Chapter 16 The Room

Chapter 16 The Room
Aurora’s POV

The news of my pregnancy had changed everything around me, yet somehow nothing inside me felt settled.

Everyone had become softer with me. Fiona fussed over me every few hours, making sure I ate properly, rested properly, drank enough water and did not overexert myself during training. Drake had become annoyingly protective too, following me around like a watchdog and muttering dramatic things under his breath every time I lifted something even remotely heavy.

Nicholas, on the other hand, had become worse.

Far worse.

His training had become stricter, more calculated, more intense. It was as if the moment he learned about the child growing inside me, some invisible clock had started ticking in his head. He trained me harder while simultaneously becoming more cautious about my physical limits.

It made no sense.

And that frightened me.

Because every time I questioned him, he would evade the topic with the same cold expression on his face.

“You are not ready yet.”

That sentence had started haunting me.

Ready for what?

What exactly was coming?

Why did everyone suddenly look at me as if I was carrying not just a child… but something far bigger?

I sat near the huge balcony of my room, hugging my knees to my chest as cool wind brushed against my face. The Dragon Palace looked breathtaking during sunset. The crystal walls reflected shades of gold, orange and crimson while floating lanterns slowly lit up across the kingdom.

Beautiful.

Yet my heart felt heavy.

My fingers unconsciously drifted to my stomach.

A child.

Christian’s child.

A soft ache spread through my chest at the thought of him.

I missed him so much that sometimes it physically hurt to breathe.

I wondered if he hated me now.

No… hate was too small of a word for what Christian probably felt toward witches.

Toward me.

Tears burned behind my eyes again and I quickly blinked them away. I was tired of crying. Tired of feeling weak. Tired of missing someone who probably wanted to destroy me.

Yet despite everything… despite the fear, despite the distance, despite the pain… I still loved him.

Hopelessly.

Desperately.

Completely.

A knock sounded on the door before Drake casually walked in without waiting for permission.

“You know,” he said dramatically while stealing an apple from the fruit tray beside me, “for someone carrying a royal baby, you look disturbingly depressed.”

I glared at him. “For someone who trains all day, you still talk too much.”

Drake gasped theatrically and clutched his chest. “Aurora! Violence. Such violence. This child is clearly inheriting the wolf temper.”

Despite myself, I let out a small laugh.

Drake grinned proudly like he had accomplished some impossible mission.

“There,” he said, pointing at me. “That’s better. Fiona was about to cry seeing your sad face.”

My smile softened slightly. Fiona truly had become like a mother to me these past few weeks. And that only made me miss Maa more.

“I just…” I whispered quietly, staring outside again. “I feel lost.”

For once, Drake did not joke. He walked toward me and leaned against the balcony railing beside me.

“You know,” he said softly, “when my father looks worried, the entire kingdom panics. But recently… he looks terrified.”

I frowned and looked at him. “What do you mean?”

Drake shook his head slowly. “I don’t know. And trust me, I’ve tried finding out. But every time your topic comes up, Father becomes weirdly secretive.”

That uneasy feeling inside my chest deepened.

Before I could ask anything else, Drake suddenly straightened and stretched lazily. “Anyway, enough depressing conversations. Fiona made dessert. If you don’t come downstairs in five minutes, I’m eating your share too.”

“You already eat my share.”

“And I’ll continue doing so proudly.”

I rolled my eyes while he laughed and walked away.

Once he left, silence settled around me again.

But strangely… I suddenly did not feel like staying inside my room anymore.

An odd restlessness stirred within me.

It was subtle at first.

A strange pull.

A whisper.

Soft. Gentle. Calling me somewhere.

I frowned slightly and stood up. The sensation became stronger the moment I stepped outside my room. It felt… warm. Familiar. Almost comforting.

Without thinking much, I began walking through the massive hallways of the palace. The corridors were quiet at this hour, illuminated by glowing crystal lamps embedded into the walls.

The pull inside me kept growing stronger.

Step by step.

