Free Web NovelChapter 127: Midnight Confessions
Tucking Misha into the bed, Kane pulled the sheets up to her chin.
He placed a kiss on her forehead, waiting a moment to ensure her breathing leveled out into a peaceful rhythm.
Satisfied she was resting, he slipped quietly out of the door. ƒrēewebnovel.com
’She needs the quiet tonight,’ Kane figured, stepping into the corridor.
’My new bedroom is a bit too crowded for someone with a fragile heart.’
Navigating the winding halls, Kane eventually pushed open the doors to Morvak’s former master suite.
This room belonged to him now.
Thora and Sira lay tangled together in the expansive sheets, sleeping peacefully.
Moonlight spilled across their bare shoulders, highlighting the battle scars they wore like badges of honor.
Kane didn’t wake them immediately.
Taking a seat on the edge of the mattress, he rested his forearms on his knees, just watching them breathe.
’I dragged them from a struggling camp all the way to an imperial palace,’ he reflected, a rare wave of introspection washing over him.
’They fought every battle, bled in every skirmish, and never asked for a single coin in return.’
Thora stirred.
She blinked groggily, her eyes struggling to adjust to the dim moonlight.
Spotting his silhouette, she reached out, dragging her knuckles against his waist to pull him closer.
"What is it, Chief?"
"Thora...," Kane started, keeping his tone unusually low.
"Hmm?"
"I’m sorry."
Her face blanked.
Any trace of sleepy fog vanished from her expression instantly.
Beside her, Sira shifted, drawn awake by the sudden tension flooding the room.
The tracker rubbed her eyes, sitting up slowly and clutching the blanket.
Kane looked at both of them, his expression stripped of its usual conqueror’s arrogance.
"I’m sorry."
Sira blinked, a blush spreading across her cheeks at the unexpected vulnerability.
"What happened, Chief? Did some southern noble fuck you senseless? Why are you apologizing in the middle of the night?"
Kane let out a tired laugh, but his gaze quickly shifted back into something far more serious.
"When I fought Lain at your camp and killed him," Kane began, staring down at his hands.
"Instead of just taking over the warriors and giving orders, I forced myself on you two."
He paused, letting the words hang in the air.
"I treated you like spoils of war," he mumbled.
"It wasn’t right. I didn’t care about your feelings at all. I only focused on my own advantage. I wanted to break Lain’s memory and establish dominance, and I used both of you to do it."
"Kane..."
Thora whispered, sitting up fully.
Sira moved over, wrapping her arm around.
"It’s okay," Thora assured him.
"It’s not," Kane countered, his jaw tightening with guilt.
"I don’t even know if the effect of you being so attached to me is a side effect of my aura, or if it is real feelings. Sometimes I wonder if my power manipulated your loyalty. I keep thinking about how I can make you two normal again. Free of whatever influence I forced on you."
Sira rolled her eyes, though her smile was incredibly fond.
She leaned her head against his shoulder.
"You don’t have to make us normal, Kane. We are content. We are exactly where we want to be."
Thora traced a faded scar on his chest, her touch gentle but firm.
"You were a feral brute back then. We were surviving a brutal, unforgiving camp. You claimed us, yes, but you also kept us alive. You fed us, fought right beside us in the blood, and brought us to a literal throne. Do not insult us by thinking we are just mindless puppets caught in a spell."
Kane reached out, placing one warm palm against Thora’s cheek and the other against Sira’s face.
’They are stronger than I give them credit for,’ he realized.
Thora traced a faded scar on his chest, her touch gentle but firm.
"I don’t think my forgiveness magically erases what you did," she said, her eyes meeting his directly.
"But that was just how our life was before you got there. We were always commodities to men like Lain."
Sira nodded, resting her chin against Kane’s shoulder.
"You just didn’t abandon us after you won."
’They understand the reality of the mud we crawled out of,’ Kane realized, feeling a tight knot finally loosen in his chest.
’They survived the worst of it, and they still chose to stay.’
"I won’t do it again," Kane promised, his voice steady.
"You two are important to me. You are my partners, not just prizes."
"We know," Sira smiled, turning her head to kiss his palm.
"Now get in bed. You are letting all the cold air under the sheets, and I am freezing."
Kane kicked off his boots, shedding the last of his leather armor.
He lay back in the center of the mattress.
Sira immediately tucked her head under his chin, resting happily against his chest.
Thora curled up on his other side, draping a protective arm across his stomach.
Staring up at the ceiling, sleep refused to claim him.
[New Quest: Stabilize the Realm]
The text hovered in the corners of his vision, a constant reminder of the burdens he just inherited.
’This is the priority right now,’ Kane plotted, listening to the synchronized breathing of the women beside him.
’I cannot expand our borders if the capital is rotting from the inside. But before I can truly lock this territory down, I have a different problem to solve.’
His thoughts shifted to his wounded angel.
’I need to cure Grieselda,’ he planned, mapping out the next few days in his head.
’Once she is healed, I have to make her tell me everything she knows about those angels. She holds pieces of the puzzle I am missing.’
The looming threat of the Elven borders crept into his mind.
Queen Sylva played a dangerous game, and she possessed resources Kane couldn’t fully quantify yet.
’If that Elven Queen actually has the power to involve gods, I cannot just sit here counting stolen silver,’ Kane deduced, his ambition flaring hot and bright in the quiet room.
’A mortal army is useless against divine interference. I need to level up. I need to be better.’
