The storm had finally broken.
Inside the bedchamber, Zaliyah lay propped against the pillows, his silver hair a tangled halo against the dark headboard. In the corner, the painting Xulthas had created sat propped on an easel, catching the amber light of the hearth. Zaliyah's gaze drifted toward it, then down to the tiny, warm weight in his arms.
He was no longer the lonely figure on that velvet couch, trapped in a silent, static beauty. He was alive, he was exhausted, and he was no longer alone.
The door creaked open, and a parade of servants filtered in, their eyes wide with a mix of terror and adoration. They crowded around the bed, eager to catch a glimpse of the "Golden Heir" that had caused the heavens to weep.
"Wow she's a girl ? " A servant asked
"I told you all it would be a girl " one replied
"She's... she's very small," one maid whispered, peering at the infant.
The child's skin pale as milk, her head perfectly bald and pink. When she blinked, a pair of deep, sapphire-blue eyes-the exact color of the summer sky over the Ruo Han Residence-stared back at the room with startling clarity.
"She doesn't look like your highness at all,"
another servant muttered, leaning in closer. "Where is the silver hair? Where is the sharp chin?"
Iruna's head snapped up, her eyes narrowing. "She looks exactly like him, Look at the shape of her eyes! Look at the way she curls her lip! She is the image of her father!"
"I don't know, Iruna," the servant persisted, "she looks more like a little human baby than a Demon Princess."
"How dare you! She is a masterpiece of lineage!" Iruna argued, her face flushing a deep red as she began a heated, nonsensical debate with a girl whose job was to scrub the floors.
Near the doorway, Harun and Thalassa simultaneously massaged their temples.
"Is she really doing this?" Thalassa whispered, looking at Harun with a mixture of pity and disbelief. "She's actually stooping to argue genetics with the laundry staff?"
"She hasn't slept in forty-eight hours," Harun replied, his voice dry. "Her brain has turned to sugar and anxiety. Just... let it happen."
Xulthas stepped forward, his emerald robes rustling. He ignored the bickering women and the bloodied linens, his eyes fixed solely on Zaliyah. He looked at the man who had been cut open and healed back together in a matter of minutes.
"You look different," Xulthas said, his voice unusually soft, almost genuinely confused.
Zaliyah managed a weak smirk. "What? I don't look like a fat pig anymore?" He tried to roll his eyes, but they felt quite heavy.
Xulthas let out a breath that was almost a laugh. "No. More like a skinny pig."
Zaliyah opened his mouth to deliver a scathing retort, but the exhaustion finally won. His head tipped back against the pillows, and with a soft thud, he fell into a dead sleep.
Thalassa smirked, crossing her arms over her chest. "Congratulations, Commander. You annoyed the poor boy to sleep."
"He's just tired," Xulthas muttered, though he didn't look away from Zaliyah's sleeping face.
In the middle of the room, Iruna was left holding the baby. The child was wrapped in the bloodied silks of the birth, her tiny cries still echoing through the chamber. The physician had left instructions to wash the child and the father, and the maids were already bringing in basins of warm water.
Iruna looked at the baby-a creature she had known for an hour. Then she looked at Zaliyah-the man she had served, protected, and loved for a year.
The choice was instant.
"Take her," Iruna said, thrusting the crying infant into a maid's arms. "Wash her. Brother please, follow them. Watch them like a hawk. If a single drop of water is too cold, I want to know about it."
Harun nodded. He followed the procession of maids out of the room, leaving Iruna alone with the sleeping Zaliyah-and the two silent observers by the wall.
Xulthas and Thalassa watched as Iruna began her work. She moved with desperate care. She slowly unpinned Zaliyah's outer robes, sliding the stained fabric away to reveal the sweat-dampened undergarments.
With a basin of rose-water, she began to wipe his porcelain skin, moving with the reverence of a priestess.
Xulthas watched immensely. He watched the way the damp cloth moved over Zaliyah's collarbone, wiping away the remnants of the struggle. He watched the way Iruna gently brushed the silver hair away from his face.
A primal hunger erupted in Xulthas's chest. It was an ancient, predatory instinct he hadn't felt in decades. As Iruna reached for the laces of Zaliyah's bottom undergarment to change his clothes, Xulthas's body reacted before his mind could stop it. His breath grew heavy, and his teeth began to slowly shift, turning ragged and sharp, the true form of a demon rising to the surface, driven by the urge to claim or obliterate.
