Episode 103

When I arrived at the Crown Princess’s palace, Lothania and Anna were embracing each other, cheering with joy.

I also saw Aiden, kneeling with his back to them.

“Mother!!”

Lothania, noticing me, released Anna and dashed toward me.

She leaped up and down in front of me before throwing her arms around me.

“I awakened, Mother! I’ve finally awakened!!”

I knew how much Lothania had yearned for her awakening.

I also knew how anxious she had become as her fifteenth birthday drew closer.

Lothania was the only heir to Belpator’s throne and a direct descendant of the Luminal family.

Even if she hadn’t awakened, no one would question her legitimacy, but for a Luminal, awakening seemed to mean more than just becoming the master of the beasts.

Hugging the child who was shedding tears of joy, I offered her my heartfelt congratulations.

“Congratulations, Lottie. I’m so happy for you.”

“Thank you, Mother. I was so scared I wouldn’t awaken.”

“See? I told you there was nothing to worry about. I always knew you’d do it.”

As I patted her back, Lothania rubbed her forehead against my shoulder, indulging in a rare moment of childishness.

Though she had been trying hard to grow up quickly, my daughter was still only fourteen—a lovable and adorable young girl.

Behind her, Aiden remained kneeling, his back turned to us, silently serving his new master.

I was about to call out to Aiden when a Royal Guard hurried in and bowed deeply.

“Pardon me, Your Majesty. There’s a disturbance in the prison caused by one of the prisoners.”

The only prisoner they would report to me directly about was Lian.

I had instructed them to inform me immediately if anything happened to him, but a disturbance?

He wasn’t in any condition to cause trouble.

While I tilted my head in confusion, Lothania, with a composed expression, spoke to the guard.

“He’s trying to come to me. Bring him here.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

The guard left as hurriedly as he had arrived. Lothania then turned to Aiden and said, “Lord Tilender, you may rise now.”

At her command, Aiden finally stood up.

He looked at me and Lothania, then lowered his head, but I had a strange feeling that he was avoiding my gaze.

“Aiden, are you all right? You ran off so suddenly. I was worried.”

“I apologize, Your Majesty,” Aiden replied briefly, still bowing his head, then fell silent.

Even though I had expressed my concern, all he offered was an apology—an unusual reaction, unlike his usual self.

As I found his behavior strange, Lothania spoke up on his behalf.

“He must have sensed my awakening. The eagle is probably on its way too.”

“I see…”

“Let’s sit and wait, Mother. Anna, could you prepare some refreshments in the drawing room?”

Lothania guided me to the drawing room with a bright smile.

I glanced at Aiden, who still had his head bowed, before walking with Lothania. Aiden silently followed us.

When Lothania and I sat side by side on the sofa in the Crown Princess’s palace, Aiden took a position near the door.

Usually, he would station himself close to me, but now he stood by the door, like a loyal guard dog instinctively finding its place.

Seeing him like this sent a chill through me.

It was the first time I had seen Aiden in his form as a beast.

On my wedding day, I had been too distracted to notice him, and the first time I saw him after Nerian’s death, his leash had already been removed.

The same unfamiliarity showed in Lian, who arrived shortly after, carried in by guards. Barely able to stand, he knelt before Lothania and swore his allegiance.

Vitrain, arriving at a speed that seemed as if he had flown from the Kidmillan Duchy, also knelt before her, his face unfamiliar as well.

Aiden, Vitrain, and Lian were gone. In their place were the dog, the eagle, and the snake, kneeling before me and my daughter.

Seeing them together, even Lothania seemed to sense the unease.

She turned to Aiden, who had always been at my side, and spoke.

“There’s nothing that will change just because I’ve awakened, Duke Tilender. You should continue guarding my mother as you always have.”

At that, Aiden finally looked at me.

When our eyes met, his lips pressed tightly together, and his face twisted in anguish.

With his crimson eyes swirling with complicated emotions, Aiden slowly approached me.

But in the end, he avoided my gaze and took his place behind me.

It was a reluctant gesture, following his master’s order because he had no choice.

