The midnight air of the mortal realm had grown crisp, but the heat radiating from the thousands of floating lanterns created a suffocating, dreamlike tension. The amber glow flickered across the stone archway, casting elongated shadows that seemed to twist the festive street into a stage for a tragic, unspoken drama.
The Collision of Past and Present
Princess Merida stepped completely out of the shadows, her midnight-blue silk hanfu rustling like the quiet waves of a dark ocean. Her face was a mask of sheer, unadulterated shock, her delicate features pale beneath the golden lantern light. She stared at Mike, her breath hitching as she forced the words past her trembling lips.
"Did you... did you marry her?"
Her voice was entirely laced with disbelief, a desperate plea for a denial echoing in her quiet tone. When Mike had first spotted her from deep within the dense crowd, she had been a distant, impossible ghost. But now, as she stood directly opposite him, the reality of her presence struck him like a physical blow. He stood paralyzed, his sharp features locked in utter shock as the eyes of the two ex-lovers met, binding them in a suffocating silence that ignored the bustling festival around them.
Emily blinked, her dark eyes darting between Mike's rigid posture and the ethereal goddess standing before them. She stood entirely in the dark, completely unaware that this magnificent celestial woman was the legendary first love who had shattered Mike's heart.
Under the weight of Merida's gaze, Mike's face underwent a brutal transformation. The soft, protective warmth he had shown Emily just moments prior vanished completely, hardened into a cold, unyielding armor of absolute pride.
"Yes," Mike said, his baritone voice slicing through the air with a chilling, definitive sharpness.
Emily's head snapped up, her eyes widening in pure confusion. Why is he lying? she thought frantically, her lips parting to protest, but the terrifying intensity radiating from Mike's silhouette forced her to keep her silence.
Merida's face filled with a profound, devastating sadness. Yet, true to the royal blood of the High Peak, she refused to let a single tear fall before him. Her eyes turned a raw, bruised red as she swallowed the mounting agony in her throat. Her mind raced, a bitter, agonizing thought clawing at her soul: He moved on... so incredibly fast. While I was drowning in the guilt of our past, he already gave his vows to another.
"Who are you talking with, honey?"
A deep, powerful voice suddenly cut through the tragic silence from behind Merida.
The Shadow of the Enemy
Out of the golden haze of the festival street stepped Prince Herrick. His dark sapphire silk robes loomed large as he moved smoothly to Merida's side, his commanding presence instantly shifting the atmospheric pressure of the riverbank. The moment his dark eyes scanned the couple standing before them, they locked onto Mike's face.
Herrick's expression instantly darkened with a dangerous recognition. This was his fiercest enemy—the Grand General of the Fox Realm with whom he had fought a deadly, bloody war for years on the celestial borders.
A slow, mocking smirk spread across Herrick's lips. "You... General," he drawled, his tone dripping with malice. He turned his gaze down to Merida, his large hand possessively wrapping around her waist. "How do you know him, dear?"
Merida felt the crushing weight of Herrick's hand, her chest tightening. In a painful, yet ice-cold voice, she whispered, "We... are..." Her voice trembled violently, unable to voice the history that had once defined her entire existence.
Mike intervened before her composure could fully shatter. "We met in the war, Prince Herrick. Before this... as opponents on the battlefield."
Merida let out a sharp, bitter scoff beneath her breath. "Opponents..." she whispered to herself, the word tasting like poison on her tongue. Raising her head, she forced her voice to ring out louder, looking directly into Mike's guarded eyes. "Yes. We are nothing but opponents."
Herrick chuckled darkly, entirely missing the bleeding subtext between them as he tightened his grip on his wife's waist. "I know. My wife definitely defeated you on the front lines that time, am I right, General?"
"Yes," Mike spoke through grit teeth, his voice vibrating with a dangerous, underlying heat. But inside his mind, a silent, bleeding roar erupted: She didn't just defeat me on the battlefield. After she stole my heart, she broke me. Not once... but twice. His golden eyes turned a fierce, bleeding red as he watched Herrick's fingers rest against Merida's silk robes.
Herrick's smirk completely vanished, his features turning pitch-black with an ancient, unresolved bloodlust. He stepped slightly forward, shielding Merida behind his broad shoulders. "I still have to settle scores with you too, Mike. I am eagerly waiting for our next war."
Mike let out a low, humorless chuckle, his stance remaining perfectly lethal. "I will be waiting."
