“Remind me again why you are also tagging along, honeydew.”
Eyeing myself wearing an all black clothing while looking in the whole body mirror had kept my chest tightly like the laundress squeezed the washed clothing. I could almost convince Valerian I could do this alone, but he wouldn’t back down and kept arguing.
“It is because this is not your battle alone. I am with you, you hardheaded woman,” Valerian said, glancing over his shoulder while he had just finished polishing my dagger since he volunteered.
I approached him and smiled sheepishly, seeing him frowning. I tiptoed about to kiss his cheek, but Valerian, as mischievous as he was, turned his head in my direction. My lips, which were supposed to land on his cheek, planted on his luscious, crimson lips.
“Val!” I stepped back, shielding my lips immediately, feeling my cheeks promptly ripening. My wolf squirmed at his action while I had to calm my heart from hammering inside my chest.
This time, it was Valerian’s turn to smile sheepishly. “What’s wrong, honeydew? I thought you were more mischievous than I am?”
I gasped when he grabbed me by my waist and possessively showed his playful side. I frowned and rolled my eyes, but I then smiled and clung to his neck. I cupped his cheek before leaning in to rub my nose against his.
We both smiled at my action before he rubbed his nose back. “I missed this way of expressing your love, Lilith.”
I smiled, feeling overwhelmed at this moment. “Val…” I called him earnestly.
“Hmm?” My hug tightened, causing Valerian to stiffen. “Domi?”
I closed my eyes for a moment, letting everything be cherished. “I am sorry…” I muttered.
“What…?”
I separated from him, looking at him. “You are not coming with me.”
His eyes widened. “No, Dominixe! Do not-” He was about to reach me, but he was frozen since I stopped the time, not letting anyone move even within my vicinity.
Caressing his cheek again, I drew closer to kiss him on his lips. “You must be expecting I would do this. You must be expecting that I would change my mind but I didn’t,” I whispered, knowing well that Valerian still had that list of future events and probably already memorized what the other me had written.
As much as I wanted to return to the time when he hid it so I could read the contents, time was gold on my part, wanting to finish everything.
Taking my dagger that he polished carefully, I raised it, seeing my reflection smeared with melancholy and abomination. They were mixed well, making me mask a cold facade, the same expression whenever I was prepared to hunt my target.
I lied that he would come with me. I needed to keep him safe and kept the time still until I reached the Cantavalle estate.
While the others were busy and unaware that I had left, I needed to be there before they noticed.
Henry was already prepared to summon his elite knights to settle for guarding the royal palace while Claude was helping him. As for my older sister, she was with Cornelius, one of the battle commanders of the royal lycan family of the Waevalon Kingdom’s elite soldiers called Eagle Mist, that was being summoned for dangerous missions.
They were almost on par with Henry’s elite knights. However, Rachelle said that she tried the skills of the elite knights and the elite soldiers. Their strengths were almost on par, but the Waevalon’s elite soldiers were way more comparable and weighed heavily for their vigorousness and decisiveness to deal a blow.
What an exciting idea was Cornelius was my second older sister’s mate, Isabella. They were getting married soon, and Rachelle expected me to attend their wedding to surprise them.
“If I ever manage to defeat Papa, I would certainly attend, sister…” I muttered, eyeing the Cantavalle estate after traveling using my wolf form before eyeing the whole exterior mansion.
Before I could even decide to unfreeze the time, I needed to check the positioning in this mansion since I couldn’t just attend the war empty-handed. I needed to analyze first and finish the tempest.
After taking the crucial documents that could lead to the downfall of the House of Cantavalle and facing the window, my heart froze and cracked upon seeing Papa and Demetrius in the garden, facing the hyacinth garden. I clenched my hands, seeing Demetrius, who looked like the first rays of the sun, smiling from ear to ear while looking at his grandfather.
I mindlessly caressed my stomach. “When I get to conceive you in the near future, I promise that we will love you with all our hearts and that you wouldn’t have to grow like this, Demetrius…” I felt a pang of pain, still having a little grudge that he had betrayed us.
But I knew better that it was not his fault, hoping Demetrius realized his mistake soon…
I leaped from the window to hide the documents and prepared my traps before returning to Papa’s study room, sitting by the edge of his desk, leaning against it. Releasing the freezing time had bought me enough time to settle everything, not only by stealing the documents but other things I already had in my mind.
I watched Demetrius leave, waving his hand at Papa before he decided to sprint by jumping from branch to branch of the trees. Heaving a sigh, I closed my eyes, waiting for everything to settle.
I opened my eyes when I heard something coming passed by before seeing Papa’s skilled henchmen who were rushing to tell him something. I watched Papa’s eyes grow wide before he clenched his hands.
“Insolence! How are they supposed to be alive?!”
I could see that the news that reached him was an unforeseeable one. If it were not according to his plan, Papa would have to take strict measures to settle this as soon as possible.
The time had come when I saw him transforming into his wolf form without thinking and dashing out from the manor. I smiled from ear to ear, knowing he had fallen from my trap.
“That’s right, Papa. Valerian’s pack members are still alive…” I giggled lowly. “Thank you, Henry…”
Henry was my accomplice in this. We had agreed without Valerian’s knowledge. I even had to ensure that I was not included in the list bestowed by my other self. Henry acknowledged that it was not the case that bestowed me a sense of relief.
“You did not include it since you cared for Valerian’s welfare, other me…” I heaved out another sigh, already knowing that I could read the movements of my other self. “Now…”
Before I could even continue saying another word, the door opened and revealed the person I had been expecting to cooperate with me. My lips formed an interesting smile.
“Ismael… I knew that you would be coming…” I said, seeing the depressed face of my second brother as he closed the door.
He scratched his nape, sighing. “I already did what you told me, and we are proceeding as per your order…” Then he met my eyes, pleading. “Tell me that you are not lying about what you said…” His voice croaked. “Is it true? Airene is… still alive?”
Asking me that question had made him fall to his knees, crawling to me before Ismael added, “Please… I will do anything… Just tell me you are not fooling me this time, Domi…”
His eyes, filled with sorrow, pierced me, begging.
“Yes. Airene is alive, Ismael.”
My words were filled with earnestness and profound promise. Yes, Airene still lived. I found a significant reason to fake her death by making her take an antidote consumption before stabbing her, enough to avoid her vital organs and make her live in the countryside so no one could find her anymore.
When I told that to Ismael via mind-link, I could have sworn who looked like the morning glory that first blooms in the morning.
Ismael hugged me. ‘Thank you, Domi…’
I smiled and tapped his shoulder before he handed me my very first sword, which had been carefully polished. I softened since it had been a long time since I last saw it. I had this when I was finally allowed to have my own sword. There was a different sword that I used. That sword was used when I started slaughtering Alphas and killed Valerian in my previous life.
“Shall we begin?” I asked, smirking as Ismael smirked, nodding before I gestured my head that the first and final act should commence.
I swear, Papa… I would be the one who should take your life before you can even meet Mother.