In the middle of the night, I awoke to the sound of loud men. I sat upright, clutching onto my night dress and whipping my head to my right, my eyes straining in the dark to catch sight of Vita. My heart was pounding chaotically and my chest was rising and falling quickly, a cold sweat forming on my brow as that night a few months ago came to my mind.

"Vita," I called out, panicked.

"Empress," she said, sitting upright. She lit a candle and brought it near me. Her eyes showed fatigue and she was blinking rapidly, as if to dispel the sleepiness. "What is it?"

"What's that noise?" I asked her, pressing a hand to my chest to calm my breathing.

She tilted her head to the side to hear and frowned, placing the candle by the nightstand before trekking over to the door. She cracked it open and stuck her head out. After a few moments, she returned. "Master Drakkon and the soldiers have returned."

"Really?" It had been almost two weeks since the war was over. "I'm sorry, did I wake you?"

"No, the noise woke me up."

I hastily tied the silk dress together and slid out of bed, plodding towards my door and cracking it open. Soldiers and men were bustling about, excited glimmers in some of their eyes while others looked sleepy.

"Lady Daiyu, what are you doing?" Vita asked as I stepped into the hallway. Vita, who was a head taller than me, looked down at me in confusion.

"I want to see if Atreus, Yat-sen, and Nikator are alright," I said as I walked along the hallway, Vita trailing after me. "There's also the matter with the other Peccata, Fang, Bohai, and Meilin."

"Dressed like that?" she asked me when we were going down a flight of stairs.

I hesitated and glanced down at my dress. It didn't show off skin, other than my neck and collar bones, and although my waist-length hair was loosely hanging over my shoulders, I didn't think that I was dressed immodestly. "Yes, I'll go dressed like this," I told her as I quickened my steps. "I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep without seeing how everyone is doing."

When we had been walking for a while, I grabbed onto a random soldier and asked him where Meilin was at. After he told me he was in the main hall, Vita and I both headed towards it. It didn't take long for us to enter. Once inside the main hall, I was shocked to a dozen or two soldiers dallying around and laughing loudly. Meilin was lazily sitting on the throne and was drinking his wine, a smile on his face as Fang and Bohai were next to him, the both of them laughing at something.

I faltered in my steps.

"Lady Daiyu?" Nikator called out when he saw me.

Nikator and Atreus were sitting near the throne on a couple of chairs that were randomly strewn in the room. Three other foreigners were sitting with them and I immediately took note of the youngest one who must've been Remus. With silver hair and white horns on the sides of his head, it was shocking to see someone like him.

When I drew near the group, I saw that the whites of Remus's eyes were black while his irises were a deep red color.

He definitely was a demon.

"Lady Daiyu." Nikator beamed at me. I noted that he wasn't injured, and neither were the rest of the Peccata. "I didn't expect to see you so early."

"I woke up from the sound," I said as I glanced at the other people sitting around. Remus was staring up at the ceiling right now, his face expressionless and his hands clasped together on his lap.

Vita stepped forward. "Lady Daiyu, this here is Minos."

Minos had deep tan skin, so tan it was golden— a beautiful color, really. His hair was messy and black, and his bright blue eyes contrasted well with his complexion and dark hair color. He had a rakish smile and it was clear to see that he was confident with his handsome looks.

"You're as beautiful as Nikator said you were," he said with a haughty smile, one that made him look even more attractive.

"Thank you," I said. Nikator had been right when he said that Minos was a ladies' man. Jia had also mentioned that he was arrogant and narcissistic.

"And this is Remus," Nikator said, slinging an arm around Remus's shoulders. Remus's eyes widened as he snapped out from his reverie, his red eyes flicking over to Nikator. "Remus, say hi to Master's bride."

Remus's red gaze met mine and he was silent. "She's Master's . . . bride?" He tilted his head to the side, his brows coming together. He turned to the young woman that was sitting next to him. "Thera, what does it mean to have a bride?"

Thera, the other Peccatum, was beautiful, with golden skin, exotic green eyes, and black hair that reached down to her waist. She had a seductive smile on her face and when she turned to Remus, her eyes softened but her voice was alluring. "Remus, darling, a bride is a woman that you will spend the rest of your life with."

Remus frowned and stared at me.

"It's good to finally meet you all," I said softly. "I'm glad to see that you're all doing well. I was worried that you guys might be injured."

"You have nothing to worry about," Atreus said calmly. "None of us are that injured."

"My name is Thera," Thera said before I could respond to Atreus's words. She rose from her seat and grabbed my hands. She was much taller than me and she had a sweet smile on her face. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Empress."

"Likewise," I said with a warm smile.

Minos ran a hand through his thick hair and looked sideways at Meilin. "I'm surprised Master hasn't noticed you."

"He's drunk, of course he won't notice much of anything," Thera said with a laugh as she took a seat. She cast a glance around the room before meeting Minos's gaze. "Remember not to drink anything. I would hate to be the sole member protecting you all."

Remus was playing with his dagger at this point and although I wanted to talk to him, I knew that he wasn't interested in talking to me. Minos and Thera were talking amongst themselves right now, and Atreus was saying something to Nikator.

I turned towards Meilin and saw that he was, indeed, drunk. He was smiling widely and there was a look in his eyes I had never seen. He seemed . . . happy? Content? Relaxed?

His long hair was loosely tied back and his dark eyes were as sharp as ever, even though he was drinking. As I continued to stare at him, I admired his handsome features, my heart fluttering at the sight of him. It had been over three months since we had last seen each other, and now that he was back, I would be seeing more of him.

We would wed pretty soon.

