Why won't he tell me?
Despite my trying to persuade Orm into telling me the update, he just simply smiled at me and told me to wait until everyone was here.
And when is that?
For now, they are training as much as they can despite the limited time we have.
Why is our time limited...
Oh.
Until Maelsa comes back.
Dad must've warned them not to trust Maelsa.
Besides their training, we are also waiting for Khamsin to join us, as well as dad and his underlings.
Dad is coming! I'm so excited!
Besides dad, Leon is joining the meeting too. That is why he is so busy lately that he hasn't visited me at all.
He does ask about me regularly and sends gifts every now and then.
And gentle reminders to practice singing and playing the harp.
Oh, I definitely can't skip practicing, as music is one of Orm's interests.
By the way, everyone was shocked and terrified to see Leon's real form, though only a few still remembered his original form.
Now I'm curious about seeing Leon's real form.
I wonder which one is more terrifying, his real form or his ultimate form?
But he can't look that terrible, since Sly told me that Leon's appearance is an older version of Lion.
Ah, I'm going to find out later anyway.
...
Orm brings me out to the palace garden to practice my singing and harp playing, and there he joins me.
Lately, I've noticed that though nobody gives me dirty looks, they still try to avoid me whenever I encounter them.
Well.. I can't convince them I mean no harm if they refuse to have an open mind.
Whatever.
I just let it be so long as they don't attempt to harm me.
That would be a foolish decision on their part since Orm is beside me and he's looking as if he's ready to tear anyone into pieces if they so much as give me a look. But whenever I glance towards him, he smiles at me with a face that is radiant, as if he's the sun himself.
I can't blame anyone for being reluctant to approach him.
Still, I'm glad that he is getting more expressive compared to how he used to be.
He is more confident in himself and definitely isn't letting anyone else step over him.
I'm so proud of him.
...
There's a spot in the palace garden where Orm likes to spend time with me.
A magical fountain surrounded by dozens and dozens of flowering trees, with tiny flowers that carpeted the ground and pretty, weird-looking fish in the surrounding pond.
It's like you're in another world.
It is not entirely secluded, as a lot of creatures and beings pass by the place, but whenever they see Orm, they turn back to where they came from.
We spent a lot of time here in this place.. hmmm.. actually, we spent most of our time here in this place.
It has reached the point where nobody passes by this place anymore.
Nobody, except for someone I definitely did not expect to see again.
...
Usually, Orm and I just sing or he reads books aloud to me or we just have all sorts of conversation.
Not to mention, sharing lots and lots of affection in between.
There are times when we were too engrossed in sharing our affection that we almost forgot that we were in a public place.
But Orm just assured me that it would be quite daring if someone looked at us. I was about to protest when I saw his eyes.
Ah. It would definitely be suicide for them.
He also has enough sense left in him whenever we go too far with our kissing. No other words are needed, as he will immediately carry me in his arms and bring me back to my room and continue there.
Except one time.
One unfortunate time.
We had a lovely day spending time with each other. Both of us were shamelessly flirting, to the point that Orm became increasingly excited and kissed me hungrily, forgetting that we were in a public place.
It's not entirely on him as I'm getting a bit excited too.
There, we kissed intensely, touching each other without hesitation. Due to my excitement, my ears suddenly changed appearance with a poof.
Orm pulled back and looked at my ears with fascination as he exclaimed that my ears were pointed.
He touched it and asked that if I could change my hair like it was when I was Violet.
I laughed and told him I don't know how to make my hair grow longer, but I can probably manage the color.
It's not exactly the same shade but a bit closer.
Orm facepalmed and murmured that he was truly stupid for not recognizing me at that time. He had been too dependent on his senses, acting without thought.
Not to mention he couldn't sense my scent at that time.
He promised me that it would be different next time as he was also traumatized when he failed to recognize me in my monster form.
After promising me all sorts of things and reassuring me that he would find a way to detect me in whatever form I took, he continued to kiss me passionately, to the point that he started to run his hand along my leg.
