"Hic!"
Heinrich hiccupped, closed his eyes, and held his breath.
It looked like he was trying to hold something other than his breath.
Before long, he let out a long breath.
"You're okay, right?" asked Zaha Serpentes, leaning sideways against the table. His eyes looked worriedly at Heinrich, who had downed two bottles of raw gin without stopping.
He knew Heinrich's throat must be on fire right now... but the man didn't stop.
"Is this what they call... a love triangle?" Zaha asked quietly.
Heinrich chuckled, pouring the rest of the gin in his second bottle into his glass. "I think I know why I was so annoyed at His Highness Ezekiel."
Zaha raised his eyebrows slightly.
"We have... a lot in common...?" murmured Heinrich softly.
Cindy... Eira...
Harriet, and E
The day of the naming ceremony of the Duke's twin son and daughter had finally arrived. Almost all the citizens of Almandine City gathered and came to the spacious courtyard of Almandine Castle which had been decorated even more beautifully than the city streets—which were also full of citizens who wanted to hear today's important announcement. It was all like a festival in the middle of gloomy winter—evoking laughter and happiness with a cheerful atmosphere. Liam was wearing his white robe accented with the fur of a white bear monster when he saw Harriet appear in her white dress. The white dress was long and sparkly, with small gemstones adorning the entire surface. Just like him, the woman also wore a white bear monster fur accent on her shoulder. But looking at the woman in her white dress, something popped into Liam's head. That dress... if a
SLAP—!"Ray!" Alameida slapped her husband's upper arm hard and glared at him sharply. "Don't scare your great-grandson like that!"Rayleigh, the Old Duke chuckled. "Why not?""Did you forget that you left two-week-old Liam near the frozen lake with wild wolves because you left your horse in the forest?" Alameida asked.Liam paled at the story, and Damian widened his eyes wider than ever. So did the other attendees in the banquet hall, who had overheard the Almandine Old Alpha's words."The frozen lake?" asked Harriet, looking up at her husband."You remember the lake in the city park? A hundred years ago, it wasn't that big, just a small natural lake with a forest surrounding it, and Almandine City hadn't expanded in that direction yet."Liam had no recollection of the incident because he was a baby... but he had heard stories from
Ezra furrowed her brows as she smelled the delicious aroma of chicken soup that morning. Her consciousness rose even faster when she felt the touch of someone's large and wide hands on her waist, rising up towards her chest.Ezra's eyes opened and immediately widened as she realized what the hand was after.SLAP!She slapped the mischievous hand away and turned to the man behind her, the perpetrator of the naughty touch. "Your Highness!"The sky-blue-haired man smiled innocently at her and kissed her cheek.Ezra felt somewhat awkward with the man's treatment, but her face flushed as she also felt embarrassed."Good morning, my Empress-to-be," the man whispered.Ezra blinked at her husband's sweet gesture. She turned to the grandfather clock in the corner of the room and gasped."Oh, don't tell me we're already late fo
Yes! It definitely was not Ezekiel's fault!"B-but I'm not in pain," Ezra said with a very red face. "I-I just feel a little stiff."Ezekiel remained silent with his dark face, which now became even more obvious. Ezra looked at him worriedly and began to compare the current Ezekiel with Ezekiel in her previous lives.She tried to recall all the times Ezekiel had shown this expression in front of her, and all of them showed the anger and hatred behind it...But was that just Ezra's point of view?What was Ezekiel thinking in those moments?"Umm..." Ezra felt even more at fault. "Your Highness, I'm really fine. A-and look, I can already stand up and walk."Ezra freed herself from Ezekiel's embrace and with a serious face stood up, posing with a hand on her waist just like her usual smug demeanor. She was able to hide the pain in her body we
In the Banquet Hall, Harriet and Liam raised their drinking glasses and led the audience in a toast. "For Euclase and its people, to His Majesty Axias, the Dragon Emperor and godfather of our children," Liam said, turning to Axias, who also raised his glass. "To Almandine, to triumph together for thousands of full moons." Everyone drank their drinks. After that, the casual chatter resumed. People approached to greet the Duke and Duchess Almandine who had not appeared in public at all after their coronation and began to politely ask how they were doing. Harriet finished the pleasantries quickly and rested for a moment beside Liam near the stage. "Don't you have something to announce, Madam?" Liam asked quietly. Harriet nodded. "Yes, this is the time." She turned to Zaha who was standing at the edge of the room with Arai, Pene
But in Harriet's eyes, the title was well deserved. From the time she knew Molly until now, she had only seen good things. She couldn't let her go now and she wanted Molly to stay by her side.A girl left to die alone by her own sibling... a girl who had never received kindness in this world in her life...Perhaps, she was lucky. But for Harriet, what she gave Molly wasn't just luck she shared with her.She gave her the trust and strength to stay by her side, and she expects all good things to come for her more and again.From this moment on.Everyone applauded loudly. Harriet walked up to the three teenagers and hugged them, followed by Liam.Meanwhile, Zaha was still standing in place, smiling faintly at the sight of it all. But his expression remained serious and flat. There was something on his mind at the moment.At the same time, Ar
Arai felt disappointed.Why was it that even though she had been looking for him all day, she still couldn't find him? Where did he actually go?Was he busy?Arai stopped walking.A question arose in her head. If she looked for him now, would she disturb him?Zaha Serpentes had managed to do what no one else in this world could do. He had created a new healing method for an Alpha Lycan who had lost his heart.It was a great achievement, and after deciding to make it all public, there were bound to be many people chasing after him.Especially, his family.Although Arai was worried, wouldn't it be better to wait for things to die down first before she went to see Zaha?Arai was silent.During this time, she and Zaha communicated a lot through letters, and during this time, even
"Princess... I practiced hundreds of times in front of the mirror... and I asked everyone about how to express my feelings for you all this time, the Euclase way," Zaha said. "And I felt so guilty, as I also wanted to do everything the right way as I knew it all my life on the Eastern Continent." Zaha couldn't throw away the traditions he learned as a boy, and he also wanted to honor them, as he felt there was nothing wrong with following the rules. But at the same time, he also wanted to show his feelings in a way that Arai would understand and be familiar with. "So I decided to express my feelings, and propose to you at the same time... this is all to show my seriousness and that I want you in my life... as my wife." A man and a woman must be in an official relationship before they could speak to each other and express their feelings through actions or words. It was all about a woman's reputation and a man's resp