x
“How is she?” Rafe asks Midnight while he watches his youngest daughter sleep.185Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLSQxcvqJQC
“Her fever’s been coming and going since she slept from exhaustion after all that crying. But thankfully, it’s just a very mild fever. Nothing to be worried about,” 185Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgwC8XBSK08
Midnight answers, tucking in the blankets of the sleeping child more securely. “The problem is your son.”185Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQwDsHi5gU4
Rafe frowns a little and glances in Midnight’s way. “My son? What about him?”185Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaCtpwtPtHm
“Well, the moment my niece passed out, her twin brother started going wild. Even Raine was having a hard time trying to calm him down. Thankfully, babies being babies, he also conked off after tiring himself out. It was for the best since my sister needed some rest after...the incident.”185Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEgl9eHRvwH
“I...” Rafe swallows, and his vision starts to blur as he stares at his sleeping daughter. 185Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzgWjY9oKRb
“I wouldn’t have imagined something like this to happen. To think that Raine is...and...my daughter had to see that side of me...”185Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYB0j6edlqI
Rafe falters, and his breath catches, looking away from the sleeping child. Midnight, understanding what Rafe meant.185Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUadMU2wO5K
He knew that the man was distraught and was so depressed after knowing that the woman who meant the world to him had died from childbirth. He was volatile, and he wasn’t thinking straight. He will definitely lash out at everyone and anyone...even his own children. And seeing the twins probably set him off.185Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLuGOq4U5Wq
But after the revival of his wife, thanks to the children that he had expressed his anger on, Midnight bet that Rafe regrets acting that way. He knows that it’s understandable for someone to feel that way. And as long as Rafe makes up for what he had said and done in front of the twins, Midnight will support and root for him.185Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6tnQKwbv5i
“That’s enough sniveling and feeling sorry, Rafe,” Midnight tells him, reaching out to softly touch the cheek of the baby girl. “Thankfully, the kids are too young to probably remember this happened. Even though these children are more...special than the others, in the end, they’re still kids. They probably won’t have any memory of what happened here. Maybe you can make up for it?”185Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmb0DdQvv2F
“Make up for it? How?”185Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHYYrpAuw9R
Midnight smiles and nods at the sleeping child. “I doubt Raine will recover fast enough to give a name, and we can’t keep calling her ‘niece,’ ‘daughter,’ or ‘child.’”185Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡntFUokl3XZ
Rafe swallows as he stares at his sleeping daughter. The memories of what he had done flashed before his eyes, the darkness he felt that seemed to be swallowing him whole, and the uncontrollable anger to destroy because he saw Raine breathe her last breath…185Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOKM2Df1BYU
He doesn’t want that to happen again. And because of that, he wants to create a vow, right here and now. Sucking in a deep and determined breath, Rafe clenches his fists.185Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSvmbghMT7h
I vow that I will become a better man and will do better for my wife…and especially my children, who have given me a miracle. And with this vow, I’ll make, may the gods of this world witness me…185Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3PrgGm1Nmv
“Ysabelle…Her name is Ysabelle. Ysabelle Darlington.”185Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8NsTduFIYE
Midnight smiles and nods in approval. A name that means god’s oath, huh? From the looks of him, I already thought that he was going to do something to make it up to the twins. But I never thought that he’d be like this. Rafe…I hope that your children will appreciate your determination to set things right, just as how you won me over and let you marry my sister.185Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSBKe6YHjUq
He reaches over and pats Rafe’s back, silently giving the distraught father his support and hoping that everything will turn out alright with him and his family. He was supposed to leave as soon as he knew what the situation was about Raine giving birth. But he decided to stick around and smoothen some rough edges if and when 185Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCJV9fFd9mb
Rafe gets stuck with trying to patch his family back together.185Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDfJ5xEHUpI
They are Midnight’s family also, so he might as well try and lend a hand, right?185Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjyqUeVZJyI
***185Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU2F7NA2iXN
Everything is in turmoil. The staff at Darlington Estate has never experienced something so dark and gloomy before. The lady of the house is dead. The nanny who was in charge of the newborn twins also lost her life trying to protect them from the ire of the Master of the house. Only as the maid died did the Master regain his senses. However, he didn’t feel anything at the sight of an innocent’s death before him.185Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCXup2TBeRg
Right there and then, he left the naming of the twins to his servants, except for the daughter, who looks so much like his beloved wife, who just passed away. With no one to stop his anger and hatred, he had made a vow that day.185Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡySxGneokTM
A vow that he’ll never forget those who had taken the one person he loved the most in his life. And every time he sees, hears, or utters Ysabelle’s name, he will remember. 185Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnvfq98dbYX
And he will never forget that he lost someone so dear because of this.185Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7WJub2jtbE
Little did he know, that his small oath was embedded in his soul. Because of his anger and resentment, darkness consumed what love and affection he was supposed to have for his youngest children. The Master of the Darlington name has become corrupted, with no one to stop him or even try to change his mind.185Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzVWCRkpZ7w
And from the dark corners of the room, a tall man with green hair and lavender eyes sighs at the despair. He lifts a hand over his mouth to stop breathing in the heavy and dark energy that fills the room and house. To him, there was little to no hope glimmering in the scene that was happening before him.185Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ09c15iIMmz
He already knew that, even if he tried, nothing could change his brother-in-law’s mind, and nothing could break the oath that he had made. If he doesn’t want to be suffocated by the dark energy that suddenly engulfed the house, he has to leave and be strong.185Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI1pD0mwOif
However, in order to do that, he has to go back home. Home, where he and Raine lived before they moved here in the Empire. To the mysterious, never-seen-before Elven Kingdom. And once he’s back there, he has to conserve his energy and let the world nourish his soul and power.185Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡauXviYiuUS
He has to metamorphosize.185Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo9JJaOX4YJ
But…if he does that, there’s no telling when he’ll ever wake up.185Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWzEIYS6vVE
He clenches his hands into a fist and grits his teeth. If he wants to protect the twins and save the home that was once the heart and home of his only beloved sister, he shouldn’t waste any time. He has to go now and undergo metamorphosis so he can wake up sooner and help his niece and nephew.185Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmJk8TpcrXf
As he left the Darlington estate in a rush, he only hoped that when he woke up, it wouldn’t be too late.185Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdw8xuWYBw0
Little did he know…that in the future, he’d wake up only to witness the death of the Darlington family. Arriving at the Empire five seconds too late, just in time to see the guillotine cut off Ysabelle’s head.185Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvyCzLDUbcZ
