the mysterious doctor he met through a cross-dimensional group chat. The woman whose messages could fluster the young and make even hardened warriors curious to see her in person.

But Avirin wasn’t swayed by her teasing tone or soft voice.

He only wanted to fulfill the promise he made.

…Or so he thought.

Because the moment he saw her in person, all those calm, composed thoughts shattered like glass.

The first time he laid eyes on Querella, she was feeding more than two hundred children—alone. She moved from child to child with a bowl of bread and soup, sweat dripping down her temples, dirt smudged across her clothes. She must have been working for hours.

Her eyes were tired, darker under the strain.

But her smile…

Her smile was so genuine, so full of warmth, that Avirin forgot how to breathe.

Kindness wore many faces.

But this one was too beautiful—too pure—for him to resist.

And Avirin… fell in love with her.

He didn’t know it was possible. After more than a hundred years of being alone—one hundred years of shutting his heart away—he had fallen for a woman still in her twenties.

Ashamed? Yes.

Conflicted? Yes.

But he couldn’t deny his feelings. Not when they took root so deeply, so suddenly.

And in the end, when Querella insisted he stay with her, he found himself unable to refuse.

Querella admired his intelligence and endless skill. She didn’t so much as blink when a short, round man stood before her—the harmless form Avirin had adopted decades ago to avoid attention.

But for Querella…

He changed that form. He improved himself. He stood straighter. Sharpened his features. Shed the disguise he had worn for half a century.

He wanted her to see him.

The true him.

And maybe… that alone said enough about how deeply he had fallen.

Slowly—but surely—something between them began to grow.

All the walls Avirin had built around his heart for decades, the barriers meant to keep people from using his emotions against him… began to crumble one by one. He didn’t even realize when it started happening.

There were secrets Avirin had never shared with anyone—not even Bella.

Yet Querella knew some of them.

She understood him in ways no one else did.

She held a quiet, undeniable place in his heart.

At that time, Querella worked as a caregiver. Her world was in chaos, with many Acolytes rising and the world order still struggling to find balance. She didn’t turn away from the suffering around her. Instead, she threw herself into helping.

She cooked food for the poor.

Carried supplies as a porter.

Brewed cheap potions to treat the wounded.

Day after day, hour after hour, she pushed her exhausted body forward—just so more people could survive.

Avirin had seen countless kinds of strength in his long life.

But Querella’s strength… her quiet grit… her unwillingness to abandon anyone…

That drew him in deeper than anything else ever had.

And naturally, when Avirin appeared, the world changed for the better.

One creation from his hands—one artifact—could provide instant shelter for homeless children. It could protect entire groups of people from beasts, bandits, or the chaotic energy storming through that era.

The Apostles who despised Querella and targeted the people she protected were forced to retreat the moment they recognized the man standing beside her.

Avirin.

The Immortal Creator.

The one credited across realms for helping end the Darkness itself.

His reputation alone was enough to silence even the boldest fool.

And during that short period he stayed with Querella—whether it was weeks or months—the change was unmistakable.

She became safer.

The children around her smiled more.

Homes sprang up where ruins once stood.

People slept without fear for the first time in years.

Querella’s world grew brighter.

And Avirin…

Without meaning to…

Found a reason to stay just a little longer.

There were many times in the past when Querella would look up at him with confusion in her tired eyes and ask,

“I’m not even that beautiful… nor strong. So why me?”

Avirin would stop whatever he was doing, lower his gaze, and simply look at her.

Really look at her.

Then, after a few silent moments, he would whisper,

“I see… someone in you… someone I always wanted to be. But I failed myself.”

Querella never truly understood what he meant.

But she felt the heaviness in his voice—an old wound, something buried deep in his past that still clawed at his mind every night.

She chose not to ask.

She believed that when he was ready, he would tell her.

And she trusted him enough to wait.

Between them, a quiet bond began to form—soft, warm, and steady. In just a few months, trust turned into affection, and affection into a love neither of them had expected.

By their sixth month together, Querella confirmed she was four months pregnant with his child.

The news broke Avirin’s calm mask in an instant.

He laughed like a man who had finally found light after a century of darkness.

He sang with the villagers.

He danced with the children.

He smiled so brightly that even strangers felt their hearts warm.

That day, he showed a side of himself no one had ever seen—joyful, gentle, overflowing with hope.

And under the soft glow of lanterns, Avirin and Querella exchanged vows.

For the first time in his long, lonely life…

Avirin felt like he had a home.

A real home.

A place where he belonged.

A person he could live for.

A future that was his to protect.

But that same night… everything shattered.

A group of masked attackers broke through the celebration.

Their target was not Avirin.

It was Querella.

Chaos swallowed the quiet village.

Avirin fought like a madman, desperate to shield his wife, desperate to save the new family he had just been blessed with.

But fate was cruel.

In the midst of the struggle…

Querella lost her child.

The joy from earlier, the laughter that had wrapped itself around the village, died in one silent, merciless instant.

The future she had pictured—the warm home, the peaceful days, the life she wanted to build with her husband—was painted over in the ugly shade of crimson.

She broke.

She fell to her knees, shaking, screaming, clutching her stomach as if somehow she could pull her baby back into her belly. Her tears soaked the blood-stained ground. The grief tore her voice raw.

Her child.

Her child!

They killed her child!

Querella cried for hours—until her breath came in shivers and her body felt hollow.

And yet…

Despite all her cries, despite the agony ripping through her soul…

The one who should have held her, the man who should have been by her side…

never came.

Avirin didn’t enter the room.

He didn’t lift her up.

He didn’t whisper a single word to ease her pain.

He vanished.

The next morning, a messenger knocked softly on the door and told her the truth in a trembling voice:

Avirin had disappeared.

°°°°°°°°°

A/N:- Aaaand, that’s it. Well, it was sad. Thanks for reading.