Chapter 379: Once This is Over
Smiling when Lord Drehk began to snap at her, a clearly annoyed look on his face—one that bordered on rage—as he fixed his eyes on her.
"What do you think you’re doing here?" he asked, his voice resounding and bouncing against the walls as he spoke. Fury burned in his eyes, though it was clear he was doing his best to restrain it. He stared at Rymora, who lowered her head and began to speak.
Her arms were wrapped protectively around her belly, which was visibly pregnant as she spoke.
"...I did leave like you said. But then I thought this distance was enough," she began hurriedly. "We were about to head out when the fire began raining down, and we had no choice but to stay back!" she explained, gesturing toward the entourage of maids and guards Drehk had sent her off with.
They were enough to make up the entirety of the guards in his villa.
Drehk continued to fix his gaze on her without speaking, in a way that made it more than clear he was extremely annoyed—and he wasn’t trying to hide it.
She lowered her head even more as she moved closer to him, speaking softly and with concern as she reached out to touch his arm.
"You’re hurt!" she said, beckoning a human maid to come closer. The maid instantly obeyed.
Vampires usually drew blood from slaves, but during emergencies it wasn’t strange for human servants to allow their masters to drink from them. The maid bared her neck, and Drehk didn’t hesitate before feeding.
The other lords also needed to feed, but it wasn’t until Drehk gave them permission that they went ahead—especially since most of the people there belonged to him.
Lord Lythari and Savira fed until all of them regained their strength.
All except Aria.
She still looked pale.
She had lost a lot of blood, even though the hole below her collarbone no longer bled and had been wrapped and properly bandaged. She could feel it slowly healing, but she wasn’t delusional enough to think her speed would be anywhere close to the vampires around her.
She found a place to sit and accepted the food someone gave her, trying to slowly replenish her energy like the human she was.
But barely had she taken a few bites when Rymora stepped closer with a huge smile on her face.
"It’s been a while, Lady Aria!" she said brightly.
Aria simply waved her hand, pushing out the chair on the opposite side of the table for Rymora to sit.
"It’s been a while!" Aria responded in a teasing tone, directly implying that Rymora had been busy with Drehk—hence the reason they hadn’t seen each other in so long.
"Yes!" Rymora responded with a grin that lit up her entire face. Her brown curls bounced around her cheeks as she shifted her gaze toward Drehk before looking back at Aria, almost as if making sure her husband was fine.
It was clear how much she loved him.
She practically wore it on her face.
And it was equally clear that Drehk felt the same way, considering the fact that he knew she was a werewolf and still had no issue being married to her.
She was even expecting a baby, and clearly he didn’t mind that it might be half werewolf.
A soft smile appeared on Aria’s face as she thought of Zyren—her own lover.
But the smile quickly faded into a worried frown as she remembered the monstrosity he was currently battling.
Yes, he was strong.
But that didn’t lessen her worry.
Especially not after seeing how powerful the monster had been.
"Don’t worry!" Rymora suddenly said, stretching out her hand to grab Aria’s the moment she noticed the expression that had descended onto her face—an expression that could only mean one thing.
"I’m sure he’ll be fine!" Rymora assured her, confident that the moment Zyren was done defeating the monster, he would head straight to where they were.
Aria slowly nodded.
Then Rymora asked the question that was clearly on everyone’s mind the moment it became obvious Aria wasn’t healing as fast as expected.
"...Your powers? Are they gone?" Rymora asked, tangible concern lacing her voice.
It wouldn’t have been such a big deal if it were true, since the Zygon beast had mostly been wiped out.
But it was a big deal.
Aria was injured.
And it wasn’t a small injury either.
"...Yes. Savira mentioned that there would be a lot of changes to my body during the pregnancy. I’m guessing this is one of them," Aria said with a smile that Rymora understood instantly.
"I hope it’s a boy and he turns out to be as handsome as Zyren!" Aria added.
Rymora chuckled, shaking her head lightly.
"I hope it’s a girl," she responded with a matching grin. If it were a girl, there would be a higher chance of her being a vampire.
It was only a thought.
But one Rymora strongly believed in.
"...It’s bound to be just as strong as Zyren if it’s taking all my powers," Aria continued.
Rymora nodded in firm agreement.
Nobody said it aloud, but everyone was fully prepared for the baby to be just as strong as Zyren—if not stronger.
"...I hope we have them at the same time!" Rymora gushed happily, knowing it was bound to happen. Both children would be raised together, more like siblings than anything else.
"...Once this is all over, we’ll be happy," Rymora whispered softly, squeezing Aria’s hand gently.
It sounded more like a promise—to herself and to both of them.
Aria nodded strongly.
Tears filled her eyes as she thought about her family—how each of them was dead and gone.
I have Zyren, she reminded herself.
She gently rubbed her stomach.
"...Once this is over, I’ll be happy," she whispered back, a wide smile stretching across her face as she squeezed Rymora’s hand in return.
She fully believed her own words.
But barely had the last syllable left her lips when—
CRASH.
A deafening sound tore through the mansion, loud enough for everyone to know that something massive had just broken in.
