Leland wanted her to know about her roots, the side of Anne that Sophie's mother didn't get the chance to tell her beloved daughter. The responsibility was now on Leland's shoulders.
"But it's not nothing!" Sophie argued and then suddenly calmed down a little. She took a deep breath and looked at him. "There is a reason why you come to this human kingdom and hide among us."
Leland couldn't help but be impressed. Even though he didn't say anything to reveal his pack's motives, she was quick to read in between the lines and silence.
"...I know that I am probably not trustworthy yet," Sophie said. "So I understand why you choose to remain silent."
That was only partly true.
Leland cleared his throat and then glanced in the direction of the two lycan pups in their crib. He suddenly asked, "Would it be alright to see them up close?"
"O-oh, yes…" Sophie slowly said and thought he chose to change the subject.
Both Sophie and Leland stepped forward at the same time and then approached the two babies who were still fast asleep. Their eyes were still closed and didn't open yet. Their chests were heaving up and down with gentle breathing. Leland gently looked at them. They had their mother's scent all over them. He loved it so much.
It was so strange to see the lycans so helpless and weak. He felt a strange sense of duty to protect them, not only because they were Sophie's but because they were small and fragile.
"Since they're just newly born, I think it will take the two of them about two weeks before they can open their eyes," Leland said. "Then, they will slowly learn to walk."
"Ah, yes, I actually asked the midwife about that," Sophie looked up at the man and bit down on her lips. Now that the secret about him being an Alpha of the pack was out, somehow, he felt a bit more conversational?
She honestly didn't know.
Leland nodded to confirm.
"May I?" he asked.
"Ah, yes. Uhm… please, be gentle," Sophie said. She gently picked up one of her babies and kissed it on the forehead. It was strange to see them in their lycan forms and not as actual babies.
Never in her life, she thought she would give birth to cute little puppies, and not human babies. However, it didn't make her love them any less. Everything just made sense to her.
It reminded Sophie of Nicholas so much. The twins had their father's fur and it made her smile. She couldn't wait to see what how they would look like as human children when they could finally shift. Would they both have their father's eyes?
She wondered what the future was like for them? When Sophie first came here, she felt that she was only trying to survive.
Her children's future was the most important thing to Sophie. At first, she felt like she needed to put up walls and do what it took to ensure that she and her children lived. But now as she glanced over her shoulder, she saw how the Alpha was kind to her baby.
It almost seemed like she could actually be at peace here.
***
Meanwhile, in the capital. It didn't take too long for Nicholas to make plans to head towards Hastings. The crown prince was aware that this was one of the first few times that his father seemed pleased about his decisions.
Nicholas smiled at the thought but then suddenly looked down at the papers with a frown. He didn't want to jump to conclusions or anything out of the ordinary but he looked at the document and scrutinized them.
"A month after my uncle's death, Lord Ariam Romanov purchased the baron's castle and then moved in with his people," he said aloud.
The crown prince was in his personal study and tapped his foot impatiently beneath his table and was conflicted.
"All of this could have happened simply because of coincidence. Lord Ariam's father passed away not too long ago based on my intel so perhaps the duke simply wished to leave his ancestral homes and travel for a fresh start."
For some reason, Nicholas kept looking at the document and his gut instincts were telling him that something was amiss. He could feel like there was something that connected them but he could be wrong.
He didn't want to solely trust his instincts and wanted to tackle this with only cold rationality and facts… however, the evidence was scarce and there was not much of a lead.
"I'll go visit the place where the carriage accident happened, but my father already said that the incident was so clean." Nicholas frowned hard. "Not swallowed by the earth but by a landslide? Magic?"
Regardless of the evidence or lack thereof, Nicholas stood up and already had his luggage being prepared to head on over to Hastings. He was going to take a discreet appearance and not reveal himself as the crown prince.
"If people were aware that the crown prince came to visit Hastings then it would alert them that I was on to them, so it is much better that I do not let anyone know that I came from the capital."
Nicholas asked for a carriage that did not have the logos of the crown and he also chose to wear plain and simple clothes. He was already dressed in a cloak when he came out to the royal stables.
Even those in the palace would not know that he left because it was to ensure that if there were any spies or ears, they would remain clueless as to the crown prince's whereabouts.
Soon, Nicholas was ready to leave for Hastings. Unfortunately, on the night before he was supposed to leave, the queen fell ill and begged him not to go until she recovered.
"What if I died while you are away?" the queen cried in her bed. "Can you live with yourself if that happened?"
Nicholas only stood rooted in his spot, hearing his mother's plea. He understood his mother cared a lot about him and she was worried something bad happened to him if she let him go.
He couldn't hurt her by insisting to go to Hastings and investigate. She was right. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if she died and he was far away from her during her last moment.
The king looked displeased in the corner of the queen's chamber, but he, too, was hopeless. His wife had been blackmailing him with her weak body whenever she wanted something so badly, like today.
And he had been so used to giving in to what she wanted. He sometimes resented her for it, but there was nothing he could do. She was his queen and the mother of his only son.
However, if this kept going... how could Nicholas grow and become the formidable king that his father expected of him?
"I won't go anywhere, mother," Nicholas faked a smile and went to sit next to his mother. "You have to get well."
The doctor already told the king and the crown prince that Queen Marianne's body was weak and any extra stress could make her condition worse.
At this point, Nicholas sometimes thought he just needed to wait until his mother passed away before he could do whatever he wanted.
.
.
_________________________
From Missrealitybites:
Ahh... too bad Nic wouldn't come to Hastings anytime soon, while his wife and children are finding refuge in another man's home.
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