I remained silent at his words, wanting to let him know that silence meant yes. I met his cognac eyes that I inherited from him. In my previous life, I couldn’t even dare look into his eyes because of how frightened I was.
But at this moment, I failed to see that meeting his eyes was supposed to be the best thing ever. Meeting that filthy gaze of his was enough to bloom the flower of detestation.
“I knew you would come, Papa.” I wiped the blood that besmirched my hand on my skirt before cocking my head from side to side. Then I curtsied before him.
Papa clenched his hand. “Since when did you learn…” He did not continue his words, looking like he was trying to find the proper term for it.
“You mean if I met Mother already.” He flinched upon the mere mention of Mother.
Rachelle was right… It seemed like Papa was desperate to see Mother again. However, would he have the same reason as Rachelle’s father, who wanted to kill our mother, not wanting to reunite with Her?
“You met Her…?” This pure, deafening silence was tainted with Papa’s heavy breathing, heaving his chest up and down. “When?” he added when he did not get an answer from me.
“Does it matter?” I slightly tilted my head.
“Do not play with me, Dominixe Lilith Cantavalle!” Papa stomped the ground, creating a huge crate under his foot. But he did not mind it and continued glaring in my direction as if that glare could kill me.
And the tone in his voice seemed rushed and hoarse, looking like he was near to erupting like a volcano.
“Papa, you have disappointed Her.” I inflicted the words, emphasizing each of them. I wanted to tell him that it was enough for him to think Mother was the one who said those words.
I uttered the exact words Mother said just before I regressed. The meek in Her tone when She said those words was enough for me to learn that Mother was hurt by Papa’s actions, especially since She knew how Papa treated me.
Before Papa could say anything, I released the freezing time and quickly evaded the arrows while protecting Arthur using my sword. I needed to protect him from being hurt since I did not want him to die.
“Attack her!” Papa ordered his elite henchmen.
I gripped the hilt of my sword, almost using that I wanted to stop the time, but then, just before his henchmen attacked me, the ground shook before a loud howl echoed throughout the whole estate.
My eyes widened when I felt chills down my spine when an elephantine black wolf appeared out of nowhere, and at the same time, the wolf inside me was jumping in delight.
‘Mate.’
I gasped. “Why are you here?” I was shocked, not believing that he was here. Valerian did not turn his head but he was using his body to shield me when another set of arrows rained in our direction. “Evade it!” I hissed, wanting to regress, but it was not the right time.
I did not want to exhaust my energy as well, so I needed to preserve how to utilize my abilities as the Goddess of Time. Mother said I was not used to it, but if I kept using it, I might be able to master it, except if I over-exhausted myself.
I stopped the time only Valerian and I were allowed to move, blocking him using my body. “Why are you here, Valerian?!” I asked when he transformed back to his human form.
My heart jumped out of my ribcage when I met the dark cloud surrounding him before he roughly yanked my arm.
“Valerian-”
“Are you trying to piss me off, Dominixe?” His voice was firm, while his expression was masked with a cold facade. “You deliberately left me there when I wanted to be with you!”
I wanted to step back, seeing that he was mad at me. I had felt frightened in the past because of Papa, but seeing Valerian being aggrieved made me want to bury myself more than six feet below the ground.
He was quite more frightening than Papa when it came to the right term of being displeased and irritated. But there was no way that I would stand still and say nothing.
“I am just protecting you. I cannot afford-”
“Do you think that I can even afford to see you getting hurt, huh, Dominixe? Trying to be selfish again?” I opened my mouth to say something, but Valerian did not bestow me a chance when he added more words. “I have been desperately to be with you and just so I can finally fight with you, you chose to fight alone. You damn woman…” His hold on me tightened, making me gulp. “What if you get hurt and die before my eyes? Did you really think that I should be thankful that you made me stay away from danger?”
“No! Your reasoning is wrong, woman!” Valerian added with his eyes squinting. “If you die, then what would have happened to me? Did you think that I wouldn’t get suffer?”
I was speechless, unable to move. Valerian looked like he was spitting fire at this moment. I couldn’t find myself saying anything to justify my actions, but seeing that he was like this and how hurt he sounded made me feel guilty for what I did.
I lowered my head. “I am sorry…” My eyes darted at his hand that was holding me. I felt sensations crawling to my skin, making me and my wolf feel ticklish. “I was not being considerate of your feelings again, Valerian…”
When I looked up, I had this urge to kiss him, seeing how his eyes were hinted at with annoyance, betrayal, and concern. But I knew that Valerian wouldn’t like that unless we settled on things that would make us meet in one place in the end.
With my voice as soft as the white doughy clouds, Valerian loosened his hold on me a little before heaving out a sigh.
