Rex sat down at the secluded corner of the cave.
Beside him were the three Alpha Pris, Prince Alaric had already excused himself to return, as he still needed to close the banquet. On the other side were Agatha and also Dabigor, the naturally smiling Werewolf who Rex fought back then.
Vivian stands guard outside to regulate the Alpha Pris' packs.
All of them were following in the shadows and would need to be constantly regulated.
It was her task to keep them on guard and away from inner conflicts.
Earlier when Rex introduced himself, Dabigor ca out as Agatha was taking too long.
He was worried and he ca across Rex and the rest.
Recognizing Prince Alaric instantly, he invited them inside and expressed their sudden visit.
Now all of them sat here in the corner of the cave, the air around them was awkward.
Agatha, in particular, was shy and avoided eye contact with Rex.
But then again—she learned that the person she protected was a literal Emperor, who could defend himself as easily. It made her feel stupid and embarrassed, so bad that she used her uncle to hide.
"Agatha, it's impolite to hide like this," Dabigor scolded, pulling her from behind him.
Having no other choice, Agatha sat beside Dabigor, her face reddened.
"Once again, pleased to et you, Sir Rex!" She suddenly burst to ease her nervousness.
Upon hearing this, Dabigor slapped her on the head.
"If he's an Emperor, you can't call him 'sir', how could you not know sothing so simple?"
"How should I know that? Everyone only taught how to fight"'
Just then, Mavok with his arms crossed, intervened.
"A Werewolf needs to know how to fight, they are not wrong," He said.
Rembering that there was the head family before her—Agatha bowed several tis—she apologized repeatedly as she forgot Mavok was here. It was not a regular thing for her to be around this many important individuals.
She could feel the pressure and it was suffocating.
"Call however you want, it's not a problem for " Rex intervened, nodding at Agatha.
Eventually, Dabigor refocused the conversation back to where it matters.
"So, Emperor Rex, why have you co here to et us?"
"Do you know what I represent, Dabigor?"
"Yes, I've heard of your empire, and I specifically heard that it is a unique one"
"I created this empire to be a safe haven where all are welco, Supernaturals or Humans, all are welco—to co-exist. And those—who decided to make my empire their ho would fall under my protection"
Upon hearing this, Agatha's eyes sparkled, she never knew about this magnificent empire.
Seeing that he caught Agatha's attention, Rex smiled inwardly.
But that elation didn't escape Dabigor's eyes.
"One of my reasons to create my empire is because of Agatha," Rex said, shifting his gaze to the young Werewolf. "I've hated the Supernaturals for my entire life, Werewolves in particular—but she showed that my vision was narrowed by my hatred. I can do better"
Once again, Agatha gasped.
Even though it was hazy the ti she saved Rex, she knew the reason she did it.
She rembered what she said that night.
'At the very least, I hope you're not going to completely hate the Supernaturals'
Recalling those words, Agatha's eyes began to water.
"And for that, I want to invite Agatha and all the Werewolves here to co to my empire. I—in particular, wanted to show off my empire where everyone co-exist peacefully" Rex added, he had a genuine smile on his face.
Extending an invitation to Agatha like this, he felt genuinely excited for the longest ti.
All the bloodshed and death, let's have a life, shall we?
In his view, Agatha was a life, she also represents the reason why he was doing what he did.
"C- Can we do that, uncle? Lord Mavok?" Agatha asked, her voice trembling.
Upon hearing this, Dabigor and Mavok were silent for a mont.
Both of them were processing what Rex said.
Dabigor sighed and nodded his head, there was no reason for Agatha to keep staying here.
"Yes, we could" He finally said.
Excited, Agatha clapped her hands repeatedly and rapidly.
She never expected that this day would co, that a perfect world was shaping.
No matter what, she wouldn't want to miss seeing it grow and mature.
"Can I bring everyone with ?" Agatha turned towards Rex, her eyes shining like stars.
Rex gave her a nod, Dargena City has room for way more people.
"Great!" Agatha yelped, exhilarating coursing through her blood. "I'll bring the family and th-"
Just then, Mavok intervened, "No, you can't. At least not now."
"It is too soon for that, young Agatha, there are still obstacles that need to be handled. If you want, you could only bring the people here with you—to Prince Rex's empire. Once our whole kingdom is ready, then the others will follow you" He explained.
Upon hearing this, Agatha's expression saddened but she still was happy with this.
Pivoting back towards Rex, she threw rapid questions.
"Is the place big?"
"Yes, it's very big"
"Will there be food for everyone?"
"Of course!"
"How about forests? Are there any around?"
"I have the Elves and Dark Elves under so I'm confident I have all the forests"
"Really? That's wonderful! Are the people there friendly?"
"Yes, as friendly as you"
"One more thing, the most important thing"
"What is it? Ask away"
"Will we be safe?"
Rex was taken aback, Agatha's face when she asked this was serious—the most serious.
He could see that she also had a bad trauma in the past.
Leaning forward, Rex also put on a serious expression and nodded.
"Yes, everyone will be safe. I'll make sure of it every single day," He replied sternly.
It was tense for a mont until Agatha smiled again and stood up.
"Okay! I'll tell everyone the good news, wait for " She said as she sprinted to the others.
She was already cheerful before but now she was cheerful overload.
"I was once that energetic myself." Mavok comnted, peeking at the running Agatha.
"You're almost three thousand years old, how long ago was that?" Valkis chuckled.