Unable to endure the suffocating torment for another second, Merida suddenly pulled away from Herrick's grip. "I have to go," she said in a breathless, strangled whisper. She turned on her heel, her midnight-blue robes flaring wildly as she practically fled down the cobblestone pathway. Herrick shot Mike one final, threatening glare before turning to follow his wife into the dark.
A Warrior's Tears
The moment they disappeared, the brittle armor holding Mike together completely shattered. Without a word to Emily, he turned and walked in the exact opposite direction, his steps frantic and uneven as he pushed past the lingering mortals toward the desolate, unlit side of the riverbank.
Emily followed him without hesitation. It took her several long minutes to locate his silhouette beneath the weeping willow trees, far away from the festive lights.
He looked entirely rigid, his massive shoulders trembling slightly against the dark night air. As she stepped closer, the moonlight caught the glint of moisture on his cheeks. He had tears in his eyes—a sight so profoundly broken that it shook Emily to her core.
Hearing her soft footsteps, Mike quickly wiped his face with his sleeve and turned around, his stoic mask trying desperately to reassemble itself.
Emily stepped into his space, her hand rising instinctively to rest against his tense shoulder. Her dark eyes softened with an immense, intuitive empathy.
"Is she your first love?" Emily asked softly, her voice a gentle balm against the cold wind. "I understand exactly how you looked at her... ."
Mike went entirely still, his golden eyes locking onto Emily's face, entirely stripped of his celestial titles, finding a strange, comforting shelter in the understanding of a mortal girl.
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The silver spires of the Celestial Mountain pierced the night sky like jagged shards of ice, casting long, frozen shadows over the sprawling estate Prince Herrick had built for his bride. The palace was a masterpiece of cold, pristine architectural perfection—constructed from rare white jade and translucent moonstone that shimmered with an eerie, quiet isolation. Outside the grand chambers, cascading waterfalls of liquid starlight tumbled down the mountain face, but inside, the heavy silence felt entirely suffocating.
The Fortress of Shattered Vows
Deep within the inner sanctum of the palace, Princess Merida lay backward across the massive, silk-draped canopy bed. She wore a heavy, layered gown of midnight-blue and flowing silver silk that pooled around her like a dark, bruising ocean. Her dark tresses were unbound, spilling across the pristine white satin pillows.
Her porcelain face was utterly broken, her eyes swimming with a warm, unstoppable torrent of tears.
Every time she closed her eyes, the image of Mike standing on the mortal riverbank slashed through her mind. The brutal finality in his baritone voice when he claimed another woman as his wife echoed in her ears like a death knell. Why am I still thinking about him? she thought, her chest heaving with a devastating, suffocating agony. He belongs to another girl now. He moved on, while I am left to rot in the ghosts of our past.
She closed her eyes tightly, pressing her palms against her temples to force the agonizing memories back into the dark.
Knock. Knock.
The sharp sound of knuckles against the heavy mahogany door shattered the silence. Merida went rigid. Wiping her face in a frantic, desperate rush, she sat up straight on the edge of the mattress, forcing her breathing to steady.
The heavy doors slid open smoothly, and Prince Herrick stepped into the room. He had shed his heavy battlefield armor, now dressed in a relaxed, flowing robe of dark sapphire silk tied loosely at his waist. A soft, genuinely breathtaking smile touched his sharp lips the moment his eyes found her.
Merida immediately cast her gaze downward, entirely refusing to make eye contact with him. She couldn't let him see the wreckage inside her soul.
Herrick walked across the expanse of the marble floor, his presence large and grounding as he sat down on the mattress right next to her. "Did you like the lantern festival tonight, Merida?" he asked, his usually commanding voice dropping into a remarkably soft, tender register. "The mortals say it is famous among lovers."
Merida didn't look up, merely offering a slight, rigid nod of her head.
Sensing the heavy wall between them, Herrick reached out, his large, warm fingers gently cupping her chin to tilt her face upward so he could see her. The moment her face met the light, Herrick froze in pure shock. Her eyes were raw, completely bloodshot, and heavily ringed in red from her weeping.
A wave of profound worry washed over his features. "What happened?" he demanded, his grip tightening slightly with protective anxiety. "Why have you been crying?"
"Nothing," Merida lied smoothly, her voice cold and trembling as she tried to pull away. "Some dust from the mortal marketplace got into my eyes on the way back. It's just irritation."
Herrick stared at her, knowing she was withholding the truth, but chose not to push her breaking spirit. With a soft sigh, he raised his hand and summoned a small, glowing vial of celestial magic medicine from his spiritual realm. Leaning in incredibly close, he hovered the glowing liquid over her face.
"Hold still," he murmured.
