<strong>+++</strong>


    <strong>The Nova''s household,</strong>


    "Lady Jessica, you''ve returned." ude was smiling brightly at the balcony seeing Jessica walking toward him from the other side wearing the dancer''s clothes with luxurious red silk like her eyes and pieces of jewelry all over her body.


    She was glittering in his eyes, Jessica walked closer and closer to him with something in her hand from the travel to the northern empire days ago.


    There was also something in ude''s hand as he faked his smile at Jessica.


    "What''s wrong?" ude asked when Jessica frowned looking at him.


    "The marquess will be threatening me with your life." she said in hesitation.


    "I know." that answer surprised her for a little bit as to how calm ude was. He was her weakness.


    "You have to leave, I''ll find a ce for you--" without finishing her sentence, she was calm the whole time until blood was in her sight again.


    ude fell on the floor with the dagger in his stomach. Jessica was standing there without rushing to him shaking seeing her beloved knight kill himself.


    <em>"This is the best way..."</em> without a groan, ude turned his head to look at hisdy who stood across from him.


    "ude...this isn''t like you...you always listened to me!!!!" she shouted at him in anger standing from the other side of the balcony.


    "You know...too, mydy...even if I run to the other side of the world...they can use me to threaten you..."


    She couldn''t control herself anymore, she rushed to him crying as she held his head in her arm. The locket she was holding the whole time fell on ude''s chest.


    "This is..." ude''s eyes became big as he saw the picture of himself in her locket.


    <strong>"I order you...don''t die!!!! Don''t die!!! You''re the only one I have left in this world!!!!"</strong> ude smiled as his vision started to fade away every second, he gathered all of his remaining energy to touch the one he stood behind his whole life. Her face was soft as she cried for him.


    His heart was pounding as he said hisst words,<strong> "I love you, Jessica."</strong> and he died leaving Jessica all alone in the world.


    "Love...?" she cried desperately losing him, he was gone forever.


    But Jessica haven''t known yet at that time she wasn''t alone, there was already a life inside her womb.


    <strong>+++</strong>


    <strong>The Mortel duchy''s garden,</strong>


    "Mama!!! <em>Wahh</em>...he hit me again!!!" little Tristan ran sobbing into his mother''s arm with his forehead turned red because he lost again with the other kid.


    te''s belly was already big at that time, she could only sit on the chair patting her son''s head tofort him.


    "He''s just ying, Tristan. He''s younger than you,e on, don''t leave his highness alone."


    "But mama, I want to be with my little sister."


    "How do you know it is a girl, Tristan??" she giggled at Tristan who put his ear on her belly. Her smile dropped a little as she stroked Tristan''s hair with care.


    "I can just feel it. I want a little sister, mama. I will protect her for the rest of my life!!"


    "Oho?? Then I will be reassured then!! She''s gonna have an amazing big brother."


    "Yes, mama. I will be a strong man!!"


    "Really?? Then a strong man should be kind, go on an y with Prince Philip."


    "But mama, he was so mean to me!! He kept on cheating." she nced at little Philip who was currently bullying his little brother, Richard. The man beside te was chuckling seeing Tristan being so adorable like that. It was the second prince, the emperor''s little brother.


    "He''s just a kid, Tristan. Your mother used to be meaner than that when she yed with me."


    "Hey, stop it." she flinched when noticing that the second prince was going to tell her dark past to her adorable son.


    "Your mother broke one of my ribs and the emperor''s bone to the first time we met her."


    "That time, I was just ying." Tristan was a little scared of his mother when hearing that, he quickly returned to the other kid and yed with them.


    The second prince dropped his smile when te''s child was far away from them, he muttered to te, "You will give birth tomorrow or the day after that, when are you going to tell him the truth?"


    "I just can''t, your highness. But I''m happy now that he will protect his younger sibling."


    "It''s still not toote, te. You can--" he stopped midway because he knew too well that the abortion was definitely something te never intended to do. Just looking at the way she looked at her belly and touched it with care showed how much she loved each of her children.


    "Your highness, just worry about yourself. You will get married soon."


    "...I really wish you could attend it, te <em>*cough cough</em>." he coughed blood at the finish of his sentence, te with lifeless eyes looked at him with a worried look.


    Sitting beside each other was only two people who were ready to die but afraid to leave their loved one behind.


    The second prince wiped his blood and then took his niece, Richard carrying him back to the pce as Prince Philip insisted to stay.


    Again, Tristan was sulking elsewhere because of losing many times against prince Philip who was younger than him.


    Prince Philip walked to te, te was put in an awkward situation. She felt pressured to face him even though she used to hit the emperor easily back when she was in her prime.


    It felt like she was sitting in front of a mature adult.


    His eyes didn''t show anything at all, like a vast ocean, unreadable, he stared at te then said to her, "Don''t die."


    "Pardon?"


    "Please don''t die. Your child will be sad."


    "When did you hear that from, your highness?"


