“I suppose that’s a good reason.”
“I really don’t understand why King Venobich gave you his daughter; he must have known about her lineage.”
“I think he sent her here to die. By sending her, he didn’t want to seal peace, but war. He wanted her to be the reason to start a war again.”
“But things didn’t go as he wanted.”
“No, because he didn’t count on me ending up falling in love with her.”
“And what do you plan to do? Will you tell her about her lineage?”
“I don’t know.”
“She talks to her mother; she could ask her, find out the true story behind all this.”
“Maybe you’re right, but what good would it do her to know her lineage? Besides, we’re not even sure of anything; we don’t know if elves really exist. Maybe it’s just a story.”
“What are you afraid of, brother?”
“Nothing.”
“Well, it doesn’t seem that way.”
“Find out a bit more about the elves, then I’ll think about what to do.”
“If that’s your decision, I’ll respect it, but keep in mind that lying leads to nothing good.”
“I already know that, Cas. I’m not saying I won’t tell her, just that I’ll do it when we have more than just simple suppositions, nothing more.”
Outside in the hallway, the voices of two children were heard. Cassian asked, “Are there children in this place?”
“Yes, they are two orphans that Abril found on the street and brought here.”
“And what does she plan to do with them?”
“For now, keep them.”
Cassian put a hand on his brother’s shoulder and said, “Well, you wanted a kid, now you’ve got two.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. If I take them to the palace as my adopted children, the nobles will make a big fuss and won’t stop until I have a blood child. You know they still haven’t given up on the idea of having another wife.”
“You’re not planning to do that, are you?”
“Of course not.”
Alessandro touched the marriage mark on his hand and said, “If I didn’t consider that idea before, I certainly won’t now. I just want to protect those kids; I’ll find someone to look after them.”
“You could send them to the academy.”
“No, I promised Abril that I would find them a family, and that’s what I intend to do. I’ll keep my promise.”
Alessandro headed towards the door and said,
“Come on, I’ll introduce you to them.”
Upon leaving the room, Alessandro approached Abril and the children, who were touching her hair and asking,
“Is this really your hair color?”
“Yes.”
“It’s red like an apple.”
Abril had always found her hair color unpleasant, as it was red like the color of blood. The fact that the children said it was red like an apple made her realize she had always thought about it the wrong way.
Alessandro, seeing the children touching his wife so casually, said.
“Stop touching my wife.”
The children, hearing the severe tone of Alessandro’s voice, felt scared and hid behind Abril, and she said,
“Lessan, stop, you’re scaring the children.”
Alessandro kissed Abril and said,
“I don’t like other men touching you.”
“They’re not men, they’re still children.”
The children felt hurt by Abril’s response, Cassian laughed and said.
“Aby, I think you’ve hurt their pride.”
Abril patted the children’s heads and said,
“That wasn’t my intention, kids.”
Cassian approached them and said,
“Hello kids, I’m Cassian. What are your names?”
“Otis and Joe.”
Otis responded a bit shyly. Cassian smiled at them and said,
“Nice to meet you guys, my brother is a little grumpy but he’s a good person, so don’t hate him.”
Seeing those children, Cassian understood why Abril had taken them in; they were so thin they seemed almost skin and bone. They must have endured hunger and hardship while living on the streets.
Abril was a person with a big heart; she was kind, sweet, and cared for others, even when those people wanted to hurt her. He knew this all too well because he had wanted to harm her when he first met her, yet she still took care of him. To Cassian, she reminded him a bit of his mother, a good woman who always put others before herself.
That morning, they all had breakfast together. At first, the children appeared hesitant, but Abril made them feel comfortable. When they finished eating, Otis said to her, “Thank you very much for everything you’re doing for us. It seems not all nobles are so bad; not all of them want to harm us.”
Alessandro was intrigued by this and asked him, “What do you mean by that, Otis?”
“On the streets, they say that the nobles were taking the children and doing nothing good with them. That’s why we hid, but we had to go out every day to find food. But every time we saw a noble, we hid. To us, nobles are terrifying, although she was different; she didn’t seem like a noble, she’s good,” Otis said while looking at Abril. Joe, who had been eating in silence, spoke, “Miss Abril is an angel; that’s why we came with her.”
Abril stroked Joe’s head; he was undoubtedly a charming child. She wondered how anyone could harm a child; they were all full of goodness and innocence. To harm them, one must be a monster.
Alessandro had also heard strange rumors, which was one of the reasons he had stayed at the temple. He didn’t want to alert the nobles of his presence; he didn’t want to give them time to hide whatever they were doing in that place.
“Otis, do you know where they were taking the children they kidnapped?”
Otis nodded.
“To Baron Terren’s mansion. I met a boy who managed to escape from there; he said what they did to the children in that place was horrible.”
“And what did they do to them?”
“I don’t know; he never wanted to tell me. He became very distressed every time he remembered it.” “Where is your friend now, Otis?”
Otis remained silent; he didn’t want to betray his friend. Alessandro said to him, “Otis, we have come to catch the bad guys and give them their punishment, but we can’t do it if we don’t know what wrongs they’ve done. Could you take me to your friend?”
“But Onil made me promise not to tell anyone where he’s hiding.”
“I understand you want to keep your promise, but I need to know what’s happening; otherwise, I can’t do anything.”
Otis wasn’t very convinced about betraying his friend. Abril put a hand on his shoulder, conveying reassurance, and said, “Otis, do you want your friends to stop hiding?”
Otis nodded energetically. She stroked his cheek and said, “Then help us stop the bad guys so that the other children don’t have to suffer or hide in fear of being caught.”
Otis had lived in hiding, fearing that some noble would find them and take his brother, doing horrible things to him. Abril was a good person; the kindness she showed was undoubtedly real, not fake. He told her, “Alright, I’ll take you to where Onil is hiding if you promise nothing bad will happen to him.”
“I promise, nothing bad will happen to your friend,” Alessandro replied.
“Then I’ll take you to Onil.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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