Conquering His Cold Heart
Chapter 493 - 493: Riddle

Percival was hiding a little far away from the border, in Xanmar's territory.

Before he left for his beautiful home, he wanted to make sure that his brother wouldn't make a stupid decision that would affect generations to come. He wanted to make sure that his decision to put faith in Anastasia was correct.

After waiting for a while, he took out his pocket watch and saw that it had already been half an hour since he left Anastasia alone across the border.

'They should have returned by now, right?' he wondered to himself.

Since the soldiers hadn't marched past the border yet, he was confident that things had turned out the way he had predicted.

'I should go check.'

Thinking that, he took the ground this time. He was being cautious so that he wouldn't be discovered.

Upon reaching the wall, Percival could hear the light rumbling of the ground getting further and further away.

'They must be retreating…'

Just in case, he decided to peek from above the wall to confirm what his ears had heard.

Percival let out a huge sigh of relief when he saw the soldiers far away on the horizon. They were heading back.

He rubbed his face with his palms and mumbled after chuckling in a pleased manner, "I owe you one, Anastasia."

Percival looked up at the sky. The sun was rather bright today. So, instead of flying uneasily, he decided to run comfortably along the shadows. He didn't want to look like a flamingo when he reached home.

'Liana will notice even the slightest pigmentation on my skin and will worry for the whole day.'

He smiled at the thought of his lovely wife. That smile widened even further when he imagined how she was going to greet him today.

'She will probably jump on me like always.'

Percival was so engrossed in playing out his wife's actions in his head that he failed to notice the footsteps that were closing in on him until it was too late. When he picked up the speed after realizing that he was being followed, he heard a voice that he hadn't heard in centuries, only it sounded a bit more mature than before.

"I know it's you, Percival. Just stop running away! You've run enough already!"

The ex-king who was eager to run and disappear like he always had gradually stopped on his track.

His pursuer also stopped behind him, grabbed him by his shoulder as if fearing to let go again, and asked while slightly panting, "How have you been?"

A whirlwind of emotions swirled inside Percival's chest upon hearing those warm words instead of being greeted by an array of punches and kicks. He gulped dryly and slowly turned around to face his dear cousin whom he had always pampered.

"Hamilton." Percival smiled at the man who was almost as tall as him and muttered, "You've…grown up a little."

"Really? That's the first thing that you say to me after pretending to be dead for centuries?" Hamilton looked like he was happy to see Percival alive but at the same time hurt that Percival remained in hiding for all this time.

Percival showed a guilty smile and said while rubbing his nape, "That wasn't the right thing to say, right? I should apologize first. Um…" The confident man began to fidget as he tried to come up with the least offensive or least selfish-sounding apology.

However, before Percival could apologize, Hamilton hugged him and began to mumble some incomprehensible sentences while crying like a baby who just reunited with the mother after getting lost.

Percival's eyes also welled with tears. He had always felt guilty whenever he heard the news about how Hamilton was digging up information about him. And now that Hamilton was crying in his arms in such a heartbroken manner, the guilt in his heart almost suffocated him right there on the spot.

He gently patted Hamilton on the back and apologized while choking on his tears, "Forgive me, Hamilton. I hurt all of you for selfish reasons."

Hamilton calmed down after letting all his grief and frustration out in the form of his tears.

Then he shot a barrage of questions at Percival, "Tell me everything that happened. Why did you never return from that battle? Where did you go and what did you do all this time? What are you doing now? Until when do you plan to stay in hiding? Why the hell are you even in hiding?"

"It's going to be a long story so let's sit down first." Percival walked to a huge evergreen tree nearby for shade and sat down under the tree. He waited for Hamilton to sit beside him.

As he had already been discovered, he didn't hide anything from Hamilton anymore. He answered all of Hamilton's questions in detail in an attempt to quell his cousin's curiosity.

Even after hearing the whole story, Hamilton didn't show a single sign of bitterness on his face.

He didn't have any resentment towards Percival to begin with because, firstly, he wasn't a hundred percent sure that Percival was still alive. It was just his hunch.

