Late at night, once Ember had fallen asleep, Draven went to find Morpheus, who was resting inside his cave.

Morpheus didn't react to his presence, keeping his eyes closed as if he hadn't noticed — though, of course, he had.

"What are you doing here?" Draven asked coolly.

"Shouldn't I be the one asking that?" Morpheus retorted, his tone calm. "What are you doing in my cave?"

"Come outside," Draven said coldly, already turning to step out.

With a sigh, Morpheus stood and followed him.

The moment Morpheus stepped out of the cave—

Punch!

A powerful blow landed squarely on his face, snapping his head to the side and drawing blood from the corner of his mouth.

"If it weren't for the worry that Ember might feel your pain through the bond," Draven growled, his eyes blazing, "I would've strangled you instead of stopping with something this small."

Morpheus casually wiped the blood from his mouth, unfazed. "What did I do now?"

"You made her cry," Draven snapped. "You made her doubt herself as your mate. How can you not see the effort she's putting in?"

"That's exactly what I don't want," Morpheus interrupted, his voice tight. "I don't want her to do anything. I want her to leave me alone. I can deal with what she's worried about — I just need time."

"Then stop running away from her," Draven shot back. "She keeps worrying because you keep pushing her away. The more you pull back, the more she blames herself and tries harder to fix things for you."

"I can't be by her side for long…" Morpheus muttered.

"That's your issue," Draven cut in harshly. "All I care about is not seeing sadness or tears in her eyes."

Draven's tone turned sharp and final. "Tomorrow, you'll be back at the palace. Be a part of the family — the way Ember wants you to be. I don't want to see her doubting herself ever again. Don't make me repeat this."

Morpheus stood silently, watching as Draven vanished into the darkness.

----

The next day, Morpheus arrived at the palace without fail to have the morning meal with Ember.

Undoubtedly, she was happy to see him.

As they settled at the breakfast table, Draven spoke without looking up from his plate, "Morph, move to your nest from now on. You're not allowed to stay away anymore."

Morpheus glanced at Ember — her eyes were full of hope.

This copy comes from content on *.

Not wanting to disappoint her, he replied, "I get it."

Ember smiled warmly. "If you need any help setting up the nest, I can help you."

The words No need almost slipped from Morpheus' mouth, but before he could say them, he caught Draven's warning gaze from across the table.

"Sure," he said instead.

"Great!" she replied cheerfully. "I'll see what I can add to make it more lively."

"Whatever you feel is right," Morpheus said, then added quickly, "Just… don't put any flowers there. I'm not fond of flowers in my nest."

His true intention was to stop her from placing tuberose in the nest — he didn't need the scent driving him crazier than he already was.

"I'll keep that in mind," Ember said with a slight smirk, and Morpheus let out a silent sigh of relief.

-----

After finishing his morning meal, Rhian stood by the window, admiring the beautiful scenery outside.

As usual, Erlos arrived to inform him that Cornelia had come to check on him.

Rhian, who had regained enough energy to walk around, didn't look away from the window as he replied, "She can enter this room and be allowed to heal me only if she promises not to use her powers on me. Otherwise, she can return to where she came from."

Erlos was taken aback by the unexpected demand, wondering what had happened between the two. Still, he conveyed the message.

"…This is what Prince Rhian said," Erlos relayed helplessly.

"His request is granted," Cornelia replied calmly. "I'm only here to heal him as per His Majesty's orders. I'm not going to kill him with my powers — if that's what worries him."

Rhian heard her clearly from outside the door.

Erlos allowed her to enter and quickly left, choosing to mind his own business.

Cornelia stepped into the room and locked eyes with Rhian, who turned away from the window to look at her.

"Have a seat," she said coolly.

Rhian quietly sat on the bed, while Cornelia took the chair next to him. She reached out, took his wrist, and began checking his pulse — scrying through his body for any lingering signs of dark magic.

Indeed, there were still faint traces of black magic flowing through his system.

Meanwhile, Rhian couldn't help but watch her face, finding a strange peace the longer he looked at her. Something deep within him stirred — a curiosity, a desire to understand the woman behind the cold exterior.

When Cornelia opened her eyes, she caught him staring again — just like the day before. She chose to ignore it, as usual, and said briskly, "Your wound."

Rhian turned slightly. "You're not going to use your powers."

Annoyed, she snapped, "Move your shirt up."

"I can't bend my right hand back far enough to do that," he said with a straight face. "So I'll have to trouble you."

"Erlos—" she called, but there was no reply. Erlos was already long gone.

"Don't trouble yourself then," Rhian said, and started unbuttoning his shirt.

"What are you doing?" she asked sharply, brows furrowing.

"Neither of us can lift my shirt, and no one else is here to help. So I'm solving the problem," he replied calmly. "Unless… you have an issue with this? Unless it's the first time you've seen a shirtless man — which, frankly, I doubt."

