CHAPTER 658: KNOWING HIS SECRET

Once those three words left Aldrian’s lips, Baek Jimin’s tears fell even harder. Her lips trembled as she spoke to him, maintaining eye contact.

"Could you repeat it again?"

"I love you."

"Again."

"I love you."

"Again."

"I love you."

"Again."

"I love—"

Aldrian’s words were cut off as Baek Jimin suddenly kissed him, cupping his face in her hands. He could only reciprocate, and with each passing second, their kiss grew deeper and deeper. Their desire intensified as their tongues fought to dominate each other.

After a few minutes of kissing, they finally stopped. With their foreheads resting against each other, they closed their eyes. They stayed like that, savoring the serenity and their romantic moment.

"I love you, Aldrian Aster," Baek Jimin said after a long silence. Aldrian smiled warmly at her words.

"I love you too, Jimin," he replied, cupping her face and gently stroking her cheek. He opened his eyes to look at her beautiful face, their foreheads still touching.

"You are my woman," he said. Baek Jimin nodded, still shedding tears.

"I will be by your side in every situation you’re in."

Baek Jimin nodded again.

"I will not leave you."

"I will keep loving you."

"I will not disappoint you."

With each words Aldrian made, Baek Jimin nodded. Then, she finally smiled at him.

"Is this your promise here?" she asked.

"This is not just my promise—it’s my oath. Well, even though this place is called the Valley of Promise, I still think an oath carries more weight," Aldrian said with a light joking tone, which made Baek Jimin giggle before she opened her lips.

"Then you are my man."

"I will be by your side in every situation you’re in."

"I will not leave you."

"I will keep loving you."

"I will not disappoint you."

"This is not just my promise, it’s my oath," Baek Jimin said with certainty, without a trace of hesitation.

Aldrian smiled warmly, kissed her forehead, and wrapped his arms around her. Her fragrance, like that of a flower, refreshed him, and he wished he could breathe it in forever.

As they held each other, Baek Jimin spoke again.

"Could you stay with me here? I still want to enjoy the valley’s scenery."

Aldrian smiled and nodded.

"Of course I can. I’ll accompany you for as long as you want," he said. Then he took out a mat and spread it for them to sit and enjoy the view. Once everything was arranged, they sat side by side, Baek Jimin resting her head against his arm, both quietly taking in the vast scenery of the valley.

This place was truly a feast for the eyes, and Aldrian genuinely liked it, the vast greenery, the serene, calming atmosphere. The only sounds around them were the wind and the gentle rustling of leaves. They remained silent for a few minutes, simply enjoying the peace.

"Dear... there’s something I’ve been wondering about for a long time," Baek Jimin finally broke the silence.

"What is it?"

"I know you carry a deep secret, something that shaped who you are today. When I spoke with Sylphia, it felt like she knew something too, but she seemed hesitant whenever we touched on that topic."

She lifted her head and looked into Aldrian’s face.

"You’ve defied common sense ever since you were a child. But you accepted it all, like you already understood yourself, like you already knew your worth and simply embraced it."

She paused, studying the subtle changes in his expression.

"It’s as if you’re someone with a long lifespan and deep experience... living in the body of a young man."

"You have an unusual being’s essence, something entirely different from others. It made me wonder about your true self. The real identity of Aldrian Aster, deep within your soul. Are you really just a young man in your teens? Is your soul truly that young?"

"Who are you?" she asked in a soft voice, her gaze filled with curiosity rather than confusion or suspicion.

She had never brought up this topic with him before. It always felt too presumptuous to discuss something he might be keeping hidden. Who was she to question something so sensitive?

Even though Aldrian had already shown his affection toward her, she still didn’t have a confirmed place beside him, nothing solid enough to give her the right to ask about the deeper secrets he carried.

However, today he had already declared that she was his fiancée—and that he loved her. It gave her a boost of confidence and the courage to bring up this sensitive topic.

"He won’t be offended by this... right?" Baek Jimin thought." This has always been the one question that left me with so many doubts about Aldrian. But if the question of who the ’real’ Aldrian is gets answered, then all the mysteries surrounding him might finally make sense."

Hearing her question, Aldrian smiled as he turned his head and looked into her eyes. There was no fear or any negative emotion in her gaze, only curiosity and quiet confidence.

This woman truly held not a single trace of fear or suspicion about his secret or his origin, nothing that might cause her to avoid him.

It was as if, no matter what Aldrian truly was, she believed in him as he was. He would still be Aldrian, the one she knew.

"What do you think? If all this time I’m not actually the person you expected... would you intend to leave me?" Aldrian asked.

Baek Jimin held his gaze without wavering as she answered.

"Why would I leave you? No matter who you are, you’re still Aldrian Aster, the man I love. I trust my intuition, and everything I’ve seen in you all this time is exactly who you are. Even if you carry a deep secret, your essence remains the same. Your character is real, not a lie. I’ve fallen in love with your entire being, that includes your soul and the essence of who you are."

Aldrian’s smile grew warmer as he listened to her steady, confident voice. He could sense without doubt that there wasn’t even a speck of hesitation in her heart. She truly believed in his character, that he was not a bad person and that everything he had shown her so far was genuine.

She wasn’t concerned that the truth might not match her expectations. Her curiosity was simply about knowing his secret—nothing more, nothing less.

Even if he carried the soul of an old man, or something entirely different, it didn’t matter to her. She loved him as he was, and she was ready to accept whatever truth he chose to share.

"I see." Aldrian turned his gaze forward, toward the vast, beautiful scenery. "To answer your question... I have to say that I’m in a special circumstance. Even now, I’m still searching for the truth about myself, the truth about the ’real’ me, about my true origin. About who I really am."

Baek Jimin was momentarily confused by Aldrian’s strange answer, but she caught the meaning behind his words. He truly did carry a deep secret, something tied to his true self, his origin. If he spoke of it that way, it had to be connected to his soul... to his being’s essence.

Suddenly, pieces of a long-standing puzzle began falling into place in her mind. Slowly, the whole picture started to form.

A smile spread across her face, and she gently leaned her head against his arm again.

Now she understood, why he was different from anyone else she had ever known. Why he carried a maturity far beyond someone his age.

She finally understood why Aldrian was no ordinary young man.

One conclusion formed in her mind, one that also connected with her knowledge of her eye technique, the one that could see the truth. The truth of the soul and the being’s essence of living beings.

"I see. So that’s the case," she said softly. "I thought it was impossible, since there’s nothing quite like this, but you are special."

She gently wrapped her arms around his left arm.

"To my knowledge, in some rare cases, the essence of a being can be connected to their past life. In other words, it can carry over into the cycle of reincarnation."

"In their next life, they’re not meant to remember who they were in their previous one—and that’s how it’s supposed to be."

"Your unique being’s essence must be a manifestation of who you were in your previous life."

"And you must remember your past life. That’s what’s driving you to search for answers... for the truth about who you really are."

"You want to know the truth, the truth about your origin. Your being’s essence, that ball of light, like a lone star in the darkness—it’s a clue," she said, turning to look at his face again.

After Baek Jimin shared her conclusion, a brief silence followed, but it didn’t last long. Aldrian looked at her with a smile and gently pinched her chin. She allowed it, continuing to look at him with a soft smile that warmed him deeply.

"How am I supposed to deal with you being this smart?" he said. "I’m afraid there’s nothing I can hide from you anymore."

His words made her blush slightly, and she shyly turned her head away.

"No... I’m not that great..." she murmured shyly, an expression Aldrian found utterly adorable.

He leaned in, brought his lips close to her ear, and whispered.

"Should I ’eat’ you right here, right now... as a reward?"