"GOOD MORNING, Lord Kalel," Soleil greeted him cheerfully. Then, she froze in her tracks when she saw him standing in the middle of the room. "Oh…"

She came to his room to bring him breakfast, but it seemed like she was the one who was treated to a delicious meal when she saw his gorgeous torso.

It was obvious that Kalel just finished his morning exercise. Thus, he wasn't wearing a shirt even though he wasn't sweating anyway. But who cares about that? Kalel's body made her throat dry. This was the first time she felt this way.

That wide expanse of chest… thin waist… taut hips… muscular arms… and that damned V-line on his abdomen…

And of course, those six-pack abs of his…

Her sinful thoughts were cut-off when Kalel finally put his shirt on.

"Good morning," Kalel said indifferently when he faced her. "Are you done avoiding me now, Soleil?"

She just pouted at his teasing. Yes, she could tell that he was teasing her despite the blank look on his face. "Yes, I'm done avoiding you. How can we be friends if I keep on running away from you?" she asked while pushing the silver food cart into the room. "I brought your breakfast. In case Lady Yumi wants to eat with you, I prepared extra utensils for her."

"Oh," he said, surprised. "Thank you."

She just smiled and nodded.

"My mother says she's going to sleep so she doesn't want breakfast," he said. "Would you like to join me for breakfast instead, Soleil?"

"Oh, sure," she said. To be honest, she really prepared the extra utensils for herself. Saying that it was for Yumi was only an excuse. Because even though she wanted to talk to Kalel, she didn't want to make it that obvious. "I have something to tell you anyway."

He just nodded, then he proceeded to prepare the table.

After a few moments, she and Kalel were sharing a table on his room's balcony. The breakfast she prepared was simple as it was his request to have a light meal in the morning. He specifically seemed to love the brioche that their chef often makes for him.

This time, the chef served brioche as a sandwich instead of sending jam or butter with it. The filling of the brioche sandwich was composed of sliced meats and cheese.

Of course, they had to have tea.

"What is it that you want to tell me?" Kalel asked when both of them were having tea. They ate their sandwiches in silence a while ago. But it was a comfortable silence. Thus, they didn't need to break it for small talk. "Does it have something to do with your trip with Winchell?"

She blinked in surprise. "How did you know that, Lord Kalel?"

"You know how loud your brother is, don't you?"

She let out a deep sigh while shaking her head.

Every morning, Winchell would fly around the palace and the neighboring town to talk to their people. And now that he finally revealed that Solaris was his son, their citizens' respect for the Fire Archmage had doubled. Even Solenn's popularity among their followers had increased.

People began to call them the 'Blessed Family' among the Fire Mage clan.

It seemed like Winchell liked the new title and thus, he often visits the towns and villages around the palace to "grace" the people with his presence.

Of course, since her brother talked a lot, he probably told everyone in the palace about their "upcoming trip." She just hoped that Winchell wasn't stupid enough to reveal the location of their training ground or else, it would defeat the purpose of their away mission.

"My brother offered to train me," she said. "Since we don't know how strong the Crades have become, we need to be extra prepared. I'm also not satisfied with my current strength, so I figured my brother could help me get stronger." She sipped her tea before she continued. "I don't want to be beaten up by Elis Ripperton or any other man again."

He nodded understandingly. "I like your resolve, Soleil."

"Thank you," she said. "Lord Kalel, I apologize for choosing to leave after I invited you to come to our country."

"You don't have to apologize," he said, then he sipped his tea before talking again. "We're both "favored children" of the heavens. We have duties to fulfill. A separation such as this is inevitable."

She nodded in agreement. "Anyway, you can stay here, Lord Kalel. My brother and I intend to return before the prophecied attack of the Crades happens. I already asked Solaris to take care of you while I'm away."

"I'll take you up on that offer," he said. "I found a hidden cave in the deepest part of the forest that surrounds your palace. I found new friends there that I can spar with."

"Friends?" she asked worriedly. "Are there people living in the cave?"

He shook his head. "I'm talking about snakes."

Oh.

How could she have forgotten that he had an affinity for snakes because he was the Black Serpent?

"That's cute," Soleil said with a smile, "Can I meet them after I return from my training, Lord Kalel?"

Kalel nodded, then he turned his gaze away from her. It was too late though. After all, she already saw his cheeks turn pink. "We'll be waiting for you, Soleil."

***

KALEL didn't expect that Soleil leaving the palace would make him feel this empty.

But since he wanted to send her off without making her sad, he decided to keep up the usual blank look on his face.

"Farewell, Lord Kalel," Soleil said in a sad voice. It even looked like she was about to cry. But she was probably holding it back since Winchell, seated on the rail of the gigantic gate of the palace, was watching them with hawk-lile eyes. "I will miss you."

