Chapter 1138: Meeting of Royalty
Calidora adorned in a black dress stepped out of the carriage.
Her black heels made contact with the blood-covered ground before she took a deep inhale, viewing the castle, that was now going to be her home. A lot of unfriendly gazes were aimed at her, especially by the castle guards, but she didn't mind them.
"Such a welcoming party," She mused lightly.
All of them were on Evelyn's side, so naturally, they were not fond of Calidora.
"Welcome, Your Highness." Gelmar stepped forward, he was the one tasked with greeting.
But before he could say anything, Calidora walked past him—not forgetting to give her cloak to him with her chin held high. Eerily—the blood that was on the ground followed her, always wetting the next step she was going to take.
Seeing this, Gelmar clicked his tongue and quickly followed her from behind.
"I have been here before, but is there really no welcoming party for me?" Calidora mumbled.
Upon hearing this, Gelmar wanted to curse her out loud.
How can there be a welcoming party when the news strikes the Silverstar Pack heavily?
Even then, knowing that she was going to become a part of the royal family, Gelmar forced a smile and replied with a polite tone, "Please be understanding Your Highness, a banquet was held recently, and we haven't had enough time to prepare,"
"Of course, how can I be so inconsiderate," Calidora mused, giggling lightly.
Her giggle was not directed at the conversation, but the situation of the castle instead.
It was dead silent, and the tension was high which she was extremely pleased with.
Nearing the entrance door to the castle—her crimson eyes sparkled, when she saw multiple figures appearing. All are familiar faces; Evelyn, Gistella, Flunra, and even Rex were standing in wait to welcome her arrival.
Each of them had different things swirling inside their minds.
Gistela and Flunra were there in case Evelyn was unable to control her emotions.
On the other hand, Evelyn was present to welcome Calidora into the castle, out of what little pride she had left. Confining herself to her chambers and avoiding Calidora would amount to a tacit admission of defeat which she refused to make.
As opposed to minding the others, Calidora immediately opened her arms and went to Rex.
"I'm happy that you are waiting for me like this," She said aloud.
Upon hearing this—Rex stopped Calidora by putting his hand, on her forehead—"I'm not the only one who was waiting for you, go on, greet the others. If you are going to stay here then you should at least be on good terms,"
"Of course, I was about to do that," Calidora replied, pivoting to look at the others.
Looking at the others, she offered the same innocent smile.
Compared to her friendly smile, Evelyn's expression was unfriendly, Gistella was avoiding eye contact, while Flunra was on his usual, stoic expression. Calidora proceeded to hug them one by one, starting from Flunra on the farthest right, Gistella on the center, and then Evelyn.
She hugged them for a few seconds, but a tad bit longer when she hugged Evelyn.
Naturally, while hugging, Calidora whispered something in her ear.
"I reckoned this second small bout, victory still leans in my direction?" She whispered.
Being taunted, Evelyn's body tensed as her expression darkened.
Even though the night of the banquet she managed to take almost all Luna energy back from Calidora, and almost half of the Eternal Curse, the fact that Calidora was pregnant with Rex's child triumphed over all of that.
It was supposed to be Evelyn making the score between them even.
But that situation ended up being Calidora's win again.
"Don't be feeling down now, Luna. I am in your den, and when the third time comes, I'll make sure to finish you and the other annoying pests off," She added—taunting through telepathy instead of actually whispering to Evelyn's ear.
Pushed to test the limit of her patience again, Evelyn's expression twisted.
Just then, however, Calidora groaned, "Oww...!"
"What's wrong? Does it hurt?" Rex immediately came over with concern on his face.
He didn't know what happened—but he suddenly saw Calidora, clutching her belly after she hugged Evelyn. "It hurts... Can you bring me to my bed chamber? I think I'm exhausted, from preparing to get here,"
Upon hearing this, Rex casts a look to Evelyn before he nodded, "Okay, hold onto me,"
"Oww, oww, oww...! I don't think I can walk"
"I offered to bring you here with teleportation, but you refused. Now look at you,"
"Are you scolding a lady who is pregnant with YOUR child?"
"Tch! Gelmar, bring her stuff inside and escort the carriages out,"
"As you say, Your Majesty"
Rex carried Calidora in a princess style with her arms around his neck.
He was going inside to bring Calidora to her designated bed chamber so that she could rest.
But as he did this, Calidora played her gaze towards Evelyn, peering lightly from behind Rex's shoulder. Adorned with a sly grin, she raised a middle finger at Evelyn with her hand that was resting on Rex's nape, mocking her once again.
Seeing this, Evelyn's energy fluttered but she desperately held back her anger.
Gistella, on the other hand, stepped forward and asked, "Did you do something to Calidora?"
It was a question at the top of her head, and she blurted it out.
However, when she turned to look at Evelyn, she realized the hideous expression that Evelyn was wearing right now, "I guess not..." She uttered lightly—the look alone shows that she did nothing to hurt Calidora.
Everything Calidora was doing was an act, and it was frustratingly working.
Furious, Evelyn also went back inside without saying a word.
Relieved that nothing substantial happened, Flunra sighed as he could feel Evelyn's wrath.
He was glad that nothing happened.
"What's the gesture Princess Calidora did earlier? Showing her middle finger?" Flunra asked.
Upon hearing this, Gistella exhaled exasperatedly, "It means fuck you in human gestures,"
"Oh..." Flunra ruefully smiled, now getting why Evelyn was that mad.
