Chapter 15: The Space Time God and the Royal Family's Wrath
[The Northern Frostwood]
Grand Duke Yash didn't even draw a weapon. He didn't need to.
The crushing gravity of his sovereign pressure paralyzed the kidnapper and his Shadow Weaver Spider instantly.
Yash took another crisp bite of his apple, walking casually past the frozen enemies until he stopped right in front of Lyra.
"I think you are my precious nephew's wife," Yash smiled. His terrifying, world-ending aura vanished into a warm, friendly presence.
"I am Yash. You're Lyra, right?"
Lyra, still trapped on the freezing ground, nodded weakly. "Y..Yes..."
Yash stepped closer.
Lyra flinched, instinctively bracing herself. Her entire life, whenever a powerful noble approached her, it meant pain.
But Yash just sighed softly. He reached down and scooped her up into his arms as gently as if she were made of fragile glass.
"Hold on tight," Yash warned. A complex, glowing silver magic circle appeared beneath his boots.
"I am using High Level Teleportation Magic. It bends the laws of physics, so it's going to be a rough ride. What a mess... please don't vomit on my coat."
Lyra's eyes went wide. Teleportation?!
Before she could process his words, space itself ripped open.
[The Capital Gates]
At the main gates of the Capital, the atmosphere was agonizingly tense.
I was pacing back and forth, my Three Aditya mana leaking dangerously into the air.
Emperor Aldric stood beside me, his face a mask of ice, while Crown Princess Seraphina had her hand resting firmly on her sword hilt.
Little Elian was standing near the carriage with the two rescued twins, Leo and Mia.
Suddenly, the air in front of us twisted.
With a blinding flash of silver light, Grand Duke Yash and Lyra materialized out of thin air.
"Lyra!" I yelled, sprinting forward.
Yash gently set her down on her feet.
"Delivery complete."
Lyra looked up at me, her eyes filling with heavy tears.
She opened her mouth to apologize, to tell me she was sorry for betraying me.
But before a single word could come out, all the color drained from her face.
A massive wave of dizziness hit her. Her knees buckled, and she collapsed entirely. I caught her before she hit the ground, pure panic exploding in my chest.
"Lyra?! Lyra, wake up! DOCTOR! Get the Royal Doctor right now!"
[The Imperial Infirmary]
The Royal Doctor's hands glowed with a soft green diagnostic spell as he scanned Lyra, who was resting unconscious on the pristine infirmary bed.
The entire Royal Family was in the room. The tension was thick enough to cut with a blade.
"She is exhausted, and her mana network is highly unstable," the Doctor said, his brow sweating heavily under the Emperor's glaring eyes.
"But... Your Majesty, there is another reason for her sudden collapse."
"Speak," Emperor Aldric commanded.
The Doctor swallowed hard.
"The Princess is... pregnant."
The room went dead silent. My jaw practically hit the floor. Pregnant?!
"That... that's impossible! It's only been a few hours!"
"It was a highly concentrated potion, Your Highness," the Doctor explained nervously.
"The Crimson Siren Flower doesn't just manipulate the mind. The magic aggressively accelerates the biological bonding process. The pregnancy has only just begun, but the potion forced immediate stabilization and accelerated the mana-bond confirmation, making it instantly detectable by my diagnostic spells."
For a split second, nobody moved.
Then, Emperor Aldric's emotionless mask shattered. He stepped forward, his sharp senses catching the lingering, sickly-sweet scent of the Crimson Siren magic still clinging to Lyra's skin.
Assuming his son had completely ignored the dangers of the Southern magic and indulged recklessly, his eyes flared with murderous fury.
SHING!
The Emperor of the Kaelen Empire drew his legendary sword and pointed the razor-sharp blade directly at my throat.
"You degenerate!" Aldric roared, his sovereign pressure cracking the infirmary floor.
"I told you to protect her, and you do this?! You have no self-control!"
"Father, wait, I didn't !"
Before I could even defend myself, twenty-year-old Crown Princess Seraphina bypassed my guard entirely.
SLAM!
Seraphina punched me square in the jaw with terrifying Budla Aditya strength. I was sent flying backward, crashing into the medical cabinets.
"You absolute pervert!" Seraphina screamed, her face flushed with maternal anger.
"She is seventeen! How could you do this to your own wife, you animal?!"
"Big Brother is a massive pervert!"
FWOOSH!
