After Kaymin and Ejiro left, Aiden eagerly turned his attention back to his sister-in-law. “So, what do you know about those brats?”

“That was actually the reason I had Jordy call you here,” Sharanthia replied. “You’ve had the most interaction with them over the last five years. Have you noticed anything out of the ordinairy when they’re together? Like them being drawn to one another or that they improve faster when together compared to when they’re apart?”

Aiden’s eyes lit up when he heard her question. Over the last five years, he had been secretly studying the bond the two youngsters have, and it was exactly as his sister-in-law described.

But it wasn’t only that; they also seemed to have a sixth sense as far as the other one was concerned. It was that sixth sense that allowed Amira to sense Ace’s observation despite her soul being so much weaker.

“Judging by the look in your eye, I’m guessing they’ve displayed signs of everything I’ve mentioned,” Sharanthia sighed with an expression of helplessness and a hint of longing.

Aiden failed to understand the meaning behind her expression, but he didn’t interrupt. Instead, he simply waited for her to continue.

“If I’m not mistaken, Ace and Amira should be soulmates,” Sharanthia explained.

“Soulmates?” Jordon asked doubtfully. “Isn’t that just a myth created by hopeless romantics?”

“I can assure you they’re very real,” Sharanthia replied as the look of longing deepened. “Amira’s parents were soulmates.”

As Jordon’s older brother, Aiden obviously knew the truth about Amira’s birth, but that didn’t stop him from being surprised at the sudden revelation. “What exactly are soulmates?”

“Exactly what most people believe them to be. Your soulmate is your PERFECT partner.” Sharanthia explained, emphasising the word perfect. “Although where those helpless romantics get it wrong is that one is by no means destined to end up with their soulmate. In fact, the chances of you ever meeting your soulmate is infinitely small!

You have to remember that there are millions of small planes like this, each with lifeforms numbering in the billions, some even in the trillions, and that’s excluding the seven divine planes and the four higher planes.

Now considering that your soulmate could be any one of those life forms, whether they’re of your race or not, you should be able to imagine how likely you are to meet your soulmate.”

“So you mean there’s someone out there more perfect for you than I am?” Jordon asked, unable to completely suppress his jealousy and paranoia.

“Just like there’s someone out there more perfect for you than I am,” Sharanthia confirmed, not sugar-coating her words. “But that doesn’t make our love any less real!”

Even though Jordon understood his wife’s words, it didn’t make it any easier to hear. Still, Aiden had no interest in their marital issues; he was more interested in learning more about soulmates.

“Not to interrupt your private discussion, but is that it?” Aiden asked curiously. “Or is there more to soulmates than what those two brats have displayed thus far?”

“Is that it?” the empress asked rhetorically. “They haven’t even begun to scratch the surface of the true meaning behind a soulmate, but this is it for now. At least until the day comes when they truly consummate their relationship.”

“What do you mean?” Aiden asked, his curiosity getting the better of him once again.

“I’ll explain everything I know,” Sharanthia replied as she cleared her throat. “As I said before, soulmates are two beings made perfectly for each other, which means that both individuals are equal in talent and potential.”

“Equal?” Aiden asked as he thought about the talent and potential shown by both Amira and Ace.

Although it was true Amira was unbelievably talented, potentially even more talented than him, it was not even close to Ace. As far as innate talent and potential, Ace was the definition of a freak of nature.

“Hmph, you think you’ve seen the limits of Amira’s potential?” Sharanthia snorted disdainfully. “You haven’t seen anything yet!

Like the descendants of the four supreme warriors, that brat Wukong, or even Ace, my ‘Viz’ family also has a bloodline ability.

Unlike those other bloodlines, though, the average member of my family doesn’t awaken their bloodline until becoming a deity, but the earlier they awaken it, the more talented the individual is.

Still, even my older brother, who was easily the most talented descendant my family had ever produced, including our ancestor, didn’t awaken his bloodline until he reached the seventh rank.

Although I don’t know much about how much talent is inherited from the children of soulmates, what I do know is that the talent and ability Ace has shown thus far doesn’t lose out by much when compared to Mira’s father. So I don’t know exactly which realm she’ll have to reach to awaken her bloodline, but when she does, I promise you, her potential will equal that disciple of yours.”

Both Aiden and Jordon were shocked by that current revelation, as neither of them had been aware that Sharanthia came from a family with a bloodline ability.

Still, after a moment of shock, Aiden was already past it. He just wanted to know more about the mystery of soulmates.

“So what happens after the two of them finally have se… ‘consummate their relationship’?” Aiden asked, quickly correcting himself when he noticed the dangerous glint in his sister-in-law’s eyes.

“Two things:

First, their souls will merge, creating a bond no different to the bond of equals, allowing them to clearly feel the location of the other person and communicate with them no matter the distance between them.

Secondly, and most importantly, they will share their talents and abilities with others.

