Ezekiel sat on a corridor sofa, listening to his mind connect the puzzle.
"If the Duchess' mother is alive... then the allegation about her murdering her was false. But..." Ezekiel massaged his glabella, "...if her brother's father was my uncle..."
Ezekiel frowned hard. "Did I almost... having an incest relationship with my cousin's half-sister?"
"Pffft—"
Ezekiel raised his head, seeing his wife snickering not far from him.
"Technically, it wasn't incest, though, Your Highness," Ezra said, walking closer toward him and continued, "Because her father was not your uncle."
Ezekiel squinted his eyes. "Still, why can't my father give me some heads up...?"
Hearing that, Ezra laughed, "Do you regret it now?"
The man smiled, then shook his head. "I don't," he said. "Love is love."
GASP!
 
That night, Helena knew that Harriet had something in mind. Helena would never allow Harriet to leave the house if Harriet didn't become the best student. Still, it seemed that Harriet was sure she would receive the title of number one.For them, it was never a challenge of effort to be the best. It was more like a challenge of political prediction and success. Harriet knew she would be able to be the best student because she didn't have any rivals that were more academically and politically powerful than her.As Harriet won her challenge, it was only fitting for Helena to give her some leniency. But, of course, Helena would never let her daughter go out alone, and Harriet also knew she was followed.Maybe, that was her purpose...To be followed by Helena's men to the secret headquarters of the capital's beggar organization."Axias said that if he didn't meet your daughter that d
"Ehehe, peek-a-boo!""A!""Peek-a-boo!""Au!""Aww, what a cute baby..." Molly lightly pinched the round cheeks of Niamh. She placed the little baby girl on her lap and played with her to encourage her to sleep."I wonder why babies hate sleeping..." Yelan laugh-cried while stroking Baby Damian in her embrace, walking in a circle and rocking him occasionally."They kept waking up at night and disturbing everyone's sleep... Even now, they still insist on keeping their eyes open."Molly sighed tiredly too. "I wonder if they missed their Mommy and Daddy. But they're busy now. Even Her Grace was unconscious for two days..."While talking, they heard the door open, and then they saw Yesha bring tea and snacks for them, just like usual."Oh, look at us. So now we've become babysitters," he said tiredly.
Three teenagers sat with their mouths open, looking at the little wolf cub sitting on the main couch on the lap of Harriet. He sat upright with his chubby legs, ears all risen to the sky, and beaded eyes round like smooth marble.They couldn't comprehend that that man was the Liam Almandine they knew."Woof.""It's been a while, guys. How are you guys doing?"Harriet spoke softly, translating the wolf cub's low-toned bark.Molly's eyes were wide. She didn't know what to say in this situation, seeing how adorable the wolf cub was, yet how terrifying he was."We're all right, Duke," Yelan said in a low voice. She immediately swallowed hard after saying that."Woof.""That's a relief."The three saw the soft smile of Harriet and felt a little at ease. Yet, their sweat dropped down the side of their f
Seeing Harriet's awkward look, Ezra hugged her shoulders from the side. Then, she whispered, "Just do your business fast and enjoy us on our honeymoon."At the same time, Harriet saw Ezekiel turning his face elsewhere.Ezra nudged her shoulder again and made her stare at her eyes. "I know you want it, a honeymoon. I bet you're so busy thinking about having children at the start of your marriage that you have no time to enjoy yourself, right?"Harriet laughed, amused by her question. It seemed that only Ezra was keen enough about her struggle after chatting with everyone at that sleepover party. Maybe, only Ezra realized how envious Harriet was towards Miriam and Arai.She was jealous of their destined love.Ezra felt the same thing as her because she also wanted to be with someone who was not supposed to be with her."That's true. Let's enjoy ourselves after
It was a dark night at the rehabilitation camp. Everyone was huddling together to fight the cold while a young woman with a raggedy old coat was brought inside.The camp was only enough to stand against the wind that night, and everyone was given one heating stone to help warm themselves.It was the generosity of the Almandine Duchy to give criminals like them some sort of comfort. In other parts of Euclase, they would not be given this much, not even food.Even if it was harsh and cold, they had heard they should be released tomorrow. After that, they would be given manual labor job recommendations and supervised strictly by the authorities.They would also be graded each month. Then, if they were well-behaved and remorseful after their mistake, they would be released back into society.Everyone who got into the rehabilitation camp was someone who only committed a minor crime. H
ZZRRSSSSSSH!Tap!Harriet jumped down from the giant wolf's back. She examined the place and immediately recognized it.It was the waterfall, far south of the West Fort.The place they first met.It was still late winter, and the weather was still cold, even if they had already gone far south. But it was not as freezing as the north, and Harriet could take off her fur coat.She turned back, seeing Liam transform into a little wolf cub. He raised his head and voiced his apology. "Woof."[I'm sorry that we have to do this, Madam.]He felt terrible that Harriet had to go through an uncomfortable imprinting ritual. This was not a thousand years ago that Lycan had to imprint in the woods. But they didn't have any choice."Well, this is unexpected. I thought you would bring me to a beautiful, vast flowe
Harriet felt hot. Her finger probed her own clit and stroked it hard as Liam came into view. The man... was too much. How could he leave her alone here when she was already like this? Did he know how torturing it was to be left alone in this state?The heat rushed into her head, and it forced her to touch herself even more. She put her finger inside. One finger, and then two... but it was not enough.Slick squelch squelch"Mmhhh..."But then, the man walked closer, and she saw it. Something standing tall there with his impressive girth. Was it always that big? Was it always... that scary...?"I'm scared..."The man blinked at her, responding to her words, "You're scared now? I told you..."Harriet shook her head. She explained, "I'm scared of that."That was when Liam turned his head below and saw his own little broth
"Hmmm, should I just create a faster transportation magic? But what is faster than artificial spirit infused with mana?" Heinrich muttered.He just came back from telling everyone that the Duke and Duchess had already found their imprinting location and started their ritual. And soon after he was back in his own room, he found a new motivation to create another spell.He then opened his books and tried to find anything he could remember from his teacher. Maybe, her late project could give him some inspiration. That was when he remembered something...His teacher always complained about her food being cold when he delivered it to her. She almost tried to solve that problem with magic but decided against it. Why was that, he wondered?'Wasn't that also transportation magic? But...'He opened his notes and found an incomplete spell he had copied from his memory from his past life. H