Fenrik also chuckled, "Not a lot could be cheerful like her, she's lucky"
Just then, Rex placed his hand on the ground and branded a rune that created a bubble.
It would block those outside to hear what they are going to talk about.
"Dabigor, don't you have a question of your own for ?" Rex asked, squinting his eyes.
Upon hearing this, Dabigor turned towards Rex before he nodded, it seed the prince saw through his facade and knew that he had a question. Clearing his throat, he then asked, "It's about Ruston, what happened to him?"
Rex nodded his head.
He knew that Dabigor and the pack were here—because Ruston was working with the Dark Prince, and that irked King Baralt. So the Teinar Family was under intense supervision, back then, but not anymore.
"Ruston and the Dark Prince are dead," Rex confessed. "I killed them"
"..."
Dabigor's body froze, even his hand that was going for his knee stopped mid-track.
As a part of Ruston's pack, he knew the Alpha was dead but he didn't know who killed him.
However, he should've expected that it was Rex who killed him.
"I did your job so that's that," Rex added nonchalantly.
Once again, Dabigor's eyes widened.
"You knew?"
"Yes, I know that you're trying to kill Ruston"
"How do you know that?"
"Simple, your Herald Mark, it's of the Supermoon. Baralt has the Supermoon King Mark"
"Ah... you're quite sharp"
Rex knew that it was weird for Dabigor to have a Herald Mark, the only one who could give a Herald Mark at the ti was Baralt, so it was clear that Baralt gave him that mark. But he did not know the reason for that.
Now he was sharp enough to suspect that it might be for killing Ruston.
Baralt wanted to kill Ruston and the sa goes both ways.
Living like a fugitive because of Ruston definitely troubled Dabigor and that seeded the hate.
A motive for Dabigor to work with Baralt, striking Ruston when he ca back.
But Ruston never ca back once he entered Human territory, he died by Rex's hands.
"And that brings us to this question, should I tell Agatha that I killed Ruston?" Rex asked.
Since Dabigor spent his ti—with Agatha the most, Rex decided to ask for his opinion, he would be able to give reasons to tell Agatha or not. It would be too risky if Rex decided this matter on his own.
Fixing on Rex, Dabigor didn't need to ponder, "No, bla it on the Dark Prince"
"May I ask why?"
"Because she is young, she hasn't even grown her Inner Fang"
"Inner Fang...?"
Dabigor looked at Rex weirdly when he heard this, "You didn't know what an Inner Fang is?"
"Speak with respect, he's a Prince," Mavok intervened, glaring at Dabigor.
Upon hearing this, Dabigor apologized, he was only caught off guard.
Not letting Dabigor explain it with that attitude, Mavok decided to explain it himself, "An Inner Fang is the second ego us Werewolves has—blood by the power of the Origin's Luna. She blessed us with an Inner Fang to help us regulate our emotions, and know when our rampage is near"
"Mainly felt during approaching full moons or during wrathful monts," Valkis added.
Listening to this, Rex frowned.
So they an like my Invincible Apparation? I could feel it whenever I was angry back then.
Mavok then asked, "Do you perhaps not have it, Your Highness?"
"I think I have it but I devoured it..." Rex replied, smiling acutely.
All of them were taken aback when they heard this, none of them expected this answer.
Devouring it was sothing that was supposed to be impossible.
"Then does that an he's prone to going berserk?" Valkis muttered in question.
Fenrik nodded his head, "I don't know, this never happened before"
"We would need to ask a Shaman to know," Mavok shook his head, he also didn't know. "Well, anyway, what Dabigor was trying to say was that—if you tell Agatha about Ruston, it would— impair the growth of her Inner Fang. If she failed to blood, her Inner Fang—she would be a defect, she would beco what we Werewolves called Pureblood"
"Pureblood?" Rex asked, he never heard the terms before.
Mavok nodded, "Pureblood is Werewolves who are always berserk, Sven, the illegitimate son of the Origin is an example. He couldn't talk or even communicate properly, all he could do is growl and fight, basing off his entire life through primal instincts"
Upon hearing this, Rex nodded his head, he didn't want Agatha to be like that.
It would make her completely the opposite of what she was, a pacifist.
Now that the topic was interesting, Rex was curious, "Why is it called Pureblood then?"
Stay tuned with empire
"I an if a Werewolf who has no Inner Fang is called a defect, why call them a Pureblood?"
"Because back before we had the power of moonlight from the Lunirich Gods—the very first generation of Werewolves, that ca from the Origin were all berserk killing machines. All of them were basically animals" Mavok explained, recounting the Werewolf's history.
He continues, "Only the Origin and a handful of others could really retain their consciousness—the others, needed to be chained down. One of your pack mbers—Flunra—is one of the lucky ones who could retain his consciousness better than the rest"
"Because of that, a Werewolf with no Inner Fang is called Pureblood. It's our real form"
Rex was enthralled by this history lesson.
He might be a Human and Werewolf hybrid but he didn't know anything about Werewolf.
Other than their fighting skills and a little bit of history, he knew nothing.
Sothing as deep as this, he didn't know at all.
Rex then turned towards Agatha, who was already coming back from telling the others about the good news, his eyes squinted as he decided to not tell Agatha about the fact that he was the one who killed Ruston.
On the other side, Rex reaches for his chest.
Is it really okay for to not have my Invincible Apparation? Or will I be punished soday?
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