"I knew it", Vincent whispered to himself.
"Who exactly are you?", Alfred asked her.
Vincent stood up and walked beside Reika and said, "She is no other than the Queen of Deadly Flora on the other world."
"Yes. I ruled over the elements of the earth on the other world and---- "
"And she used to be with me. With the King of the Wolves", Dennis said.
They all dropped their jaws with Dennis' confessions. They looked back and forth from Dennis to Reika with their perplexed yet surprised faces.
"You were a couple? Back there?", Alfred asked and Dennis nodded.
"When Dennis got busted during their last mission with Yomi, he went to this world to escape punishment there and with that, he also left me", Reika said coldly as she stared at Dennis.
"How could you that Dennis? How could you leave her there?", Charlene asked. Charlene wanted to ask Dennis more but decided to let the idea go when Jericho laid his hand on her shoulder and signed it was not a good thing to do.
They all fell silent for a moment, not sure what topic must be discussed first: the smugglers or the love affair. When Eugene felt the silent tension building up inside the room, he stood up and said, "Well, it seems to me that there are a lot of unresolved things here that must be discussed. And our presence is not helping the situation." With that he left the room followed by the rest of the pack until Dennis and Reika were left alone.
"I—I don't know what to say or how to react", Dennis admitted.
"Well, you can start by giving me answers. Why? Why did you leave me there? And when you went back there the last time, why didn't you look for me?"
"I was troubled that time and with the war between the competing leaders were already threatening so I focused on that. Besides, I don't know where to look for you,"
"You could have asked Yomi!" Reika shouted in rage.
"He knew?"
"He actually told me that you did not even bothered to ask about me while you were there. I was hurt didn't you know that? After all those years we spent together, how could you just shun me out of your mind that easily? Was I of no importance to you, ha?", Reika asked as she cried.
"No. It is not that", Dennis said and stood up. "I actually thought of you a lot while I was there. But fear crept in me that I might not be able to explain myself to you so---"
"So you just pretended that I did not exist?"
"I'm sorry--- I'm really sorry"
"You should be", Reika said and silence swarmed inside the room.
Reika cried silently as Dennis' mind raced with many thoughts. It were times like these that his mind would work like a crazy machine, thinking and thinking of ways how to win, but this time instead of ways to win, he was thinking of ways to explain everything to Reika, every little detail. He stood up and faced the window to the garden.
"You were remarkable during the Competition of the other world. I always knew you would win against Karasu. I warned him beforehand on how deadly you can be in tight circumstances, but he did not listen when I told him to just withdraw", Reika said.
"You knew him? Oh, of course", Dennis realized. "He was a former liegeman of your father and Taguro."
"Yes, he was a subject of my father and Taguro. Actually, he was my nanny", Reika said with a smile.
"What!", Dennis asked in disbelief.
"Well, as the only daughter of a rich businessman, I needed protection. Karasu became my personal bodyguard, my nanny and my friend."
"In that case, I'm sorry he had to die in my hands. I did not know", Dennis apologized.
Dennis looked at Reika expecting a face of rage, a face full of resentment, but he was surprised to see Reika smiling at him.
"Oh, don't be silly Dennis. Karasu just did what he was supposed to do that time and you did too. It was just that luck favored you more than him", Reika said.
Dennis smiled surprisingly with Reika's remark. Although he knew Reika was mad at him, he somehow felt she was not a hundred percent mad at him. Does she still feel something for me? Dennis thought to himself. Does she still—
"You must be wondering if I'm really mad at you. Actually, no, I'm not totally mad. You must remember how you can easily make a person listen or follow you. And in my case, you knew how I easily fell for you back there. So stop thinking nonsense, Dennis. We may be in human flesh, but we are practically the same old monsters that walked the other world, with the same convictions, beliefs and feelings."
Reika stood up and walked in front of Dennis. Up close, Dennis remembered how those deep brown and alluring eyes impaled his heart before, like an arrow that pierced love and passion to his heart for the woman in front of him. The familiar feeling he had before for Reika resurfaced and he realized and assured himself that he still felt the same way for her after all those years of separation.
"Dennis, let us start again. Can we do that?", Reika asked.