I don’t know how it works for others, but for those with differing bloodlines, like Mira’s parents, they will miraculously awaken the bloodline of their soulmate. Meaning Mira will awaken Ace’s bloodline and vice-versa – albeit slightly weakened in comparison.”

Hearing that, Aiden was once again left shocked by Sharanthia’s words. “What are we waiting for?! Let’s convince those two brats to hurry up and consummate their re…”

“Absolutely not!” Sharanthia exclaimed without giving her eccentric brother-in-law the chance to finish his sentence. “Even though I’m not opposed to Ace and Mira being together in the future, I won’t allow them to be together yet!”

“Why not?” Jordon asked, confused by his wife’s decision. “If everything you said is true, then why make them wait?”

“So far, all I’ve done is tell you the positives, but consummating your relationship with your soulmate can be a double-edged sword,” Sharanthia explained as her eyes began to water. “Remember what I said? After consummation, your soul merges with your partner’s.

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

I know I compared it to that of a bond of equals, but the truth is that it’s so much more thorough! For a bond of equals, if your bonded partner were to die, although you may suffer heartbreak, there are no physical damages, but for soulmates, it’s different…

The day Mira was born should’ve been a joyous occasion, but instead, it was one of great misery…”

“It’s okay,” Jordon said as he took his wife’s hand in his to comfort her. “If it’s too painful, you don’t need to explain.”

“It’s fine; I need you to understand the weight of such a decision,” Sharanthia said softly as she wiped her tears. “On the day of Mira’s birth, my family was attacked by one of our enemies.

My brother, Amira’s father, went out to face them along with the rest of my family’s forces. You need to understand, my brother’s talent was no less than Ace’s. Even my father admitted that he was inferior when it came to strength.

I don’t know exactly how strong he was, but I know that even in our home, the Divine Plane of Darkness, my brother was an existence that most deities could only look up to.

Still, even with my father and brother working together with the rest of our family, they were still defeated. In the end, I was told by my brother to take his wife and run as far away as possible.

At the time, I had just broken through to the saint realm, so I didn’t understand much of what was going on, but I knew that I couldn’t afford to waste time, so I did as I was told.

In the end, I barely managed to escape with my heavily pregnant sister-in-law, but because she was already in labour, I had to create a makeshift cave for her to give birth in.

That was where Amira was born. But unfortunately, before she even got the chance to hold her newborn baby in her arms, she began to cry uncontrollably as she said her connection to my brother had disappeared.

That was when it happened; she was affected by the curse of having found her soulmate…

Despite being nowhere near where my brother was when he was killed, her soul began to dissipate.

As she was dying, my sister told me to descend to a random lower world and made me promise to look after her daughter.”

“Thia, you…” Jordon held his wife’s hand, unable to find the words to comfort her.

He knew she came from a different plane, but he didn’t realise that she descended from one of the divine planes and from such a seemingly powerful family at that.

Still, he didn’t care about any of that; all he cared about was that she was in so much pain. He wished there was something he could do, but he understood that he was simply too weak to help her.

Forget disputes in the divine realm where deities run amok; he couldn’t even handle his own family’s disputes in their Yulan Plane.

On the other hand, Aiden’s thoughts were focused on something else. “You’re worried that if Ace and Amira were to consummate now, with Ace being the son and enemy of O’Brien, he will end up getting himself and by extension, Mira killed.”

Sharanthia didn’t reply, but it was clear from the look on her face that Aiden had hit the nail on the head.

“Thia, you know just as well as I do; although Ace isn’t O’Brien’s match, Arianna is,” Jordon said. “There’s no way she would let Ace be killed by him.”

“If Ace were an ordinairy boy, you’d be right!” Sharanthia sighed. “I realised it the moment I saw him, the moment I looked into his eyes; he’s so similar to my brother!”

“What do you mean?” Jordon asked doubtfully.

“She’s talking about his pride!” Aiden sighed. “Right now, as much as he hates it deep down, Ace is willing to live under the protection of Arianna and I, but there’s going to come a day when Ace goes after O’Brien, and at that time, he won’t permit Arianna or myself to intervene.”

“Won’t permit?” Jordon asked back with furrowed brows. “And you’ll just let him commit suicide like that?”

“It’s Ace’s life to live how he sees fit,” Aiden shrugged casually as he took another swig of alcohol before looking back at his brother’s wife. “I’ll follow your wishes. I won’t tell either of them the truth, but I won’t do anything to get in their way either.”

A soft sigh escaped Sharanthia’s full lips when she heard his response. She understood that she was being selfish as if they were to consummate their relationship before that inevitable day; with the boost in talent he’d receive from Amira, his chances of defeating O’Brien would definitely go up, but she refused to allow her little Mira, the girl she saw as her own daughter, the only living memento of her beloved late brother, die needlessly…

Even if it meant Amira would grow to hate her in the future.

