Miriam hesitantly followed Heath down the hallway of Almandine Castle into the dining room for breakfast.
On the back of Heath's left hand holding hers was a mark extending to the man's ring finger. It was their imprinting mark.
Miriam also looked at the back of her left hand, which had the same mark. She secretly smiled happily because they had officially become a fated mate.
It had been two days since she had arrived at Almandine Castle. After two days, Heath finally finished his rut and had taken control of himself from fondling Miriam fiercely.
Of course, they were resting between their i*********e, but Miriam didn't come out of the room at all. The maid delivered their food and other necessities after Heath ordered them anyway.
Miriam heard today was the day of the victory celebration that Almandine held to welcome the Old Duke's return from the battlefield.
It seemed that the Old Duke was serious about keeping his promise. He would protect the Amaryllis Pack under his rule. However, Miriam still needed to understand how the Lycan organization system was on this continent. She also needed to learn about her husband's relationship with the Old Duke.
Miriam couldn't understand. Since her husband had just turned into an Alpha Lycan, Old Duke should be unwilling to help him since Old Duke himself was also an Alpha.
An Alpha in power would vehemently reject the presence of other Alphas not from his lineage.
Miriam's thoughts were cut off when the dining room door opened before her. Heath pulled her hand gently inside, and the two bowed to greet the people already seated in the central and adjacent chairs in the room.
"Good morning, Your Grace and Elder Sister," Heath said.
Miriam swallowed her saliva. "Good morning; my name is Miriam Amaryllis. Thank you for welcoming me to your residence."
The girl lifted her face. She saw the Old Duke and… oh.
Miriam was stunned. She saw a pale lavender-haired woman sitting by the Old Duke's side. It was hard to describe what the woman's face looked like. Soft, yet sharp, with deep, shaded eyes.
The woman's eyelashes were also pale, like moon dust, and the light in her lavender irises was like the rays of a shooting star.
The woman smiled impeccably; Miriam had never seen such a beautiful woman.
When she woke up from her trance, Miriam glanced at her husband and then compared her husband's face to hers. Even though their hair and iris colors were different, the woman looked almost like the female version of her husband.
'Elder Sister.'
Miriam remembered her husband was calling her his sister.
So, that beautiful, elegant woman who exuded the same aura of maturity as Heath was his older sister?
"Welcome to Almandine Castle, Miss Miriam. My name is Harriet Goldlane, Heath's elder sister. Ahem, may I call you Miriam?" asked Harriet.
Miriam batted her eyes in admiration. Even this woman's voice sounded so sweet.
"O-o-of course, please call me Miriam. May I call you 'Sister'?" Miriam asked with sparkling eyes.
Harriet raised her eyebrows. This petite girl looked so adorable in her eyes that she wanted to pinch her cheeks.
"I'd love it if you spoke casually to me, Miriam," said Harriet then.
The Old Duke invited Heath and Miriam to sit down and asked the maids to serve their breakfast.
After they sat down, Harriet could see that the expression on her brother's face was unreadable. She had already explained everything to her brother, that she made a deal with the Old Duke and became Almandine's daughter-in-law for his sake. But of course, Heath couldn't accept it right away.
What's more, Heath was scared of Liam.
"When are you going to the capital to talk to the Emperor?" asked the Old Duke, opening up a conversation with Harriet.
Miriam saw that Harriet's expression immediately changed. Harriet's brows furrowed only slightly, and her smile disappeared, but just that alone made the aura she gave off turn intense.
Harriet was annoyed. This was a big problem, especially when it had to do with disputes between continents. But in Harriet's eyes, there was no need to rush.
"We have already sent the report to the Emperor; that way, the Emperor also knows the outline. Of course, I will go to the capital soon," said Harriet calmly.
"Are you worried about me and Miriam?" Heath asked. He added, "There's His Grace here, so about us, you don't have to be too worried about it."
Indeed, Miriam and her family's prisoner of war status had changed to 'relatives,' though Miriam still didn't understand how they had decided it like that.
"If you leave tomorrow, you can return before the next full moon. Don't forget your duty— "
"To give birth to an heir to Almandine Duchy, right? I do not forget. I'm just lazy to face the Emperor, even though I've already declared that I'm retired to have children," said Harriet sarcastically, cutting off the Old Duke's words.