    "It doesn''t matter. But please stay alive, your child will be devastating to be born without a mother." Prince Philip finally showed his sad face as he held te''s hand, te could understand him a little since his mother died giving birth to him.


    te held back her tear, she didn''t want to die. She wanted to live, watched her children following their dream, getting married, and many more. But the curse that appeared all over her back already limit those foolish wishes.


    She patted the prince''s head and then said truly to him, "I can''t promise you that."


    "Mama will die?" the prince wiped his tear quickly when someone asked him from behind his back, it was Tristan.


    "Tristan...it''s not what you think!!" te struggled to get up walking to her son, Tristan pushed Philip away and hugged his mother crying loudly.


    "No, no...don''t leave me, mama!! I don''t want you to die!!!! I don''t want to lose you, I won''t ask for little sister anymore...please stay mother."


    "Tristan..." her heart was breaking unable to reply to any words to him until duke Jel came and put Tristan to sleep using his magic.


    "Jel..."


    "Your highness, please return for now." the prince nodded obediently and left.


    "te, let me take you back to your room." he carried her in his arm like a princess despite how heavy she was and used the magic to put Tristan on his shoulder.


    No one in the household was hurt more than Jel knowing the one he loved the most in his life will be gone forever.


    "te, I love you. Your husband loves you."


    "I love you too, Jel." she rested in his arm, the mark gradually spread to her face, she epted it as the punishment for what she did that year.


    Jel put te on her bed gently, there were many memories inside this ce. It was the first ce where they met, the household had so many memories, from when Jel was in the basement, from when he was the weakest child to the point he became the duke.


    The first ce they meet will also be the ce they part.


    "I heard Brady passed away yesterday."


    "Yes..."


    "Jel, can you do me a favor and give Brady''s child this ne?" she gave him the ne she was given by the mountain spirit that year. Inside the ne contained half of her superstrength. Brady was her dearest friend, that was the least she could do for his newborn child who he didn''t get to see, Aurora.


    Jel took it crying as that was what she said to him despite that situation.


    "te...I''ll protect our children."


    "I know."


    "In our next life, I''ll be the first toe to you that time!! Wait for me."


    "Yeah...don''te to me too fast, Jel. Please watch our children for me."


    "Thank you foring into my life, my love."


    "...don''t be sad, don''t cry...I can''t leave if you''re like this." Jel''s tears kepting out, he kissed his wife''s forehead, the curse covered half of the body already.


    "My wife, let''s watch the blue sky together." she nodded and he picked her up to the balcony, she hugged him covering her from the cold wind as they watched the blue sky together just like that time. It hurt, their heart was breaking because there were many things they still haven''t done together.


    <strong>The calm before the storm, the next day,</strong> te died giving birth to Marte. Jel was crying terribly with his son holding his hand beside him as his wife never opened her eyes again.


    The storm and rain outside covered the sound of all the people crying who loved te dearly. Tristan was put to sleep, so did everyone except Jel.


    Jel was surprised by the immense power of his daughter who was floating in the air with purple eyes staring down at him.


    "Marte..." he called his daughter he named himself in a shaking voice as he pushed his way through the agony pain to get close to his daughter which every step made him feel like dying.


    The magic power was even stronger than him who was the duke of the Mortel.


    Finally, when he caught that baby in his arm. The power finally calmed down, fortunately, the curse didn''t affect Marte.


    He put on the barrier to protect everyone inside from any intruder, and then put on the ck capeing outside of the duchy in the rain without saying goodbye to his dead wife yet.


    At that moment, his daughter was more important, Marte could die at any moment. There will be no one who could handle such magic and yet, Marte already could put the whole household to sleep.


    There was a group of assassins chasing after Jel, one of them was the emperor. They all wanted to kill his child.


    "It''s dead-end, duke Jel." the emperor pointed his sword at Jel''s throat. Jel covered his daughter from the scary sight and the cold rain facing the emperor.


    Little baby Marte was crying, despite that situation, Jel put his daughter as his first priority and calmed her down protecting her from the cruel world.


    "I won''t let you harm my daughter!!!" he shouted at the emperor and tried to escape from there.


    "It''s the oracle...that child might be the next destruction of the world--"


    Jel cut him off shouted at the emperor in anger while holding his daughter with care despite the agony pain on his shoulder which was shot by the arrow, "I won''t follow your order anymore!!! She''s my daughter, I won''t let you touch even a strand of her hair."


    "Then do as I say, duke! If you promise me, I will allow that child to see the sun tomorrow."


    "...what''s your deal?" he asked in hesitation.


    "She will have to marry Richard in the future, that way my child will have strong support, and your daughter will be under royal control." Jel could only grit his teeth as his choice would close all of his daughter''s fate.


    She won''t be able to choose her own marriage but for her to live, he couldn''t do anything but ept that ridiculous offer.


    "Good then, I''m sorry for your loss, Jel. I hope te will rest in peace." the emperor left, Jel had no time to grieve but to rush to that ce, the only hope to save his little daughter, to help her control that immense power in her small body, that ce was none other than the tombstone of the Mortel''s ancestor, Herod Mortel.


    <strong>To be continued....!</strong>