𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐃𝐀𝐖𝐍 || 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐦 𝐕𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 | 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫

Chapter LX: Duty or Sacrifice

Ruler of All Realms Pt. 2

“WAIT, LANGRIS! Where are you taking me? I’m still not ready to surrender my body yet!” Sophia cried as Langris dragged her down the stone corridors of the Golden Dawn base towards his room.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” He hissed, locking the door behind him as Sophia plopped to his bed like a damsel in distress. A delusional one that was. She put her cape as a cover, protecting herself as if Langris would try to attack her in the dreamiest way possible. Langris only looked at her as if she lost her mind.

“Well it hasn’t been an hour since you stepped foot into this base! It hasn’t even registered to me yet that you’ve returned, and suddenly you pulled me into your room! I know I said I missed you but I think we’re going a bit too f-fast?!”

“Stop your nonsense, Schmitmore, and listen to me,” he said sternly. Sophia quickly sat upright, stiffening.

“O-Oh yeah yeah. That wasn’t me actually, that was my alter personality—Sofie.” She bit her bottom lip as her cheeks flushed. She cleared her throat, looking up at him. “This is about what you just said, right? You’ve been with Solene the past four years and with her…son? Are you messing with me?”

“I’m one hundred percent serious, Soph. Do you think I’m the type of person who pulls random stories out of nowhere?”

Sophia choked a laugh. “How did you even meet her? And wait, better question—how did she just get pregnant so sudden—oh.” She paused, covering her mouth as realization struck her like lightning. “Of course! Of course she’d get pregnant—the captain and her were fucking at 2 am! I remember that so vividly as if I could still hear everything, oh my God, they were right next to my room and I wasn’t able to sleep because of their cries—”

“I don’t need to hear the details, so please stop.” Langris groaned, covering his ears.

“I should’ve expected her to bear a child!” Sophia continued. “Well how am I supposed to know if they were both taking fertility pills or not? But if this is the reason why Solene left the Golden Dawn then it makes perfect sense now! I reckon she did not tell anyone about this. Especially Lord Vangeance.”

He nodded. “Glad you’re keeping up. Solene and I met in a cottage deep within the Mistwood Forest near Arandom Village. Coincidentally, her family and I got close when I landed there as I was traveling. They told me that I could reside in a cottage there, not knowing that Solene occupied it first. Our first encounter was… something. We broke the kitchen wall when we clashed—”

“You what?”

“We did not recognize each other!” He said, heaving out a sigh. “It was only a matter of time before I found out that she was pregnant with Lord Vangeance’s child. She looked so helpless, so I stayed. I told myself I’d stay only after the baby was born, but I couldn’t bring myself to leave anymore. So I took care of the baby as well and helped her raise him until I was ready to return.” He couldn’t help himself to reminisce those scenes in his mind as he trailed off, those heartfelt memories making him smile. He wished he could go back in time to relive those moments again.

Sophia blinked at him as Langris wandered subconsciously in his mind; his eyes dazed. This guy wasn’t the same person she’d seen leaving the squad nor the one she knew when she first joined. In fact, even his very presence felt different. His mana was light and calm, as if he’d just been to a homey place, one that gave him despair to leave behind. He wasn’t the same Langris she’d begged not to leave five years ago.

Then it hit her. “No fucking way.” She gasped, pointing at him with unbelieving eyes. “You have feelings for her!”