A ball of golden fire blasted into my chest. Little Elian and his Phoenix, Cinder, had joined the attack, burning the edges of my Royal uniform.
I was getting jumped by my entire family!
SNAP.
Grand Duke Yash snapped his fingers.
The entire room froze in place. The flames stopped mid air. Seraphina's fist froze an inch from my face. Yash, the Primordial God of Time and Space, casually walked into the middle of the chaos, his silver eyes glowing.
"That is enough," Yash said smoothly, releasing the time freeze just enough so they could hear him.
"Put your sword away, Big Brother. And Seraphina, stop punching my nephew. This was not Zion's fault, and it certainly wasn't Lyra's fault."
Yash looked directly at the Emperor.
"I can smell the residual magic on her too. Her father, the Duke of the South, forced her to use that potion. If she didn't secure an heir, he was going to kill her mother. She was forced to bear a child to save a life."
The comedic fury in the room instantly vanished, replaced by a heavy, suffocating realization.
Emperor Aldric slowly sheathed his sword. His expression darkened, shifting into a terrifying, cold rage directed entirely at the South.
"And the child?" Aldric asked the doctor quietly.
"The Crimson Siren is known to cause frailty."
"Miraculously, they are both in perfect condition, Your Majesty," the doctor smiled in profound relief.
"Her latent mana capacity protected the child from the potion's side effects. There is no need to worry."
[An Hour Later]
Lyra slowly fluttered her eyes open. The first thing she saw was the grand ceiling of the Royal Infirmary.
The second thing she saw was Emperor Aldric, sitting quietly in a chair beside her bed.
Panic seized her. She bolted upright.
"Your Majesty!" Lyra gasped, hot tears welling in her eyes.
"I am so sorry! I... I brought shame to the Royal Family!"
"Hush, Lyra."
Emperor Aldric's voice wasn't cold. It wasn't terrifying. For the first time since the Empress died eight years ago, the ruler of the Empire smiled. It was a warm, gentle, fatherly smile.
He leaned forward and gently hugged her.
"You do not need to apologize for anything," Aldric said softly.
"You survived an impossible nightmare. It is not your fault. It is my son's fault for lacking the willpower to resist a simple potion."
I stood in the doorway, rubbing my bruised jaw. "Hey! I'm not a spoiled child, it was a High Level drug!"
"Be quiet, boy," Aldric shot me a warning glare before turning back to Lyra.
"From today onward, you do not need to stay in that outer estate. You will live here, in the Main Palace, under my absolute protection. Away from him."
"No, please!" Lyra grabbed the Emperor's sleeve.
"It really was my fault! I drugged him! Please do not punish Zion, he has only ever protected me!"
Aldric looked at her desperate, tear filled eyes, and let out a soft sigh.
"Very well. If my daughter in law forgives him, I shall hold my hand. He will go unpunished."
I stood there, shocked. I stared at my father. He was smiling. He was being fiercely protective of her.
And then, the realization hit me like a physical blow.
He doesn't hate me either. Every cold order, every harsh decree... he was just playing the tyrant so the other nobles wouldn't target us. He was protecting us the whole time.
Lyra wiped her tears, her panic finally subsiding. Then, she remembered the forest.
"Your Majesty... the twins from the carriage," Lyra asked anxiously. "Leo and Mia. Are they safe?"
"They are safe, eating in the royal kitchens," Aldric nodded, his expression turning solemn.
"However... my knights investigated the slave camp. We found evidence that the twins' parents were murdered when they were taken. The children already know."
Lyra's heart broke. She knew exactly what it felt like to be a child completely alone in a cruel world. She looked up, her deep blue eyes locking onto mine.
"Prince Zion..." Lyra asked softly, "Should we... should we adopt them?"
I blinked in surprise, but before I could answer, she continued.
"They are both Budla Aditya users," Lyra explained, her voice hardening with resolve.
"If we put them in a royal orphanage, some greedy noble from the Ducal families will eventually adopt them just to use them as living weapons. They will be tortured and used, just like my father used me. I don't want them to suffer like that. We can give them a real family."
I looked at my seventeen-year-old wife. She was pregnant, exhausted, traumatized by her past, and yet still trying to save the world.
A proud smile crossed my face.
"We don't have to rush," I said gently, walking over and taking her hand tightly in mine. "We can officially decide after they recover, but if that is what the Princess wants... then we are going to be parents of three."