Secondly, given that Percival was alive, he was simply worried that Percival was completely unaware of the glorious legacy he had built; he suspected that somebody was taking advantage of his cousin who might have suffered a memory loss after the last battle. It was one of the reasons why he never gave up looking for Percival.

However, now that he got to know that it was Percival's own choice to step back from his royal life, Hamilton felt relieved. He was not angry. Instead, he was glad that Percival had built a life for himself somewhere and had been living happily.

"Liana…" Hamilton looked up at the sky which was now starting to get dark and asked in a teasing tone, "She loved you enough to make you forget all about your family, huh? Was she worth giving up the crown and the Kingdom for?" Though he made the questions sound like a playful satire, he seriously wanted to know the answer.

"Come on!" Percival scoffed and slapped Hamilton on the back of his head, making his cousin flinch and cry out in pain. "I never said I forgot you all. I could never do that. But…"

"I knew there was a 'but'." Hamilton rolled his eyes.

Percival slightly smiled and then said, "But yes, she loves me dearly and so do I. She never once made me feel lonely. She is always ready to accompany me to any corner of the world, but she also gives me space when she feels that I need it."

"She knows I can never completely cut myself off from being involved in Sorvando's affairs." His smile widened further as he spoke more about his wife. "So, she doesn't try to stop me even if she knows it can be dangerous at times. She just asks me to be careful. I am indeed very lucky to have her in my life."

Percival looked at Hamilton and said with a proud look on his face, "I hope that answered your questions."

Hamilton nodded his head and mumbled as if he had half-expected that answer, "Liana was worth giving up the crown and Kingdom for. That's…good for you."

Percival sighed before looking into the distance and saying, "Caspian would have inherited the crown from me one day or another. I was never planning to have children so, naturally, he would be my only heir. It's just that the passing of the crown happened a little earlier than I had planned but he is doing a good job. He is a good King…most of the time…when he isn't affected by his anger."

Hamilton suddenly burst into laughter and mumbled while cry-laughing, "Oh, he has his anger on the tip of his nose."

"Mhmm…" Percival also laughed together with Hamilton. "But I think Anastasia will be able to keep him under control. She seemed like a perfect match for Caspian. And she was courageous enough to hit me because I hurt her husband. I was quite impressed."

"What? She hit you?" Hamilton widened his eyes for a moment and continued laughing. "Then I should thank her when I see her again. She did what I wanted to do when you kept running away from me earlier."

Percival suddenly turned gloomy. He looked at Hamilton and asked in a serious tone, "You can hit me if you want to. I totally understand if you were to pummel me mercilessly. I wouldn't even try to defend."

Hamilton rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Don't think that I will forgive you for playing dead for centuries just because you let me punch you a couple of times. You are going to come to Wintertide Mansion, kneel before me and my mother, and beg for forgiveness."

Percival smiled and nodded. "I will do that then."

"When?" Hamilton's eyes gleamed with excitement.

"I don't know. Maybe when the time is right?" Percival shrugged because returning to Sorvando wasn't what he had planned. He still wasn't sure if he could face Caspian if he were to go back.

Hamilton could see the uneasiness in Percival's eyes. Thus, he didn't think it was good to pressure Percival any further. He had just found Percival after so long. He didn't want to overwhelm his cousin with expectations and make him go into hiding again, never to be found.

"Oh, right!" Hamilton decided to change the flow of the conversation and asked Percival, "Didn't you say Liana was a human before and you somehow turned her into a vampire? Can you change any human into a vampire?"

"No."

Hamilton frowned as Percival's answer sounded rather curt. But he asked again, "Then can you tell me how you did it?" He looked sad as he explained why he needed to know the secret, "Queen Anastasia is very sick. I think her sickness would be cured if she was to be turned into a vampire. Caspian won't be the same if something was to happen to her."

"I know." Percival knitted his brows and replied, "That's why I wrote a letter to Caspian. He should be able to figure out what to do."

