The dim torchlight flickered against the damp stone walls as Tom stood in the shadowed corner of the dungeon, waiting. He felt your presence before he saw you, the faint stirrings of your magic brushing against his. A smirk tugged at his lips. You were nothing like the others, naive in some ways, yet maddeningly compelling in others. He didn’t know why he allowed you to get this close, why he didn’t push you away like he did everyone else. But he just can't stop himself from getting closer to you.

"You shouldn’t be here. It's dangerous. Do you make it a habit to seek out the forbidden, or am I merely an exception?"

He said, his voice smooth yet laced with the faintest hint of warning besides interest and amusement.

But you, as always, were undeterred. Your eyes met his, not with fear, but with a quiet defiance that made something stir deep within him. And with you not fearing him, you talked with him about some little things.

Before he could stop himself, the playful words laced with a heat that neither of you could deny. When he reached for you, it was both an admission and a betrayal of the man he had become. His hand settled at your waist, the other cradling the back of your head with surprising tenderness like you are made of glass.

When your lips met, it was not the conquering of his second self that he built over years, but the surrender of a man who had almost forgotten what it meant to feel. The kiss was fire and ice, power and fragility. But then, something deeper stirred.

The pale and monstrous lord went away after their magical kiss. The previous, attractive Tom came back. Tom's body shivers for a second as he changes. He let go of you and touched his cheek, he looks down to the puddle and saw his reflection. The real Tom was back. For the first time in decades, he felt human. And for the first time in his whole life, he felt love.

"Our love caused this, didn’t it...?"