Conquering His Cold Heart
Chapter 492 - 492: Reunion

"Wait, there's someone over there!" a soldier at the forefront shouted to another soldier running by his side while narrowing his eyes at the figure who was standing near the wall.

"Where?" The other soldier also quickly locked his eyes on that figure and said in a little surprised tone, "Oh, right! It looks like she's a human. What's she doing straying so far away from the village?"

"Hold on!" As they got closer and closer to the wall, the first soldier asked the other, "Doesn't she look familiar to you?"

"Huh?" As if insulted by that remark, the other soldier gave a side glare and shouted, "Why would a human look familiar to me?"

The first soldier suddenly pointed at the figure as if in shock and shouted, "Whoa! It's the Queen!"

"What? How do you know it's her? Have you seen her before?" the other soldier asked, not believing that they were looking at the Queen.

And another soldier confirmed, "Yes, it is her! I have seen her with the King once."

A lot of other soldiers at the forefront also focused their attention on the woman who was now waving her hands at them. Those who had seen her roaming around the castle before immediately recognized her while the others did not.

After recognizing the Queen, one of the squad leaders who was leading his team at the forefront was quick to order his squad, "I will go and inform His Majesty. You all secure the area and check for any traps. Also, make sure the Queen isn't injured. And check if there are any abductors around."

He then turned around and ran to find the King who was a little behind, in the middle of the army. As soon as he got a glimpse of the King, running while being surrounded by the King's guards, he screamed at the top of his lungs. "Your Majesty! The Queen was found near the wall."

The moment Caspian heard that, he froze on the spot. Rather than being relieved, his mind was clouded by incomprehensible fear for some reason.

However, he was quick to regain his composure again.

He levitated in the air and flew towards the wall at such a great speed that even the vampires running below didn't catch his glimpse. They only felt the gust of wind as Caspian passed by. He almost collided against the tall wall because he was flying that fast. Luckily, he maneuvered away from the wall in time and circled a few times in the sky while looking for his wife below.

The moment he spotted her – waving at him and smiling with eyes full of tears – all of his worries, his anxiety, his anger, and his fear instantly dissipated like water vapor. Instead, he felt so relieved and happy to see Anastasia alive that his weakening body immediately felt rejuvenated.

He wasted no time in flying towards Anastasia and landing by her side. "Anna!" He tightly wrapped his arms around her waist, lifted her, and spun her around in joy.

When Caspian's soft laughter resonated in Anastasia's ears, she also smiled ear to ear and nuzzled her face into his neck.

It would be a lie if she said that she wasn't worried about how Caspian would react upon seeing her. A small part of her had assumed that he was still angry at her and that he wouldn't show much warmth to her. However, when there was not even a hint of coldness in his demeanor, Anastasia felt reassured that Caspian's love for her hadn't faltered.

After hugging Anastasia for quite some time, Caspian finally put her down and cupped her delicate face which had turned rosy from all the silent crying. He placed a quick peck on her slightly swollen lips and looked into her eyes which looked beautiful even when they were damp.

He then whispered to her in his quivering voice, "Anna, I am so glad that you are okay… You have no idea how worried I was, and how afraid I was thinking that I had lost you forever."

"Well, you found me." Anastasia gently held his wrist and kissed his palm. She then lovingly rubbed her cheek against his palm and closed her eyes while basking in his cool touch.

While Anastasia was busy rejoicing at the reunion with her husband, Caspian was busy looking at her from top to bottom to check for any injuries.

It didn't take long for him to notice how her wrinkled gown had blotches of blood around her shoulders and a side of her stomach. He wasn't immediately angered by that sight because he could smell that it was someone else's blood, to be more precise, he could smell the werewolf blood. He didn't know how she got it but he was thankful that it wasn't her blood.

He looked further down and noticed how the rims of her gown had gathered dust and also had small tears here and there.

'Did she run all the way here? I hope not…' His heart ached just at the thought of it and he grimaced as the pain of not being able to rescue his wife for so long ate him up from within.

"Your Majesty, what should we do? Should we wait for a while or should we all continue?"