"In the past few centuries of my life, I've treated countless young ones for such injuries," she replied flatly, making it clear that to her, he was just a child — a fleeting moment in time compared to her long, supernatural life.

Rhian removed his shirt, looking directly at her. "By human standards, I'm an adult. Adult enough to have children of my own."

"Human standards are insignificant to us," she said, moving closer to inspect his wound. Her cold fingers pressed gently against his warm skin.

At least she was talking today — that was progress.

"Why are your fingers so cold?" he asked, genuinely curious.

She didn't answer, continuing her work in silence.

"In a day or two, the effects of the black magic will be completely gone," she commented, pulling her hand back.

Once finished, a vial appeared in her palm, which she extended toward him. "Drink this."

"Today, I don't want to," Rhian replied, meeting her eyes with a challenging gaze. "And you promised not to use your powers on me."

Cornelia narrowed her eyes slightly, recognizing his intent — he was deliberately trying to test her patience.

Still, she didn't waver. She maintained her usual cold, distant expression as she opened the lid of the vial and held it out in front of him — wordlessly insisting that he take it and drink.

In response, Rhian grabbed her hand and pulled her with a strong tug, causing her to fall onto the bed — pinned beneath him.

"I'm sure I'm not a young one," he said, his voice low but confident.

Her eyes flared with rage, burning with the fury of someone who had never been treated her this way, let alone by a human. How dare he?

But before she could react, he spoke again. "You promised not to use your powers."

That reminder alone forced her to contain her fury. She knew all too well that if she lashed out now, her powers could kill him.

Her voice turned icy cold. "Let me go… if you don't want to die."

"If I was scared of dying," Rhian replied calmly, looking at her beautiful face closely, "I wouldn't have taken that dangerous blow to protect my sister."

Then, his gaze sharpened as he added, "Care tell me… how does it feel to be confined by someone, completely unable to move — knowing you can't free yourself?"

Realization struck Cornelia — he was getting back at her.

He was deliberately putting her in the same position she had put him in — when she had used her magic to paralyze him and force the medicine down his throat.

Seeing her quiet, he said, "I was trying to gaze if you have any emotions in you, and you do have. Other than being angry, you can be flustered as well."

In response, she simply tried to free her hands from his grasp that he had pinned on the mattress, but she couldn't. "Last warning, let me go."

"If not, would you use your powers?" he asked.

"Don't force me to," she challenged.

"What if I don't want to, and continue to look at your beautiful face like this?" he asked, a teasing smirk gracing his lips.

"You..."

"You look so flustered. Don't tell me, in your multiple centuries-long lifespan, this is the first time you are close to a man like this," he said, reminding her of the position they were in.

Cornelia found herself embarrassed at what he said. It was indeed the first time.

"I can feel your heart racing," he said, pressing his fingertips on her wrist at the right point.

Realising what he was doing, she gritted her teeth and said angrily, "Let me go."

Rhian realised it was the limit, and finally, he released her and watched her standing up from the bed quickly.

He said, "You people with powers act so arrogant and treat us humans worse than a particle of dust, then you complain we are the worst," Rhian said. "Keep that arrogance aside and try to see we are not what you all think of us, and we are not the ones always at fault. But you won't understand it, as you won't look outside what you find right."

She countered, "Those humans attacked your sister..."

"Fights are always there between the powerful and the weak ones, but that doesn't make both sides bad. Everyone has their own reasons for fighting, and everyone thinks their own side is righteous," Rhian added. "You supernaturals have the best part of the kingdom for yourselves, and you lack nothing with the powers you have, along with long lives. But those humans don't really have all those privileges."

"While allowing those humans to have some part of the kingdom, you act as if you've done mercy to them. But think from their side. They have the right to strive for everything best for themselves as well, but you almighty supernaturals would only look at them like ants who keep working hard just to keep living. In my eyes, you people are the ones in the wrong here—who can't let them be your equals. You enjoy seeing them suffer so you can feel how superior you are over them."

Cornelia heard him quietly.

He stopped and looked at her. "I am done talking, as it seems your arrogance won't let my words reach your supernatural brain. But know that, without your powers, you are no better than us humans."

She got back to her senses. Not willing to argue with him, she ordered, "Drink that medicine if you want to keep being the righteous leader of your pathetic kind," she said and left.

He chuckled softly to see her anger and looked at the vial in his hand. "I am sure, next visit she would feed me poison," and drank the potion. Whatever she adds to this, it's truly magical... just like her...

Cornelia disappeared from the palace, without even having a customary greetings with the King. She appeared back in her cottage and ordered, "Silvia, get the bath ready."

Silvia hurried to Cornelia's room and was taken aback to see her angry.

"Add all kind of disinfectant and aromatic herbs in the water," Cornelia ordered again, only to have Silvia quickly follow her orders.

'I need to get rid of any traces of that human. How dare he touch me. If not for being Ember's brother, I would have sure killed him. Once less human wouldn't even affect their annoying existence.'