Offspring
1097 Words
After that moment, they got dressed again.
Kael said nothing. He simply looked at her and then walked out of the office.
Amaris took a deep breath before following behind him.
They returned to the garden, and everyone was still there.
Velkan looked up when he saw them return and smiled mischievously.
“Well… that took quite a while.”
Amaris felt her cheeks burn slightly, but she sat down while trying to act normal.
Kael immediately returned to his cold expression and picked up his glass as if nothing had happened.
Gretel watched them in silence, and the longer she looked at them… the more obvious it became to her that something had changed between them.
“I have to admit that Crimson Moon is much larger than I imagined,” Velkan commented casually.
“You still haven’t seen all of it,” Amaris replied.
Velkan smiled in amusement. He was so different from Kael that even that contrast was obvious.
“Then tomorrow you’ll have to keep showing it to me.”
Kael slowly lifted his gaze toward him. Even though he said nothing, his expression changed.
Aldo noticed immediately, and possibly Gretel did too.
“Besides,” Velkan continued while looking at Amaris, “you explain things pretty well.”
Amaris let out a small laugh. Truthfully, she felt comfortable around him.
“Don’t exaggerate.”
Kael slowly drank from his glass while silently watching the two of them.
Every time Velkan made Amaris smile… Kael clenched his fists beneath the table.
Gretel noticed it too, and it was starting to irritate her.
Dinner ended shortly afterward, and everyone began leaving.
“Good night,” almost all of them said at the same time.
Amaris went upstairs to her room. She expected Kael to come in after her, but he didn’t.
Hours later, Amaris was still awake inside the room.
She couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened in the office.
She let out a frustrated sigh and finally stepped out onto the balcony to get some air.
The night breeze cooled her face.
“You can’t sleep either, can you?”
Amaris quickly turned her head.
Velkan was leaning against a column below, watching her with a calm smile.
“You scared me.”
“Sorry,” he replied playfully.
Amaris looked back toward the garden.
“I just needed to clear my head a little.”
Velkan walked until he was directly beneath the balcony.
“Kael doesn’t sleep much either.”
She looked at him, but even though she understood, she pretended not to.
“Oh, really?”
Velkan shook his head.
“He wasn’t always like this. He changed a lot after Belilah.”
Amaris remained silent, but deep inside, she longed to hear more about him.
“He loved her too much,” Velkan continued, “and after her, he became cold toward everyone.”
Amaris lowered her gaze slightly.
“He’s like that with me too,” she admitted.
“Not as much as you think.”
She looked at him again, confused.
“What do you mean?”
Velkan smiled before answering.
“I’ve never seen Kael behave this way with anyone.”
“Like what?”
Velkan smiled again before replying.
“Jealous.”
Amaris’s heart sped up without warning.
But before she could answer, a cold voice spoke behind her.
“My wife should be resting.”
Both of them immediately turned their heads.
Kael was standing at the balcony entrance, staring at them intensely.
Velkan let out a small laugh.
“Relax, brother. We were just talking.”
Kael completely ignored Velkan.
His eyes were fixed only on Amaris.
“It’s late,” Kael said in a commanding tone.
A small wave of anger crossed through Amaris.
“I don’t need permission to talk to someone.”
Kael’s expression hardened slightly as he slowly approached her.
“This isn’t the hour for conversations from your balcony.”
Amaris kept staring at him without any intention of backing down.
“We were just talking.”
Kael stepped even closer, challenge burning in his eyes.
“With my brother.”
She crossed her arms.
“And does that bother you?”
Kael remained silent for a few seconds before speaking again.
“We’ve shared a bed several times.”
Amaris frowned, completely confused by the sudden change of subject.
“And?”
“Then explain to me why you still aren’t pregnant.”
She had expected those words. In fact, she knew perfectly well that she had been preventing it with her herbs.
“So that’s the only thing you care about when it comes to me. Honestly, that doesn’t surprise me. I’ve known that since the first day I married you.”
Kael didn’t take his eyes off her. He didn’t even blink.
“The only thing I need from this marriage is an heir.”
Amaris felt her chest tighten painfully.
“You seem very eager for me to disappear from your life.”
“You knew perfectly well what your role here was.”
Amaris nodded with a small ironic smile on her lips, although her eyes were beginning to fill with tears again.
“Very well. If that’s what you want… then that’s how it’ll be.”
Kael stared at her intensely.
“I’m sure you’re only saying that so you can run into the arms of—”
Amaris interrupted him immediately.
“Velkan? Your brother?”
Kael’s expression hardened instantly.
“That wasn’t the name I was going to say.”
Amaris let out a humorless laugh.
“But you clearly thought about it.”
For several seconds they stared directly into each other’s eyes.
Amaris crossed her arms, as if she understood that Kael was incapable of seeing beyond his own assumptions.
Then Amaris walked past him and headed toward the door.
“Good night, Alpha Kael.”
And she left the room without looking back at him.
Kael remained motionless, staring at the closed door while fury and jealousy slowly consumed his chest.
“She’s only acting like this so I’ll go after her,” he muttered to himself.
He made a low sound in his throat before opening the door and walking out.
He quickly descended the stairs with the intention of finding her.
“Have you seen Luna Amaris?” he asked one of the maids.
The maid bowed before answering.
“Yes, Alpha. She went out to the large courtyard.”
Kael said nothing.
He simply took the path that led toward the training grounds.
- Writer
