"Grandma!" Luciel ran toward Queen Marianne and hugged her. Jan followed right behind him. Ever since they knew that the kind old lady they met in the royal palace was their own grandmother, the boys were so excited about meeting her.
She was their only known grandparent, the others were dead except for Isolde who didn't have any relationship with them because Leland had cut ties with his mother many years ago.
"Gosh... you are so adorable," Queen Marianne gushed. She crouched down and hugged Luciel and then Jan. Her face was beaming with happiness. Nicholas watched the reunion with a very happy heart. His mother was finally getting the grandchildren she so desired.
Now, she no longer tried to find a wife for Nicholas just to produce heirs for the throne. After she found out about the boys, Queen Marianne became content and only wished to live well to her old age, so she could watch Luciel and Jan grow to adulthood.
This brought Nicholas so much relief because his mother never pulled any more stunts to make him think she was dying. If any, she actually looked more and more healthy by the day.
The royal guests were surprised to see the two boys' presence. Some people still remembered them from the last royal party to be the sons of Duke Ariam Romanov, and some only saw Luciel and Jan for the first time.
All of them share the same thoughts, that the boys looked so much like the king. Now, seeing the queen hug them lovingly and the boys calling Queen Marianne as grandma, the guests were all wondering if the boys were actually related to King Nicholas Hannenbergh.
Their curiosity was immediately answered when Nicholas also crouched down and hugged the boys alternately. He rubbed their hair and spoke gently like a father to his sons.
"Welcome home," he said to them.
"Dad," Luciel greeted him. Jan nodded at Nicholas.
The king was smiling broadly when he rose and cast a glance around the ballroom. "Everyone, I would like to make an announcement."
Immediately, the ballroom went silent. Everyone stopped talking and focused all their attention on the king who was about to make an important royal announcement. They were wondering if what he wanted to say had anything to do with Luciel and Jan.
"This is Luciel Hannenbergh and Jan Hannenbergh," he pointed at his sons alternately. "They are my long-lost sons. I am so happy to finally meet them again."
He didn't elaborate on how Luciel and Jan became his long-lost sons. It was not a king's job to make people understand and accept his family. He didn't announce this to get their approval. It was merely an announcement to make the people aware of the new princes.
He knew they must have a lot of questions and he let them find out the answer later through the ministry of information. Tomorrow, the royal family would release an official statement regarding Luciel's and Jan's status. He would let his secretary do it.
Tonight was the moment of celebration. He wanted to focus on that.
Nicholas took a wine cup from the tray of a servant and raised his cup. "Cheers to my mother's 55th birthday. She has lived such a long and fulfilling life. I admire her."
Everyone followed suit and raised their cup for the old queen. They drank their wine together with Nicholas and send the queen well wishes. Queen Marianne Hannenbergh was all smiles during the party. She thought she had got the best present for her birthday. Those were her two grandsons.
She couldn't wait.
After they took the first sip, Nicholas continued his words. "Also, cheers to my sons, Luciel and Jan. They are the heirs to the throne of Riga. They don't live in the capital but I hope soon they could spend more time here and I could prepare them to take the throne when they are older."
Everyone drank to that too. Luciel and Jan were happy to see their grandmother's birthday party seemed to be about them too.
Finally, it was Karenina's turn to greet the boys. She came to them and gave them her best smile.
"Hello, Luciel and Jan..." she looked at them attentively, trying to see any hints of suspicions in their eyes. "Do you still remember me?"
Luciel and Jan exchanged glances. They had met so many people in their lives. It was hard to expect them to remember every single person.
"I do," Luciel said. "I saw you in this palace, during another party," Luciel said. "Am I correct?"
Katherine felt relieved to know the boys didn't seem suspicious.
"Yes, you are correct," she replied heartily. "My name is Karenina Verhoven. Nice to officially meet you Luciel and Jan."
Her heart pounded in excitement when she realized the boys didn't suspect her at all. She wouldn't push her luck by appearing in front of the boys too often.
"Hello, Lady Karenina Verhoven," Luciel replied to the girl. As before, Jan also nodded. They didn't care too much about the woman. They thought she might be their distant relative. That's all.
They preferred to spend time with Queen Marianne.
***
Sophie was enjoying a quiet time at home with Leland in their manor. Their oldest sons were attending a royal event in the palace and Leland had given permission for them to sleep over. He trusted Nicholas' capabilities to protect Luciel and Jan from danger.
Also, the royal palace was equipped and protected by many formidable soldiers and knights, including the Royal Lycan Hunter. They knew Luciel and Jan would be happy.
The babies were already asleep after they became tired of playing chase all day. Sophie had nursed them both to sleep and they were now very full and very sleepy. Carefully, she placed Anne and Jack in their basket in the corner of her and Leland's room.
They had gotten so big now that the basket used to keep them was now the size of a baby crib.
"This is so peaceful," Sophie commented after she finished checking the babies in their basket. She came to Leland who was sitting on the bed with a book. Sophie was surprised to see Leland read more after they experienced peace in their life.
After a while, she realized he did it because he wanted to become more educated in matters of the world, like Nicholas. Now that Luciel and Jan started attending human school and learned a lot from it, Leland was aware that there were many things that they didn't get to learn from the lycan's education system.
He knew Sophie was also quite educated because she attended the academy and studied many things. Nicholas was even more. As royalty, he got the best education from all the best teachers in this kingdom. He knew so much by now.
Leland knew Nicholas' intelligence and his vast knowledge about many things had helped him in his peace mission. This made the Alpha feel motivated to improve himself.
He didn't want to lose from Nicholas in terms of intelligence and knowledge. Now that he was not focusing all his energy on revenge, he could find more time to learn and broaden his horizon.
Sophie kissed Leland's cheek and lay down by his side, her head rested on his chest.
"I really love our lives now," she commented.
"Hm." Leland nodded. He felt the same thing. Now, everything seemed complete and they were living their best lives. He only needed to wait until Anne and Jack were big enough and he would start a confrontation with the Obsidian Sand Pack.
He just needed to settle one last score with them for keeping the traitors from his pack and protecting them all this time. After he beat Alpha Elias in a fight and punished his pack, he would deal with those traitors. Lastly, he would make anyone responsible for his parents-in-law's death wish they were never born.
And only then he would truly feel happy and live a good life.
"Don't you think it's too peaceful lately?" Sophie asked with a hoarse voice. She looked up and threw a worried gaze at her mate. "I have this lingering feeling that something is not right."
Leland closed his book and looked at Sophie. He could feel her worry, but he couldn't pinpoint what exactly made her feel that way.
"Since when?" he asked her.
Sophie shook her head. "I am not sure. I just feel things are too good. I am scared if things are too good."
She suffered so much in her life and usually when good things happened, they would be followed by bad things. She didn't know why, they just did.
Having experienced it all, Sophie couldn't help but wonder if she could truly feel happy. She remembered when she was feeling really happy with Nicholas, suddenly the man disappeared and she was left with two babies in her womb, without a husband.
And when she fell in love with Leland, married him for real, and carried his babies, they were taken from her in such a cruel way.
Bad things always happened after good things.
Now, she was scared that after Leland and Nicholas made peace and they could live a good life together, something really bad would happen.
She couldn't brush off this feeling.
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