Dyon looked down the cobbled road with Queen Luna sitting by his side. The ride was eerily quiet a faint tension hanging in the air.
Both sat in a carriage fit for royalty, pulled by what Dyon saw as mutated horses. Their speed was easily comparable to celestials, but such a thing wasn't as surprising as their aura and size. The horses themselves were easily ten meters tall. Their skin was a dark red that flashed with the occasional gold from the blood pumping through their veins.
Dyon knew that if he pushed the speed of these Heaven tier beasts to the limit, they could reach their destination in just a few minutes. However, he purposefully asked their trainer to slow their speed to peak essence gatherer levels, making the quick trip stretch to a few hours.
The carriage itself was the size of an entire home and floated above the air, currently holding Dyon and Queen Luna in a lounging area.
Despite the tension, Luna's head rested on Dyon's shoulder and her arms wrapped about his, sliding her small hands in his.
Queen Luna felt an overwhelming peace come over her. But, it was followed by bitterness and dread. She felt a mixture of anger, anticipation and helplessness, yet, she wasn't willing to let go of Dyon's arm.
She too realized that she made a mistake this morning. Flustered by her emotions, she had left out her treasured mirror. With the newfound sharpness of her husband, how could he not realize this was something he had never seen before?
This may seem odd, but it threw a fold in their relationship. If you spent decades with someone as your husband or wife, would you not know all of their belongings? Would you not be familiar with all of their most treasured possessions? Of course you would.
If a husband came to find that his wife had a necklace he had never seen before – an expensive necklace at that – what would he think?
Even worse, Dyon had spent the past two days studying the ins and outs of the Angel Clan. He knew what their craftsmanship looked like. So, how did a Queen Luna, who never went out and didn't have any servants, manage to get such a treasured mirror without Dyon ever noticing it?
One had to realize that after his intimate actions with Amphorae, all of Dyon's memories were unlocked. Therefore, there was no longer the excuse of him simply not having that particular fragment. And, even if such an unlocking hadn't happened, seeing the mirror itself should have triggered a memory.
There was only one explanation: Dyon had never seen the mirror before.
This explanation left two possibilities. Either Luna had always had this mirror, or she somehow had the ability to take things in and out of the Angel Clan without moving a finger. Maybe the scariest part was that if Dyon was his usual cautious and thoughtful self, he wouldn't hesitate to believe that both were true. Unfortunately, the gentle fragrance of the petite woman by his side seemed to be all he could focus on. He had all but forgotten what he had seen this morning.
"Do you remember the first day we met?" Luna said softly.
Dyon's eyes blinked in surprise, snapping him out of his daze, but he still nodded. "Of course. How could I forget?"
Luna's delicate features blushed. "You were so forceful."
Dyon scratched the back of his head, laughing awkwardly. He had really turned into a man who knew nothing of how to deal with women. He thought that maybe since his real body came here, he'd have more control. But, clearly, that wasn't the case. In fact, his feelings for Luna became more magnified. Even this morning, when he noticed the mirror on the bed side table, his brows only furrowed before he didn't think of it anymore.
How pathetic.
There was something faint in the back of Dyon's mind, telling him that something was wrong. With his new memories, he now knew, first hand, that the King didn't use to act like this. In fact, the previous King could be said to have been very similar to Dyon. He was decisive, talented, and intelligent. He also didn't fear speaking with women. If this wasn't the case, how could a woman as outstanding as Amphorae fall for him?
However, when he left the village to temper himself, that all changed. It was as though he came back a completely different person with a completely different personality.
The only difference between him before he left and after he came back? It was obvious… The only change was Luna.
It was only at that moment that Dyon realized he had no idea what his first wife's cultivation was. He was inwardly stunned. He had been married to this woman for almost three decades, and he knew nothing of her cultivation? How did that make any sense? She had to have cultivation, no? She should be almost 50 years old now, yet she looked just as young as she did all those years ago when he first met her…. Just as delicate… Just as beautiful…
The more Dyon compared memories of the past to his current understanding, the more he realized something was wrong. But, the more he realized something was wrong, the stronger his feelings for Luna seemed to get. She was so fragile… He wanted to protect her… But what did protecting her truly mean?...
Amphorae was a genius, and was also less than 50 years old and already approaching the peak stages of sainthood. In fact, if it wasn't for the fact she wanted to break through from the second grade toward the peak of the first, she would have long since broken through.
On top of that, losing her virginity to Dyon had brought her untold benefits. Her soul broke through continuously, shaking off the shackles of its essence gatherer level and breaking into lower saint levels, and her body seemed to have also gotten a boost in talent along with her Angel bloodline.
Dyon had witnessed the latter for himself. Before, Amphorae had white wings with red tips, similar to her father's black wings with red tips. However, after dual cultivating with Dyon, she gained a mutation. She now had the purest of white wings, a halo, and even the ability for her hair to shift between red, gold and white colors. In fact, her current hair had shifted from a fiery red, to a red with heavy golden accents.
This was all to say that in the Ancient era Dyon was currently in, this is what it took be known as a genius. And yet, wasn't Luna also labeled a genius? In fact, she was known as the foremost genius of the entire Moon Clan. Having such a feat had to mean there was something special about her, right? So why did Dyon know nothing?...
'Why am I in love with you?' The words spun around in Dyon's mind with no answer.
He knew he loved Madeleine. She was the woman to opened his heart, the one who showed him that there was something else to life than mourning his parents. When Dyon saw the death sentence hanging over Madeleine's head, and how she still managed to keep a beautiful smile, he didn't think he had the right to complain about his life. She deserved his love.
He knew he loved Ri. She was strong and resilient. Her parents left her, without a word, and yet she took the responsibility of saving their kingdom on her own shoulders. She planned, she bided her time, and even if Dyon hadn't shown up, Dyon was certain that she would have taken hold of the Kingdom without him.
He knew he loved Clara. She was his childhood friend… They had shared the losses of their mothers together, they had grown strong together… He owed her so much, but he knew that it was more than just guilt that sat in his heart for Clara, there was something deeper… something purer.
He knew he loved Amphorae. Strong didn't seem like a powerful enough word to describe her. She was a woman of duty and loyalty, one he was sure would never leave his side even if it meant ruining her own life…
Each and every one of these women had a reason for their place in Dyon's heart. And each and every one of them deserved it…
Dyon knew that, even if it hurt as much as having his heart ripped from his chest, if it meant their happiness, he would be willing to let any one of his wives go… He didn't want to be the reason for their suffering…
And yet, when he thought of Luna, he hated such an idea. He would rather die than let her leave him.
But… The problem was that he didn't have any reasons for it…
