Odette had given up hope to fight back! Tears started to leak out from the corner of her eyes as she lost hope that she would get out of there as a virgin. Who cared if the man was handsome or not? This was against her will! She started crying.
Rion, who was already preparing to carry out the final execution, suddenly froze when he saw tears flowing from the corners of the women's two eyes. He immediately pictured Rose's eyes crying when he looked at her from behind the bars of the cell.
Rion was stunned. He quickly pushed himself away from her and stepped back, as if he had just received a no-parking warning from Rose. With staggered steps, he continued to walk backward until he accidentally fell into the estuary behind him.
GULP GULP GULP.
The cold sensation of the estuary extinguished the fire within him and removed all the aphrodisiac effects he was feeling.
Meanwhile, Odette had taken a seat on the ground. She panted very hard. Her whole body was shaking and she felt numb. She was in deep shock.
After a few seconds of catching her breath, Odette stood up and was about to run away. However, she stopped when she saw the water on the surface of the estuary bubbling.
She could imagine the face of the bastard as he walked backwards then staggered as he fell into the water. If he was drunk then he was probably incapable of swimming and yet this was just karma the man had to accept, but… what if he died?
Odette could be reported to the police and accused of murder.
No! There were no witnesses, and the man fell down on his own. If anyone should make a police report, it would be Odette.
She didn't need to care, it would be even better if the man died. Yet, once again her heart and mind were at odds.
'The job of a doctor is to help and rescue others even if that person is a criminal.'
She remembered her senior's words that she had been holding on to all this time. Because she wanted to follow those words, she had almost lost her future. Odette decided that this time she would follow her wits. She turned to leave and at the same time, Rion came out of the water.
When she realized this, Odette turned around, picked up a twig and immediately got in a ready-to-fight stance. She watched the man crawl up and onto the ground. Odette's heart struck against her chest again– hard. A gust of wind made the leaves rustle.
A few seconds passed and Rion looked petrified in his crawling pose. Meanwhile, Odette felt very much like running, but she was afraid. What if the man pulled her leg while she climbed the slope?
She didn't dare lower her guard as Odette glanced left and right and looked for other routes to escape, but the surroundings looked dark and scary. Still, not as scary as if she was caught again by that man.
After some deliberation, she decided to take the right route. Very carefully, she started to step to the side but suddenly….
Woof!
"Huh?" Odette was surprised. She had just heard the sound of a puppy barking. Had she heard wrong? Were there any puppies around here?
She looked around. However, there was nothing but thick bushes to be seen. She stared intensely at the man in front of her. She remembered that the barking she heard just now was the same as the barking from the man a while ago.
"Huh." Odette's breath hitched as the man's face turned towards hers.
WOOF!
"W-what?" Odette took a step back, and the man started to bark at her loudly as if Odette was a thief who had broken into a safe.
***
Meanwhile, Trish and Anwen looked frantically for Rion. They had searched here and there but could not find him.
"BROTHEEEEEER!"
"YOUR MAJESTYYYYYY!"
The voices of the two echoed in the forest. Trish was overcome with anxiety. What if King Rion was currently doing that with monkeys or an 'evil spirit' was taking over his consciousness?
Under such circumstances, it would be extremely dangerous if King Rion encountered enemies. Enemies could easily kill him. Sometimes Trish felt that Princess Anwen's brain was not in the head but in the anus.
Irritating!
***
Returning to the previous place, Odette seemed to be waving a twig in her hand when the gray-haired man stepped forward while barking very loudly.
WARF! WARF! WOOF! WOOF! WOOF! WOOF!
"Hush. Hush. Don't come any closer!" Odette backed away in fear.
Her mind was frantic, she even began to assume the creature that barked in front of her was a real dog. However, what she did made the creature bark at her even more.
WOOF! WOOF! WOOF! WOOF!
Stump! Odette's back hit a big tree. Now she couldn't back down anymore. She was trapped while the creature before her continued to advance while groaning furiously.
"Stop right there, or I'll hit you!" Odette warned, and for some reason, the creature suddenly fell silent.
At a glance, the changes could be seen in his eyes and facial expression.
Rion's eyes blinked and looked confused as he found himself in a crawling pose. After that, he sat cross-legged and stared down at his dusty palms. Then he looked at the woman in white who was pointing a branch at him.
"You are... a temptress?"
When she heard those words, Odette opened her mouth. She wanted to say something, but her voice didn't come out. Rion exhaled tiredly and stood up. After that, he looked at the woman in front of him very closely. He remembered what he had done to her, and this made his face turn red with embarrassment... But he quickly regained his composure.
"Ahem. I forgive you, but next time, don't accept a job like this again," he said with an even face.
"Huh? What?" A slight surprise appeared in Odette's eyes. Odette's ears must have trouble because water got in them or from the impact when she fell. Why was this man the one who 'forgives' her? Wasn't Odette the one at a disadvantage here?
After he stared at Odette for about five seconds, Rion started walking towards the foot of the slope.
Odette tightened her guard, and Rion, who saw this, curled an eyebrow in surprise. That woman displayed the attitude most women would take when faced with a man who had tried to harass her… but wasn't she the temptress his grandmother sent to him?
Rion recalled again, when he kissed the woman greedily, she was trying hard to end the kiss and desperately trying to get away from him.
What was the reason?
Rion tried to find the answer himself. Was the woman being squeezed by economic problems that forced her to accept a job as a seductress, but at the last moment, she changed her mind?
Well, that might be the reason! Such cases were not new and happened frequently.
Rion felt sad, even though he had worked hard day and night to improve the lives of his people, there were still some who lived in poverty and were forced to do jobs that were contrary to applicable laws and morals.
