I closed the door without a sound and watched my boys sleeping on my bed.
Hessuel is prostrating with one hand on the twins. And the twins are holding his fingers. I sat beside the bed carefully to avoid disturbing this adorable sight, but the dogs barked despite my effort! It woke up my twins but they remained silent. Their adorable crystalline eyes are looking at me while I'm playing my expressions before them. I crawled toward Hessuel and leaned on my elbows to smell his nape.
The scent of my everything. I bit his ear to wake him up purposely. He winces his eyes and glances at me. "Welcome home, my dearly beloved," I said in a hushed tone. I was squeezing his beefy arm until he took my hand to kiss it gently from my knuckles to the tip of my fingers.
He said huskily, "My dearly beloved...? You don't smell aromantic anymore."
"How can I whenever I'm around you?" I kept leaning my chin on his shoulder, having a close-up view of my favorite eyes while he was staring at the babies.
"It means I bent your precepts."
"Only when I am around you!"
He chuckled at my defense. "Okay~ I'm not attacking your pride," he teases. He slowly turns around and wraps me in his arms, then I find myself comfy on his chest. He's playing with my hair and sniffs the rolled strands on his finger. "Are you happy? You can't keep your smile off."
"All of my issues were solved. I was honored to be the very first female Eldar!" I screamed in excitement to tell him the news. "And then I see you after a long month without you here by the end of the day. That's happiness." I giggled the second he lifted me on my waist to pull me up to his face and kissed me.
"You never changed. You're still the amazing woman I know. I'm happy for you." He's showing me smiling puppy eyes. I leaned my elbows on the pillow behind him to kiss him again. He's looking straight at me as I said between our breaths,
"I can't do it without you. In fact, you deserve an honor too. It's a shame to be the only hero in their eyes when the truth is you're a part of that success. It's not excepting me from guilt."
"It's not important. There's still a chance for me to be a hero..." he glances at the babies, "to them."
He made me smile by the sound of those sweet words. "And you? How come you're here? Does the palace allow you?"
"The case is over. The crimes were solved, too. Sr. Amos will surrender himself to the city of Lanbarc to close the case of the rabid incident. It was proven that my father and I had nothing to do with Mraz's murder, there was zero evidence that might prove me guilty. But my father has to leave that body on behalf of those who sympathize with Mraz’s loss."
I lost my smile when I heard about Biaco's sentence. So many little pups love him and it would be a tragic lie to tell them that Biaco traveled afar while the truth remains hidden: the probability of a death penalty. To some, they should end this happily by ending the other tragically.
"... Are you happy?" I can't address with him directly that I'm feeling inadequate peace in his mind. Or is it just my fear of ruining this precious moment we're having? Or maybe he's less energetic when sleepy!?
"No. It's fulfilling. Being happy is just being happy, but to feel fulfilling means I have felt discouragement and overcame it. Knowing the opposite makes the word happy more meaningful. It's fulfilling," he explained. "It means being more than happy."
"You're very sincere today apparently," I said. Then I sat on his lap and pulled him by his arms. "We're going to make something fulfilling right here! The naming of our babies!"
His eyes twinkles. "Oh, I have suggestions—"
"Before I hear that," I stopped him deliberately because I know what it'll be, "I will name the other and you will name the other. I have chosen my baby with the birthmark on the right jaw!" I got to know the twins just by feeding them throughout the month. "He is gentle and meek. He always reminds me of you. He—"
"Both of them will remind you of me. They got this~" He brags about his look.
"I swear they'll look like me when they grow up!" I manifested my spellbook and resume to the blessing of my child. "I shall name him Danteleon, he who touches the heart of anyone who looks into his eyes." And then I rubbed my fingers that sprinkled magical glitter on him. Hessuel grabs my wrist.
"Wait, what are you doing?"
"Oh, my ignorant wolf, this is how mages bless the newborn werewolf child. Their names have meanings and that is the address of their name. That was how I addressed your name before, remember? Oftentimes, their name is the meaning of their life."
"Aaah. But what about your name?"
"I was blessed in the same manner. Although my name is traditional, all meanings are the same. To find my way back to you."
He blushes and grins his fangs. He suddenly got excited by wrapping his arms around my waist and squeezing me once! "Danteleon... I like it. Continue."
"It's your turn!"
He stares at our baby with the birthmark on his nape and remains silent for a minute. "... He's the one who came out first."
"I didn't know that..."
"One of them should lead while the other can touch the heart... He who... rules anyone who looks into his eyes, Hedwelch."
"That sounds superior. How'd you think about that?"
"Well, it almost sounds like my name! That was your idea too, right?"
