Tesoro's chest rose and fell gently. The future Kael had painted, that grand blueprint to overturn the world, made the blood in his veins heat up.
He was ready. Ready to throw everything he had into this high stakes gamble.
Just as Tesoro thought the conversation that would decide his fate was finally over, Kael suddenly turned around, a smile on his face that was impossible to read.
"Still…" Kael dragged out the word, shattering the solemn mood from a moment ago. "If you don't want a reward, then I'm giving you one anyway."
He winked at Tesoro. "Hehe."
That single beat slammed Tesoro's carefully built ambition right back to square one.
He blinked, a little dazed, completely unable to follow Kael's train of thought.
Kael ignored his confusion and called toward the doorway.
"Come in."
Someone was outside?
Tesoro's mind instantly started spinning.
What reward was this? If Lord Kael prepared it personally, it had to be extraordinary.
A weapon? A powerful blade that matched his ability? Or an important position, something that would let him secure his footing in the team faster?
A thought he couldn't stop burst up on its own.
Could it be… a woman?
Tesoro's expression shifted, so subtly most people would never notice.
He had seen far too many rulers use women as prizes to bind their subordinates. If Kael was going to do the same…
He was about to speak, to tactfully say he didn't need that kind of "reward," when a voice came from outside the door and struck him like lightning.
"Tesoro!"
That voice…
He had replayed it in countless desperate nights. He had traced it silently in every morning he woke from nightmares.
He thought he would never hear it again in this lifetime.
It felt as if an invisible hand seized his heart. Even his breathing stopped.
Rigidly, inch by inch, he turned around.
A figure stood in the doorway of the living room.
Sunlight poured in behind her, gilding her in a warm golden edge.
Long golden hair. A familiar face. And those eyes, once soaked in tears, now brimming with joy and longing.
She stood there, alive, standing right in front of him.
Not a memory. Not a hallucination.
Stella.
Time seemed to freeze at that instant.
The distant noise, the light and shadows in the room, all faded away.
In his world, there was only the face he had dreamed of day and night.
Stella looked at him. A tear slid from the corner of her eye, yet her lips still fought their way into a trembling, blissful smile.
In the gentle tone he knew best, the one he missed most, she whispered softly,
"Welcome back."
Those two simple words shattered every hard shell Tesoro had built with hatred and ambition.
Trembling, he stepped forward.
The carpet under his feet felt impossibly soft, impossibly far away.
Each step was like walking on clouds, unreal to the extreme.
He stopped in front of her and slowly raised his hands. His fingertips shook as they touched her cheek, careful to the point of fear.
Warm.
Real body heat.
Not a cold corpse. Not an empty phantom.
"Stella…?"
From his dry throat, he forced out the name he had spoken a thousand, ten thousand times.
Stella couldn't hold back anymore. Tears burst free as she nodded hard, choking on her words. "It's me… Tesoro… it's me…"
Tesoro lost control.
This was the man who had drowned a self proclaimed god in gold on Skypiea, the man who could speak calmly even in front of Kael.
Yet in this moment, he was like a child who had wandered for years and finally found his way home.
He lunged forward and pulled Stella into his arms, holding her with all his strength, as if he wanted to press her into his bones and blood, never to be separated again.
"Ugh… ahhh…!"
Pain, longing, regret, despair, all the things he had crushed down for years, erupted at once.
He wasn't just crying.
He was wailing.
Wailing for the helpless self who couldn't protect her.
Wailing for the endless days and nights filled with hatred.
Wailing for a treasure lost and found again.
Stella clung to him just as tightly. She let his tears soak her clothes, simply stroking his back again and again, gently, silently soothing him.
In the living room, only the man's unrestrained sobs remained, and the woman's soundless weeping.
At some point, Kael had already stood up. He glanced at the two lovers holding each other, then at Robin beside them, her eyes red as she quietly turned her face away.
He said nothing. He only gave Robin a look, then led her upstairs without a sound.
At some point, Moria had retreated back into the shadows as well, leaving the entire space to the couple reunited after so long.
At the bend of the staircase, Robin asked softly, "Did you save her?"
"Yeah." Kael leaned against the railing, his voice light. "Back in Mary Geoise. I saved her by accident. I was going to give the kid a surprise after he finished his work."
Robin looked down at the man crying like a child in the arms of the woman he loved, and remembered how she herself had been saved. Warmth rose in her chest.
She glanced at Kael's profile and said quietly, "You really are… a gentle person."
"Don't." Kael lifted a hand immediately. "I'm just someone who lives for fun. I just like watching pure love, that's all."
He paused, then added,
"And gold can't buy sincerity."
"But sincerity deserves a reward worth far more than gold."