“We shall talk later…” He stepped backward, averting his gaze from me. “I shall find Britanny and Caroline after finishing your father’s henchmen. Henry told me that one of them is targeting your other siblings…”
I hugged his back, causing him to stiffen. “I love you. I am not saying this to ease your annoyance with me or not because I am going to die. I am saying this because-”
Valerian broke his one only law by cutting me off and kissing me so deeply that I lost inside his embrace. It even brought me to the highest peak of the mountain that I could never found myself going down again. The kiss was quick before Valerian cupped my cheek and kissed my forehead.
“And I love you more, future wife,” he said, his voice masked with sweetness as honey, looking at me lovingly. “Please… do not take my feelings for granted again, hmm?” he pleaded.
I bit my lower lip, feeling the corners of my eyes get stung. “Yes…” My heart flipped when my left hand was on his lips. Then I frowned when I realized something. “Make sure that you are going to fulfill that you are marrying me, or I will see that calling me your future wife is just one of your fucking bluffs.” I made sure that I was glaring at him enough that he was already inviting his own death.
Valerian smiled sheepishly and kissed my hand again before stepping back. “Rest assured. You will be Ducchess Valerian Leveaux in no time. Also, do not mind if I kidnap you out of nowhere and lock you somewhere where no one can find us.”
I watched him transform into his wolf form before nudging me with his snout. I planted a peck kiss on it and watched, finishing Papa’s henchmen easily. After that, he dashed toward the direction where Britanny and Caroline had set off.
“He will kidnap and lock me, huh…” I smiled sheepishly as I prepared myself for the final attack. “I will gladly so, Your Grace…” I said those words as if Valerian was still in front of me before I unfroze the time.
Papa gasped, horrified upon seeing that all of his henchmen were bathed with their blood in a blink of an eye. Then his eyes looked at me with those accusing glares.
“Halt using your tricks! That is unfair!”
What he said earned me a good laugh. “Papa… I cannot believe that I would hear the word, unfair, in you.” I even wiped the tear that rolled down my cheek.
Papa seemed offended by the way he was clenching his claws. His eyes were ignited with more rage whenever he laid his gaze on me.
“Lunaria should not have given birth to you!” Papa said, clenching his teeth before using his wolf speed to catch me off guard.
I quickly evaded his punch which could be fatal if it landed on any parts of my body. I moved swiftly by jumping backward to provoke him more. Papa was blinded with emotions which made him an easy target for disadvantage.
Funny that he was the one who taught me how to be composed whenever we were fighting someone, but knowing that I had the advantage was enough for me to lose his cool.
Desperation.
That was the proper term to describe the emotion he was emitting right now.
“Papa, have you seen your grandson? He would be my son in the near future. And the fact that is Valerian and I’s offspring in the other timeline makes no wonder that I will also conceive him,” I said, wanting to emphasize that Demetrius had our blood running in his veins while Papa was attacking me senselessly.
Gone were the swift movements he had shown to us back in the day when we couldn’t defeat him.
“Papa, you see… I have spoken to Mother.” His attacks became aggressive. “Mother told me that you have been so desperate to see Her. However, with the sins you committed for the past years, Mother shall not overlook what you have done to me and to mankind.”
Papa gritted his teeth and transformed into his elephantine wolf form had some gray and brown fur. He barked and ran in my direction, even drooling.
I transformed into my wolf form to match his pacing. With our powerful paws, we kicked each other. Together, we were being thrown away in a different direction that was enough to feel a metal that pierced our skin.
I hissed and used my mouth to remove that metal pipe that thrust into my stomach. I even saw Papa being dragged by the debris, but he managed to get up while I was feeling my skin being healed in no time.
Papa shook his wolf head, growling before sprinting in my direction as soon as he saw me returning to my human form. I smiled and raised my hand to open a portal to the celestial realm, which Papa did not manage to halt with his galloping steps as soon as I invited him to it.
The surroundings were instantly changed into a field of lavender and its sweet scent.
“What…?” Papa groaned after returning to his human form. “Where…” He couldn’t continue his words when he gasped and recognized the place immediately. “Lunaria!”
My eyes widened when Papa turned around as soon as he felt Mother’s presence behind him. I was surprised that he could recognize Her immediately, or perhaps because their mate bond was still attached, he could know Mother.
“Lunaria…” Papa’s voice croaked, and he found himself kneeling before Her. Mother did not say a word, letting Papa panic and crawl towards Her. “Lunaria… It’s me… Harchier…” he said in a begging tone. “I have missed you… I have missed you so bad.” My heart broke when I heard longing through his words as he clung to Mother’s skirt as if his life depended on it.
Papa expected that Mother would greet him warmly, but Mother smiled with a melancholy one.
| Harchier… Why?| Mother said before She raised Her hand to slap Papa’s cheek, causing him to gasp.