I looked outside only to find a blue bird roaming outside the window.

"Liraz?"

The small blue bird tilted its head when I called its name.

I walked towards the window and opened it, letting the bird enter inside. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

The bird didn’t waste a single chance as it entered through the gap in my shirt.

’....What’s with him?’

I couldn’t help but wonder as the bird let out his small head, his body trembling as if he was fearing something.

My gaze shifted towards Inna who was staring intently at him.

"Do you know something?" I asked.

Inna looked at my face and shook her head. "I don’t."

I was suspicious of her answer but I didn’t press for more answers.

Instead I asked, "When are we going to execute the plan?"

Inna let out a sigh and rubbed her temples.

"As soon as possible." She replied. "Perhaps tomorrow night."

I nodded my head and turned towards Arawn who was looking at me.

"There will be more than one demigod." I said thoughtfully. "You would need a big distraction to get them."

Arawn gave me a short nod. "Leave that to me."

He vanished after that. I walked towards the door and Inna turned back to golden dust and submerged into my body.

’Are you not going to stay with Christina?’

[<I find solace when I am with you.>]

I shrugged as I had no problem with her being with me.

When I walked outside of the room, I was greeted by the group of girls sitting on the sofa.

Apart from the previous three there was one more girl sitting with them.

"Epione?"

I called the Asuran princess which made her stand up in response.

She let out a deep sigh when she saw Liraz hiding under my shirt.

Epione walked closer and placed her hands on the blue bird.

"...So he ran here."

The small blue bird trembled even more inside my shirt.

I tilted my head prompting her to explain.

"He is like this since yesterday." She mumbled softly. "He led me here, towards you."

"I see...."

I couldn’t quite understand why Liraz would behave like this.

Though it worked in my favor, because of him Epione could stay with us for a while.

Epione gently lifted the small blue bird from my shirt and held him in her palms.

Liraz trembled slightly but didn’t try to fly away.

"...He hasn’t stopped shaking since yesterday," she said quietly.

"You should stay here." I offered her. "Wait till he gets better."

"Yeah, you should Epione." Christina added with a smile. "I want to talk more with you."

I walked towards them and sat down on the sofa beside Nymeria.

Zenith sat opposite us with her face quite stiff because of her presence.

’Hah, I should talk with Nymeria about this.’

Zenith might let go of her previous hatred if Nymeria apologizes.

Epione hesitated for a moment after hearing Christina’s offer.

Her eyes moved between all of us before finally settling on the trembling bird in her hands.

"...Alright," she said quietly. "I will stay for a while."

Christina brightened up instantly. "Alright, we can have a sleepover!"

’Am I invited?’ I shouldn’t ask that for my own safety.

Epione walked towards the sofa and sat along with Zenith and Christina.

Her gaze shifted towards the multiple books on the table along with rituals.

"What are you doing?" She couldn’t help but ask.

"I was looking through the ritual that the priest of the Moon Goddess sent to the head of every family."

Zenith explained, closing the books one by one.

"I am also trying to learn if they have any hidden danger before they implement it."

Epione blinked her eyes as she heard something unusual.

"What do you mean?" She asked, tilting her head. "Haven’t they already begun carving it?"

"What?" I blurted out in confusion.

She nodded her head. "Sir Edel has already green-lit the project." She replied. "They have begun carving it in many places."

’....What the hell?’

Zenith suddenly stood up.

"That’s impossible!"

She grabbed one of the books from the table and flipped it open.

"I have found so many flaws in it, how can he just accept them?"

’....Did Edel make a deal with the church?’

If not then his reaction doesn’t make any sense. Why risk the lives of everyone for such a shady ritual?

’...I need to warn Mariam to stop this nonsense at once.’

This was beyond stupidity.

"Papa!"

A voice boomed within the room before a young girl ran towards me with a smile.

I smiled back as Iffa crashed into me. Behind her were Olivia and Willis.

Along with someone I wasn’t expecting.

’Kaelia...’

The woman had been a little too close with my spirits lately.

Her gaze met mine as she opened her mouth.

"I want a daughter."

---

[Arisha Kingdom, Vendrick Continent.]

Despite getting into bed, Elijah couldn’t get a single speck of sleep till daybreak.

His mind was under so much pressure that he couldn’t sleep properly.

All night he could only look at Heather who had cried until she slept.

’....How can Amaury do such a thing?’