Thalassa let out a loud cough.
She looked at Xulthas, her expression a mix of secondhand embarrassment and mockery. "Commander," she whispered, her voice tight with suppressed laughter.
"Control yourself. You're practically drooling over a piece of ass in front of the help."
Xulthas snapped his jaw shut, the ragged teeth receding as he realized he was standing in the middle of Zaliyah's bedchamber looking like a starving wolf. He didn't say a word. He simply turned on his heel and stormed out, Thalassa trailing behind him with a grin.
Down the hall, in the private bathing chamber, Harun stood guard as the maids prepared the "Special Water." This was an ancient Northern tradition-water infused with crushed star-stones and demon-blood salts.
It was meant to awaken a child's core. Whatever color the water turned would determine the child's path for the rest of their life.
"Ready?" the head maid whispered.
They dipped the new born baby into the basin. The baby shrieked at the initial touch, her tiny eyes flying open. For a heartbeat, nothing happened. Then, the water didn't just change color.
The dark liquid turned a blinding Gold.
The maids gasped, clutching their chests.
"Wonderful," one whispered. "A golden aura... she is destined for greatness."
"It's to be expected," another murmured, her eyes wide with awe. "After all, she is the King's child. It is only right she carries the golden resonance of the throne."
Harun's jaw twitched. He leaned against the doorway, his hand tightening on the hilt of his sword. If only you knew, he thought. This gold doesn't come from a throne. It comes from the man in the Human Realm.
The maids finished the bath with trembling hands, their respect for the "Little Princess" having tripled in an instant. They dressed her in the tiny blue robes Zaliyah had cherished so much-a soft, midnight silk that made her blue eyes pop. They added the mini fur coat, the tiny fur hat, and the ridiculous fur ear puffs Zaliyah had insisted on.
"She looks like a cat," a maid giggled, wiping a tear of joy.
They placed the sleeping child in her cradle, a masterpiece of carved oak and protective runes Xulthas had made. As they left the nursery, Harun stood by the door for a moment. He knew the child was safe.
Xulthas had personally shielded this room with spells so powerful they could withstand a siege, even if the Warlock would rather die than admit he cared.
"What was that just now?"
Thalassa's voice echoed in Xulthas's magic room.
Xulthas didn't answer. He had buried his face in a spellbook, pretending to study a set of gibberish runes he had already mastered a hundred years ago.
"I'm reading, Thalassa. Go away."
"Turns out you two never changed," she continued, leaning against his desk. "Always liking the same things. First Kizari, now this."
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
Thalassa smiled. "Is this why you've been avoiding him for weeks? Because you like him? Because the 'inferior' Celestial is making your blood boil?"
Xulthas slammed the book shut, the sound like a gunshot. "'Like' is a strong word. I am not Malachi. I do not have a fetish for weak, inferior beings."
"And having a fetish for the King's consort is better?" Thalassa smirked, her eyes dancing with mischief. "Poor Zaliyah. He always attracts the obsessive freaks."
Xulthas rolled his eyes, his patience snapping. "The woman you like is paying you no mind while she hangs around her brother like there's no tomorrow. Thalassa, you should do well to focus on your own issues"
Thalassa laughed, Xulthas only used her name when he was truly rattled. She stood up, smoothing her shirt and pointing a finger at her own face.
"No one can resist this face forever, Commander. I'm just busy with the snow monsters. When things settle down, I intend to pursue my little crybaby."
Xulthas grinned, a dark, dangerous look. "Good luck with that. She's tougher than she looks."
"And good luck with that 'inferior' consort you're attracted to," Thalassa teased, heading for the door. "Try not to grow any more teeth in public. It's unsightly."
She exited, leaving Xulthas alone in the silence. He finally put the book down, rubbing his temples in genuine annoyance. Was he really that sex-starved? Was he really becoming obsessed with a man who had just given birth to a bastard child?
"It's the North," he whispered to the empty room. "The cold is getting to my head."
But in his mind's eye, he didn't see the snow. He saw the porcelain skin, the silver hair, and the purpled -eyed child who is slowly poisoning his mind.