The Bride He Hates

Chapter 144: An Unexpected Visit

A week passed without any drama. Lyanna didn’t even trust it at first.

No one interrupted them in their conversations, no one was discussing conspiracy plots in the empty rooms, and no one was attacking or plotting against Thornfield.

Lyanna and Azrael spent their mornings having breakfast together discussing mundane things, and evenings reading next to each other.

And nights were no longer driven by fear or desperation. There was warmth and understanding that no one could separate them anymore.

On the seventh morning, Lyanna woke to an empty bed. She saw Azrael already dressed, standing by the window.

"What’s wrong?"

"Nothing." Azrael repliedr "I was just thinking that this week has been... nice."

"Nice?"

"Yes. We didn’t solve any major crises, didn’t survive assassination attempts, and there were no political disasters."

"And that bothers you?" Lyanna asked.

"No," Azrael replied. "That’s what surprises me. I thought peace would feel empty or boring. Instead, it just feels good."

Lyanna walked to him at the window, slipping under his arm.

"We’re getting better at this."

"At what?"

"Being married without the world ending around us." She smiled and he laughed.

In the afternoon, Victor came to Lyanna while she was reading a book in her room.

"Your Majesty, you have a visitor., someone called Elder Maia. She is requesting to meet both you and His Majesty."

Lyanna felt her stomach clench.

Lyanna immediately rushed to the council chamber and interrupted his trade agreements, review. She told him about Elder Maia visiting them and they both went to meet her in the formal reception room.

She stood when they entered, bowing with respect.

"Your Majesties. Thank you for receiving me without notice."

"Elder Maia," Azrael said. "This is unexpected. We didn’t expect to see you here."

"Neither do I," Maia replied.

They sat, and Lyanna held Azrael’s hand to find hers under the table.

Maia immediately pulled out a small notebook.

"When I tested you a month ago, I saw severe transformation damage in your reproductive systems which made you infertile."

"Yes," Lyanna replied. "We know. You told us that."

"What I didn’t tell you was that I also found something unusual. A magical signature I didn’t recognize at that time. I dismissed it as residual trauma from your transformation. But I was wrong."

She opened the notebook, showing complex diagrams that were unfamiliar to both of them.

"After you left, I couldn’t stop thinking about that signature. So I researched, and consulted with other elders."

"And?" Azrael asked.

"It’s a blood ritual sacrifice signature," Maia said quietly. "It happens when someone gives up a major part of themselves to save another’s life. You sacrificed your emotional depth to save King Azrael before you visited me."

"You knew about the sacrifice?" Lyanna asked.

"Not when you were there." Maia replied. "I came to know about it during the research. And once I understood what that signature meant, I had to reconsider your fertility assessment."

"I don’t understand." Lyanna said. "What does the blood ritual have to do with whether I can conceive?"

Maia leaned forward.

"Blood ritual sacrifices don’t just take what you offer. They create magical imbalances in your system. You sacrificed emotional capacity, but magic affects everything connected to that sacrifice."

She gestured to her notes.

"Your emotional suppression was maintaining the infertility. The magical imbalance from the sacrifice was actively preventing conception as a secondary effect. When you regained your emotions, that imbalance began correcting itself."

"My emotions came back during the ball." Lyanna said. "Through jealousy. You’re saying that restored my fertility too?"

"Not immediately." Maia said. "But it began the restoration process. The blood ritual’s magical signature is dissolving now that its primary effect which is emotional suppression has ended. Your reproductive system is healing.

Azrael’s hand tightened on Lyanna’s.

"Are you saying she can conceive now?"

"Yes, in a few months, possibly sooner, natural conception should be possible."

Lyanna felt too many emotions at once. She didn’t know how to process that information.

Maia then stood.

"I’ll leave you to process this information. If you have questions and want monitoring during the restoration process, or if you need anything, just send me a word. I owe you both honesty and support after failing to provide it initially."

After she left, Lyanna and Azrael sat in silence.

"We might be able to have children." Lyanna said "After months of believing it was impossible."

"Only if the restoration completes successfully." Azrael added. "

"You’re being very pessimistic."

"Because you’re already hoping." Azrael said. "I don’t want you to get hurt again." He pulled her into his arms tightly. "But I do hope that it happens for real this time."

"Tell me about your childhood." Lyanna said suddenly. "What was your childhood like? Before you were turned?"

"I was sixteen when I was turned, and I don’t remember much before that. It was over four hundred years ago."

"Still you must remember something."

"My father was an ambitious minor lord who viewed children as political assets. I had two older​​​​​​​brothers who competed viciously for our father’s approval. I was the invisible one."

"That sounds lonely."

"It was." Azrael said. "I spent most of my childhood in libraries. It was the only place I felt like I could exist without being compared to others."

"Is that why you read so much now? Even when you don’t need to?"

"Probably." Azrael said. "Old habits."

"What happened to your family?" Lyanna asked. "Your brothers, your father?"

"They died not long after I was turned. I don’t think about them much anymore. Four centuries make even blood family feel like strangers."

That night, lying in bed, they faced new questions neither had expected to address so soon.

"If this works," Lyanna said quietly, "if I actually conceive in the next few months, are we ready for that? I mean, are we ready to be parents?"

"I don’t know. But I want a family with you."

Lyanna turned to face him in the darkness.

"What if we’re terrible at it? What if we fail at parenting the way we’ve been failed in our marriage so many times already?"

"Then we’ll fail and learn." Azrael smiled.

They held each other in the darkness, both processing possibilities that had seemed impossible just hours ago.

In one to three months, they might discover whether a natural pregnancy is possible for her or not. Whether they’d finally become parents despite believing it was impossible for months.

The thought was both terrifying and overwhelming. Just like everything else about their relationship.