Lily immediately assumed that they were his children. But still, she needed to make sure. So she pulled Lucas' hand closer to her and then she tiptoed to ask him in a whisper. "Lucas, are they.. his sons?"
The Beta nodded. His face suddenly felt hot when Lily spoke in his ear and her breath tickled his skin. For a moment he was dazed and his grip on her arm loosened.
Lily furrowed her brows in confusion and asked again, "But, aren't they the Alpha's sons?"
Lucas nodded. "That's also right."
He didn't want to gossip so he didn't say anything afterward and let Lily make her own conclusion. For a moment, the girl was deep in thoughts and tried to piece together all the information she had received so far. She remembered Nicholas mentioned that he already had the woman he loved.
Was she... the boys' mother?
She wondered what happened between Nicholas, the woman, and Alpha Leland to make them end up in this situation. She turned to Lucas and tried to use her best puppy eyes to make the man share more, but Lucas was not interested in speaking about his Alpha's personal matters.
"Let's go this way, Miss Moonchester," he politely motioned her to follow him to a room where the servants already prepared drinks and snacks.
"Lily," Lily corrected him. "You can call me Lily."
Lucas smiled broadly and nodded. He repeated her name. It rolled really sweetly on his tongue. "Miss Lily. This way, please."
Lily finally relented. She took another look at Nicholas who just arrived at the table and greeted Luciel and Jan who were sitting on the chair with their books. She thought the king really looked happy. This made her feel happy too.
Alpha Leland was nowhere to be found.
She decided to follow Lucas' suggestion. Lily nodded at her men and the lycans came with her to the room prepared for them.
They all sat down and enjoyed the tea and wine served by the maids. Lucas acted as the host and asked them about their pack and their trip around Riga for the peace mission with Nicholas.
Duncan and Max, who also came as representatives of Blood River Pack in welcoming these guests, exchanged glances when they saw Lucas look so visibly smitten by the beautiful Lily Moonchester.
"Do you think he likes Miss Moonchester?" Duncan whispered to Max.
Max bobbed his head and whispered back. "Even a blind man can see it too."
They both giggled like girls and thought Lucas and Lily would look adorable if they could be mates. The Beta didn't realize he was being the subject of gossip by the two lycans and kept pouring more tea and getting more cakes for Lily, while listening to the girls' adventures.
Meanwhile, Nicholas was smiling broadly when he reached the table where Luciel and Jan were waiting for him. He didn't know if they already knew he was their biological father and was not sure if he had to break it down to them.
So, he decided to just come and sit with them and talk to them about their day, just like what he did when he visited them in their manor in Livstad.
"Hey, Luciel. Hey, Jan," he waved at the boys. "Do you still remember me? I came to the manor several times."
Luciel looked up and smiled at Nicholas. "Oh, hi, dad."
Those three words managed to make the king freeze on the spot. His eyes widened and he was dumbfounded.
What did Luciel say just now?
Did Luciel just call him... dad?
The boy rolled his eyes when he saw how Nicholas was surprised. He furrowed his brows and asked the man, "Are you not our dad?"
Nicholas batted his eyes at that question. He turned around to look for help but didn't find either Leland or Sophie. How should he answer this question?
He didn't want to overstep and say things that he was not supposed to say. Even though he badly wanted Luciel and Jan to know that he was their father and that he loved them so much, he wanted the process to be smooth and not forced.
And more importantly, he didn't want to overstep the boundaries set by Leland and Sophie, if any. He was grateful that they finally opened the way for him to have a relationship with his sons and make up for what happened in the past. So, he didn't want them to regret their decision by overstepping his claim.
But the problem was he and Leland had not had any discussion about the boundaries and what he can and cannot do. The Alpha didn't even want to talk to him about the children. He only let Nicholas know that he was invited to tea through his Beta.
Leland's inability to communicate frustrated Nicholas.
"Well... what did your mother tell you?" He decided to play safe and ask them what they were told by Sophie. "Did she tell you that I am your dad?"
Luciel nodded. "Yes."
"She did?" Nicholas was dumbfounded. He didn't expect Sophie would tell the kids the truth. "When?"
His eyes were gleaming. He felt so touched. Even after what happened, she didn't erase his presence from Luciel's and Jan's lives.
"She told us about you after we were born. She didn't want us to forget about you even though you're dead," Luciel explained.
"Huh?" Nicholas was confused.
Jan looked up and added to his brother's words. "She thought you were dead."
"Oh..." Nicholas nodded absentmindedly, "Yeah, I remember."
Luciel added, "She stopped talking about you when we were one year old, but when you came to the manor, I can make the connection and conclude that you are our father because I am smart."
Nicholas was silent. He realized now that when Sophie was pregnant with the boys and after they were born, she must be talking to them about him, so that they would know their father.
However, after one year, she must have fallen in love with Leland and decided to move on and stopped talking about Nicholas to the boys out of respect for her new husband.
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