Nichs furrowed his brows when Knight Jerald asked him to repeat his words instead of pinching him as the king requested. So, Nichs decided to pinch himself to make sure he was not hallucinating.


    "OUCH!"


    Nichs realized it was real. What made Lnd want to bring Sophie and the kids to the royal pce? All this time he seemed to avoid the ce like the gue. He only let Luciel and Jane to visit, Nichs would be the one toe and pick them up with several knights. Lnd wouldn''te to the pce at all.


    So, seeing hime today made Nichs feel surprised. And to think that he also brought his mate? It was something that Nichs never dreamed would happen.


    ***


    "Duke Ariam Romanov and his family have just arrived, Your Majesty," said the royal butler politely. Nichs who was pacing in his study immediately dashed through the door and went to the pce courtyard. He missed her so, so badly and really wanted to see her face again and...


    ''Stop it, Nichs,'' the king chided himself. He just realized that he was too eager to meet Sophie again after so long. It was rude to her mate if he showed that he was still so much in love with her despite the fact that she was now another man''s wife.


    Even though very few people knew that Luciel and Jan, the duke''s sons were actually the king''s, most people were not aware of the past rtionship between Nichs and Sophie.


    So, for the sake of Sophie''s reputation and the king''s himself, Nichs must not let people talk about her that way.


    In people''s eyes, Alpha Lnd was Duke Ariam Romanov and Lady Sophia Romanov was his wife.


    Nichs slowed down his steps. He walked gracefully out of the pce entrance and stood before the beautiful carriage that just arrived.


    The coachman went down and opened the door for the passengers. Two boys immediately dashed out of the carriage, followed by a big man with long white hair who stood by and helped his wife get down from the carriage.


    Sophie wore a beautiful pink silk dress, that emphasized the pink streaks on her gray hair. Nichs remembered how much he thought she looked so special and charming with her unique hair colors when he saw her the first time when he was thirteen.


    It was sad that by now he had recovered all his memories of her from the moment they met in ckwoods 16 years ago, up to the moment he left her in that inn in Hauntingen to get rid of his lycanthropy after they got married.


    It was too little toote. If only he remembered immediately after he was poisoned by wolfsbane, he would have searched for her to the ends of the world and got her back in his arms before Lnd coulde between them and swoop Sophie up.


    "Hey, how are you?" Nichs focused his attention on his sons and greeted them so he wouldn''t keep looking at Sophie. He caught Luciel''s arm who almost tripped because he was too excited to be back in the royal pce. Nichs shook his head and chuckled. "Watch out!"


    The boy justughed sheepishly and gripped his father''s hand. "Thanks, Dad."


    Lnd acted like the scene didn''t bother him and focused his attention on his mate who just stepped onto the ground. Once Sophie stood calmly by his side, Lnd went to get a big basket with his children sleeping on it from the carriage.


    When Nichs realized Lnd was bringing his babies too, he became utterly confused. He initially thought the family came to visit probably because there was something important, but he didn''t expect they would bring their small ones.


    He had never seen werewolf babies before and always med himself for missing that part of Luciel''s and Jan''s lives when he was not in the picture. Nichs had to hold back his desire to peek inside the basket to see Sophie''s babies. He stood in his ce and waited for Lnd to exin the reason for their visit.


    "Can wee in?" Lnd asked without further ado.


    Nichs nodded and led the way. "Sure. Follow me."


    He took them to his study because it was private and he could tell Lnd had something important to tell him away from everyone. Nichs walked toward his study with so many questions in his mind.


    "Wee," Nichs said as he opened the door and held it for the family. Once each and every one of them had entered, he closed the door behind him.


    The king''s study was huge andfortable. It had a big sofa by the floor-to-ceiling windows and that''s where he often spent time alone to think about state matters while looking at the pond from his windows. It always made him feel calm to sit there and watch the birds and squirrels ying on the trees and outside his study.


    "Please have a sit," Nichs offered the sofa, his favorite ce to Sophie and Lnd. Luciel and Jan were already sitting on two stools next to his desk as they always did when they came to visit him.


    Sophie initially avoided Nichs'' eyes when they first met in the courtyard, but now she looked at him and smiled to express her gratitude for the warm wee he showed them.


    She realized that she would be staying here for a few days, while her mate was away, so she better try to act normal around Nichs. It was rude to avoid their host during their stay here, even though she and Nichs had a history together.


    Nichs was surprised to see her smile. He thought she would always avoid his gaze as she did earlier. This made his heart flutter.


    "Thank you," Sophie said in her sweet voice. She sat gracefully on the sofa while Lnd sat next to her and put the basket with his sleeping babies beside him. Nichs finally could see the two furballs sleeping soundly in their basket.


    Instantly he felt so jealous.


    .


    .


    ________________________


    From Missrealitybites:


    I joined a Webtoon ic) Call-To-Action contest several days ago and would love to get your support. The prize for Top 10 is $5k and the first ce is $50k. It''s huge, and thepetition is really tough, so I am not aiming for first ce but if I could get to Top 10, I would be overjoyed.


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    THANK YOU SO MUCH!