Leah's POV
My father’s bedroom was located on the top floor of the castle, offering a commanding view of the entire Court. I had never been summoned to his bedroom before, but I once sneaked in when I was little. To my astonishment, it was relatively small. Mr. Carson found me there. He scooped me up in his arms and gently admonished me for wandering into such a restricted area.
"Why is Father’s bedroom so small?" I asked curiously.
Mr. Carson replied, "A Lycan King never sleeps well in giant rooms."
At the time, I didn't understand what he meant, but now, I began to grasp his meaning.
My father sat upright in his bed, supported by a pile of pillows. The air in the room was thick with the grim scent of decay, a telltale sign of the cancer that had relentlessly gnawed away at his once-powerful body. It pained me deeply to see my father, a man who had once exuded immense strength and unshakable will, now lying frail against the pillows. His hair had turned a ghostly grey, with thin, wispy strands clinging to his scalp, framing a face etched with the deep lines of pain and exhaustion.
I had not expected him to look so weak and aged.
"Leah..." his voice was low but steady.
"Yes, Your Majesty," I responded, stepping closer to him.
As I approached, he extended his withered hand. I thought he wanted to hold my hand, but he was merely reaching to switch on the antique lamp on his nightstand. His hand, which had once transformed into a formidable claw capable of tearing through the strongest defenses, was now just fragile skin stretched over brittle bones. Blue veins protruded, charting a map of suffering beneath his pallid skin.
"Don't look at me like that, Leah," he said, waving his hand dismissively. He forced himself to sit more upright, summoning what little strength he had left. His movements were slow and labored, each one sending a ripple of pain through his weary body.
I stretched out my arms, intending to help him, but ended up nervously fidgeting with the edge of my blouse. Somehow, touching my father’s frail arms felt too intrusive.
"You may sit down," he said, his voice sounding unfamiliar to me.
I tried to pull a chair next to his bed, but he shook his head slightly and tapped the edge of his bed.
"Sit closer," he instructed.
I bit my lip and, as I stepped into the circle of lamplight, our eyes met. A surge of emotion swelled within my chest. My father's eyes, though dulled by illness, still held a mixture of pride, love, regret, and sorrow.
"What have you been doing these days?" he asked.
I had been through so much: rejected, reconciled with my mate, pregnant with my husband's child, running away with a male stripper, nearly stabbed by a crazed tailor, hunted by an elite assassin who was supposed to be my protector, kidnapped by my half-brother and a mad scientist, and almost raped by my brother's Beta.
"I... I've been busy... You know, here and there," I mumbled, lowering my head.
"Look at me when you speak to your father," he commanded, followed by a wave of coughing.
I raised my head and stared into his eyes, trying to mask the turmoil within me.
I saw nothing but heart-wrenching disappointment on his face. My own face burned with shame, but I couldn't look away from the inquiry in his eyes.
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty," I said, my voice barely a whisper.
"What are you sorry for?" he asked, his wrinkled face twitching with a surge of emotion.
Taking a deep breath, I replied, "Everything. I apologize for everything I've done."
"Remorse is something you do only before your death," he said, his eyes burning with a fierce determination. "I've lived my life without apologizing to anyone; now, it's time."
"Your Majesty, I…"
He silenced me with a slight wave of his hand.
"What did Leo tell you?" he asked.
"He told me about our ancestry and the enhancement project," I answered. When speaking to someone like my father, I had no choice but to give a straightforward answer.
"Do you have any questions about it?" he inquired. "Because if you do, this might be the last time you can ask me…"
He paused and leaned forward, his frail body trembling with effort.
"I don't have much time, Leah. And as you may have noticed, I need a confession."
"Your Majesty, I'm not interested in learning about our family's origins or the secrets behind the enhancement project. I believe that, as a visionary King, you had your reasons for everything."
As my father heard this, a tear glistened in his eye, a rare and raw display of emotion that left me stunned.
"I do have a question about myself, Your Majesty. And I believe you are the only one with the answer. But I want you to know, I don't want to know the answer. Sometimes it's better if some questions remain unanswered."
My father's lips trembled as he turned his head away, staring into the darkness outside the window. For a long while, we sat in silence.
Then, he slowly turned back to me and said, "I've done so many despicable things in my life that I can't really sleep anymore. I can't sleep… I only dream. And in my dreams, all the people I've killed, all the people I've failed… they all come back to haunt me whenever I close my eyes."
My father covered his face with his long, withered fingers. Eventually, he lowered his hands and stared at me with a blank, soulless look in his eyes.
"I'm not your father, Leah," he said in a plain, hollow voice.
I stood up, my heart pounding.
"Leah, listen to me…"
"No, Your Majesty. I don't want to hear it," I shook my head, desperation in my voice.
"Leah, I am not your father…"
"Please, Your Majesty! I don't want to hear it!"
"Leah…"
I couldn't hold it in any longer. I roared with all my Lycan force, "I already told you! I don't want to hear it! I don't want to hear it! I don't want to hear it!"
The crows outside the window rose up in a panic, circling aimlessly in the air while croaking. The room trembled with the force of my outburst.
He stopped talking. After a while, everything fell quiet again.
He broke the silence, "You already know. Since when have you known about this?"
"Since I learned about the lab you opened in Mediland. All these years, you've authorized Leo to conduct unimaginable tests on innocent rogues, all to find a cure for your cancer. But you didn't realize the true cancer was your own crazy son. He went to great lengths with his enhancement project, but it still couldn't cure your disease. One thing I couldn't understand was why the Moon Goddess told me in my dream to come back and save my father, knowing there was no way to cure cancer. So, the only reason she asked me to come back was because you're not my real father, and my real father is in danger because you want him dead."
The Lycan King stared at me, his face a mask of incredulity.
"The Moon Goddess was right. You are the chosen one…" he murmured, as if lost in a dream.
"Your Majesty," I said in a steady, low voice. "I want you to know that I will do everything to protect my father."
"Does that 'everything' include disobeying your King?" he asked, his eyes narrowing as he studied my face.