Elijah couldn’t understand what had actually happened to the young man.

He was never the type of guy to send his people into slavery. To sell them for profit.

Yet he had done exactly that.

’...Hm?’

Elijah turned his gaze towards the door when he felt a sudden commotion outside.

He quickly woke Heather up, who groggily opened her eyes.

"Get dressed." He spoke, his voice soft as he stood up.

Knock! Knock!

There were two hard knocks on the door before a voice echoed from the other side.

"Security under the king." The man spoke. "Open the door."

Elijah turned his gaze back to Heather who had quickly walked inside the bathroom.

Elijah slowly opened the door and peeked his head out where two werewolf men stood.

"How can I help you?" He asked politely.

Despite being much stronger than them, Elijah didn’t attack first.

During his stay last night, he had already confirmed that there was at least one demigod in the kingdom.

The werewolf took a sniff of him and his face morphed in anger.

"You are not a werewolf."

Elijah shifted his gaze towards the hunter bows they aimed at him.

He smiled politely. "I am here to meet my werewolf wife."

The two werewolves didn’t lower their bows.

Instead one of them joked.

"Is your wife hot?" He asked. "I would let you go if you let us fuck her."

The other werewolf let out a chuckle unaware of how close he was to death.

Elijah controlled himself, albeit barely.

"She isn’t here." He replied.

They finally lowered the bow.

"Too bad."

The one who joked looked him up and down before he said, "Be aware at night." He said. "There are a lot of cases of people going missing at night lately."

His partner laughed like he heard a sick joke.

Both walked towards the next door of the hotel repeating the same process.

Elijah stood at the door for a second before closing it.

He walked inside and called, "Heather."

The woman walked out of the bathroom.

"What happened?"

"They are looking through hotel rooms." He replied. "And I believe they are also kidnapping people at night."

"...Kidnapping?"

Elijah nodded slowly. "That’s what it sounded like."

Heather walked toward the window and peeked through the curtain slightly.

Outside, the street was already filled with guards.

Groups of werewolves were going from building to building, knocking on doors and questioning people.

"....This is sickening."

Elijah didn’t say anything else as he fixed the bed and took a bath with her before they checked out of the hotel.

During their stay in this place, they hadn’t found a way to meet Amaury.

But they had gathered a lot of information, especially about those who were backing Amaury.

There were three of them: the Baelish family that was selling them weapons and items to subdue any revolution and wage war, in return they were getting hefty sums of money.

House Atretic was providing them with medicines and vaccines, in return they were getting werewolves.

And an organization called ECTO was providing them with information and in return buying land at extremely cheap rates.

In just a few days Amaury had brought his entire kingdom into a chokehold through those three.

Elijah walked beside Heather through the busy street.

The morning sun had already risen but the atmosphere of the city felt strange.

What made Elijah anxious was that people weren’t fearing much.

They were happy because the war hadn’t affected them yet.

He let out a sigh and walked inside a shop and sat on a table with Heather.

A waiter walked towards them.

"Your order."

"Two tea." Elijah responded.

Heather anxiously rubbed her hands while she looked around.

"....What should we do?"

Elijah had no reply as he just sat quietly.

During his time roaming around he also got to know that Amaury was planning to bring a god into his kingdom.

And that thought had him terrified.

’....What the hell am I supposed to do?’

He rubbed his temples and waited for the tea.

The waiter returned after a few minutes and placed two cups of tea on the table.

Elijah wrapped his fingers around the cup but didn’t drink.

His eyes remained fixed on the table as his thoughts ran in circles.

"I think I know who the demigod behind him is."

Elijah finally spoke, making Heather’s eyes widen.

"Who!?"

He didn’t reply because he didn’t like the thought of ’him’ being involved here.

Though he still rubbed his face and looked at the streets.

"This place is going to be destroyed soon, Heather." He said softly. "And I think Amaury is planning something big."

Heather frowned, her eyes blinking in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"He is trying to become a god—."

Before Elijah could say anything else, a horn boomed throughout the entire capital city.

A voice echoed just after a few seconds.

"THE KING AMAURY HAS SUCCESSFULLY TAKEN OVER THREE NEIGHBORING TRIBES!!!"

The announcer roared in a delighted voice.

"EVERYONE COME TO THE MAIN ROAD TO THE CASTLE TO WELCOME HIS MAJESTY!!"

Elijah and Heather looked at each other knowingly.

It was now or never.