He placed me on his lap and held me with one of his arms while the other hand continued to move higher and higher on my leg until...
Someone yelled out his name.
Oh, gosh! This is embarrassing!
We pulled back from our kiss and turned towards the sound when to my horror, I saw Yilan.
To make things worse, I haven't changed back to my normal form yet!
But, what is he doing here? Oh my gosh.. I hope he didn't recognize me!
I need to run away before he recognizes me or it will be chaos!
To my dismay, Orm held me tightly as his tail coiled around us.
Please, just let me go! It would be a disaster if he discovers that I'm the one Yilan is yearning for.
To be honest, I didn't expect Yilan to still be alive.
I was hoping that he had already died.
With all my might, I tried to squirm free from Orm's hold, but I only made it worse as his grip tightened.
When I glanced at him, he had a bored look on his face as he asked his father why he was here.
Yilan walked closer towards him while staring at me with a piercing look in his eyes.
I should not look at him.
He looked hideous as usual.
To my dismay, Orm brushed the hair from my neck and licked it slowly while staring at Yilan, as if he were silently telling him that...
My thoughts were interrupted when Yilan hissed horribly, then loudly, as he accused Orm of betraying him and taking what was precious to him.
What the?!
EW!
GROSS!
HE IS DELUDED!
He yelled all sorts of words which I couldn't understand, but which were terrible to hear. He shrieked and shouted, making a scene which brought out a lot of onlookers, who were curious about the scene between the father and the son, who were both prominent members of the elite.
I just want the ground to swallow me up.
Orm simply smirked at him while marking me all over my neck and shoulders, which made Yilan make all sorts of terrifying sounds, so I clung to Orm for comfort.
My action only made the situation worse. Orm looked triumphantly towards Yilan, lowering the sleeve of my dress and showing everyone my mating mark with him.
Yilan gritted his teeth and murmured that he should've killed Orm back then.
To my surprise, Orm didn't seem bothered by it and instead, told him nonchalantly that he already knew everything.
Yes, including the truth about his mother's death.
Uh, really?
It turns out that Orm had known the truth for a long time but acted like he didn't. Despite the revelation, he felt nothing because he didn't have a strong relationship with his mother.
Orm...
And he knew about his father's obsession with Violet from one of his visits, when his father had kept gripping the pieces of my hair that Lion and I had left behind.
This is awkward.
He knew yet he didn't say anything.
I tried to return to my normal form, but the transformation stone didn't cooperate at all.
STUPID TRANSFORMATION STONE!
A lightning blast nearly struck Orm, but he barely managed to avoid it.
Yilan's sanity seemed to break as he kept trying to hit us with lightning, a cold rage on his face.
Orm thankfully managed to avoid the attacks as he activated a protection spell around us.
As for the onlookers, they kept screaming for help as they all ran away in a panic.
Yilan chuckled in a terrifying way as he told Orm that as soon as he kills him, he will place a spell that would bind me to him for eternity and no one can tear us apart ever again.
I would rather have the demon king eat my soul!
Orm whispered into my ear, assuring me that I'm safe with him and he will make sure that Yilan will not bother me again.
After kissing me softly while Yilan tried to break the protection spell around us, Orm murmured that his father is insane and has lived long enough and is a huge threat to me as long as he is still alive.
Surely, he doesn't mean that...
He means it.
Then he kissed me again, passionately this time and embraced me tightly, telling me that I'm worth it and far more precious than anything in this world.
I told him to keep himself safe and I would support him in whatever decisions he made.
He chuckled and told me that he would be back after getting rid of the nuisance.
Then he placed me inside a bubble, removed the protection spell around us and struck his father with an ice blast spell.
...
Chaos erupted around the palace garden as Yilan and Orm attacked each other with all sorts of magic spells.
I had to admit that Yilan was quite good and managed to put up a fight against Orm.
Yilan's elemental magic is lightning, which is a huge advantage against Orm's water and ice elemental magic. However, despite being at a huge disadvantage, Orm managed to do well.
Another disadvantage for Orm is that he can't fly, as his wings never fully developed during his early years.