I pinched his nose, then I blessed my child. "Hedwelch and Danteleon, welcome to the world," I concluded. They've been silently looking at their surroundings and Danteleon is slowly falling asleep again. This is sweeter than my honor as an Eldar. "When I learned about the blessing of werewolf children, I desired to bless my own children one day." I looked at Hessuel. "It happened today. It's fulfilling."
He initiates the cuddle with our sweet laughter. And we're both alarmed after we heard a broken glass from the kitchen. All of my dogs are here, it's impossible to blame them. Hessuel and Five inspected the kitchen so I played with the twins while waiting. It took shorter than I expected for their report. "It's my father. He was trying to prepare dinner but I already forbade him after breaking a glass."
"The glass doesn't matter! His cooking does!"
"Also, he wanted to talk to us both."
As a result, we ate dinner together—and with the dogs—that night before we proceeded inside the pishnies' land, the hideout Elibur burned before. But it's back to its twinkling beauty again. The pishnies are playing with the twins while we're having a discussion in Haiban's small and messy office inside a tree.
"I have proven there's a cute misunderstanding about my instruction for my son!"
"You mean 'quite'?" I asked for clarification.
Yet he resumes. "Look at this!" He presents a torn page in his old records, a notebook that can only be unlocked by his magic key. "I have written my full instructions for my son in this record but someone invaded my privacy and tore some pages."
Hessuel speaks in a confused tone, "What was that instruction all about?" Then he plays with his fingers. "I've read your record about how you're head over heels to mother~"
"You're one of my privacy intruders?"
"Why not? You were dead. And the pishnies made me read it."
"No problem, son. I bet you found tips from there~" He winks to his son.
"Gotcha~" His son winks back.
"Ugh. So what was the instruction?" I turned back to the topic.
"I've made a deal with the moon. I shall arise again to destroy her children which were in favor of me to destroy Biaco and his whole pack too. I have only told the riddle. The sign of that approach should be the death of a leader which was Mraz, whom my son fought with. Following that, the supermoon will give me the sign. But then I found out that Biaco and my son became ordinary wolves and the two packs are united. I never expected it to be as ruined as that moment!"
I suggested that "It wasn't surprising since it wasn't the moon's core purpose to you. Whoever tore the pages intentionally altered your plan for Hessuel. They might have wanted Hessuel to do your part by killing the Alpha of Vengeance pack because you were dead, and you've only told Biaco your riddle which left them no idea about your personal plans. That was the reason why the Moon's Order pack hoped for Hessuel's arrival. The only people we can blame are Lanasia's ancestors, who are definitely dead by now."
"Too bad. I want to grant them a punishment."
"You were not the one who sent Hessuel in the future to avenge your kind? And does this mean you were planning to annihilate Hessuel once the supermoon came?"
"Why would I do that to our only child? Sending him for such a purpose is similar to sending him to his demise! I sent him in the future to have a life and find his mate to have a family and live with the humans as humans!" He sounds defensive.
"That means you weren't expecting Hessuel to be dead the day you rose from the dead?" I raised an eyebrow.
"No. I was expecting to meet him."
I snapped. "Great! I have a suspect!"
"Does it matter?" Hessuel speaks up again, but he seems happy. "It's all over now. What matters most are the things to come. And it was made clear to me that you didn't use me as a weapon of vengeance for mother's death."
I held my words to protect the genuine happiness he was feeling with his father. That misunderstanding has been putting boundaries between them, and now that it was cleared, it all seems lighter now. "That's right. Let's plan for the future instead," I supported and he exchanged glances with me.
Haiban intervenes by speaking continuously, "Fine you may have my blessing! May the heat of your love ignite for the rest of eternity despite the rotation of blizzard—"
"We'll get married now. I can make instant gowns and decorations, but not instant visitors—"
"Married? You're not humans. And it's not a good idea to make your marriage work at a distance. It's torturing! Look at me! My married life is about distance... a distance of life and death."
"What do you mean? Of course, we'll stay under one roof."
"You can't take your house from Plandreas."
"And why would I? We're not leaving. Are you...?"
"You haven't told her?" he asks Hessuel.
"I was about to..." he answered.
"Tell me what?" I insisted.
Haiban is casually flipping the pages of his spellbook. "I shall take back what I said." He starts an enchantment but I rebuked the power by closing his spellbook.
"That won't work on me."
"It would be better to hear it first from your mate!"
"Tell me what's going on!" I demanded Hessuel.
"Father said it," he passes the question.
These wolves are driving me insane. "Make it clear to me."
"..."
"Don't tell me I didn't warn you about this," Haiban said while he was rummaging through his mess.
Silently, Hessuel took my hand and brought me outside the office. I was observing him from behind and I'm certain that this is the thing that bothers him ever since he came home. I remained calm to listen.