CHAPTER 171

CHAPTER 171


Reika's POV

All through the night, I couldn't sleep. I just kept replaying the scene with Lena in my head over and over again, rolling from one end of the bed to the other.

And this morning, I was already out here in the garden, hoping that the scent of fresh flowers and the sight of the pups running around would calm the chaos inside me like it had always done in the past, but it was all to no avail.

“Lady Lilith...” one of the pups ran toward me.

She was one of the little girls I had grown familiar with from my several trips to the palace garden. She was no older than four, beautiful, and well-behaved.

“Amanda,” I called, scooping her into my arms and placing her on my thighs. “How are you today?” I asked, patting her auburn hair gently.

“Fine,” she murmured before lifting her innocent face toward me. “Would you like to play with us, Lady Lilith?”

I managed a smile. “No, Amanda,” I replied gently. “Lady Lilith is not in a good mood currently. Next time, okay?”

She pouted sadly, but then she nodded slowly. “Okay.”

She slipped off my thighs and ran off to join the other pups who were circling around a petal tree, singing a rhyme and clapping their tiny hands while stomping their feet against the ground.

A few minutes of watching them passed, and I couldn't help the small smile that tugged at the corners of my lips. They were adorable, and honestly, I wished I had my baby with me too.

Speaking about babies, I now remembered that Ileus had dethroned me and made Ariadne the Queen because she was carrying his child, and the Elders had protested that she was the one who should be Luna.

But now... that same child, the reason I lost my throne and even lost my own child too, wasn't his. I knew Ileus already regretted everything, but this one would ruin him... it would.

“What are you doing out here so early?” Ileus' voice echoed behind me.

I stood to face him, and that was when I noticed her.

Princess Reika was walking unsteadily beside him while he held her wrist gently.

For a moment, it felt like it was just me and the little pretty creature in the world. I stared at her intensely, and now I saw the striking resemblance clearly. She did not only take after Addams with her brown eyes, but they also had the same small pointy nose.

“She started walking yesterday,” Ileus said, his gaze shifting from me to her as he stared at her with so much affection, and Reika laughed at him like he was her knight in shining armor. “Isn't she so adorable?”

Forcing my gaze away from her, I managed a smile despite the churning in my stomach. “Yes, she is so adorable.”

Then he lifted her with one hand and carried her against his chest before pressing a kiss to her forehead. He lowered himself onto the bench, and I sat beside him as well.

The silence between us was almost deafening as thousands of questions ran through my mind.

Even if I wanted him to take action like Lena wanted, I should probably tell him everything today since she didn't want Addams to hunt her down after she left later tonight, right?

But how... how would I even tell him?

I parted my lips several times, but no words came out.

“I thought you'd still be angry at me,” he finally said quietly, his voice drawing me out of my thoughts.

The corners of my lips lifted as I shook my head slowly. “No, I'm not angry at you.”

“But you have every right to,” he countered softly.

He stared at me deeply and with so much affection.

“I love you, but I don't want to be with you. Isn't that crazy?”

I couldn't answer him. I mean, I didn't know what to say.

Before I could speak, Reika raised her head, her brown eyes locking onto me, and a slow smile spread across her face. Then she raised her hand toward me.

She actually wanted me to carry her.

I hesitated. I knew I shouldn't, but I did anyway. I guess I just couldn't bring myself to get over the fact that she was the reason I lost everything, even though she was an innocent victim herself.

“She wants you to carry her.” Ileus pushed her toward me.

Taking a deep breath, my slightly trembling hands reached out and carried her.

The moment she stood on my thighs and touched a stray strand of my curly silver hair, my nerves calmed down and my lips curled into a genuine smile for the first time since last night.

She started laughing so hard that spit drooled out of her mouth, and she began jumping and clapping her tiny hands together.

“Reika has always been selective with people who carry her. In fact... she cries when her own mother carries her. But she lets you carry her and even laughs. That shows just how much she likes you... and that is why I have made a choice.”

My brows narrowed at him. “What choice?”

He fondled my knee gently. “Come to my room tonight. I have something to discuss with you.”

“I will. Me too, I have something to discuss with you.”

Another moment of silence fell between us again, with only Reika's laughter echoing through the air as I tickled her.

When I turned her to face Ileus, her hands immediately reached out toward hi. again, wanting hi. to carry her.

But Ileus hesitated.

“You should play more with Aunty,” he said.

As if the little girl could hear him, she cried out, straining herself in my grip.

“Fa...ther.”

At first, the word made no sense, but then Ileus' brows furrowed and he leaned forward.

“What did you say, Reika?” he asked, his voice thick with disbelief.

The little girl cried harder.

“Say it again and I will carry you,” Ileus insisted.

There was a brief pause before she stopped crying and said,

“Fa...ther.”

Ileus' eyes and mouth widened, and he slapped his palm over his lips.

“You called me father?” He almost couldn't believe his ears. “You finally called me father after all this while that I have been asking you to.”

The excitement bubbling inside him was palpable as he snatched the girl from me and embraced her tightly, pressing a deep fatherly kiss to her forehead.

“I love you, my princess,” he murmured repeatedly as Reika kept calling him father while smiling at him. “I love you so much.”

I had never seen Ileus this excited before in my entire life.

At that moment, something sparked inside me.

You don't have to be a biological parent before you are a parent.

Although Ileus would be hurt if he found out that the poor child wasn't his, I hoped he'd be able to accept it and not let that change the healthy father-and-daughter relationship between them.

And again... I began to rethink my mission.

Was killing Ileus really necessary, even after I knew how much he regretted everything that happened between us?

If he died, Reika's life would never remain the same anymore.

I sighed, confused and frustrated.

I watched as he threw her into the air and caught her over and over again.