Seraphine's POV

I opened my eyes and what I saw was too different from what I expected. Makkun had dark circles under his dull amethyst eyes and an unsettling aura was above him. His lips were pursed and his ragged clothes with misplaced buttons showed how restless he was.

"Makkun..?" His previous appearance seemed like an illusion when all of a sudden, his overall bearing exudes warmth.

"Sese-chan..!!" He happily exclaimed and quickly pulled me to his embrace. I was still dumbfounded by his actions that it took me a while before patting his back in response. "I'm so glad you're alive..!"

"Ehh..?"

"Your pulse was weak and your body was so pale and cold, any normal person could've deduced that you're dead..!"

"What. Mean. You..?"

"Don't you know? You've been asleep for a week!!" I jolted up from my seat.

"Ehh?!!"

What?!!! How could that be?! I just fainted because I was reminded of my traumatic experience regarding what happened almost a decade ago!! About how my parents 'died'!!

Was I really unconscious for that long? That's logically impossible!!

"Isn't it a relief that you woke up?" He smiled with an affectionate expression that I couldn't help but feel my face heat up.

"Hn..." I replied softly.

"Sese-chan, I--"

*bang

The door suddenly opened with a loud sound and came in was ojisama. Like Makkun, he also looked very haggard. Relief swept over his expression and he hurried to my bedside, pushing Makkun to the side.

"You're awake..!!"

"Hn."

"Do you feel any pain?" I shook my head. "Please tell me if you ever feel uncomfortable, okay?"

"Hn."

"Sese-chan..?" I looked straight into ojisama's eyes. "Do you-- nevermind, just get some rest. Brat, come with me. We still have a lot to talk about regarding your obse--"

"Alright, alright, I'll follow you out. But I'm still needed here."

*sizzle 2x

There was electricity between their gazes that explicitly showed their hostility towards each other that left me hanging.

It's true that Makkun is kinda mysterious in a strange way, but why does ojisama hate him so much? Did something happen while I was unconscious?

"You're planning on fending me away from my fiancé, aren't you?" Makkun asked with a smirk but instead of instantly denying his claim, I found myself getting mesmerized by his charms.

He called me his fiancée...

"Y-You brat..! Should I kill you right now?!" A bloody scene of Makkun lying lifeless on the ground triggered my trauma yet again that I had difficulty breathing.

*huff 3x

"Sese-chan..?!"

"Move Nehemiah-ou." I heard Makkun speak in a cold voice as he removed ojisama from his position. He locked eyes with me and flashed a comforting smile. "Breathe Sese-chan, breathe..."

*huff 4x

Makkun rubbed my back while whispering that I should calm down and breathe. It went on for a few minutes until a raven flew in from outside the window with a tiny piece of paper tied to its leg with a red satin ribbon. Both Makkun and ojisama frowned yet they hurriedly composed themselves and nodded to each other.

They suddenly gained mutual agreement, what is this?

"Imogen should be coming here in three... two..." As ojisama said, my personal maid arrived with a tray of steaming porridge. "One."

"H-Himesama..!" She stammered and jumped into a hug with me. "I'm so, so, so happy..!!"

"Hn."

*sniffle 2x

"You don't know how depressed I was when you fainted and worse, I was under the freezing stare of His Majesty and the torturous scheme of this boy..!!" She said in grievance that I tilted my head in bewilderment.

'Torturous scheme' doesn't match well with Makkun's personality. I mean, how could he do that when he's close to being an angel?

"???"

"You better watch your words in front of her, Imogen..." Ojisama said with a smile but instead of coaxing her, she trembled in fear instead.

What's happening? Why is she scared?

"I will adhere to your words, Your Majesty."

"Good." Ojisama nodded in satisfaction then turned to Makkun's direction. "Brat, let's go."

"Bye Sese-chan~~"

"Bye!" I waved at him as he slowly went out.

***

Nehemiah's POV

I wanted to get rid of the halfhuman prince from my granddaughter's side but it seems to require a great effort to achieve. For that, I remained in the shadows and acted only when necessary.

Imogen also begged me to kill the brat but I couldn't, one of the reasons is that he has the substance that could greatly weaken a dragon by half. I could picture myself getting executed by the brat along with my kind.

When the raven faithfully arrived, both of us understood its meaning immediately.

After going out, we headed straight to my private reception room where I frequently receive reports from my spies.

"Let's get to business." I stated, carefully untied the ribbon and opened the scroll of paper.

'They are on the move to capture the silver lotus alive. Their advanced weaponries and magical artifacts to subdue the dark clover and the purple orchid are almost complete. I request more time to investigate more...

--Cyan'

Maxentius stole the paper from my hand and I could see his brows twitch that I snickered in my mind.

"Let me remind you, 'silver lotus' is Sese-chan, 'dark clover' is me while 'purple orchid' is obviously you..."

"I'm not that dumb."

"Well, a purple orchid surrounded by black thorns is the insignia of the Crown Prince of Coelacanth. Isn't it embarrassing to have a girlish symbol such as a flower?"

"I don't care." He coldly dismissed me that I have the sudden urge to smack him in the head.

"You know, you're like the snow..."

"Do you have a few lose screws on the head?"

"It's because my beloved granddaughter sees you as the purest thing not knowing how dirty you are underneath." He finally made eye contact with me with his cold, intimidating amethyst eyes that sent me the slight shivers.

"Nehemiah-ou..."

*gulp

This brat is even scarier than Arcana's wrath!! He's like a demon king with this level of intimidation and bloodlust!

"I advice you to watch your mouth because one day, I might be tempted to sew it shut."

Sese-chan, I'll try to protect you from his clutches even at the cost of my life!!