"AS EXPECTED, you're the strongest Paladin after Glenn," Gavin said, impressed that Dion Skelton was still standing. Granted that the Paladin was bleeding from head to toe, it was still a miracle that he was still conscious after Blackwell, his Shadow Dragon, attacked Dion Skelton with its Dragon Breath. And Blackwell's Dragon Breath was pure black flame that could turn almost anything and everything into ashes. "Dion, once Glenn becomes the new commander of the White Lion Knights, I hope you become the vice-commander."
He could talk calmly like this because the royal princess in his arms was surprisingly calm. So calm that the royal princess actually fell asleep despite the noise of the fighting earlier.
[As expected, Her Royal Highness is not an ordinary baby.]
And yes, he didn't move an inch while fighting the Paladins. After all, he used his Shadow Beasts. But even though he didn't move, his Mana was almost exhausted.
Dion Skelton, standing in front of his fallen comrades as if he was protecting them, snarled at him. Unfortunately, he didn't look intimidating since he was bleeding all over. His legs were even shaking. "How could you do this to us, Commander?" the Paladin asked bitterly. "How could you kill your own men who trusted you with their lives?!"
He smiled sadly at him. "I'm sorry," he said sincerely. "But I don't want you to forgive me."
"Yes, you don't deserve to be forgiven," Dion growled at him, his Mana fluctuating once again. "You deserve to die, Commander."
After saying those vicious words, the Paladin shut his eyes tight.
Then, the Mana flowing in Dion Skelton's body began to gather in his closed eyes.
"Don't do that, Dion," he slightly scolded the Paladin even though he knew that he didn't have the right to do so. "Your real eyes won't kill me. Moreover, using the power of your real eyes will literally bring calamity. What will you do if you accidentally kill the royal prince? Lady Roseheart is currently at her weakest so I can't give you an assurance that she's capable of protecting His Majesty's heir."
The Paladin flinched and fortunately, he didn't open his eyes yet. "A royal prince?"
"Ah, you didn't know," he said. It seemed like His Majesty had really forgotten that his children were twins and one of them was a male heir. "The other royal twin is a male child, Dion. Lady Roseheart intends to leave the royal prince with His Majesty."
Dion Skelton seemed to have calm down. When he opened his eyes, the color remained light brown– his fake eye color. Thankfully, the Paladin changed his mind. "I still won't allow you to take the royal princess away, Commander."
"I knew you'd say that," he said while smiling, then he stomped his feet on the ground.
After that, several Shadow Spears emerged from the ground and pierced through Dion Skelton's body. Finally, the last standing Paladin had fallen down.
[I'm glad Dion didn't use his real eyes.]
"It's over," Gavin whispered to himself. Then, he turned to the royal princess in his arms. Surprisingly, the royal princess was awake now. And her eyes had turned glowing red as she absorbed some of his Mana. "Her Royal Highness must be hungry now, huh?"
***
"WELCOME, Your Majesty," Mona, who was kneeling on the floor of the birthing room, greeted Nikolai who arrived with Glenn. [Thankfully, Gavin had already left with my little princess when the two arrived.]
To be honest, she was a little nervous now that Gavin was gone.
If she was in her best condition, she could certainly handle Nikolai and Glenn. But she was still weak from giving birth. The blood in her dress hadn't even dried yet.
"I heard Gavin Quinzel already fled with the First Star," Nikolai said coldly. "If you stayed with the Second Star to beg for my mercy, you may begin now."
"I am not here to beg for your mercy, Your Majesty," Mona said with her usual carefree smile. All she could do was smile now because to be honest, she was hoping that she wouldn't need to fight Nikolai. "I am only here to leave a farewell gift to you. I need to personally hand it to you even if it means risking my own life."
"Interesting," he said with a raised brow. "Where's the "farewell gift" that you had to risk your life for?"
She smiled sadly, then she gently placed her precious son on the floor. "Your Majesty, I gave birth to a prince."
"Impossible," the emperor said in disbelief. "The Rosehearts can't give birth to a boy."
Ah, some of Nikolai's memories had truly been erased.
"That's what I thought, too," she said, acting like it was her first time knowing that one of her twins was a boy. "I couldn't believe that I gave birth to a boy as well, Your Majesty."