Merida blinked as he gently administered the cooling magic into her eyes. At such a close, inescapable proximity, she was forced to look at his face. She saw the fierce, unyielding devotion in his gaze—a gentle, fiercely protective tenderness that Prince Herrick showed strictly to her and absolutely no one else in the three realms. Instantly, the magical medicine worked its way through her eyes, washing away the burning redness and restoring them to their normal, porcelain clarity.
Herrick let out a soft, relieved smile, his thumb gently wiping a residual tear from her cheek.
"I am tired," Merida whispered, her heart tightening with guilt under his care. "I am going to sleep now, Herrick."
The Boundaries of Silk and Steel
Before she could pull back to lie down, Herrick's hand suddenly shot out, wrapping firmly around her delicate wrist. Merida stunned, her breath catching in her throat.
With a smooth, powerful tug, Herrick pulled her flushing body directly into his broad chest. His massive hand slid down to trap her waist, anchoring her against him as his other hand gently traced the line of her soft cheek.
"Don't you have anything to say to me, Merida?" he asked, his dark eyes burning with a sudden, suffocating intensity as he looked down at her parted lips.
Merida remained entirely quiet, her body turning completely to stone in his embrace. She couldn't offer him the words he wanted; her heart was still bleeding for a phantom on the riverbank.
Herrick's face came closer, his warm breath fanning across her skin. "I missed you," he whispered hoarsely.
Before she could process his words, Herrick leaned down and captured her lips in a sudden, deeply emotional kiss. Merida gasped in pure shock, her mind short-circuiting as the raw, possessive heat of his lips crashed over her. The intimacy felt like a brilliant flame, but she was still drowning in a freezing ocean. Gathering her strength, she placed her hands against his broad shoulders and sharply pulled back, breaking the contact.
Herrick paused, staring at her breathless, panicked expression. A flash of quiet sorrow crossed his eyes, but it was gone in an instant. He let out a soft, self-deprecating smile and slowly released his tight grip on her waist.
"I am sorry," Herrick murmured, his voice laced with genuine regret. "I overstepped." He paused, his gaze tracking the elegant silver lines of her midnight-blue gown. "But... we are legally married now, aren't we? Shall we...?"
Merida understood exactly what he was asking. The marital bed awaited its consummation, but her soul was too fractured to endure it tonight.
"I am incredibly tired," she spoke softly, her eyes pleading as she held his gaze. "Not tonight, Herrick. Please."
Herrick hadn't expected to be denied, but his expression didn't morph into anger or resentment. He cared for her and loved her far too much to force her into a shell of a marriage. He simply nodded, his smile remaining warm and accommodating. "Very well."
Merida turned away, lying down on her side of the massive yellow silk bed, her back facing him as she pulled the heavy satin sheets up to her shoulders. Herrick quietly extinguished the glowing starlight lamps and lied down on the exact same bed beside her, plunging the room into amber shadows.
The Husky Warning
Rustle.
Suddenly, a large, heavy hand wrapped completely around her stomach beneath the thick bedsheets, pulling her backward until her spine was pressed firmly against Herrick's muscular chest.
"Herrick... you..." Merida gasped, her hands flying down to touch his arm.
"Hush," Herrick murmured, cuddling her deeper into his frame. He buried his face in the crook of her back neck, inhaling the sweet scent of lilies from her hair as he settled down to sleep, his strong arms holding her tightly against his heart. Closed-eyed, his deep baritone vibrated against her skin. "Don't worry, my princess. I am a man of my word. I will never cross your boundaries until you say yes."
A profound, aching warmth bloomed in Merida's chest at his words. Moved by his unexpected nobility and pure gentleness, she slowly twisted her body around beneath the sheets, turning to face him in the dark to ask him a question.
The moment she turned, Herrick's eyes suddenly snapped wide open in the shadows.
Merida froze completely, her lips parting as she found herself staring directly into his dark, fiercely burning gaze. The proximity was entirely suffocating, their noses almost touching beneath the silk canopy.
"I won't do anything tonight," Herrick whispered, his voice shifting into a dangerously husky, deep register that sent a shiver straight down her spine. His eyes locked onto her trembling lips. "But... if you continue to look at me with those beautiful, vulnerable eyes, Merida... I don't think I will be able to obey my own words much longer."
The sheer, raw masculine threat in his husky words left her utterly terrified and breathless. Realizing the dangerous fire she was playing with, Merida frantically spun back around, turning her back to him once more and closing her eyes tightly.
Behind her, Herrick let out a low, amused rumble in his chest, pulling her small body tightly against his warmth as the cold wind of the Celestial Mountain howled outside their closed window.
