Chapter 262: Feeling Loved

“Please call me back.”

“Please.”

Raiden’s throat tightened.

He kept scrolling.

The last message was from just a few hours ago.

“Dear Raiden, if you see this message, please contact me as soon as possible. I don’t know what’s going on, but I need you to tell me. Please. I need to know you’re okay.”

Raiden’s eyes burned.

He had been so focused on surviving, on protecting Aria, on dealing with one crisis after another, that he hadn’t even thought to check his phone. He hadn’t realised how worried she must have been.

And now, looking at all these messages, seeing how her tone shifted from playful to worried to scared, he felt like the biggest asshole in the world.

“Morg,” he said quietly, his voice thick. “I—I…I am genuinely sorry.”

There was a pause.

“You should be,” she said, but her voice had taken a nasal turn as he heard a sniff from over the phone. “You really should be.”

“I know. I know. I should have found a way to contact you. I should have told you more before I left. I should have… I don’t know. Done something. I—”

“You should have,” she cut in. “But you didn’t. And now I’ve spent a week thinking something terrible happened to you. Can you even imagine what that feels like?”

“I’m sorry.”

“I know you are.”

Another pause.

“Are you really okay??” she asked, her voice small. “Like, actually okay?? Not just ‘I’m fine’ okay, but actually okay??”

Raiden looked down at his arms, at the faint scratches and bruises that were still healing.

“Yeah,” he said softly. “I’m okay. A little banged up, but I’m okay.”

“Good.”

“Good??”

“Good. Because if you weren’t okay, I’d have to come over there and make you okay myself.”

Raiden laughed.

“There she is.”

“Shut up.” But there was a smile in her voice now. “I was worried, okay?? You disappeared without warning, and I didn’t know what to think.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“You already said that.”

“I’ll say it again. I’m sorry.”

“Stop it, you’re making it worse.”

“Sorry.”

“RAIDEN.”

“Sorry!!”

She laughed, and the sound made his chest warm.

“Idiot,” she muttered affectionately.

“Your idiot.”

“Don’t push it.”

“I’m just saying.”

“You’re just saying nothing. Now tell me what you think about Aria. Is she pretty??”

Raiden blinked.

“What??”

“Do. You. Thin. She. Is. Pretty?”

“Uh… I mean, yeah, I guess?? She’s got this brown hair and teal eyes, kind of ethereal-looking, but—”

“Ethereal-looking.”

“Morg, it’s not like that—”

“I didn’t say it was like anything. I’m just asking questions.”

“You’re interrogating me.”

“I’m your girlfriend. It’s my job.”

Raiden sighed.

“She’s pretty, okay?? But not in the way you’re thinking. She’s more like… a sad pretty. Like someone who’s been through a lot and doesn’t know how to smile anymore. I was just trying to help her get her life back. But I swear, nobody is as pretty as you!!”

Morgana was quiet for a moment.

“That’s… actually kind of sweet,” she admitted.

“Yeah, well. Don’t tell anyone. I have a reputation to maintain.”

“What reputation?? The reputation of being a shameless farmer??”

“Hey, who are you calling a farmer??”

“That’s the part you got offended on??”

“Yep!!”

“Uh-huh.”

Raiden could practically see her rolling her eyes.

“Anyway,” Morgana continued, her voice softer now, “I’m glad you’re back. And I’m glad you’re okay. And I’m glad you helped Aria, even if you did it in the most reckless, stupid, dangerous way possible.”

“Thanks, Morg.”

“Don’t mention it. But you owe me.”

“I know.”

“A big date. Somewhere nice. With actual food that doesn’t come from a farm. Not that I mind eating your home-cooked meal. Your food is delicious, but I also prefer if we go out to eat for once.”

“Hey, we go out to it all the time!! Plus, farm food is good food.”

“Farm food is food that you grew yourself and then made me eat while telling me it was ‘organic’ and ‘healthy’ and ‘good for me.'”

“It is good for you!!”

“It tasted like dirt. You forgot to wash your vegetables!!”

“That’s the flavour of health.”

“You’re impossible.”

“And you love me for it.”

There was a pause.

Then Morgana’s voice came, soft and warm.

“Yeah,” she said quietly. “I do.”

Raiden’s heart skipped a beat.

He opened his mouth to say something, but she cut him off.

“Don’t say anything. Just… don’t disappear like that again, okay?? I mean it. Next time, you find a way to contact me. Even if it’s just one message. Even if it’s just ‘I’m alive.’ Okay??”

“Okay,” Raiden said softly. “I promise.”

“Good.”

Another pause.

“I love you, idiot.”

“I love you too, Morg.”

“Good. Now go take a shower. You smell like sheep.”

“Hey, that’s offensive to Woolie.”

“Woolie can smell like sheep all he wants. You’re a human. Act like one.”

“Fine, fine. I’ll go shower.”

“Good. And Raiden?”

“Yeah??”

“Next time you almost die, tell me. I’d rather be scared with you than scared without you.”

Raiden’s throat tightened.

“Yeah,” he said quietly. “I will.”

“Good. Now go. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Bye, Morg.”

“Bye, idiot.”

The call ended.

Raiden sat there for a long moment, staring at his phone.

Then he opened his messages again and started reading through them one more time, slower this time, letting each one sink in.

The silly questions. The daily updates. The growing worry. The fear. The love.

All of it.

For him.

His chest felt warm as he fell for her all over again.

And as he sat there in the sun, with his family around him and Morgana’s messages glowing on his screen, he realised something.

He really was lucky.

Luckier than he deserved.

And he was going to do everything he could to make sure he never took that for granted again.

He pulled his phone out and started replying to the questions one by one.

“Lol, who makes a sandwich like that?? Feeling sad for you.”

“Beaches, I get to see you in a bikini at the beach hehehehe…”

“Red, my favourite colour is red, more specifically the red colour of your hair.”

… He sat there until the sun went down, replying to all the messages one by one, and the smile never left his face for one second.

I don’t have a lot of practical experience with romance myself, so I tried to write these two chapters from the perspective of what romance would look like for me. Please tell me if it is good or not. Thank you.

As always, thank you for your support, you guys are the best.

To thank everyone for sticking with the book, MASS RELEASE!!!

To thank everyone for sticking with the book, MASS RELEASE!!!