The provocative question thrown in a cold tone was like an ice dagger piercing right into Dylan's heart.
The youth was startled. Without the slightest hesitation, he immediately broke free from his husband's embrace. The warm aura that had been enveloping the two of them instantly vanished without a trace. Dylan turned around quickly, staring at Arvin's face with a very sharp gaze and increasingly heavy breathing.
"What do you mean by saying that my mother is a coward?" hissed Dylan, his voice trembling holding back the suddenly ignited anger.
Arvin did not avert his gaze in the slightest, he returned the look with a flat face devoid of emotion.
"Doesn't not daring to fight back to protect her weak son make your mother a coward?" said Arvin, deliberately choosing the most hurtful words to further provoke the youth. "It seems she was a failed person. Failed as a mother, and certainly, she failed as a woman."
A deadly silence immediately enveloped the steam-filled bathroom.
It was not only Dylan who felt that Arvin's words this time were very cruel and heartless. Allen, Alrain, Ordion, Alvein, and Kylen who stood not far from them looked at each other with uncomfortable expressions. Insulting and degrading a deceased person was an action that was completely outrageous.
Behind the wall, Davin who was in the next bathroom stopped his movements. He eavesdropped on the conversation with a deeply furrowed brow.
What is he actually thinking? he thought, feeling baffled. Moreover, the deceased person is a mother who is deeply loved by her own son. Why did he ruin the moment of happiness that was happening between them instead?
Dylan's chest heaved up and down rapidly. The veins on his neck tightened.
"My mother was not a failed person! She was a great person!" snapped Dylan loudly, his voice echoing bouncing off the bathroom walls. He truly could not accept the insult that had just been hurled at the figure he respected and loved the most. "Take back your words, Arvin! No matter even if I have to die here, I will still fight you for the dignity of my late mother!"
Seeing Dylan who had already clenched his fists, Arvin instead tilted his head slightly, smiling mockingly.
"Great? Great in what way? Do you mean great in enduring suffering so that the woman always protected a useless son like you?" challenged Arvin back, firmly refusing to take back his words.
Dylan felt very furious. His anger towards Arvin who continuously insulted his late mother had now blurred all his sanity. His gaze was very sharp, filled with hatred and peaking anger, as if he was truly ready to lunge and destroy the man in front of him right then and there.
"Take back your words!" snapped Dylan again, stepping forward approaching Arvin.
"Your mother was a coward!" mocked Arvin again with a louder tone, completely not caring about the murderous glare that Dylan showed him. "If she wasn't a coward, then what should I call her? A loser?"
The word 'loser' echoed loudly in Dylan's ears, snapping his last thread of sanity. The anger that was previously already at its peak, now exploded completely.
Dylan glared sharply full of hatred at Arvin.
Along with the explosion of his anger, thick black smoke slowly emanated from his skin's pores, enveloping the air inside the bathroom, pressing the room's temperature to become very cold and tense.
Clap!
The sound of a very loud handclap suddenly echoed in the bathroom that had grown tense.
The black smoke that kept coming out of Dylan's body suddenly stopped expanding when he saw the drastic change on Arvin's face. The mocking smile and cold gaze had completely vanished, replaced by a very warm and relieved smile.
"Congratulations, your power has awakened!" said Arvin happily, looking straight at the black smoke that was now forming a pattern on Dylan's body. "How does it feel that your power has awakened?"
Instantly, the tense atmosphere just vanished, replaced by a mass shock. Everyone inside the bathroom, and also Davin who was still pressing his ear against the wall of the next bathroom, were incredibly surprised by Arvin's words.
Especially for Dylan himself. He was transfixed, looking down and seeing his two hands. He just realized the presence of the thick black smoke enveloping his naked body, moving alive as if there was an absolute protective magic armor hugging his body. A power he had never felt in his entire life was now flowing rapidly in his veins.
"Forgive me Dylan, I had to force myself to insult your late mother." said Arvin in a very gentle and sincere tone, feeling guilty for making his future spouse harbor such a huge anger. "If I didn't provoke your negative emotions, your hidden power would never be able to awaken."
Dylan's jaw which was previously clenched slowly relaxed. The black smoke armor on his body slowly thinned out along with his subsiding emotion.
"You... you deliberately insulted my mother just to awaken my power?" asked Dylan, his voice now trembling due to a mix of various emotions. His eyes started tearing up looking at his husband's face. "You know, that's too harsh!"
And unexpectedly by anyone in the room, Arvin suddenly lowered his body. On the wet bathroom floor, the noble youth who was so feared and respected, now knelt right in front of Dylan. A rare sight that was seen for the first time by all of them.
"I sincerely apologize to you!" said Arvin while looking up, directly into Dylan's eyes. "If you want to punish me, just punish me now so you can vent your anger on me who has dared to insult your mother! And honestly, it is only by insulting the figure of your mother whom you love so much, that your power could be awakened from its slumber."
Seeing a superior figure like Arvin willing to throw away his pride and kneel to beg for forgiveness from him, made the remnants of anger within the black-haired youth completely evaporate.
Dylan let out a long sigh, then slowly bent his knees, aligning his position with Arvin on the wet floor. He gazed intently at the face of the person he liked so much.
"You are a real bastard, Arvin!" cursed Dylan with a hoarse voice, but without any tone of hatred in it. "You are cheating! My anger evaporated just like that from seeing you kneeling like this! I fully understand you did that intentionally to make me even stronger. But..."
Dylan raised both his hands, gently held both sides of Arvin's face which was still looking down, then lifted it slowly. Their gazes met, channeling understanding to each other.
"I ask you to apologize directly in front of my mother's grave!" he said softly, giving an absolute condition. "And there later, you also have to ask for her blessing directly before proposing and marrying me! Are you willing to do it so I can officially become your seventh spouse in front of my late mother?"
Arvin smiled in relief, covering the back of Dylan's hand on his cheek with his own hand.
"I am willing!" answered Arvin firmly, agreeing to Dylan's request without the slightest hesitation. "Are you willing to forgive me?"
"I sincerely forgive you, My Beloved!" answered Dylan softly, looking at the man in front of him full of love. "I also wouldn't be able to hate the person I like so much."
Arvin was quite surprised by the term of endearment 'My Beloved' that Dylan had just said to call him. For a moment he was stunned, but then he decided not to discuss it and accepted that affectionate endearment with an open heart.
Mwah!
Without warning, Dylan kissed his husband's lips gently in front of everyone inside the bathroom.
"You will really do it, right?" he asked making sure one more time, after releasing that brief kiss.
"Yes, I will definitely do it!" promised Arvin while caressing Dylan's cheek. "I will certainly ask for her blessing and propose to you properly in front of your beloved mother's grave!"
Dylan smiled in relief and was very happy hearing that firm answer. He stood up, then pulled Arvin's hand to stand up as well.
"Let's continue our bath, My Beloved!"