---

The few guards who were left behind to protect the Kilerth Castle, along with the exhausted maids and servants who were always on their toes around the King for the past two weeks were finally able to breathe the air of relief when their King returned with the Queen.

With the night approaching faster, the Queen's chefs were preparing a feast for her while the others were also preparing to welcome the tired soldiers who would arrive soon.

Needless to say, the castle was quite lively.

Everyone was happy because of the Queen's return, mostly because they wouldn't have to walk on eggshells and fear encountering the angry King in the hallways anymore.

However, right when everyone was loosening up a bit, a burst of pained laughter emerged from the King's chamber and echoed throughout the castle, making everyone cautious again.

Inside the bedchamber, Caspian was sitting on the bed, one hand holding his head while the other holding the open letter.

Anastasia was sitting by his side with her head down, not sure if her words would be enough to soothe Caspian after she just told everything to him – from her failed escape attempt to the successful one that was carried out by Caspian's 'dead' brother.

And what more? After the fallout the two of them went through because she was concealing the truth from Caspian, she came clean about her other recent discovery too. She told Caspian how Percival was the one who had sent her a letter, indirectly pushing her into becoming Caspian's bride.

While Anastasia sat there with a sore throat from all the talking she just did, Caspian was trying not to do anything rash.

His head was cluttered with thousands of questions for his brother while his heart was about to be crushed under the pressure of two different extreme kinds of emotions. He was undeniably very happy to finally learn that his older brother who had practically raised him was still alive.

But at the same time, he was also utterly heartbroken that his brother had deliberately stayed in the shadows and made him grieve for the loss.

Once again, Caspian chuckled bitterly and spoke under his breath, "All this time he was out there living his life while I mourned him. And he finally reaches out to me through this one sheet of paper?" His jaw ticked as he crumpled the letter in his hand and threw it on the floor.

He held his head with both of his hands and bellowed in agony, "What does he take me for? Am I a joke to him? Is he trying to mock me, asking me if I have been well? Did he not feel a drop of guilt as he frolicked around the world while I handled his throne for him?"

"I never wanted any of this! I was happy living in his shadows…" He grimaced as the tears fought to cling to the rims of his eyes. The lump in his throat was getting sore by the second but he tried his best to not cry in front of his wife. He had already shown his weakness once, he didn't want to do that again.

However, the moment he found himself in the warm embrace of his wife, he couldn't hold back his tears anymore.

He pressed his face into his wife's bosoms and let his tears get soaked by her clean gown as she tried to solace him by running her warm palm up and down his spine.

Anastasia wanted to say to Caspian that his brother looked genuinely sorry for what he did. However, she wanted to wait until his nerves had calmed down to a degree. His shoulders were shaking so violently that even though she didn't hear a sound of him crying, she knew he was.

She kept on stroking his back and running her fingers along his hair to soothe him until he slowly composed himself.

After a long and warm cuddle, Caspian managed to pull himself together and finally lifted his face away. He had yet to hear from Anastasia why Percival brought the two of them together. But he was happy that his brother did so when he met his wife's loving gaze and saw her smiling beautifully at him.

He pulled her close once more, only this time he pressed her head into his hardened chest. "Don't you ever get away from my sight again, you hear me? From today onwards, you are accompanying me everywhere – to my meetings, to my visits, even to the bathroom."

Anastasia lifted her head to see Caspian slightly pouting. A joyous laughter escaped her mouth hearing him talk like an unreasonable toddler with separation anxiety. "Okay," she agreed right after though.

Caspian seemed pleased with her answer. He hugged her even more tightly and kissed her head before inhaling the intoxicating scent that her half-dry, half-wet hair was giving off.

Now that Caspian looked somewhat calmer, Anastasia put in some good words for Percival just like how he had asked, not for his sake though. She did that so that Caspian wouldn't feel any more hurt than he already was.

"Your brother looked very guilty when I confronted him. I think it was because of that guilt he never appeared in front of you. When I asked him to wait and meet you, it looked like he really wanted to but couldn't bring himself to face you at that moment. I'm sure he will change his mind soon. You should give him a chance to reconcile with you if he comes around."

