One Last Time
Ex-King Consort Arthur IV Belmont, Ceo of Belmont Enterprise, and Dragonlord
Age: 38
⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆
Present Time
The navy blue carriage jerks a bit harshly as the winged horses fight against the windy breeze. Its sudden movement made Olivia's head hit full force to the side of the vehicle, which pulled her away abruptly from the long painful memory.
'Great I am not going to be able to have a peaceful nap during this storm', she sighs disappointingly. Rubbing her hands against her temple, she tries to ease down the hangover she has.
"Buvez votre poison préféré, a-t-il dit. Vous vous sentirez mieux, dit-il. Putain de menteur" (Drink your favorite choice of poison, he said. It will make you feel better, he said. Fucking liar), she mutters annoyed.
'That's the last time I have a drink with Alastor.'
She was heading back to the mansion to pick up her cygnet so that together they could gather the materials needed for her education. Upon arriving, she steps out and walks to the Belmont household. Knocking on the door an elf appears allowing her to come inside and tells her to please wait patiently as he goes to announce her presence to his master.
She waits in the living room as the elf appears from right in front of her.
Tick-tock goes the grandfather clock
It wasn't until a scream could be heard from the hallways that Olivia quickly rushed to where the noise was coming from.
The noise led to the master bedroom.
Arthur is lying on the stone floor with a heavy fever.
Thump......thump
Her vision slowly begins to betray her as she imagines blood pouring underneath Arthur as it once had done with Marie.
Thump...thump...thump...
It wasn't until the elf made another loud panicking noise and a different elf appeared in the room asking what happened that finally, Olivia managed to snap out of her trace.
'Really bad timing to have a hangover.'
She moves quickly towards Arthur, kneeling beside him and touching his forehead.
His skin was too hot for a normal temperature.
'He is burning up. But how!! He shouldn't be showing these signs till the last final three months after the incomplete bond...but yet...'
Her heart sinks to her stomach as she recalls what Arthur said.
'It has been 10 years since Marie's death'
'10 years the veela bond has torment, Arthur.'
'He should have been dead three months after the funeral service.'
'But he lived painfully because he still had Aurora to look after and if he died...'
'She will be the last of the Draconian speakers and the last heir of the Belmont fortune.'
Many power-hungry pureblood families are in desperation to get their hands on the Belmonts' wealth and secrets.'
She glances down at Arthur checking on his pulse.
Thump......thump.......thump...
'It's weak but there.'
It's never known if a veela mate can survive longer than three months. Arthur is the first to make it up to 10 years. The records have shown that the mate slowly becomes insane and shows signs of aggression to not only those around them but to themselves.
'The mark is driving you crazy isn't Arthur.'
'You lost yourself plenty of times to the darkness.'
She wipes away the sweat on his forehead while he has his eyes closed tightly. His left hand is raised and slams itself onto the black veela mark on his throat. Its black veins pulsing underneath his pale skin. Olivia can see how much of the curse from losing a mate has taken a toll on his body. The bones of his ribs are extremely visible showing how malnourished he is and the curse in his veins continued to spread across his stomach and back. His clothing is stuck tightly to his body from the drench of sweat he is covered in. Nails from his hand tightly scratched hard against his skin breaking it as he continued to scratch wanting the mark to get off him.
"Blesser...ça fait mal...faites que ça cesse de faire mal," (Hurt...it hurts...make it stop hurting) he whimpers painfully before clenching his lips close to hold in another painful shock from the bond.
Olivia mustered with her full strength to pull Arthur's hand away from his neck, seeing the blood pouring out of the wounds on the mark.
'He is running out of time...'
'He isn't going to last three months hell he may not survive the end of this month...'
'No...'
Her heart begins to throb in pain and the hollow feeling inside her slowly grows more.
'Not again please.'
Arthur whimpers on the physical contact and cuddles close to the freezing stone floor. Olivia lifts his head and moves to place it on her lap. She looks at the two elves in the room and tells them to bring her a ball of cold water and a towel. As they quickly rushed to bring the items she requested, Olivia waited and wiped away his sweat as Arthur, gasping lightly in a daze, opened his eyes and whispered Olivia's name.
Olivia composes herself and tells him, "Je suis ici. Je suis là. Tu es en sécurité maintenant. Je t'ai." (I am here. I am here. You are safe now. I got you)
He wipes away a tear that unknowingly fell from her cheek and whispers again brokenly, "Je suis désolé, je suis désolé, j'aurais dû faire plus d'efforts." (I'm sorry, I am sorry, I should have tried harder.)
