"Yes, it is and I will be going to contain it. Canton says that if we don't suppress the rebellion now, things may turn darker." Daryn took out a satchel from the wardrobe. "Help me pack wife!"

"I am not saying about the situation, Daryn! I mean that you have to fight alone. That is not done," she gritted.

​​

Daryn snapped his head to look at her. "I will not take you at any cost!"

Dawn pursed her lips. "I am telling you about Caleb! Why can't he go with you? He needs to understand that he can't always bank on you for every damn horrible situation that is thrown at you by fate. He needs to take up the responsibility and help you!"

"Dawn!" Daryn roared with anger. "He is not in the right frame of mind. Elize is unwell."

"I am here to take care of Elize. He should go with you!" she said without fearing him.

"Stop saying that!" Daryn scolded her harshly. "Can't you see how hassled he is already?"

"Weren't you beleaguered when you were in Ixoviya the last time? Both of us had had such a terrible time and that time too he chose to remain with Elize, which was fine but this can't be repetitive. Why should I allow my husband to get into danger?" Her tone was high-pitched laced with anger. "From so many months he is hardly even taking a look at the office work. You are occupied as hell!"

Daryn grunted. He went to stand right in front of her and bared his teeth. "I don't want to hear a word about Caleb. That man is in a dreadful situation."

Dawn knew how stubborn Daryn was, so she threw her last card, "In that case I am going with you."

Blood drained from his face. "What part of 'I will not take you at any cost' did not enter your brain?"

She turned around without answering. She walked up to the door and said, "None! I am going to pack my clothes and tell Cole to keep an eye on the bidding process. As for Caleb, he can stay in the warmth of Silver Mansion, while his brother goes to fight the rebels!" Saying that she opened the door and stopped. She was shocked to find Caleb standing on the door. She looked at him with daggers in her eyes and gruffly walked past him.

Caleb walked in the room. Daryn was too embarrassed to meet his eyes. "She is— just too overprotective…" he explained. "But don't worry brother, I am going and taking care of it…" Daryn threw in his slacks in the satchel. He disliked the regal dresses they had to wear in Norhall Castle.

"She is right, and we both know that," said Caleb. He looked at the floor. "I had long been neglecting my duties and had shoved them onto you. It is time I shoulder the responsibility," he said out of guilt.

Daryn shook his head. He was too uncomfortable now. He ambled to Caleb and said, "Don't worry brother. Take care of Elize. I will manage it." His voice was low and Caleb understood that if he went there and got crowned as the king, it would definitely be an advantage to the state of affairs. No one other than the family knew about Elize, so he could leave her here in Dawn's care. Though his heart cried when he thought of leaving her even for a moment because he didn't know when he would come back. Every minute, every second was precious if spent with Elize. But he had to make a decision.

"Brother…" Daryn said. "It's going to be—"

Caleb raked his fingers in his hair. He turned to go back to his room and inform Elize. As he crossed the doorway, he saw Dawn coming back. She was looking just as angry. She ignored him and strode off to her room.

Elize was sitting up on the bed, impatiently waiting for him. As soon as she saw him, she turned her head to the right and asked, "Please tell me what it is about." She was shivering with anticipation.

He went to sit next to her and hugged her tightly. "I have to leave," he rasped.

"For your office?" she asked as she adjusted her vision.

He took a deep breath. He couldn't decide whether to tell her the truth or lie that he was needed overseas. Or that he might not be returning for a long time? He buried his face in her neck and inhaled her scent. Then he decided to tell her the truth. "I will be going to the kingdom of Ixoviya."

Elize stilled. She removed herself from him and said, "What is that?" Her body quivered at the idea of him leaving her.

"My mother was the queen of Ixoviya. Due to a series of events, she was forced to oust the kingdom. After that since I am her eldest child, I was supposed to be crowned at the king, but I was with you. They were making Daryn the king, but he refused. He says that I am the rightful heir."

Elize's eyes widened. Was there more to all that he had said yesterday? She was being exposed to the world of Lore so rapidly that she was losing the track of it. At the same time a feeling of loss already grasped her heart. "Tell me more."

Caleb narrated to her everything he could in as short a time as possible. When he stopped, she was blinking at him with amazement. "My God!" she said. "I am a strict Catholic, Caleb and I really never believed in anything but Church, so all this is too overwhelming for me."

He clasped her hands and nodded. "I understand dear."

"I can bear everything but I hope that the Lore doesn't have vampires! I hate the very mention of it!"

Caleb cupped her face. Was she accepting him in her life? The way she talked it looked like she was trying her best to accept him, his background and his world in her life and it made him… ecstatic.

"How long?" was her next question. Suddenly she felt she couldn't live without this man even for a second.

He pressed a kiss on her lips. "I am not sure…"

Her body became limp. "Are you leaving me for good?"

"Hell no!" he snapped. "I can't live a single minute without you honey!"

"Then take me with you," she said on an impulse. "To wherever this Ixoviya is."

Caleb stared at her for a long time before speaking. His hands rested on her arms and he gaped at her.

She nodded and clutched his shoulders. "I want to be with you every minute of whatever life is left in me." It was the first time she realized how much this man had started meaning to her. She swallowed her saliva, waiting anxiously for his answer.

When Caleb spoke, his voice was jittery. "You are too fragile, love." He couldn't believe what she said.

"I am ill, but I want to be with you… all the time… from now on…" she confessed. She realized that this was always at the back of her mind. She placed her hands on his face to cup his cheeks. "I love you, Caleb."

Caleb stopped breathing. The feeling was too overwhelming. His mind became numb as he wondered what to say. He wanted to say so many things but found himself saying, "I love you too, mate." He leaned forward and captured her lips with his, softly at first and then fiercely.