Chapter 133

Chapter 133: Chapter 133

Dominic’s Point of View

I stood in the room, waiting to hear why Kairo summoned us.

It’s been a few days since Ivy introduced me as her brother. And thanks to Ivy’s extraordinary shamanic treatments, Vikron’s severe wounds had healed remarkably fast.

I stood by the door frame of the room, my arms crossed over my chest as I maintained my disguise under the mask. Beside me, Ivy stood tall in her bulky physician robes.

"Master Lin, Warrior," Vikron spoke out. "I have requested this audience because my strength has returned, and I do not intend to linger as a ghost on your ledgers. I have a magnificent business proposition for your pharmacy."

"The Azure Leafs does not deal in vague promises, Master Kairo. What do you wish to negotiate?" Ivy questioned.

"I want to invite you and your older brother to return to our homeland with us," Vikron declared, a confident smirk touching his lips.

I scoffed in my head at this.

"If you agree to return with us to our homeland, I will personally guarantee a payment of exactly one hundred thousand gold coins to you."

Both I, and Ivy let out a low chuckle. "One hundred thousand gold pieces is a sum that could buy a regional army outpost, Master Kairo. Who exactly are you to casually offer such an astronomical fortune to a doctor?"

Vikron exchanged a swift, meaningful look with his sister, Deyani, before drawing himself up to his full height against the headboard.

"My real name is Prince Vikron, crown heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Howling Ashes. And this is my sister, Princess Deyani. We have the sovereign authority to back our ledger."

Listening from the shadows of my mask, my warrior instincts instantly clicked into place, and I immediately guessed the exact plans behind his words. Vikron didn’t just want a traveling physician, he wanted to take this perfect opportunity to bring back the iron box, using Ivy and me to serve as his elite, highly capable return guards to shield him from any traps.

"A grand title, Your Highness," I let the words out hoarsely. "But you are playing your cards in the wrong territory. I cannot accept your contract, because I am currently a warrior serving under the flag of the Evernight Kingdom. I am a captain of this realm, bound by blood to its sovereign laws."

I purposefully chose my words with an absolute, airtight caution. I explicitly did not reveal my true identity as the son of Alpha Alaric, the alpha of the Silvermoon Pack. I remained strictly a high-ranking captain, because if I exposed my blood, Ivy’s true identity as a shamanic healer would be instantly unraveled, and our entire strategy would collapse.

The exact second the words "Evernight Kingdom" left my lips, the temperature inside the room plunged to a freezing point. ℯ

Vikron was visibly shocked, his facial muscles freezing into a rigid mask of horror as he realized he had just confessed his highest state secrets straight to me. Deyani didn’t waste a single second... her ears pinned back in an intense, defensive panic as she let out a roar, her hand flying to her belt as she immediately drew her dagger to protect her brother.

"Stand down, Princess," I commanded flatly, not moving a single inch as I reached up with my hand and calmly took off my leather mask, letting my features be revealed completely. "We are not here to kill you in your beds."

The two royal siblings froze on the spot, their eyes widening in breathless terror as they immediately recognized my face.

"You..." Deyani whispered, her dagger trembling slightly in her grip as her gaze mapped my shoulders. "You are the silver-furred commander who led the pack on the mountaintop. You are the one who slaughtered our guards and tore the box from the peak."

"I am the captain who retrieved what belongs to my King," I corrected her, my eyes locking onto hers with a protective authority. "That ancestral iron box has been under the strict, sacred control of the Evernight Kingdom for generations. Your unit committed an act of international treason by melting our vault seals. However, you need to lock your mind and understand the true anatomy of the ambush you faced on that crag."

"What are you implying, Captain? Your broadswords were the ones that cut through my guard."

"My blades targeted the thieves, Prince Vikron," I confessed. "But those other black-clothed men who ambushed you, your sister, and the disguised farmer... the ones who drove an iron spear straight through your chest... they were not my soldiers at all. My shadow scouts verified their alignment marks after the blizzard broke.”

“Those killers were actually your brother’s people, sent from the deepest shadows of your own capital. They mixed with our crowd for the purpose of chasing after you, to ensure you never breathed air again."

"My brother..." Vikron murmured, his voice dropping to a low, hollow tone as a sudden, agonizing wave of hurt and betrayal settled into his face. His eyes turned entirely dark, his jaw locking as he looked down at his. "Boran... he did this"

Deyani dropped her dagger to the floor with a dull, clattering thud, as she collapsed against the edge of the bed.

"He wanted us dead," she wailed softly.

"I only wanted to retrieve our iron box to secure my kingdom’s borders. It was Vikron’s brother who sent those black-clothed men to mix with our crowd, trying to systematically kill the prince during the melee so he could claim the throne by default."

"Prince Vikron, your brother is currently plotting to seize the throne for himself, and if you remain hiding inside this pack pharmacy any longer, his tracking scouts will eventually find the void and launch a full-scale execution against you. I strongly advise you to return to your kingdom as soon as possible to stabilize your position as the rightful heir and crush his rebellion.”

“To ensure your safe passage through our checkpoints, I have already personally arranged for five of my most elite bodyguards to escort the two of you back to your territory. We are sending you off at the first crack of dawn tomorrow."

Vikron looked up at me, a profound look of gratitude and intense respect flaring within his eyes as he accepted the terms. "We will not forget this debt, Captain. The Howling Ashes will remember who guarded the prince."