Caspian frowned hearing Anastasia taking Percival's side. "Didn't he also manipulate you into coming here to me? Why do you still take his side?"

Anastasia got up on her feet only to sit down on Caspian's lap. She put her arm around his waist and said after resting her head on his shoulder, "I disliked it when he first confessed that to me. But I don't regret meeting you and loving you. Besides, he said that he did so hoping that we would save each other.

I agree that his method of bringing us together wasn't exactly appreciable but he had your best interest in his heart."

Caspian narrowed his eyes at the crumpled-up letter on the floor. After hearing Anastasia, a particular sentence in that letter flashed in his head.

'You are the saving grace that Anastasia needs to escape her fate, just go along with your instinct and you will find the answer.'

Caspian would have appreciated it if his brother had directly given him the answer instead of talking in riddles. Hell, he would have missed it if it wasn't for Anastasia.

"Percival said that we wanted to save each other, right?" he asked as he protectively held onto his wife's small waist.

"Mhmm…" Anastasia cooed as if she was slowly drifting into sleep.

"What exactly did he say to you? Can you repeat it to me, word by word?" Caspian asked again, eager to figure out how exactly he could save Anastasia from the future that was around the corner.

Anastasia nuzzled into his neck and softly answered, "When I confronted him for lying to me in the letter, he said that you are my cure. When I questioned him further, he said that the answer was in the letter and it was for you to figure out."

She slightly tugged on his shirt and further said in an urging tone, "He also said that you needed to figure it out soon as I don't have much time in my hand." She didn't want to scare Caspian by saying that but now that she knew Caspian could save her somehow, she let her selfishness get the better of her.

She had accepted her short life when she had given up her hopes of finding the cure. However, now that Percival had successfully reignited the hope of a long life in her, she wanted to live. She wanted to do all the things that she couldn't do. And she wanted to do those things together with Caspian.

"I will figure it out," Caspian mumbled somewhat unsurely and clenched his jaw.

He never wanted to beat his brother this badly. 'Couldn't he have given me a clear hint? It is a matter of life and death for my wife and he thought it was good to talk in riddles! I'm going to give him an earful if he ever shows his face to me. No. I'm going to find wherever he is hiding and break his fingers so that he can never write again.'

Anastasia noticed a deep frown on Caspian's forehead and raised her hand to rub the frown away. "Stop overthinking!" she asked in a complaining tone.

She then lifted her head and gently slapped her cheeks as if to wake herself up. She looked into his eyes and said, "We've been apart for so long. Give me your full attention now." It sounded more like an order than a mere request.

"I'm sorry!" Caspian chuckled at that sudden act of haughtiness of his wife. "You have my full attention," the words rolled out of his tongue very smoothly.

He leaned forward to close the already little gap between their faces and allowed himself to relish in her fresh lavender scent, the smell that he had craved for the past two weeks. He slowly pressed his lips against her soft and warm lips. His heart jumped at the mere touch of that warmth that yearned for, so much so that it had driven him mad.

He wanted to smother Anastasia with kisses the moment he had seen her near the wall. He wanted nothing more than to carry her home and keep her locked in until both of them were smelling like each other.

He couldn't do that without taking care of the matters at hand first.

However, now that all the pieces had finally fallen back into their places, Caspian let his suppressed raw instinct finally resurface.

He momentarily pulled away from the kiss to warn her in his sultry voice, "Now, dear wife, I hope you are ready to face your punishment."

"Punishment for getting kidnapped?" Anastasia asked in a teasing manner and attacked him with her kisses and bites.

Caspian sucked her lips a couple of times, without caring how roughly he was doing it, and then tugged her lower lips with his teeth as he spoke, "Exactly. You should have been more careful."

"Hey, I–"

Anastasia's attempt at protest got muffled when Caspian slid his tongue inside her mouth and wrestled her defiant tongue.

Anastasia soon melted in his arms like a puddle of ice, letting him ravish her. If this was his way of punishing her, she had no complaints.