Now Rion looked up at the top of the slope and the random white clouds above. The wind swayed his hair.
"If you need money, come with me to Green Castle. I will forget what happened today and will not punish you. So you should also forget what happened today. Whatever you saw and whatever you heard, forget everything." he said as he turned to look at Odette, who was still wary.
"You don't have to worry about anything now," he added and climbed up the slope. He left Odette too stunned to speak.
***
In a land far from human civilization, a handsome man appeared to be standing on the top of a mountain. A gust of wind high above made his long black hair flutter while his ruby eyes lit up the land below.
A fairy with pink hair and a green dress seemed to float over the handsome man's broad shoulders.
"Aathreya, are you sure that woman can heal the king?" asked the little fairy.
"Of course," replied the man named Aathreya confidently.
"Why are you so sure?"
"Just a hunch."
"What? So you're just relying on that useless blunt hunch." The fairy looked disappointed.
"This time I'm sure, Kevin."
"My name is Narine."
"Really? Then who is Kevin?"
“Doctor Ody.”“Mia?”Mia smiled and sat beside Odette.“I know you’re feeling scared right now, but we can definitely handle it properly,” Mia said reassuringly.“You’re not afraid of him?”“When Bee was born, and I saw him for the first time, I cried because I remembered when Alvin was born. At that time, I didn’t want to see his face because I hated his father so much. Every time I remembered that, my heart hurt, and I felt bad for having such a thought. Alvin doesn’t know anything, so why should he be hated?”“Mia...”“Bee doesn’t know anything either. He’s a sweet child with a heart as pure as an angel. Why should I be afraid of him?” Mia smiled, then looked at the sky. “Since my parents died, I don’t have anyone anymore. People who should be called family actually treat me like trash. Perhaps even tr
“Odette!” Hans finally came. He quickly approached Odette, who was struggling to get away from one of the firefighters who were holding her and preventing her from getting closer to the flames blazing the house.“Senior, help Bee! BEEE!” Odette let out a hoarse cry.Then Hans was stunned to see Bee being carried out by the firefighter. “Bee?”“Baby, Honey.” Odette immediately dragged her wobbling feet to approach the child, carefully taking him from the firefighter. “It’s okay, Honey. Mom is here. Mom is here.” She rubbed Bee’s back and kissed him as she hugged him so tightly. It wasn’t long before Bee suddenly lost consciousness.“B-Bee? Bee!”“Let’s take him to the hospital!”Odette and Hans rushed into the car and took Bee to the hospital. Arriving at the hospital, Bee was handled by the doctor immediately.“Bee…
In the palace garden, Rion, Trish, and Anwen sat together while enjoying dessert.“What?” Anwen and Trish were shocked to hear of Rion’s plans to retire and leave Panthera.“Are you serious, Your Majesty?” Trish asked hurriedly. “What’s wrong? Why so sudden?”“It’s not sudden. I’ve been thinking about this for a long time.”“Then what about Panthera?”“There is you.” Rion casually said it as though it wasn’t something serious, then cut the cake in front of him before eating it in delight.“What?” His eyebrows raised a little upon noticing the sharp gaze from Anwen and Trish. The two of them couldn’t believe what the king had just said.“Your Majesty, your joke isn’t funny at all,” Trish said flatly.“This isn’t a joke.” Rion took a deep breath and then looked up at the sky.
Betelgeuse, Alpha of the Orion constellation.Betelgeuse D. Panther was the star in the hearts of Odette and Rion.“Bee...” Odette kept smiling as she watched Bee’s sleeping face. When the boy was asleep like this, he became very calm.Somehow, every time she looked at Bee, she was like seeing Rion’s figure when he was small.“Mom… Zzz…”“Mom’s here.” Odette chuckled when she heard Bee calling out to her. She remembered Rion also calling her name in his sleep. Indeed, Bee really was the son of Arion D. Panther.“Sweet dream, Honey,” she whispered and kissed the boy’s forehead.She then got off the bed then left the room, walking towards the living room. When she arrived, she saw Mia was busy with piles of fabrics that needed to be sewn.“Mia.”The young woman stopped her activities and turned her head naturally.&ldqu
“Drystan,” Rion called the young man again, and this time, Drystan cast his gaze at him.“Is my father…?” Drystan wanted to ask about his father’s condition but couldn’t finish his sentence. The words stuck in his throat as though, deep down, he had already guessed it.“Did you already know about this?”Drystan nodded with a faint smile, but sadness was evident in his eyes. He told Rion that before going to the capital, he went to Bosa with his father. When his father found out that Aathreya was dead, and so did Rion, he decided to take that step.“He regretted that he never gave any happiness to Odette. If you died, Sister Odette would definitely suffer a lot, and he didn’t want her to suffer anymore. I told you that my father deeply regretted all the things he had done in the past, and now he had proven it. That’s it, I’m leaving,” Drystan said in a self-deprecating man
“Big brother?” As Anwen saw Rion’s fingers moving slightly, she rushed to kneel beside him, followed by Dario.As Rion’s consciousness returned, Dario’s consciousness actually faded.“When… when you meet your sister-in-law, tell her that I’m sorry,” Dario said while looking at Rion wistfully.Anwen was silent. She didn’t give any responses, as she wasn’t sure if there would be a chance to see Odette again or not.Dario’s eyes quivered. They slowly closed before opening again, closed again, and opened again. This continued until his body slumped to the ground helplessly. Luckily, Anwen immediately reacted and supported his back.Dario’s eyes were still open, and he looked in a daze at the cloudy sky above him. At this moment, he had sunken into his trove of memories of Odette.‘I DON’T HAVE A FATHER! MY FATHER IS DEAD!’The image of Odette