Turn after turn.

Until I finally stopped in front of a huge golden door at the far end of an isolated hallway.

I stared at it blankly.

The door was beautiful. Silver vines curled across its surface while crystals shimmered around the edges. Ancient dragon symbols were carved into the center.

And unlike the rest of the palace… this area felt untouched. Silent. Sacred.

I slowly stepped closer.

Then realization hit me.

This door had magical locks on it. Every important room in the palace did. Only selected people could enter them unless the owner granted access… or the aura recognized them.

I should not have been able to come here.

Yet that strange pull inside me intensified. Almost urging me forward.

My heart began pounding.

Hesitantly, I lifted my hand and placed it against the door.

For one terrifying second… nothing happened.

Then suddenly—

Golden light spread beneath my palm.

The dragon symbols glowed brightly.

And the enormous doors slowly creaked open.

My breath caught.

“What…”

I stepped inside slowly, my eyes widening in disbelief.

The room was enormous.

No… it was more like an entire hidden paradise.

My footsteps halted completely as I stared around in shock.

There were plants everywhere. Beautiful exotic flowers bloomed across the room while glowing vines curled around crystal pillars. Small fruit trees stood in corners, heavy with colorful fruits I had never seen before.

A waterfall flowed gently along one side of the room into a clear sparkling pool surrounded by smooth white stones. Warm sunlight filtered through a massive glass ceiling overhead despite it being evening outside.

It was impossible.

No room should have been this large. No room should have been able to hold an entire forest inside it.

Yet here it was.

Alive. Thriving. Beautiful.

And strangely… it felt familiar.

My chest tightened painfully.

I walked deeper inside slowly, touching flower petals softly with trembling fingers. Then my eyes landed on the huge portrait hanging against the far wall.

And I froze.

The woman in the painting looked almost exactly like me.

Same eyes.

Same face shape.

Same dark hair.

Only she looked older… more regal… more powerful.

A gasp escaped my lips.

“Maa…”

It was her. Younger perhaps. But unmistakably her.

Suddenly everything made sense.

This room… this had been my mother’s room.

Emotion crashed into me so hard that my knees nearly gave out. I walked toward the portrait slowly, unable to stop staring.

She looked beautiful in the painting. Happy. Free. Not like the cautious, guarded woman I had always known growing up.

My throat tightened painfully.

How much of herself had Maa hidden from me?

How much had she sacrificed?

I swallowed hard and looked around the room again. This place felt like another side of her entirely. A side I had never known existed.

There were shelves filled with books, crystal artifacts, beautiful dresses and jewelry pieces carefully arranged everywhere. I slowly walked toward a vanity table near the waterfall.

A silver hairbrush rested there beside dried flowers pressed between old pages. Everything looked untouched. As if someone had been waiting to return.

My fingers brushed over a necklace lying there. Then over small trinkets. Tiny handwritten notes. Old ribbons. Pieces of a life abandoned long ago.

And suddenly… I noticed something near the edge of the room.

A wooden chest.

Half hidden beneath hanging vines.

My heartbeat quickened instinctively.

I walked toward it slowly and knelt down.

Inside the chest were old photographs.

Dozens of them.

My trembling fingers picked one up carefully.

It was Maa. Younger. Laughing brightly beside Nicholas and Fiona. And beside them stood a man. Tall. Dark-haired. Handsome. His arm wrapped protectively around my mother.

My breath hitched.

Who was he?

My fingers shook as I flipped through more photographs desperately. Some were family pictures. Some showed Maa smiling freely. Some had Drake as a little child climbing onto her lap.

And then—

I stopped breathing.

One photograph showed my mother visibly pregnant. Standing beside that same mysterious man. His hand rested protectively over her stomach.

Over me.

A strange ache spread through my chest.

I had never seen a single picture of my father before. Never.

My eyes burned.

Then something else caught my attention.

Beneath the photographs… lay an old leather diary.

And beside it…

A sealed letter.

With my name written across it.

“Aurora.”