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The morning sun rose lazily over the horizon of the Cursed Island, filtering through the high, arched crystalline windows of the grand pavilion. Instead of the usual harsh daylight, the island's ancient protective barrier refracted the sunbeams, scattering a soft, mesmerizing pattern of lavender and spun gold across the white marble floors. The heavy butter-yellow silk drapes swayed gently in the morning breeze, carrying the crisp scent of dew-kissed jasmines into the quiet room.
A Heaven on His Lap
Deep within the silk-draped canopy bed, the world was completely still. Jade was sleeping peacefully, her head resting securely on King Justin's lap. She was still clothed in her loose, flowing maternity hanfu of cream silk, the delicate silver embroidery along the hem glittering softly in the morning light. Her prominent six-month pregnant belly rose and fell with her steady, rhythmic breathing.
King Justin sat propped up against the plush velvet cushions, having stayed awake for hours just to watch over her. He wore a simple, unadorned inner robe of midnight-black silk, creating a stark, beautiful contrast against his cascading red hair. Moving with absolute reverence, his large, warm hand traveled slowly through her long dark hair, his fingers gently untangling the silky strands so as not to disturb her rest.
As the sunlight grew warmer, Jade stirred. Her long lashes fluttered open, her dark eyes blinking against the morning glare until they locked onto Justin's soft, golden gaze.
"It's so late..." Jade murmured, her voice thick and velvety with sleep as she attempted to shift. "Am I... did I sleep too long, Justin?"
"No," Justin whispered, his deep baritone cutting through the quiet room like a soothing melody. Bending his upper body forward, he lowered his face and pressed a long, incredibly tender kiss against her forehead. His warm breath fanned across her skin as he lingered there for a moment, anchoring her to his chest. He smiled softly against her skin, murmuring, "Not at all. My both princesses need their rest."
Hearing his words, a strange, profound jolt rushed through Jade's heart. She sat up straight on the mattress, her dark tresses cascading over her shoulders as she carefully braced her hand against her belly. She looked into his striking face, her eyes searching his.
"How did you know...?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly with a deep, hidden emotion. "How did you know it is a baby girl?"
Justin let out a low, breathless chuckle, a devastatingly handsome smirk spreading across his sharp lips. He leaned in a fraction closer, his golden eyes dancing with amusement. "I don't," he admitted softly, reaching out to gently pinch her flushing cheek. "No... I actually just really want a baby girl, so I said it. I want a daughter who looks exactly like her mother."
Jade's gaze softened, a beautiful yet bittersweet smile touching her lips as she looked down at her stomach, her hand tracing the curve where their child rested. "I think... I think we are going to have a baby girl."
Justin's smile widened, a wave of pure, paternal warmth illuminating his royal features. He placed his large palm directly over her hand on her stomach, sealing their warmth together. "Then what name should we call her?" he asked eagerly. "What name should we give our little princess?"
The Secret of the Lost Soul
Jade hesitated. The warmth in her chest suddenly turned into a heavy, suffocating ache as an ancient, bleeding ledger of memories rushed back to haunt her mind. The silence stretched between them, thick and heavy with secrets that belonged to a completely different era.
"I want... I want her name to be Fiona," Jade whispered, her voice cracking with an intense, raw vulnerability.
The moment the name left her lips, Justin's radiant smile completely dropped. The warmth in his golden eyes flickered, replaced by a sudden, inexplicable confusion, as if the word Fiona had struck a dormant, forgotten chord deep within his own soul. He stared at her, his jaw tightening into a silent line.
Jade watched his changing expression, her heart breaking into a thousand shattered pieces. Inside her mind, a tragic, profound realization cried out in silence: Justin... he doesn't know. He might be entirely unaware that he is the true reincarnation of Victor... the great Fox King. He doesn't realize he was his own father's brother in his past life.
She looked at his beautiful, severe face, her vision blurring with unshed tears. My Victor... he has absolutely no idea that we already had a beautiful baby girl named Fiona in our previous life. He doesn't remember the agony of how she tragically died in the dark.
A fierce, unyielding resolve suddenly ignited beneath Jade's profound sorrow. She tightened her grip on Justin's hand, swallowing the bitterness of the past as she looked at the man who had crawled through the wheels of destiny to return to her side.
As she stared into his confused golden eyes, Jade made a silent, unbending vow to herself: In this life... I will protect her with everything I have. In this life, my girl will get the whole happiness, safety, and love she truly deserves. I will never let fate repeat its cruelty.
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To be Continued .....
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