...
Meanwhile, Scarlet Banes Kingdom territory.
It was the peak of the night, and the last quarter moon was shining brightly in the sky.
Out of the moonlight that it emitted, there was a spot that glowed even brighter, piercing the surface and into what seemed to be an underground chamber. Rubbles could be seen on the ground, covering the entire place.
Aside from the rubble, the format of the chamber was in levels of platform.
Lower platform levels were completely filled with rubbles.
On the other hand, at the highest level, there were a couple of statues standing.
Each one of them looked to be statues of Werewolves.
Underneath the ethereal glow of the moon, a colossal statue on the farthest left was what seemed to be a formidable Werewolf, bigger than the normal Werewolves. Its stony visage began to fracture under the moonlight's gentle caress with white light.
With a resounding crack, the statue shattered, revealing an embodiment of primal power.
Crack!
Coming out of the statue was an actual, monstrous Werewolf.
Even the ground cracked upon bearing its weight.
Visually striking, the Werewolf's skin, resembled polished armor—shimmering in the ethereal glow of pale light. His fur boasted a ghostly palette of white and gray, lending a vicious aura to his presence. His eyes were bright yellow akin to a fierce flame, and his fangs glistened in the night menacingly, exuding a ferocity unmatched by ordinary lycanthropes.
In that moment, he stood as a testament to the raw, untamed might of the night.
Taking a deep inhale of the fresh air of the night, the Werewolf scanned his eyes around.
Feeling the moonlight energy in the air, a shockwave of power exploded from him.
His power shook the entire chamber before he darted upwards, and heads to the surface.
Following the Werewolf's awakening was chaos.
Many Werewolves rushed to the center of their capital city when they heard a loud howl that seemed to be feral and unrestrained. At the sight of the white Werewolf—the Alphas tried to stop his rampage as he was destroying everything in sight.
It was almost as if he was confused as to where he was right now.
Some of the Werewolves from the new era were confused, not recognizing this Werewolf.
"Which generation did he come from? I don't think I know him,"
"You're too young to know. He's Sven, also known as the True Werewolf"
"True Werewolf...?"
"Yes, he's the illegitimate offspring of the Origin, born during the first-ever Super Moon."
"If he's the Origin's son, then why is he attacking us right now?"
"That's precisely why he earned that moniker. We Werewolves draw strength from rage—and Sven, being birthed under the Super Moon by the True Luna, was bestowed, or cursed—with a perpetual fury. He couldn't even talk..."
ROAR!!
Grabbing an unconscious Werewolf Alpha on the neck, Sven roared to the night sky.
He was spreading his dominance over the area.
On the other hand, a moment before Sven awakened, there was a discussion being held at the Werewolf's castle. Storm Prince was sitting among his trusted aids, bickering about the situation of the kingdom.
Each one of them who was sitting inside this room was all of royalty.
Judging from their majestic presence alone—and also the opulent furs adorning their necks, akin to a lion's mane, it was easy to tell that they were all royalty. As the Second Breath was drawing near, the awakening of the Elders was nearly complete.
More importantly, the Princes and Princesses were all awakened already.
All of them are now sitting in this room with the Storm Prince.
"Not making a move when that fraud is weakened is the wrong move, Leif"
"I agree, we lost our chance to strike because of you,"
"Having to defeat the Fifthborn, with our combined might, taking him down would be easy"
Upon realizing that Rex had managed to defeat the Fifthborn somehow, the Werewolves, the royalty to be exact wanted to strike him right after the battle. But the Storm Prince, Leif, was against doing that.
Something in his guts told him that attacking him there would not be successful.
Normally, the other Princes and Princesses would not listen to him but now is different.
None of them seemed to be against Leif's leadership.
Then again, how can they be against his leadership when the Yule Moon graced him?
It has never happened in the past, so this time must be special.
"As opposed to attempting to defeat him now when he's strong," Leif started, leaning forward with a sinister light in his eyes. "We should focus on recovering our strength and reaching the tenth-rank realm before him instead and then strike—when it's certain. After all—the Second Breath is at the tip of our noses already,"
"Cowardly, that's a cowardly move," A Prince replied, unwilling to follow Leif's plan.
However, this made Leif chuckle instead.
"Look outside, Alaric, the world is for the taking—and you wanted to play fair?" He asked.
Upon hearing this, the Prince called Alaric was tongue-tied.
He didn't want to be a coward, but the situation was extremely favorable for a new ruler.
"Let us agree on spreading our forces," Leif added. "The Second Breath—would change, the landscape and expand the world—giving new opportunities. Even though the change, would be random, it shouldn't be a problem for us..."
"Not a problem? Do you even have a way to predict the change?" A Princess asked.
Unlike the others, she was smaller and her muscles were more toned.
Leif, as a response, smiled eerily, "Of course. Did you forget? Before we are sealed by those bastards, the Origin plant trademarks for him—and his family to navigate any obstacles that the Humans prepared, and the trademarks could be of use to us,"
"All of the trademarks made could only be sensed by his family," Alaric replied with a frown. "And his pack and family are mostly killed, and those who survived would not be awakened until the world finished turning back to normal,"
Shaking his head, Leif looked at Alaric meaningfully, "I think you forgot about someone,"
ROAR!!
Suddenly a loud roar reverberated through the entire place.
Upon hearing the roar, Leif's smile spreads even wider, "Oh, seems like he's now awake..."