"Glenn, check the baby," the emperor ordered his knight.
"Yes, Your Majesty," Glenn said, his voice laced with confusion. Then, the knight carefully approached her. After that, he got down on one knee and gently peeled off the white cloth from the baby. He gasped upon checking her baby's gender. "Your Majesty, it's really a prince," he said, then he stood and turned around to face the emperor. "His Royal Highness has your eyes and hair color."
"Glenn, bring the royal prince to me," Nikolai ordered the knight. "Now."
The knight nodded, then he carefully carried the royal prince in his arms.
Glenn bowed to Mona before he stood up and walked back to the emperor. The cold look that Glenn had a while ago was completely gone now.
[It seems like Glenn is pleased with the appearance of Nikolai's heir.]
"Your Majesty, congratulations," Glenn said cheerfully when he stood in front of the emperor to show him the royal prince. "You now have an heir."
Mona observed as Nikolai looked at their son with cold eyes.
It hurt her that the father of her children was apathetic to the existence of their babies. But she could only blame herself for that. After all, she erased not only a portion of his memories but also his ability to love other people.
[My heart hurts knowing that I have to leave my little prince when Nikolai is in this state.]
"That brat is noisy," Nikolai said coldly. "Get him out of here."
Mona almost clicked her tongue. [The fact that our baby is crying is a sign that he's alive!]
"Yes, Your Majesty," Glenn said, then he bowed to him before he quietly left the chamber with the royal prince.
When Glenn finally left the room, Nikolai faced her again.
"You didn't even bother to hold our son in your arms," Mona said with a sad smile on her face. "Now I'm starting to regret leaving him in your care."
"Why did you only take the royal princess and decide to leave the royal prince to me?"
"Because this empire is cruel to princesses," she said bitterly, then she paused before she spoke again. When she did, her voice was almost a whisper. "We can only take one with us. I figured you'd take care of our son because you need an heir."
The emperor's jaw clenched hard. "What made you think that you're the only woman capable of giving me a child?"
She didn't even flinch at his insult. "The empire recognizes the firstborn son of the emperor as the heir," she explained. "Even though there are arrogant nobles who think my blood as a Roseheart is filthy, I'm confident that our son will still get support from people who know the true value of my family." She looked up at him, then she bowed. "Your Majesty, please raise our son well."
"Mona Roseheart!" he snarled at her. "How dare you ask me to raise our son "well" when you're about to run away with another man?!"
She raised her head to give him a pitiful smile. "I won't apologize or ask for your forgiveness," she said, then she slowly stood up. "Nikolai, let's end it here."
"No!" he yelled. His eyes that had turned glowing red looked frenzied. "Wherever you try to run away to, I will find you. Once I do, I will take the royal princess away from you, Mona. You don't deserve to be a mother."
[Coming from you?]
She frowned to express her own dissatisfaction. "Nikolai."
"It's 'His Majesty' to you, woman," he hissed at her, then he drew his sword.
She stood up and smiled sweetly at him. It wasn't like she was happy with what had happened between him and Nikolai. She was just glad that she succeeded in turning his love for her into hate. "Then, it's 'Lady Roseheart' to you, Your Majesty. Don't you think it's unbecoming of an emperor to forget his manners out of spite?"
Instead of giving a verbal response, he just swung his sword.
It created a wave of energy that would have been enough to slice an average Mana-user in half. But of course, it didn't work on her.
Before the energy wave could even hit her, a strong barrier appeared around her.
When Mona opened her arms, a white and fluffy bunny materialized. It was Gale who was back in her animal form. The Wind Spirit would also serve as her personal teleportation "vehicle."
"Goodbye, Your Majesty," Mona said with a sad smile while her body was starting to turn luminescent. The barrier that protected her a while ago also began turning into violent air, which was also known as a tornado. That turned the whole room upside-down. But of course, a powerful man like Nikolai didn't even budge. "Please treat our son well."
***
MONA cried hard while hugging her little princess in her arms.
As soon as she returned to the cabin on the island located in the middle of the Black Ocean, she went to bed with her baby. She fed the royal princess some breastmilk. After getting full, her innocent baby fell asleep right away.
That was when she cried her heart out.
She lost Nikolai and her son. There was now a void in her heart that couldn't be filled. But she had to move forward with her daughter. If she didn't leave this world, she would even lose her remaining child.
