'Is she pregnant with that bastard's child?' Aiken was already jumping to topics or thoughts that would separate them due to his people. After all, a kingdom's citizens would never allow an emperor to take a woman as their empress if they were already pregnant with another man's child. They preferred to have a woman who only had the emperor's children and no other.

"That individual... I helped her stop the war between both kingdoms." Addis said, making Aiken let out a sigh of relief while falling flat onto his back; right onto the bed.

"Why are you so relieved?" Addis didn't understand how he could be so relieved over that information given to him. 'What was this man thinking?! Why isn't he upset at all for what I just did to collaborate with someone who kidnapped me?!' Feeling as though there was something that could've been worse than helping the individual.

"I thought that it was perhaps something worse like you are pregnant with that Crown Prince's child." Aiken didn't want to think about her having another man's child. Mostly, when that other man could be the Mireraweth Kingdoms Crown Prince. He knew that it would bring up trouble again with the possibility of another war happening if it were ever found out.

"You idiot!" Addis grabbed her pillow, smacking the pillow directly onto his face. Making him rather surprised that she would hit him with the pillow out of the blue. "How can I be pregnant when I haven't even reached that point of-" She stopped to forget about what she was about to blurt out at that moment. 'What the hell was I thinking?! About to blurt it straight out to him!!!' Being angry at herself while Aiken had time to think it through to the point.

Aiken on the other hand just laid on the bed surprised about such a thing she just said or was about to say, but he knew what she was about to say. 'There's still a chance for me!' He felt happy, but then remembered her words before he jumped onto another topic or thought that came up before the last. "Ahem... Now, you said that that young lady helped you stop the war?" He sat up, looking at Addis who hugged the pillow to her chest while nodding with guilt on her face.

"Mhm..." Addis didn't know if he was going to be mad with her or not since they considered the individual as a kidnapper. With the thought of the last conversation already long gone from her mind.

"Why would she agree to help stop the war?" He then asked. Feeling as though the individual was more of a peacemaker than some evil being trying to get out of boredom. 'It makes it seem as though they were just really messing with us for some kind of show. At the same time... it seems as though they still had a motive for taking such actions.' Feeling as though the individual has too much of an odd behavior to kidnap and then ask for Addis's help in the entire peacemaking between the Mireraweth kingdom and Maedda kingdom.

"She wanted to protect the ones that she loved. She did not harm me, and she wanted to end the 'pointless' war." Addis felt like crying, thinking about the injury that Fairy could've sustained from the fight with Aiken. 'I wonder how she is. Aiken is no fighter to misjudge easily since he has taken extra attention ragtime since young to be strong for his kingdom.' Addis looked up to Aiken who was still pondering, thinking about how she came to be with such a man who fought to get her back.

"Why would she go so far to have both kingdoms work alongside another? It does not change anything since this was only once and there is no peace treaty formed between us." Aiken gave a questioning look and felt that things were too strange about the one individual having only beasts along their side for help rather than humans to assist. "What did she tell you to call her?" Aiken looked back down to Addis who turned away as quickly as possible.

"Fairy." Addis knew nothing about her even though they spoke, but it was only little topics and words.

"Well, Fairy is a little strange, but did she say anything about a kingdom?" Aiken wanted to see if they could find any other information about Fairy since they were unable to obtain the blood found on his sword.

"No, she prefers not to be known or called a kingdom, but rather just a group." Addis didn't even know if 'Fairy' had a kingdom at all, to begin with. 'If she isn't from a kingdom then is she from a long-lost lineage of a royal family?'

"Is she associated with the Mana Hunters?" Aiken didn't know if he should be worried or not, but the Mana Hunters were still an ongoing issue to every beast and human.

"If she was, then she would've taken my mana and killed me immediately." Addis knew about the Mana Hunters and 'Fairy' wasn't like that. "She was... like... on her own. Only beasts gave her a hand in everything. There was never a single human being that I saw with her. I believe that she would not harm a human being for no reason. We know that beasts do not work alongside Mana Hunters."

"Beasts? Only beasts?" Aiken couldn't believe that only beasts were in a group working for one lady. 'Does she have any contract with the beasts?' Aiken wondered, but knowing how too many secrets were being told all at once could be stressful for Addis who felt that it was a burden for him since they had no intentions of telling any other person or kingdom about it.

"I'm sorry." Addis apologized for lying since she didn't think that she would ever have to lie, but the feeling of guilt was too much to bear. Thinking that she would be able to keep the secret and take it with her to her grave was just not something she could live with for the rest of her short life.

"Hey, it's okay." Aiken held her cheek, knowing that she didn't mean to lie to him or anyone. He knew that she would feel guilty or upset for keeping secrets. She could never hold a lie in which he fell in love with her for her honesty in everything. "As punishment, let me sleep with you tonight."

"Eeeehhhh!!!!!"

"It's not like I'll do anything," Aiken smirked even though she couldn't see his expression since he had already started to set up the bed for them both.