Caspian and Anastasia's moment got interrupted when Jasper came to ask Caspian what he was supposed to do with the army who were all waiting for Caspian's order.

They all had stopped in their tracks when the news about their Queen being found spread among them like wildfire. Now that the Queen was already in their territory, their initial purpose of attacking Xanmar to retrieve the Queen was redundant. Thus, they were all now waiting for the King's new order.

And before Caspian could say anything to Jasper, Anastasia quickly spoke, "Caspian, there's no need to go into a war with Xanmar. I wasn't kidnapped by Everard. It was someone called Regulus Atkinson. Everard had nothing to do with it. Please ask the army to return."

Caspian looked at Anastasia with a confused expression on his face. He was surprised that Anastasia knew exactly what he was planning without him having to explain anything.

"How do you know all that? Don't tell me Everard put you up to it. Did he somehow find out that I was coming for him and only released you to avoid the war? Did that coward ask you to–"

"No!" Anastasia let out an exasperated sigh and said while looking into Caspian's eyes, "Caspian, I just told you Everard had nothing to do with my kidnapping. I don't want Sorvando to unnecessarily break the truce with Xanmar when Everard isn't even at fault. The one who kidnapped me has no ties with Everard. If anything, he is Everard's enemy.

That man kidnapped me because he wanted to trap and hurt Everard. I escaped before anything happened though."

Anastasia instantly regretted enlightening Caspian with the reason behind her kidnapping because Caspian was suddenly fuming with anger.

"So, Everard WAS the reason why you were taken away from me." He ground his jaw. All the rage that he had suppressed came boiling out at once. "He has to pay. And I am going to make him pay."

Caspian looked at Jasper, ready to order him to march the army forward.

However, Anastasia saw Zenon and Vincent coming towards them and instantly ran towards them for help. "Please ask Caspian not to lead the army any further! Innocent blood will be spilled if the army proceeds any further. You both don't want that, do you?"

Having heard that the King of Xanmar wasn't the kidnapper, both Zenon and Vincent were already against leading the war.

Vincent looked at Caspian and requested, "Caspian, the Queen is right. She's already here with us. So, we should go back for now."

"But that bastard isn't innocent!" Caspian snarled at Vincent, already engulfed by his thirst for vengeance. He towered in front of Vincent and shouted while glaring down at his friend, "Didn't you hear? Anna was kidnapped because someone wanted to get back at him."

Vincent raised his palms in front of his chest and tried to calm Caspian down. "But it isn't Everard's fault that someone else tried to use the Queen to get back at him. If anything, he is also a victim."

Caspian suddenly grabbed Vincent by his collar and yelled, "Don't you understand? They wouldn't have kidnapped Anna if that bastard hadn't openly made it clear that he had feelings for my wife. None of this would have happened if the kidnappers didn't believe that he still had feelings for my wife."

He pointed at Anastasia and kept on shouting at Vincent, "My wife's life was endangered purely because of him! He was the one who pissed those buffoons. Why was my wife the one to face the consequences of his poor actions? Now, tell me how he is innocent and why he shouldn't be punished?"

"Caspian, I understand where you're coming from but..." Vincent was calm even when Caspian was looking at him as if he was challenging him to a physical fight to prove his point. "…do you really think that it is okay for the innocent citizens of both Kingdoms to be affected by one person's mistake?"

Caspian pushed Vincent away from his hold and said in a throaty groan, "I don't care because the one who made the mistake is the King. He should have known that his one mistake could be the death of all his people."

"Everybody makes mistakes!" Vincent was the one who was now challengingly glaring at Caspian without caring that Caspian's whole army was right there. "And believe me when I say you will be the one making the greatest mistake of all time if you are still unwilling to back down even after knowing that the King of Xanmar didn't order our Queen's abduction.

Either Sorvando, Xanmar, or both the Kingdoms will collapse just because you're too eager to place blame on him. Have you ever thought that maybe all this wouldn't have happened if you had just talked with the Queen instead of completely avoiding her? She wouldn't have gone to the town in the first place if it wasn't for you!"

"Vincent!" Caspian roared when Vincent hit him right where it hurt.