Heath immediately stopped eating, and Miriam blinked and widened her eyes.
Miriam looked at the Old Duke, who awkwardly sipped his coffee to escape Harriet's irritated mood. In Miriam's eyes, Old Duke was a mighty and terrifying Alpha, even more frightening than her late father. Such a man acting cautiously in Harriet's presence made her even more curious.
The dining room door opened, and Miriam saw a man she knew as Daniel entered the room. The man bowed politely and said good morning, then walked briskly to Harriet's side.
"Madam, the celebration preparations are complete. Is it as planned? Lead this celebration as our Luna?" asked Daniel then.
Hearing that, Miriam immediately choked. She apologized after getting everyone's attention, including Daniel. Heath poured water for her and stroked her back gently.
But Miriam's brain was spinning fast. Harriet had an obligation to give birth to the heir of Almandine, and she, too, was Luna. Was she the Old Duke's Luna?
No, no. That shouldn't be it. She could not imagine the Old Duke, such a terrifying and, at the same time, honorable man, having a wife who was much, much younger than him.
"What do you think, Your Grace?" asked Harriet, throwing Daniel's question at the Old Duke.
The older man just nodded his head. He thought it was fitting that Harriet should lead it because he also wanted to introduce Harriet to the people of the North.
"Where should I appear?" Harriet asked Daniel.
"You only need to say a few words at the city center and attend tonight's party at the castle with the various vassal nobles from the north present," explained Daniel.
"Okay," Harriet nodded calmly. "Let's schedule me to go to the capital tomorrow. I'll leave when dawn breaks, so please prepare everything, Daniel. Thank you," said Harriet then.
Daniel bowed and left.
Harriet turned to the Old Duke, who cleared his throat in satisfaction. Since she had finished breakfast and had to leave immediately, Harriet asked permission to leave the table first.
After his sister left, Heath looked at the Old Duke. "Your Grace, are you not going to the celebration party?"
"Yes. But only in the city center. Let the three of us talk tonight, my children, Heath and Miss Miriam," said the Old Duke.
Heath and Miriam nodded.
The Old Duke left after finishing breakfast and prepared to go to the city center with Harriet. Meanwhile, Heath and Miriam decided to have a private talk, too. The existence of Miriam and her Lycan Pack family was indeed still fully protected by the Old Duke so that they couldn't roam freely for a while.
Heath explained that the Old Duke would help them since Harriet had become Almandine Duchy's daughter-in-law. Harriet married the grandson of the Old Duke, the only remaining heir of the Old Duke, but was in worsening condition and said to be dying shortly.
While explaining the matter, Heath couldn't help but remember his meeting with Liam. The young man shuddered.
Meanwhile, Miriam felt ashamed of herself because the speculation in her head was wrong. Of course, Harriet wasn't the Old Duke's Luna, though Harriet was very dignified and elegant, making her worthy of being paired with any commander.
But then, Miriam felt a bit sorry. A woman like Harriet had to marry a dying man for the Old Duke to be willing to protect Heath, an Alpha, and Miriam and her family.
"Elder Sister probably will go to the capital to persuade the Emperor to allow you and your family to stay as new residents of this Empire," Heath explained. "So don't worry, Elder Sister will take care of everything. You have to worry for your family, Miriam," the young man said softly.
"Ah," Miriam tilted her face.
"Will they accept me as your husband?" muttered Heath then.
Miriam blinked.
"You don't have to worry about that, Heath…"
Heath turned back to Miriam and raised an eyebrow. Please let me know if you need to worry.
***
"Alpha!"
"Oh, welcome, Alpha!"
"Black Knight Alpha!"
"Woohoo!"
As soon as Heath and Miriam entered the spacious Villa hall used as the gathering place for Miriam's family, the Amaryllis Pack, he was immediately greeted with cheers and shouts of excitement.
The confused Heath turned to Miriam, who was smiling brightly.
"Did you forget that you were the one who saved me from that magic binding spell?" Miriam asked. And indeed, at that time, Heath's action was witnessed by the Amaryllis family of nearly 600 people.
Heath was relieved.
"Then, now there is only one thing to worry about…"
Aksara