.

.

.

At the same time, on the other side of the palace, Ace, who’d been unconscious for the last 72 hours, opened his eyes for the first time.

“Ugh, my head is pounding,” Ace muttered as he sat up, gently rubbing his temples in an attempt to soothe his migraine.

With the aid of some of the Rohault Empire’s finest doctors, all of his physical injuries had completely healed over a day ago, but he was too drained mentally to awaken from his deep slumber.

He wasn’t shocked by this, though. As powerful as his soul was, Ace was well aware that both [Observation and Armament Haki] were both draining on his spiritual essence, but that was nothing compared to the drain his [Conqueror’s Haki] had on him.

So through his repeated usage of his newly awakened ability, for the first time since saving Lina Baruch from her would-be kidnappers all those years ago, Ace had completely drained his spiritual essence.

Still, he couldn’t help but grin proudly at his long overdue accomplishment. ‘Pops, I finally did it. I finally learnt to control my [Conqueror’s Haki].’

As happy as he was about his achievement, he didn’t let it go to his head. In a world which was several times more powerful than his last, he was still far from invincible.

The good thing about this, though, was that he had only just begun to scratch the surface of his new ability. He still had a lot of room for improvement, including learning how to infuse his [Conqueror’s Haki] into his attacks.

Thinking back to the few times he watched Whitebeard clash with the other Emperors and the power it gave them, Ace knew that the moment he reached that level of control, it would allow him to close the gap between him and those at the peak of the ninth rank.

Thinking to there, Ace couldn’t help but look at the teen sitting on the chair beside his bed, using his mattress as a pillow, as a gentle and loving smile suffused his lips.

It was thanks to Amira’s words that night that he was able to finally take that step. What Ace found odd about it all was that it wasn’t the first time someone had said it.

After Whitebeard learnt that his second division commander also had the qualities of a king, he understood that it was because of Ace’s father issues that he was unable to control his [Conqueror’s Haki].

Like Amira, he too had told her that the sins of the father aren’t for the son to bear and that whilst he was no saint, Roger wasn’t the devil the world government painted him out to be. He even told him that if there was one thing he was sure of, it was that Roger’s love for him was no less than that of his mother’s.

But still, even though those were the honest words of the man he not only respected most in his previous life but also had a deep and personal relationship with his father, Ace was still conflicted when it came to his father – Gol D. Roger!

And yet, when those same words came from Amira, they somehow managed to penetrate the barrier he had subconsciously put up around his heart. How could he not be thankful?

As if she could feel his eyes on her, Amira woke up to see Ace’s big dark eyes staring at her.

Feeling the intensity of her ‘classmate’s’ gaze, a furious blush surfaced on the caramel cheeks of the light-skinned teen.

“What is it?” Amira asked softly as she fought to calm her erratic heart.

“I love you!” Ace declared sincerely without blinking, as though he couldn’t bear to take his eyes off of the princess in front of him for even a fraction of a second.

Amira sprung out of her seat and stared at Ace incredulously as her now chaotic thoughts tried to wrap themselves around Ace’s words. “You…

Wait…

What…

Where is this…”

Before she could collect her thoughts, Ace ignored his headache as he stood to his feet and slowly took Amira into his gentle yet oddly firm embrace.

Amira was so taken aback by Ace’s touch that her brain seemed to shut down. Before she could even understand what was happening, Ace’s lips were pressed against hers, sending what may as well be an electric shock through her body as it completely melted into his.

Although this was already Ace’s second life, this was both of their first kiss, and it showed.

The technique was… Unpractised, but both teens could feel the overwhelming emotions of the other.

When their lips finally separated, Amira’s vision was hazy as she was still somewhat on autopilot. She opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out.

“Hear me out,” Ace voiced softly, taking her dainty but callous-filled hands in his own. “I don’t know what it is, nor can I put it into words, but whether it’s this life or my last, I can honestly say I’ve never met anyone who has stirred my heart like you have.

I know, technically, we’re still just children, but I also know there’s no one else I want to spend the rest of my life with…”

Amira was so caught off guard by Ace’s words that all she could do was stand there and stare at Ace in complete disbelief, but at the same time, her heart was filled with endless warmth.

“But before then, I need to settle things with O’Brien for everything he did to my mother!” Ace said calmly.

Unlike what one would expect when talking about the man who forced themselves on his mother, there was no hatred in his tone, but that didn’t take away from his resolve.

He still hated O’Brien to the very depths of his soul, but with his most recent breakthrough in his state of mind, he would no longer allow his hatred to cloud his judgement.

For his enemies, this new Ace was hundreds, if not thousands of times more fearful, but for Amira, that intense look of resolve made him thousands of times more intoxicating.

“When that’s done, I give you my word; there will be nothing capable of stopping me, Gol D. Ace, from taking you, Amira Rohault, as my wife!”