I had braced myself for the awkwardness that might come with Lothania’s awakening and Aiden becoming her beast.

I had also anticipated that his priorities might shift until Lothania released him from the chains of the oath.

But I had never imagined such avoidance, such a pained expression—one that made it seem unbearable for him even to look at me.

Even knowing that Lothania, holding my hand tightly, was watching me anxiously, I couldn’t stop my expression from hardening.

Lothania looked between Aiden and me before seemingly deciding she needed to diffuse the tension. Turning back to Lian and Vitrain, she spoke.

“The same goes for you two. Continue as before. However, I have a question for you.”

Her gaze fixed on Lian’s face.

Lian lowered his head, as if he had been expecting this. Lothania stared at his golden hair with her cold crimson eyes and asked:

“Lian, did you cast a curse on Marchioness Senwood—on my Aunt Bonita—to assassinate my father?”

It felt as if my heart had dropped with a resounding thud.

Did she already know?

How? And since when?

I stared at Lothania’s cold profile, unable to utter a word. Lian, too, remained silent, his head still bowed.

In a surprisingly calm tone, Lothania asked again.

“Answer truthfully to your master’s question, snake of the Empire. Was it you who killed my father?”

Her expression remained unchanged, but I noticed her small fist clenching tightly.

Perhaps she had suspected this for a long time but waited for her awakening to confirm it, afraid the lying serpent might deceive her otherwise.

Maybe that was why she had so desperately longed for her awakening.

Under the command of his master, bound by absolute obedience, Lian slowly lifted his head.

“When I placed the curse on Marchioness Senwood, I had but one desire: to free myself from the chains of the oath.”

“So you used my aunt to kill my father?”

“Yes, Your Highness. I desired the death of my master.”

Lian admitted it with unsettling composure.

I saw tears welling up in Lothania’s large eyes.

In the tense silence that followed, it was Vitrain who finally spoke.

“If you had decided to assassinate His Majesty, there’s no way we wouldn’t have known.”

“We were of one mind back then,” Lian retorted matter-of-factly. “The desire to escape the chains of the oath and the wish for the master’s death are one and the same.”

Behind me, Aiden let out a low growl.

“Don’t spout nonsense. I wanted to be free of the oath’s chains as well, but I never wished for His Majesty’s death.”

“That’s because your desire wasn’t strong enough.”

“Watch your tongue, or I’ll rip it out,” Aiden snarled.

Despite the sharp threat, Lian merely chuckled softly. The serpent, frail and barely able to stand, glared back with defiant, sorrowful eyes.

“If Her Highness were to command you to kill Her Majesty, what would you do? Would your blade strike Her Majesty’s neck, or would you sever the chains of the oath?”

Lian’s gaze shifted between Lothania and me, his eyes lingering on both our necks.

It became clear to everyone in the room what he meant: the oath’s chains were intangible, while its master was right before them.

In that moment, Lian’s assertion—that the desire for freedom and the master’s death were one and the same—became painfully understood.

Aiden’s crimson eyes burned silently, growing darker.

Lothania, startled by the mounting tension between the two beasts, hesitated to intervene, but Vitrain placed his hand on the hilt of his sword and broke in.

“Duke Tilender, stop whatever it is you’re thinking. Otherwise, I might have to kill you.”

“Then try,” Aiden growled, his presence growing even more menacing.

Lothania clutched the hem of my skirt tightly, her anxiety palpable.

As the tension between the two escalated to the brink of violence, I could no longer stand idly by.

“Both of you, stop this at once. Are you planning to draw swords in front of me and Lottie?”

Vitrain glanced at me, seemingly considering my words, but he didn’t lower his hand from his sword.

I turned to Aiden, who was radiating an almost tangible killing intent behind me.

“Put down your weapon, Aiden.”

Aiden, still glaring at Vitrain, slowly shifted his gaze to me.

His crimson eyes were fierce, but they looked more like those of a cornered beast than an enraged one.

His eyes flickered, and with a clenched jaw, he released his grip on his sword.