I wanted to help him, but I know that this fight is between him and his father. It's so freaking weird that I am the cause of it.
Ew.
I want to vomit.
They are taking their time with the fight, which is getting deadlier as they actively seek to kill each other.
The palace garden is destroyed and thankfully, I'm still safe in my bubble.
Surprisingly, Orm didn't transform into his ultimate form and neither did Yilan, though I'm not sure if Yilan has an ultimate form.
If Orm hasn't transformed into his ultimate form yet, then maybe the fight is manageable.
I was looking for signs of the rest of the pack and Leon coming back when suddenly, my bubble was struck by a lightning blast.
Not only once, but continuously, as if Yilan wants to kill me, too.
Surely he's not that insane, right?
To my terror, his unhinged laughter rang out as he told Orm that if he couldn't have me, then Orm couldn't have me either.
HE IS OUT OF HIS MIND!
Several continuous lightning blasts kept striking the bubble, making me scream in terror until it finally broke and I got hit by one of them.
ARGH! IT HURTS SO MUCH!
I lay there on the ground, stunned and in pain, surprisingly close to death but not quite there.
One small sneeze and I'm sitting on the demon king's lap.
....
What happened next is a blur.
All I heard were terrible sounds and surroundings getting more destroyed as Orm seemed to be getting more unhinged because of what his father did to me.
His attacks seemed more wild and bent on revenge, while Yilan seemed to be having fun seeing Orm lose his composure.
I think my hearing seems weird after I got struck by that stupid lightning blast.
It's as if I can only hear extremely loud sounds.
Thankfully, I was not paralyzed but my skin has burns all over it. The burns have a weird, feather-like pattern. Though I'm not paralyzed, my body feels numb.
Fascinating.
So this is what it feels like getting struck by lightning.
I guess I'm quite lucky, as I know that other survivors have had more painful experiences than mine.
But there's a slight ringing in my ears that's extremely annoying.
Ah. Tinnitus.
What a pain.
Oh, wait.. I got distracted.. how is Orm?
With difficulty, I glanced around and saw Orm in a life and death situation.
Yilan was flying dangerously high while holding Orm's neck, a fall would be fatal for someone who couldn't fly.
ORM!
THAT LUNATIC!
Unfortunately, I could hardly move and could only watch in horror as Yilan released Orm, who fell fast as if he were too drained of energy to save himself.
NO!
ORM!!!
What shall I do? What can I do? I...
That's it! Like what I did to Leon. I'm sorry, Orm, but I don't want you to die.
I reached out to him shakily while speaking the incantation as the transformation stone glowed brightly and Orm's wings suddenly grew and grew until they reached their full size.
I can see the renewed vigor in his eyes as he clenches his teeth and flies for the first time in his life.
With that, I'm assured of Orm's victory as darkness engulfed me once again.
.....
Thankfully, I slept for only three days, but it seems that was too long for the pack, as usual.
Orm was punished by the rest of the pack for failing to protect me fully, but I later learned that he accepted it gracefully.
But to be fair, he had a difficult fight with Yilan, which would have ended in a tragedy if I hadn't interfered.
That's why his punishment was a bit mild, though they all won't tell me what it was.
He is still looking after me and is sleeping beside me while waiting for me to wake up.
When I finally woke up, he was in tears, keeping up a stream of apologies for his failure. I covered his mouth and embraced him, telling him that I was glad that he was safe and that his wings were beautiful.
Instantly, he perked up and showed me his wings and chatted endlessly about them for a long time until he noticed me smiling at him sweetly.
I told him that I'm glad he likes it that much and that he can continue telling me about it after I have my bath and a fruit.
Strangely, after being struck by lightning, my appetite seems to have returned and I'm quite famished, as if I haven't eaten for a long time.
Happily, Orm embraced me and gave me kisses all over my face and neck, whispering into my ear that the threat was no more.
Then he smiled at me lovingly, as if what he just said was simply nothing out of the ordinary.
After that, he carried me towards the bathroom while humming a happy song.