"Fine... stay on your side of the bed." Addis had pillows in between the both of them on the bed. Aiken laid on his side, with his elbow on the bed cushion for his hand to hold his head. Allowing to see Addis's sleep soundly while he placed a soft kiss onto her head, crossing to her side of the bed for a short few seconds.

"Addis, I love you." He whispered to her, knowing that she was sound asleep not even listening.

***

"What did you say?!" The emperor of Mireraweth’s kingdom tossed his cup of wine down onto the hard stone floor with only the sound of metal tumbling down the stair steps. Looking to see that his men had given the Maedda kingdom to the princess of Gririth kingdom. 'What were they thinking?! The Maedda kingdom and Gririth kingdom have always been on terms with one another! What if they both come together to take down my kingdom!' Feeling anger rush all over within his body with his mind even filled with murder.

"Duke Reynard allowed him to take her. He said that a deal is a deal. We cannot break it or else war will start again and prolong further if we don't go with the deal." The messenger knew that the emperor would be angered once he heard about the deal. "The war has made us lose more than what we gained. That is what Duke Reynard said."

"Get Duke Reynard here!" The emperor had his handheld angrily into a fist. 'To think that he would let our only hostage go!'

The messenger left with the fear of what the emperor could be thinking. 'The Duke will surely be sentenced to death. There is no way out for him this time.'

***

Mila looked around, seeing her father along with Leo standing with their backs turned away from her. "Father! Leo!" She ran towards them but stopped at once to see them turn to face her. Yet, both of their faces soon started to rot away with only their skeletons visible to her. Then, she saw everyone else who always stood by her as they crumbled away into ashes.

"Mila, run away! Runaway!" Their voices all echoed all around her with a blood-curdling scream of pain. She heard their voices making her scream with the feeling of being trapped.

"Ahhhh!!!!"

Mila was heavily breathing, feeling her chest tighten from the sudden nightmare that she had. "Mila?!" Rushing into her room were Luce and Leo who heard her scream.

"Leo... Luce..." Mila started crying, seeing that they were alive and safe. Mila cried, going over to hug Leo, pressing her face against his chest.

"Mila???" Leo hugged her back, he had never seen Mila so scared before besides the time that she was an infant. This was likely the first time that he had ever witnessed it after so many years.

"There, there. It was just a nightmare." Luce knelt patting Mila's back, trying her best to calm her down. Hearing her sniffles and hiccups as Mila kept her hug on Leo.

"Want to tell me about your nightmare?" Leo asked once they had calmed Mila down. He knelt looking at Mila who had red puffy eyes from crying.

"I had a dream that you and everyone disappeared." She rubbed her puffy eyes, seeing how Leo was still there. "Where is father?!" Mila started to worry and panic once she noticed that their father wasn't around.

"Father had to go back to the palace. He was summoned by the emperor." Leo said with Mila even more concerned and afraid that the nightmare was a warning for her.

"Is father going to be okay?!" Mila didn't want to lose anyone anymore. She was always so close to losing them all at once with the fear growing more and more. Her body shook, holding onto Leo who tried to calm her down.

"Mila, calm down. Father will be fine. He won't be easily killed by the emperor. The emperor still has use for him, that's why." Leo had never seen Mila like this. It was a very rare scene since she would never be afraid or panic in such a way.

"No... no... father is in danger! Father is in danger!" Mila tried to run out, but Leo held her back.

"You stay here! I cannot lose you! Stay here!" Leo had Mila locked in the room in the clinic. He didn't want Mila to be trying to escape, so he had sealed up the room by casting a spell.

"Leo! Leo! Let me out! Leo!" Mila was calling out with Leo leaving while hitting the door of her clinic bedroom.

"Don't let her out," Leo told the only three people who were at the clinic beside him

"Don't worry. Go and bring father back safely." Luce was worried now about the possibility of Duke Reynard being sent to the palace to be killed.

***

Leo rushed to the palace, seeing his father on his knees with blood dripping down from his body. "Father!" Leo was stopped by the knights who held him back. "What's going on here?!" Leo could see the emperor was looking down angrily to Leo and then to Duke Reynard.

"Your father gave the Princess of Gririth to the Maedda Kingdom. It is great treason." The emperor couldn't believe that one of his men would go against his orders or rather make a deal without his permission. 'He has grown too bold.' They never planned to give the princess to Maedda’s kingdom. She was their hostage after all which made their situation become chaos. "Your father will lose his title as Duke. He will be executed later on."

"Your majesty!" Leo tried to go forth and use his beasts, but a sorcerer stopped him from using his mana.

"I believe we cannot allow that." The sorcerer smiled, stopping Leo as he then knocked Leo unconscious with another spell.

Duke Reynard only stayed on his knees, knowing that he would be punished or killed in the end for making a deal without the emperor's approval. 'As long as my two children are fine, then I do not care about my life.' He thought, smiling and looking down to the floor below him.

"Why are you smiling even though you will face death?" The emperor said, looking to Duke Reynard who held an even more bold look.

"I'm just thinking about how I served such a cowardly emperor for the last few years of my life."