Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 137017 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 685(@200wpm)___ 548(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137017 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 685(@200wpm)___ 548(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
I smiled, letting my eyes flutter shut. “Thank you for saving my life.”
Kalon kissed my forehead. “Thank you for coming back to me, my Allie.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Our Feelings
Kalon kept his word, and as soon as the sun rose, he woke up everyone staying in our villa and demanded someone get the doctor there within ten minutes.
It was originally five minutes, but I told him not to be so unreasonable. All things considered, ten was a good compromise.
The Imperial Physician arrived within the allotted time frame and gave me a full health check. All I needed was rest to allow both my powers and my body to recover from the exertion, but I was otherwise completely healthy.
Aerwyna confirmed the same, and Kalon ordered her to begin magic lessons with me once we returned to Stein. He also told her to visit my maternal family, House Lovett, to comb their records for anything relating to someone like me. I hadn’t realised that Duke Lovett, my uncle, was present at the hunt, much less that he’d witnessed the whole thing. Apparently, he’d quickly realised what was going on and sought permission from the Emperor to leave the hunt with Aerwyna to begin their research.
His Majesty had, of course, granted it. He’d sent an Imperial Order to the Magic Tower telling them to hand over what they knew to her without complaint. He’d even gone as far as threatening them all with death if they didn’t co-operate.
It was one mild abuse of authority that not even Milton had complained about.
Under the pressure of the Imperial Order and Duke Trelawney, they had no choice but to comply.
High Priest Dhaesis from the capital’s temple had been part of a delegation that had travelled with the Imperial Family, and he’d arrived with my father and the Emperor—on his second visit of the day—after all that. He’d not told us anything we didn’t know, but he did confirm that the balance of the two powers within me was extremely precarious, and it would take a lot of work on my part to learn them both so they could work in harmony.
The good news was that I could learn to separate them and use them perfectly fine.
The bad news was that in the process of learning that, I could die.
Nobody was surprised when Kalon grabbed him by the collar and threw him out of my room. I got the feeling that wasn’t the first time he’d heard such a thing from him, but I also suspected he didn’t want the High Priest around me anymore than necessary.
Well, my father was a bit taken aback, but that was mostly because he hadn’t seen us together, so he was shocked by how protective Kalon was over me.
What was His Majesty doing while his eldest son was manhandling a man of God?
Giggling gleefully.
That’s right.
He really was in love with love, and our relationship seemed to be his new favourite hobby.
After our fathers left, Kalon had issued strict instructions to everyone that nobody was to enter my room unless the villa was on fire or war was declared on the Imperial Hunting Grounds, then promptly wrapped me up like a burrito and forced me to take a nap.
I hadn’t needed much convincing thanks to the sheer exhaustion that had been snaking through my aching limbs all morning.
Now, I was finally awake, and while he’d stepped out to let Bella and Annie help me bathe, I had a lot to think about.
God had no issue with me telling Kalon everything about our past lives, but it wasn’t the kind of thing one could just bring up over a cup of tea. I trusted Kalon, but that didn’t mean he would believe what I was saying, and I’d just been through a pretty stressful experience.
What if he thought it was all in my head? Could I live knowing that he thought I was crazy?
Maybe… Maybe I needed to find out how he felt about me in his own words. Maybe hearing it from his lips would give me the confidence I needed to tell him about our past lives together.
Because he needed to know. My life was in danger, and he would never forgive me for keeping that to myself.
I didn’t want to keep it to myself.
The paranoia that would come from shouldering the burden of such knowledge all alone would surely drive me insane.
“Here you are, my lady,” Bella said, wrapping a shawl around my shoulders. “Shall I inform the Grand Duke that you’re done?”
“Yes, Bella, thank you. I feel so much better now.” I smiled at her and crossed my ankles under the tea table. After spending days in bed, it was so nice to be up and completely clean, even if I was still in my nightwear.
My room had the prettiest view of a rose garden, and I was happy to be able to finally spend some time seeing it. The fresh air from the open window was a true bonus.