[I have to protect you, Neoma.]
"Neoma," Mona whispered between sobs. It was the first time that she said her daughter's name aloud. The first time since she and Nikolai decided the names of their children, that is. "I hope your father remembers what to name your little brother…"
***
[LADY ROSEHEART has fallen asleep.]
Gavin, who was in the bathtub, opened his right hand until a blue diamond shaped like a drop of tear materialized above his palm. It was an item that Lukas gave to him before he went to the other world to guide the real Kim Won-shik. "Come out, Lord Delwyn."
It actually took quite some time before 'Delwyn' appeared after he summoned it.
"How did a treacherous human like you able to learn my real name when the Daughter of Nature herself failed to do so?"
He looked up to see a man that looked like a naked mannequin made of ice.
And that man was the Ice Spirit that not even Lady Roseheart could summon like this.
"That blue diamond…" Delwyn, the Ice Spirit, said in amusement. "Lukas must have sent you to steal me from Mona."
"It seems like you're quite expecting it, Lord Delwyn."
"I'm fine with anyone who needs my power as long as it's not Mona," the Ice Spirit said causally. "Mona is a good child but I don't like bright and warm humans like her. I mean that in a literal sense. Since I have the ice attribute and Mona has the Light and Fire Spirits, my power weakens the more time I spend with her and her other Spirit Guardians."
"That's what Lukas has told me as well, my lord," he said. He was being respectful because he needed to take Delwyn on his side. "According to him, your attribute works best with people with the Darkness attribute like myself."
"That is correct," the Ice Spirit confirmed. "What do you need from me?"
"Are you really going to give it to me easily?" he asked in disbelief. "Isn't Lady Roseheart your master?"
To be honest, he was preparing himself for a fight.
He already covered the whole bathroom with his Shadow Veil so that Lady Roseheart wouldn't notice his movements. And so, he was shocked that the Ice Spirit casually asked him what he wanted.
"Are you insulting me, child?"
The whole bathroom suddenly turned chilly. Not only that. The walls and the floor, even the bathtub, had been covered in a thin layer of ice in an instant.
"I apologize for offending you, my lord," he said as he bowed his head in apology.
[There's no use angering a Spirit that I need.]
"Hah," Delwyn said, then he let out a literally cold sigh. "Mona thinks that I'm one of her Spirit Guardians. But I have never pledged my loyalty to her and or to anyone else for that matter. I do what I want."
"May I know why you want to help me, my lord?"
"Don't be conceited," the Ice Spirit scolded him. "It's not you that I wish to help. I'm only allowing you to "steal" me because I believe that I can only slack off once Mona takes a "rest.""
He didn't understand but it looked like Delwyn was already done with his explanation.
[That's it?]
"I'm old and tired," Delwyn added defensively. "I just want to be a slacker but Mona always keeps herself busy. She even dares to pick a fight with gods. That sounds bothersome so I'd rather have her confined in a place that doesn't have light. After all, where there is no light, the eyes of the gods won't find her."
"Confined…" he asked, bewildered. "Is your power meant to confine Lady Roseheart?"
"I thought you already knew," the Ice Spirit said, then he snapped his fingers.
In the blink of an eye, the tear-shaped blue diamond above his palm had turned into a piece of ice rose. It was beautiful, but it felt ominous.
[This feels more powerful than the other ice roses that Lady Roseheart had used in the past.]
"Just stab that rose in Mona's heart," Delwyn said in a tired voice, then his ice body began to melt. "I'll drag her back to this world."
And just like that, the Ice Spirit completely melted– turning into a splash of water.
The ice rose above his palm also disappeared. But the coldness in his chest told him that the ice rose was now hidden in his body. He had a feeling that he could summon it anytime that he wanted to.
"What a strange Spirit," Gavin wondered to himself. "But I'm glad that Lord Delwyn is a slacker."
***
A PAIR of purple eyes glared at the stupid emperor's palace.
That idiot ruler brought only one of the twins home. And it was the wrong twin. He should have at least punched that stupid emperor back in his previous life.
But he couldn't help but blame hate himself, too.
"These useless eyes," the man in the body of a four-year-old child whispered to himself. "Why can't I find you?"
***
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