Chapter 167: Chapter 167

DAHLIA:

Our fated mate bond was still working. I could sense Tristan near me despite not seeing where he actually was.

He must have used his Shadow Rune magic to stay invisible. I’m glad too that he was there. Finding him now would be the least of my worries.

It looked like he was utterly confused when I put Kaist to sleep. I immediately told him my proposition.

“The red ruby – I have it. If you take me to Laudicia on the appointed time, we can stop this war.”

His eyes went round with surprise, and then shortly after, it slated into suspicion.

“What do you mean, Samalah? How did you get the red ruby from Dahlly?”

“It doesn’t matter,” I said, dismissing Tristan’s idea. I did not have time to invent an alibi anyway. “The important thing is I got it, and if we can deliver it to the Apricus king, we can stop this madness.”

“But this is not madness! Kaist has a point. You’re pregnant, so the best thing for you to do is to get out of here.”

“If I get out of here, wouldn’t it be the same as putting a death threat on Dahlia’s forehead? Remember, the last thing the vampires know is that Dahlia has the stone. Do you really want her to suffer like that,” I retorted.

Of course he wouldn’t be able to brush me off if I used Samalah, who was bearing my face, as a reason… Didn’t he love her that much that he would let me die for her instead?...

It took a long time for him to agree though, longer than I had actually expected.

“The spirit stone, do they need to unbind it from you?”

“No,” I lied. “I am hiding it with magic…” Technically, it was just a small lie. The stone had hidden itself inside my body and wouldn’t be visible unless I transform in Eva’s form.

“Are you going to be in any sort of danger if I take you to the vampires?”

“Of course not,” I lied once more. I wondered how many more lies Tristan would require me to spew before he agreed to take me to Laudicia…

Just then, I began to hear the sound of hooves. Goddess, papa and his troops must be on their way to the village gates now!

“I don’t have much time. Are you going to help me or not?”

I’m sure I would be able to manage on my own too, but since I cannot shift, I would probably have to endure a lot of things to get to Laudicia without getting intercepted by papa or Kaist along the way.

“Alright, stay close by. I’ll make us invisible,” Tristan said.

I went down on my knees right next to him, and right next to Kaist whom I had concealed in the bushes.

We stayed like this in silence, anticipating the coming of papa’s troops.

After about five minutes, they came in a procession.

Papa was leading the procession in a horse. He went with about a thousand men, which were all the knights that the Hurst estate had.

As papa’s horse ran close to me, I looked at him with awe and a bit of heartache in my chest. It looked as if he had aged a bit since the last time I saw him.

I stiffened in the bush as papa’s eyes gaze towards me. I felt extremely nervous that sweat began to pour down my body.

Just then, I felt Tristan put an arm on my shoulder. He must have sensed the change in my countenance as the duke passed by before us. Because of that, I remembered that the duke couldn’t see us. We’re safe…

I looked at papa’s back until he had finally become invisible from my view.

My papa… I can’t even say goodbye to him in this form… I hope Kaist never tells him the truth about my switched appearance so that his heart never breaks for me even more…

If Kaist kept that secret and Samalah never wakes up from her slumber, at least papa would be comforted at the presence of her sleeping child, never to know that the real me had to die somewhere in the Shadow Rune’s lands…

A few minutes after the proession had gone, I leaned to Tristan and whispered. “It’s time to move out.”

“Are you serious… You really want to go to Laudicia?”

“Yes… We have three days, right? We just need to evade Prince Kaist and Duke Hurst till then and show ourselves at the appointed time and place.”

That’s right. If I could just hand them the spirit stone inside of me, wouldn’t everything turn out for the better?

It took a long time before Tristan nodded. “Alright. I’ll help you out.”

“Thank you…”

I looked at Kaist’s sleeping body behind me. I couldn’t thank him enough for his help. I said a personal prayer to the Moon Goddess, asking her to help Kaist get a second chance mate – someone who would compliment his patient, kind, and loving nature.

“Are you having second thoughts now,” Tristan asked while I was making a silent prayer over Kaist.

I shook my head. “No… Now that I have people I really wanted to protect, I must go… I must really go.”

That’s right. Nothing can stop me; Not Kaist nor my father… Not even the fact that I was carrying my precious child in my belly…

I stood up from where I had crouched down near Kaist’s body. Tristan caught my arm as he helped me up, his scent of lemon and the forest’s foliage coming on very strongly at me.

He looked at me suspiciously for a long time. What was he thinking?

“You know I find you very weird these past few days, Samalah,” he finally said. “Tell me the truth… Are you hiding something from me?…”

I could only gulp down my rising fears as he continued to speak.

“Tell me, are you really Samalah… the Samalah that I know?”