His thunderous roar echoed far and wide. Everyone around could sense the immense tension in the air.

Before those two could take things further, Zenon finally dared to step in.

He bowed his head in front of Caspian and said confidently, "Your Majesty, I give you my word that I will personally drag the kidnappers to your feet. You can decide how to punish them. We aren't against punishing the real culprits. But please, don't unleash your wrath on people who did nothing wrong. A war isn't worth it."

He also cleverly appealed to Caspian to look at things from Anastasia's perspective. "And think about how Her Majesty would feel if thousands were to lose their lives just because she was caught in someone's revenge plan. She wouldn't want blood in her hand, would she?"

Caspian looked visibly uncomfortable. He was clenching his fists and jaw upon hearing what Zenon had to say. He even felt a little guilty when he glanced at Anastasia. She looked terrified…of him and his plans.

His breathing was getting ragged as he was itching to counter Zenon, to prove that what he was going to do was right. However, he couldn't say anything because Zenon was the one who was right. A war wasn't worth all the trouble.

Besides, now that he had some time to think through, he realized something.

'I want to spend every precious moment with Anastasia now that she is finally back with me. I don't want to spend the short time I have left with her fighting a meaningless war instead of being with her.'

But then the devil on his shoulder whispered to him, 'If Everard doesn't know about my plan yet then he won't have much time to prepare his soldiers to fight against mine. If I can get his head then the war will be over by tomorrow. I can also wipe out that Atkinson clan while I am at it and drag that kidnapper to the dungeon myself. By the day after tomorrow, I will be home.

Then I can spend as much time as I can get with Anna.'

He sighed when the angel on his shoulder countered, 'Anna will be upset. She will resent me until the very end. I don't want to upset her.'

"What was the name of the kidnapper again?" he asked Anastasia, thinking of going along with Zenon's plan instead.

Anastasia told Caspian everything she knew about Regulus.

Since Zenon had promised to bring the culprits to him, Caspian ordered Zenon, "I don't care what you do and how you do it, I don't care if you have to wipe out the entire Atkinson clan, I need you to bring that Regulus to me. Alive. Also, bring those who drugged and captured Anastasia from Silver Keep. I believe you remember the description that the witness gave us."

His jaw ticked when he muttered under his breath, "I am going to chop the hands that touched her."

Caspian then turned to look at Jasper who was quietly standing nearby and ordered, "Jasper, send the best squad with Zenon, or whoever he demands." He looked at the army on standby and took a deep breath before ordering again, "And tell everyone that we are going back. I will head out first."

As soon as he finished giving orders, he swiftly carried Anastasia in his arms. He wanted to head towards the capital before he changed his mind but he didn't take off immediately. His eyes kept on lingering on the large number of soldiers he had gathered and led to this point.

His anger and hatred towards Everard, towards the kidnapper, and towards Xanmar as a whole hadn't diminished at all.

They all made him suffer and he wanted to return the favor. His whole army was right in front of him, ready to march towards Xanmar at one command of his. And yet, he was about to return to the capital without accomplishing anything because that was the right thing to do.

The vast difference between what he really wanted to do and what he was actually going to do was making his head hurt. Inside his head, the moral side of him was in a battle with his true desire. And it was tearing him apart.

But he had already made the decision and he wasn't going to overturn it.

Anastasia was closely watching Caspian's facial expression. She could see the hesitation and conflict in his eyes and could tell that he wasn't quite satisfied with his own decisions.

However, she was happy that Caspian didn't let his emotions affect his decision. She lovingly caressed his cheek and asked him in a soft voice, "Caspian, take me home, will you?"

The persistent loud ringing noise inside Caspian's head instantly died down the moment he felt Anastasia's warmth through her touch and her voice. The uneasy feeling in his heart also disappeared when Anastasia pulled closer to him and planted a soft kiss on his lips.

It finally dawned upon him that this peaceful feeling was what he was seeking through revenge. The loving touch of his wife was what he was missing all along. With his wife in his arms, he now had the peace and warmth he so desired.

At last, a soft smile bloomed on his lips when he whispered to his wife, "Yes. Let's go home."