"MY QUEEN, I have returned," Glenn said as soon as he finally reached his wife's bedroom. "Are you and the children ready to leave?"
According to the report that he had received from the Fletcher Twins, there was an assassination attempt at his family.
It hurt him to know that his family was ambushed while he was away.
Even so, he was relieved to see Brigitte safe and sound.
Monik and Claude, who were playing at the bed, also looked alright.
[I hope they aren't traumatized by what happened.]
Glenn, although he didn't want to leave Hazelden with his family, still thought it was better for them to stay together in the empire.
[But that doesn't mean we don't care about Hazelden.]
He had received Brigitte's response to the emperor's summon.
Of course, he had already expected that his wife wouldn't leave Hazelden without entrusting it to Nowell Elwood– Brigitte's cousin and the acting Prime Minister.
[Hazelden used to be an absolute monarch. However, since it's inevitable for the kingdom's Royal Family to respond to the Imperial Family– especially since my wife has pledge her loyalty to Princess Neoma before. Hence, Brigitte decided to slowly build a Parliament led by Nowell.]
"I've already handed all the necessary tasks to Nowell," Brigitte said as she wrapped her arms around his waist. "Fortunately, we've been entrusting things to Nowell as preparation for my maternity leave before this. Hence, the delegation went smoother than expected."
"I see. That's a relief then," Glenn said while rubbing his wife's back. "But why do you sound sad, my queen?"
Brigitte looked up at him with a sad look on her face. "Claude wishes to stay here in the kingdom."
His eyes widened in shock. "What?"
"Please talk to your son, honey."
He nodded, then he broke the hug with his wife and approached their children on the bed.
"Daddy!"
Both Monik and Claude greeted him with a hug.
Glenn smiled and carried his children in his arms. They were getting bigger and heavier by the day. Fortunately, he was still strong enough to carry his children in his arms without a problem. "Claude, my son, is it true that you wish to stay in the kingdom?"
Claude smiled and nodded. "Yes, Daddy! I want to stay here and take care of the kingdom with Uncle Nowell!"
That made his chest feel heavy.
[My children shouldn't be thinking about their royal duties yet…]
"Darling, are you sure you want to stay here?" Brigitte asked worriedly, standing in front of Glenn and cupping Claude's small face between her hands. "Mommy, Daddy, your big brother Skylus, and your big sister Monik will be at the empire."
"It's okay, Mommy," Claude said cheerfully. "Grandma Light said she'll play with me!"
Glenn and Brigitte exchanged looks, then they turned to their son and asked the same question at the same time. "Who is this 'Grandma Light?'"
Claude turned to Monik. "Noona's mentor!"
"Mommy, Daddy, Claude is talking about the Light Goddess," Monik explained with a smile on her face, her pink eyes glowing. "The Light Goddess said a direct descendant of the Hazelden Kingdom's Royal Family, who inherited the thickest Griffiths blood, must stay in the kingdom."
[Does it mean Claude inherited the thickest Griffiths blood among our children?]
"But why?" Brigitte asked curiously. "I still don't understand why Claude has to stay here."
"Because the Light Goddess is going to protect Hazelden Kingdom during the war with the help of Claude's blood," Monik said cheerfully. "The Light Goddess said it's our reward for helping the Imperial Family!"
"That's a relief, but your brother won't be in danger, right?" Brigitte asked nervously. "How will Claude's blood help the Light Goddess protect the kingdom? The Light Goddess won't extract my baby's blood, will she?"
"Don't worry, Mommy," Monik assured her mother. "The Light Goddess only needs Claude's authority as the future king of Hazelden."
Brigitte gasped softly. "Future king?"
"I'm going to be the future king of Hazelden, Mommy, Daddy! Grandma Light showed us the future," Claude declared happily. "Monik noona is going to be the Light Priestess! Skylus hyung the Moon Saint! And our Baby Angel sibling is going to be Duchess Exton!"
Brigitte gasped softly, then she touched her baby bump carefully. "Our baby angel is a girl?"
Glenn was also delighted to know that they were having a second daughter, but he couldn't help but worry. "'Duchess Exton?'" he asked nervously. "But my brother is already declared as my father's successor. Moreover, I'm no longer an Exton…"
[Is my daughter going to compete with her uncle for my father's noble title even though I already disowned House Exton as my family?]
***
"GEOFFREY, connect the communication devices to all the countries and kingdoms…" Nikolai stopped talking when he felt Mona's Mana fluctuate out of nowhere. When he turned to his wife, he immediately stood up when he saw her pale blue eyes glow while she seemed to be frozen in her seat. "Mona?"
