CHAPTER 70 - SUDDEN RAIN AND MIRIAM’S STORYHeinrich could not bring back a life that had been lost.
He could only regret everything secretly because right now, he couldn't express his apologies to Almandine, Goldlane, and Amaryllis. It was because he would be considered shameless and a hypocrite.
So he had to come up with another, more reasonable way to pay for everything.
"Julian," Heinrich lowered the teacup from his lips.
Julian, who was sipping his porridge slowly with his whole body wrapped in bandages, lifted his head.
"Let's go home the day after tomorrow," said Heinrich.
Julian's eyes widened at that. The afternoon sun shone on the side of his face from the bedroom window. He lowered his face.
"What if father orders to kill me?" asked Julian.
"He's not that type of person," Heinrich said dryly.
"How do you know?" asked Julian again, in a slightly curt voice.
"Why do you think he sent me here to beg these monsters to save your life?" Heinrich asked.
Julian reacted and flinched at the word 'monster'.
"Monsters, vampires, and even if you turn into a worm, father won't kill you," said Heinrich.
Julian slowly raised his gaze to his brother who was staring casually out the window. His brother had changed. He changed so drastically overnight. Julian didn't know how or why, but he felt more at ease by his brother's side now. He didn't know if it was instinct or what, but he liked his brother better than ever.
"And if there's a problem, I'll take care of it," Heinrich added.
Julian pursed his lips. "You talk like you can do anything," he muttered.
Heinrich saw Julian's expression and chuckled.
"Hmm, I am," he said slowly.
Julian looked at his brother in annoyance.
"What really happened to you?" asked the young man suspiciously.
Heinrich only glanced at his brother for a moment and didn't answer. Instead, he said something else that had nothing to do with what Julian was asking.
"Before heading home tomorrow, let's go visit Miriam Amaryllis."
Julian blinked in surprise. "Why?"
His brother, who had similar facial features to his, smiled faintly with a face filled with regret.
"To get acquainted," he replied.
***
ZRRRRRRSSSHH
The sound of the rain suddenly falling startled the residents of the Castle. The maids rushed to pick up the drying clothes in the very backyard of the Castle, while the Lycan soldiers who were training didn't move an inch from where they were.
Harriet and Miriam were strolling in the garden when it suddenly started raining, and the two of them ran hand in hand under the roof of the castle side passage. Both of them laughed as they saw each other getting drenched.
"It's raining all of a sudden, even the sun is still shining brightly!" said Miriam in the middle of her sweet laugh.
Harriet chuckled. "Looking at the state of the sky, it looks like this rain won't last long," said Harriet.
They had only walked three minutes under the eaves of the passage when the torrential rain slowly subsided into a light drizzle. The two then laughed again at how accurate Harriet's words were.
"The weather is so unstable! Like in the Hortensia Kingdom," said Miriam.
"Oh, does it rain often all of a sudden?" asked Harriet.
Miriam nodded, excitedly telling her about the kingdom called Hortensia. The skies often went from cloudy to clear and cloudy again in a matter of hours, even minutes. While she was there, her family cleared the forest and planted fields. They worked pretty hard for a few months, but when they were found to be monsters, they had to leave.
"We only stayed there for a year, then we moved to the Marigold Kingdom," Miriam said.
As Miriam spoke, Harriet listened with great interest. The other side of the world she had never visited, which she probably would never visit. It was depicted by a young girl who had lived a nomadic life all her life due to growing up in a family of monsters, hunted by humans on the West Continent.
"The Marigold Kingdom is a veeeeeeeeeeery beautiful tropical kingdom. So many colourful flowers, and soaring tall buildings that are luxurious and charming. Everyone is living happily and, in fact, my father has many close friends from the Marigold Kingdom who know that we are a Lycan family!"
"Even though the kingdom was only built 80 years ago! The youngest kingdom in the West Continent is even the richest kingdom there," Miriam became even more excited.
The two of them were still walking toward their rooms to change clothes when Miriam told her about the fertile and beautiful Marigold Kingdom. She described the coasts and seas of the kingdom, rivers and mountains, and their magnificent landscapes.
Miriam continued, "I heard that people in that kingdom have more open minds than people from other kingdoms because of their first king–"
Suddenly Harriet sneezed.
"Ah!" Miriam was surprised and realized Harriet probably felt a lot colder than she was.
"It's all right," said Harriet. "My body has always been healthy since childhood, so things like this aren't a problem, Miriam."
"But we have to be careful! You're pregnant now," Miriam said, as they turned down the hall.
That was when they passed Ezekiel, who raised his eyebrows high in response to Miriam's words that he overheard. His eyes began to widen at the sight of the two drenched women.
"You're… pregnant…" he asked in a low, broken, disbelief voice.
Harriet and Miriam immediately bowed respectfully.
"Your Highness," said Harriet, while Miriam didn't say anything, just bowed awkwardly and didn't dare look up.
Ezekiel was speechless as if a cat had got his tongue.
"Excuse me," Harriet pulled Miriam away, leaving Ezekiel still stunned.
The Crown Prince could not understand. Pregnant? Harriet Goldlane?
Wasn't she…
The handsome face of the man with long blonde hair flashed in his head. Harriet's affair with the man named Theo.
The Crown Prince also recalled the white wolf monster he saw the other day, the wolf monster that woke up and appeared to help the fight after hearing the chaos.
He was Harriet's mysterious husband, Liam Almandine, a giant wolf who looked so strong and incredibly fast, and who was said to only wake up every full moon.
Harriet Goldlane was pregnant, but whose was it? Liam Almandine's… or her lover's?