As far as he knew, Soleil and Winchell would only be gone for two weeks at most.

But he understood why Soleil was acting like they would be separated for a long time. After all, even though she was still standing in front of him, he already missed her. Just imagining what his tomorrow without Soleil would look like was already enough to make him feel gutted.

"I'm looking forward to you becoming stronger, Soleil," Kalel encouraged her. "But don't be too hard on yourself. You're already plenty strong."

She laughed softly, then she sobbed again when she extended her hand to him. "For good luck, good sir."

Ah, Soleil and her strange way with words.

Since he didn't want to have regrets, he took her hand…

…then he pulled his "friend" for a tight hug.

"I'll miss you," he whispered in her ear. "Take care of yourself, Soleil."

She nodded and hugged him back. "Take care of yourself as well, Lord Kalel."

This wasn't the first time that he felt Soleil's warm and soft body against his.

But this time, he savored every second of having her in his arms. He wanted to imprint her scent and the feel of her body in his mind. He wanted her scent and her warmth to linger on his body for as long as possible.

At that moment, he realized that he couldn't just be a friend to her.

But I don't want to force my feelings on Soleil either…

"Hey, stop hugging my sister!" Winchell yelled at him angrily. "Do you want to die, Black Serpent?"

"Argh," Soleil complained but she didn't pull away from his hug yet. "My brother is annoying."

"He sure is," Kalel agreed, then he looked up at Winchell and raised his middle finger at him. He saw the Red Phoenix's face turn red in anger, but he just raised his other middle finger at him as revenge. "Winchell's possessiveness with you isn't cute anymore, Soleil."

***

"KALEL, are you alright?" Yumi asked his son that he found sitting on the rail of his room's balcony. As usual, he was staring at the crescent moon in the dark night sky. But as a mother, she noticed that her precious child looked a little gloomier than normal. "Did you get hurt during your training a while ago?"

"No, Mother," her little Nystrom said, then he turned to her with a hollowed look on his face. "Mother, I feel empty."

"Whatever do you mean by that, Nystrom?" she asked worriedly, then she walked towards him and cupped his face between her hands. "What's the matter, my precious son?"

"I already miss Soleil."

She didn't like what she heard.

When she found out that Soleil left the palace with the Red Phoenix, she was delighted. Although they needed that child for their plan, the fact that Soleil was seducing her son didn't sit well with her.

She thought she wouldn't have to worry about that anymore, but it seemed like she was wrong.

That young wench managed to seduce my precious son!

"Oh, my poor little Nystrom," she said, then she hugged her son. She put her hand on the back of his neck and gently pushed his head so that he'd bury his face against her neck. "You're too young to give your heart to somebody else, son."

"If it's Soleil, I don't mind."

"Well, I do," Yumi said, then she buried her face against Nystrom's neck. Without warning, she hissed and bit his neck. He heard his son gasp in surprise, but she just dug her fangs deeper into his skin until her poison entered his body. In just a few seconds, Nystrom fell unconscious. She patted her son's back after he fell asleep in her arms. "Forget about your feelings for Soleil Rosenberg," she whispered. "You should only love your family, my little Nystrom."

***

LUNA saw everything.

Meeting Kalel Moonchester to attach a magical device to spy on him was worth it. Now, she finally knew why a mere human like Auro Moonchester was able to make a puppet of the Black Serpent– the strongest Beast Gods the heavens had ever produced.

"It seems like Kyro and Yumi have collaborated with Auro Moonchester," Luna, seated on the rooftop of the building opposite to where Kalel and Yumi were, said to herself. She wasn't worried about being caught because she was confident with her invisibility spell. It was the kind of spell that also erased her presence. "What a despicable family."

"You've seen something that you shouldn't have witnessed," the androgynous voice in her head said. It was a god, for sure. But she didn't know its exact identity. All she knew was she began hearing its voice when she decided to turn her back on the Moon God. She was sure that it wasn't Kyro though. "Now I know what your punishment would be in your next lifetime, Moon Priestess."

She laughed softly. "I'm still alive and yet, you're already talking about my next life?"

"You wouldn't live long enough in this lifetime," the magical voice threatened her. "Once you're reborn, you'll be blessed with eyes that would bring demise to you and the people that you will love in that lifetime."

"Is that a threat?"

"Are you being threatened?"

Well, not really.

When she decided that she wouldn't support the Black Serpent even though she was the Moon Priestess, she already expected that she would receive some sort of punishment. She just didn't expect that her punishment would happen in her next life and not during this time.

"Interesting," Luna said, then she snapped her fingers to cut off the "link" that the voice created in her mind. By doing so, she would no longer hear it talk to her. She mastered that technique because she never wanted to hear any god's voice in her head again. "I'm not afraid of you, whoever you are."

***

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