Vision.
He was pretty sure that Mona was currently seeing a vision, hence her current state.
[The last time she saw a vision was when she touched Queen Brigitte's baby bump.]
But this time, his wife's vision came out of nowhere.
[What could possibly trigger her ability to see the future?]
Nikolai's thoughts were interrupted when Mona suddenly had a nosebleed. "Mona, love," he said worriedly, hesitant to touch his wife. [I don't want to interrupt her vision, but I'm worried…]
A few moments later, Mona suddenly gasped as if she just got out of the water after almost drowning. "Nikolai, the First Calamity is here."
"Alright, calm down first," Nikolai said, touching Mona's shoulders. "What did you see?"
"We need the Extons," Mona said, getting up from her seat. "Please summon Duke Exton to the palace now, Nikolai."
***
NEOMA couldn't believe that her strength was getting absorbed like this.
However, her Mana wasn't getting absorbed by the zombie. Hence, she didn't know where her power was going.
If the zombie absorbed it, then it would have exploded already.
[This amount of Mana would be too much for a zombie, after all.]
Aside from the frustration that she felt at the moment, she could also feel her stomach growling.
After all, Darkness had always looked tasty to her.
[Ah? Is it possible to do that?]
A brilliant thought suddenly entered her mind.
"Should I eat the zombie?" Neoma wondered out loud. "Is it cannibalism if the zombie is already made of Darkness and not human flesh–"
"Neoma!" Nero scolded her sternly. "Have you gone mad?"
"Are you hungry, Neoma?" Hanna asked sarcastically, obviously displeased by Neoma's "brilliant idea." "Should I summon Chef Ruto?"
"Princess Neoma, even if you're hungry, you shouldn't eat a person," Lewis scolded her while shaking his head as if he was already so done with her. "You can eat leaves and insects in the wilderness, but not people, okay?"
Argh.
Thanks to Nero, Hanna, and Lewis' remarks, Neoma finally realized how ridiculous her "brilliant idea" was.
[Yeah, let's not resort to cannibalism.]
In her defense, she was talking about "eating" the Darkness surrounding the zombie and not the zombie itself.
"Get out of my way!"
Argh.
Neoma was in the middle of struggling with Tteokbokki as they tried to desperately stop her Mana from getting absorbed by the zombie when, suddenly, they heard Duke Exton's loud voice echoing in the underground prison.
[For someone his age, Duke Exton sure is still lively.]
Lewis, who was obviously displeased by Duke Exton's loudness, clicked his tongue. "Should I knock him out?"
"No," Neoma said weakly. "The duke brought an interesting thing with him."
"It's a monster," Nero said, equally weak as Neoma. "A tamed one, at that."
"Let the duke in," Hanna said in a loud and firm voice. The entrance of the underground prison was guarded by Nero's knights, after all. "Come in, Duke Exton."
There was a brief silence before the duke's heavy footsteps echoed in the entire place.
It was followed by the light footsteps of the monster walking beside the old duke.
[A wild dog?]
The "monster" definitely looked like a wild dog twice the size of a normal wolf. Its black fur actually looked like little spikes. The monster's eyes were glowing black, and the drool dripping out of its mouth seemed like acid because the spot on the floor where it touched melted.
[Yep, a monster, indeed.]
"Greetings, Your Imperial Highnesses," Duke Exton greeted them curtly, then he turned to the burning zombie inside the cell. "May I feed that thing to my pet?"
Oh?
That piqued Neoma's interest. "Do monsters eat zombies, Your Grace?"
"Monsters usually eat human flesh, while the monsters that the Extons tamed eat animals," Duke Exton answered firmly. "However, this pet of mine suddenly dragged me here to the royal palace. Then Her Imperial Majesty asked me to bring my pet monster here. Even I don't know what's happening, but the empress seemed like she does."
Mama Boss?
If that was the case, then her mother probably knew something that Neoma didn't.
[Did Mama Boss see another vision? It was Mama Boss who saw Aunt Brigitte's baby's future, too. Did the vision have something to do with the Extons again?"
Ah, she suddenly remembered something.
[Aunt Brigitte's baby is destined to end the First Calamity, and that baby has Exton blood.]
"Your Grace, please feed the zombie to your pet," Neoma said solemnly. "Then explain to me how your pet dragged you here. Can you talk to monsters, Your Grace?"
***
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