She shakes her head as tears keep pouring shushing him and hums the same lullaby to him now that the elf brought the items she requested and leaves. She places the cold wet towel on his forehead and with her thumb relieves the tension on his cheek. He coughs away from her places his left hand that has the wedding ring on her cheek and rubs his thumb onto the back of her hand that touched his cheek.
He coughs again and with a raspy tone tells her, "Tu sais, elle t'aimait toujours, même après ta disparition. Je t'aime toujours" (You know, she still loved you even after you disappeared. I still love you.)
Olivia's breath hitched as she stared deep into the dark blue eyes that she had fallen in love with all those years ago.
Arthur takes in a sharp breath, "Ton départ nous a brisé le cœur. Après tout, nous avions promis d'être ensemble. Ce n'est pas toi qui devrais partir" (It broke our hearts when you left. After all, we promise to be together. It shouldn't be you who left-)
"Arrêter," (Stop) she sniffs, closing her eyes tightly trying to stop her body from trembling and the tears from falling, "S'il vous plaît. Repose-toi bien. Nous parlerons quand tu te réveilleras." (Please. Rest okay. We will talk when you wake up.)
Arthur coughs aggressively and winces from the pain gritting his teeth as he tries to breathe in slowly, "Je crains de ne pas pouvoir y arriver. La mort est trop proche maintenant. Je la sens." (I fear that I won't be able to make it. Death is too close now. I can feel it.)
Olivia stubbornly shakes her head, "Non, ne dis pas ça ! Aurora a toujours besoin de toi. Tu dois être un père pour elle." (No don't say that! Aurora still needs you. You need to be a father to her.)
"Et puis quoi," (And then what) he licks his chapped lips before continuing hoarsely, "...Je mourrai de toute façon après. C'est mieux ainsi, sans conditions. Il vaut mieux qu'elle ne souhaite pas que quelque chose dure assez longtemps si elle ne l'a jamais eu... Je lui ai fait plus de mal que de bien..." (I'll die afterward anyway. It's better this way, with no strings attached. It's better for her not to wish to have something last long enough if she never had it in the first place...I've done more harm to her than good..) he takes sharp breaths before whispering sadly, ""Je ne serai plus qu'un souvenir oublié." (I will just be a forgotten memory.)
Olivia twines her hands with his saying lovingly, ""...Pas pour moi." (Not to me)
He smiles softly as his other hand reaches to touch her cheek which she leans into. "Non," (No) he says back.
"Pas pour vous." (Not to you.)
He gently grabs onto her neck and pulls her down in which she obediently follows his movement. Their lips touch and the last remaining walls they had built around themselves fall apart.
Fireworks and deep desires that only fill up half of the empty voids in their heart explode inside them. Salty tears coming from Olivia come down to where their lips meet and Arthur licks them gently with the tip of his tongue. He leans upwards kissing away the remaining tears and placing both his hands on her head to kiss her deeply again.
This kiss was different from their previous one.
This one was more gentle, yearning, loving, and accepting.
For they both knew the harsh truth that this would be their final kiss.
They both pulled away and tried to memorize the touch, taste, smell, and look of the other.
Olivia is the first to break the silence between them, "Viens, c'est mieux que tu restes au lit." (Come it's for the best if you stay in bed.)
Arthur grunts in pain when she helps him stand up and he limps his way to the bed. She pulls the cover out of the way so that he can get inside and places the blankets on him covering the majority of his body.
"Nous vous remercions," (Thank you) he looks at her lovingly and grateful.
"C'est avec plaisir," (It's my pleasure) she responded blushing under his gaze.
Silence covered the room, the energy was soft and light till Arthur spoke making the room feel more tense and dark.
""Je vais me retirer du ministère." (I am going to retire from the Ministry.)
"Oh?"
""C'est mieux ainsi, surtout quand on sait à quel point la marque m'affecte. J'ai déjà donné ma démission il y a trois jours. Je ne vais donc officiellement plus travailler avec les dragons, car Henrik va me remplacer. Je lui fais confiance pour faire un bien meilleur travail que moi et je sais qu'il prendra bien soin des dragons dans les fosses que nous avons." (It's for the best, especially with how bad the mark is affecting me. I had already given my retirement paper three days ago. So I am officially no longer going to work with dragons because Henrik is going to take over for me. I trust him to do a much better job than me and I know he will take good care of the dragons in pits we have.)
""C'est bien, vous pouvez vous concentrer davantage sur votre santé." (That's good, you can focus on your health more.)