Color stained my cheeks and I averted my gaze, the reality of my situation feeling all too real to me. I would marry Meilin and it would happen either next week or the week after. Although I was prepared for that and I had accepted it, it was too much to handle right now, seeing him like that.

It felt so real and so soon.

"Minos," Meilin finally said, rising to his feet. He staggered for a moment before grabbing onto Bohai's shoulder. He blinked when he saw me, his gaze narrowing before a half-tilt of a smile stretched over his lips. "Little rabbit, haven't seen you in a while."

"Y-Your Majesty," I murmured.

"It's been too long since I last saw you and truthfully, I didn't expect you to be awake," he said, his words clear and not at all slurred like a thought they would be. He leaned on Bohai for a moment before releasing him and walking towards me and the Peccata, who were still conversing amongst themselves.

"It's been a while," I agreed quietly.

"Hmmm, you're as reserved as ever," he noted, looking over at Minos before his eyes met mine once more. "Have you heard of tattoos that tribesmen have?"

My brows came together and I nodded.

"You've heard that the royal family of the Huo Empire do the same, right? The mark of the family means that they're members of the royal family or whatever," he said with a dismissive wave. "The previous royal family, the MuRong family, had a snake and moon sigil. Since the MuRong family is no longer on the throne, I've decided to create my own family sigil." He pulled the sleeve of his shirt, revealing his forearm where a simple black dragon was etched into his skin. "Obviously, a dragon fit the most."

I had heard that the royal family were marked with the family sigil, but I hadn't thought about it for me. Would I also have to be marked with a dragon mark? "Do I . . . have to get that?"

He shook his head. "No, our children will have to, but you don't."

"Oh."

"That's all I wanted to say," he said as he stepped to the side and placed a hand on Minos's shoulder. "We need to talk about that thing you did back there," he said with a soft laugh. "What was that?"

Minos grinned. "That move? It's something I learned from when we went to Kadios, remember?"

As Meilin started talking to Minos, I felt . . . odd. Although he hadn't flat out ignored me, he wasn't paying me as much attention as I thought he would. After all, we hadn't seen each other in weeks and this treatment was . . . rather cold. Still, he was a cold person so I shouldn't have expected a warm welcome.

Meilin was laughing right now and my heart was aching. Why was it that I wasn't able to see this side of him? He was always cold, reserved, cocky, and even a bit wild whenever I was near. The way he spoke sent chills down my spine and he intimidating, a formidable person who I couldn't even think of crossing. If I was able to see this part of him, it would've been easier to accept him and who he was, but since I had seen him kill a man, it was hard for me to handle Meilin.

I could still see the image of Meilin standing above that spy, his shoulder broken and his eyes wide with fear as Meilin stared at him coldly. His words had been merciless and he had seemed bored and nonchalant with killing a man.

Why couldn't I see this side of Meilin—smiling and happy— more? It would definitely make marrying him much easier. Still, the darkness I had seen of him couldn't be dispelled with a few smiles and cheerful banter.

I don't know if it was because I had been away from him for too long or if he was so cheerful right now that I wasn't scared or that intimidated, or maybe I had mustered up enough courage to handle him, but I stepped towards him. "Your Majesty," I said with determination, adamant about getting my feelings across. "Can I please talk to you?"

Meilin paused and glanced over his shoulder at me. He looked surprised that I had initiated some sort of brave front. He pulled away from the Peccata and nodded. "What is it?"

"Can we talk in private?"

We both walked out of the main hall and down the hallway until we reached a random room, which we entered. He leaned back against the wall and had his arms crossed over his chest as he watched me. "Well, what is it?" he asked when I remained silent.

All my courage was slowly dwindling away, but I forced myself to speak, since I couldn't just cower out of this. "We will marry soon, right?"

He nodded slowly.

"I still haven't gotten to know you very well," I said, brushing back my hair and averting my gaze. "I think that we should try to get to know each other."

"We'll be married in about two weeks," he said with a shrug. "I don't know if that's enough time to thoroughly understand one another."

"Two weeks?" My eyes were wide as I stared at him.

He smiled wryly at my expression. "Yes. I told you it would be soon after the war ended."

"That's unexpectedly soon, though I should've seen that coming," I said with an uncomfortable laugh. I tucked a strand hair behind me ear. "I've been preparing myself for marriage for a while now but I'm still very nervous, as you can see. The concept of it is hard to grasp."

"You've never slept with a man?"

I stared at him with wide eyes and shook my head. "No, of course not."

The corner of his lips lifted once more and he laughed. "Really? Haven't you ever been curious?"

"N-No."

"You're lying."

"I-I—" I was at a loss of words, and the look on his face was breaking me down. I had often wondered what it would feel like, why women blushed over it so much, and what type of pleasure came from it, but I never had enough curiosity to try it out. Plus, Mother always told me that it was for no purpose but to bring children, and that pleasure was for men and whores.

"So you are curious, aren't you?" When I flushed further, he let out a roar of a laugh, making me stiffen and take a few steps back. When his laughing subsided, he grinned wildly at me. "Don't worry, my little rabbit, I'll show you what it's like to be with a man. Sooner or later. You'll just have to wait a bit more."

I turned away from him, my face burning up. The thought of being with him for a night—for all the nights of my life, really—was a thought that made me blush and stutter.

"I can be gentle when I want to be." He reached forward and grabbed the ends of my hair softly, the strands slipping through his fingers. He let go of my hair and grazed the back of his hand against my cheek, his eyes dark. As quick as he was to touch me, he was even quicker to draw away. "I invited your family to the palace," he said randomly, pulling away from me and leaning back against the wall. "They'll be here any time this week."

"Oh."

"I should go now," he said, walking towards the door and pausing. "Good night."

"Good—" I couldn't even finish my sentence before he left.