"Oui, mais je crains de ne plus pouvoir me déplacer aussi librement sans que la douleur du lien ne me fasse mal au hasard. Ceci étant dit Olivia, je veux que tu donnes ceci à Aurora pour moi." (Yeah, but I fear that I won't be able to move around so freely without the bond's pain hurting randomly. With that being said Olivia, I want you to give this to Aurora for me), he reaches underneath his shirt and pulls out a silk cord necklace with a golden key hanging at the end.
He takes it off his neck, gently grabs her right hand, and places it on her palm.
The small object that didn't weigh so much felt so heavy that she wanted to let it go, not feeling worthy of holding it.
""C'est... c'est la clé de la richesse de votre famille ?" (This...this is the key to your family wealth?)
""Oui, et c'est là que se trouvent les millions de secrets qu'il renferme et sur lesquels beaucoup voudront mettre la main." (Yes and in there lay the millions of secrets held inside that many will want to get their hands on.)
""Je ne peux pas lui donner..." (I can't give it to her-)
""Oui, vous le pouvez et vous le ferez. Ce serait mieux si vous le faisiez car elle est moins terrifiée par votre présence que par la mienne." (Yes, you can and you will. It would be better if you did it since she is less terrified of being around you than with me.)
"Mais..." (But-), she stutters out.
"Olivia, il est temps qu'elle ait accès à ce qui lui revient de droit. Je lui dois bien ça." (Olivia, it's time that she had access to what is rightfully hers. I owe her that much.) He says sternly giving her a look that makes her give in knowing how stubborn he is but also agreeing to him secretly.
There was no other choice, she had to be the one to do it.
Exhaling deeply and holding the key tightly in her hand she says, "D'accord, je le lui donnerai alors." (Alright, I will give it to her then.)
Arthur nods in thanks of gratitude but then he frowns as if he remembers something bitter, "Avant d'oublier, j'ai un avertissement à vous donner." (Also before I forget there is a warning I have to give you.)
"Un avertissement? (A warning?)
Olivia was puzzled not understanding what type of threat she would have to concern herself with in the vault since she has been there in the past with Arthur and Marie.
"Faites attention à Francis et gardez un œil sur lui". (Be careful with Francis and keep an eye on him.)
""Francis ? Pourquoi dois-je le surveiller ?" (Francis? Why will I have to keep an eye on him?)
This wasn't making any sense.
Why would the second most powerful pureblood family, The Millers, need to be monitored, especially Francis, Head of Household? Sure they are known to be manipulative and rumored to be ruthless behind closed doors possibly responsible for sudden disappearance but there has never been any evidence to point back at them directly.
""Cela fait des années qu'il veut ma fortune, depuis la mort de Marie. Je... je pense que ....he était derrière l'enlèvement d'Aurora et d'elle." (He has been after my spot of wealth for years now, ever since Marie's death. I...I think....he was behind her and Aurora's kidnapping.)
Olivia's heart stopped beating, goosebumps covered her entire body and the only thing she could muster to say was, "Ce qu'il faut faire?" (What?)
""Je pense qu'il a engagé les kidnappeurs. Mais je n'ai pas les preuves nécessaires pour le condamner". (I think he hired the kidnappers. I just don't have the evidence to convict him of it.) Arthur continues to play with his wedding ring and sighs annoyed.
Olivia tries to process the information and the possibility that could Francis be involved in the incident that unfateful night. There's a chance he was always strange when around Marie speaking riddles and covering up with his charm. But even if they assume it's him, there is still no evidence to present the ministry and convict him of the crime.
So that only means...
""Ne t'inquiète pas, Artie. Je m'occuperai d'Aurora, tu as ma parole." (Don't worry Artie. I'll look after Aurora, you have my word.)
He smiles at ease and with loving eyes before whispering, "Je sais que vous le ferez". (I know you will.)
He then looks outside the window seeing the sun has finally risen to be early morning.
""Tu devrais aller la réveiller. Je ne veux pas être en retard pour préparer son matériel." (You should go wake her up. Don't want to be late on getting her materials ready.)
She pats his leg lightly and reluctantly gets off the bed. Walking towards the door she grabs on the handle and turns it giving one last look at Arthur, knowing that this will be the last time they will ever speak to each other.
"Merci, Olivia. Pour les souvenirs." (Thank you, Olivia. For the memories) Arthur says with a sad smile.
His eyes were starting to get teary.
A tear streamed down her cheek as she nodded her head. Not trusting her voice to speak she walks out the door, putting a bit of her weight onto the door and closing it gently shut behind her.
'Breathe.' Dumbledore's voice echoed in her mind.
Wiping away her tears till there was no more. She seals away part of her emotions enough that allow her to lean off the wall and make her way to the room that lies within the last remaining part of her happiness.
"Je la protégerai quel qu'en soit le prix."
(I will protect her no matter the cost.)