“…”


    Luna blinked in confusion. The man opened his mouth and spoke, but she couldn’t understand a word; it was all in a strange, rapidnguage. What was happening? Why couldn’t she know what the man was saying all of a sudden? She had understood thenguage of this world before, but now she didn’t. Luna touched her left wrist where the trantion bracelet usually was but couldn’t find it. Panic instantly washed over her face, and her brown eyes quivered as she saw a small sneer form on the psychopathic Emperor’s face.


    “…” the man said, sounding like flowing water to Luna, then he took something out of his pocket and disyed it in his hand for Luna to see. Luna gasped as she saw her trantion bracelet in the psychopathic Emperor’s hand.


    She wanted to scream and curse at the man with every colourful phrase in her vocabry, but speaking would reveal her identity as someone not from this world.


    Or had it already been discovered? Luna clenched her fists tightly and red at the man before her with a deadly look. The man spoke again, but Luna couldn’t understand, so she ignored his words. She turned her face away, and at that moment, she felt her hand grabbed and something ced on it. When Luna nced to see what the man was doing, she saw the psychopathic Emperor putting the trantion bracelet back on her.


    “I find it very strange for a resident of Foryeust not to understand the officialnguage of all the countries on this continent, especially needing a trantion bracelet.” Luna clenched the nket even tighter.


    She did not want her identity to be exposed so easily merely because of the trantion bracelet’s existence. “So, little mate, I want to know who you really are and where youe from, hmm?”


    “What business is yours, Your Great Majesty the Emperor?” Luna asked sarcastically.


    “We don’t know each other well enough to share our secrets,” she added, then snorted softly and muttered in protest, “Hell! You even kidnapped me and locked me up in this strange ce.”


    “This is not a strange ce, little mate. This is my private chamber. We are in the imperial pce of Vasilos,” Alkrevas exined calmly.


    “Oh my God! He is insane,” Luna muttered softly.


    Then she jumped in surprise as she felt a warm,rge, and gentle hand stroke her bare back. Her brown eyes instantly locked onto Alkrevas, who had somehow gotten so close to her. Their faces were only inches apart, and if they moved even slightly, their lips and noses would touch. Their breaths intertwined, and Luna was sure he would kiss her without permission if she let her guard down.


    Quickly, Luna rolled to the other side of the bed to put as much distance between herself and Alkrevas as possible. In doing so, the nket covering her body wrapped around her like a burrito. Luna smiled triumphantly and pointed at Alkrevas with her index finger. “Stay there!”


    “Do you think I will listen to your orders? I am the one in control here, little mate. I am the Emperor, and no one canmand me.”


    “To Hell with control! I don’t care about that. Just stay away from me. Thest time you got close to me, you bit my neck and hurt me. What else are you going to do? Strangle me to death? Or cut my body into pieces because you’re offended?” Luna threw out the words boldly.


    Alkrevas frowned in displeasure at the usation from his soulmate. If it were anyone else, he wouldn’t care and immediately cut out their tongue as a lesson. Still, the one using him was his soulmate.


    “You are my soulmate, and I did what I had to do. im you. Besides, I can heal your wounds quickly with our bond strengthening.”


    Luna didn’t care about that; what concerned her was how easily this man hurt the person he imed as his soulmate-doing things she couldn’t ept, even ughtering without remorse. What kind of man hurts the woman he says is half his soul? Oh, the type of man in front of her. A psychopathic and cruel man. No wonder he was called a tyrant. Monsters like him wouldn’t have a conscience because they had died long ago.


    “If our bond wereplete, I could know your thoughts, little mate,” Alkrevas said confidently.


    “In your dreams, psychopathic emperor,” Luna replied inwardly. She held her breath as the man stood up, and soon after, she heard footsteps entering the room.


    Luna hissed softly as the bed curtains were drawn open. Sunlight streamed in through therge window on the left side of the room, piercing her eyes. She blinked several times to adjust her vision before ring sharply at the women in maid uniforms with imperial crest pins on their left chests.


    Alkrevas, observing Luna’s every move from the beginning, chuckled softly and said, “They are the pce’s best servants whom I have chosen to serve you, little mate. They have my permission to touch you.”


    Luna red at Alkrevas in anger upon hearing hisst words, but Alkrevas ignored her piercing gaze. He stood up and brushed off his sleeves. Then, Alkrevas gave his soulmate onest look before turning and walking out of the room, remembering to give orders to the servants. “Prepare my soulmate for the mating ritual tonight.”


    “Yes, Your Majesty.” All the servants replied in unison.


    “And as for you, little mate, don’t try to run. I can easily chase and catch you. Don’t make me put chains on your feet and ce a tracking spell on your body.”


    Then Alkrevas left the room while Luna stared at his back, disappearing behind the door in astonishment. “Did he just threaten me?” she asked herself.


    Alkrevas sat in his office chair, gazing out the window at the most beautiful garden in the imperial pce, filled with various flowers and trees, fountains, a magnificent pavilion, and the finest statue of the Moon Goddess. This garden was the pride of its owner, himself, as the Emperor of the Vasilos Empire. His dark brown eyes took in the view of the garden. Usually, looking at his private garden, whether from the balcony or the window, would calm his mind, but not this time. The beautiful scenery did not affect him.


    He could only stare nkly as numerous thoughts and possibilities filled his mind, even causing Norris to curl up in the deepest corner of his thoughts, unwilling to interfere with the inner turmoil he was currently experiencing.


    His fingers tapped the desk’s surface, creating a tense atmosphere throughout the room. The staff and aides who came to report or deliver documents dyed their tasks, not wanting to disturb the Emperor’s seemingly foul mood.


    Rumours about Emperor Alkrevas arrivingte at night carrying a drenched woman in his arms had spread throughout the imperial pce, and it was inevitable that these rumours would leak beyond the pce walls. The rumours also stated that the woman brought by the Emperor was his soulmate, the long-lost half of his soul that everyone believed would never appear in the Emperor’s life. Of course, the Emperor neither denied nor confirmed the rumours, allowing them to spiral out of control.


    Alkrevas let the rumours reach the ears of the nobles, especially the leader of the noble faction, Marquis Cirillo. The older man would no longer bother him with attempts to match his eldest daughter with Alkrevas. Besides, Alkrevas had more important matters to consider than rumours spread by his gossip-loving subordinates.


    Alkrevas’s eyes blinked rapidly when he heard a knock on his office door. He shifted his gaze from the window to the white-painted door with gold carvings. He gave permission, and soon the door opened. Mathias, the Royal Gamma, third inmand and the highest general of the imperial forces, stepped into the room.


    “What’s the matter?” Alkrevas asked in a firm yet tense tone.


    “It’s about your orders, Alpha,” Mathias replied, standing respectfully.


    Alkrevas immediately straightened his posture. After seeing the trantion bracelet on Luna’s arm, he had contacted Mathias through the mind link, asking him to send imperial envoys to Foryeust to investigate the possibility of the portal bing active again, as reported by his Beta a few days ago.


    “I have sent Commander Abony to carry out your orders.” Thea Abony,mander of the Blue Moon, the second unit of the Imperial Knight Order, one of the elite imperial forces besides the White Night, under Mathias’smand.


    “Good,” said Alkrevas with a slight nod.


    The Vasilos Empire had five elite Knight units known for their exceptional strength and skills. The first unit was White Night, the second was Blue Moon, the third was the Knights of Dukedom Veniam, the fourth was the Knights of the House of Orion and Soleia, and finally, the Royal Pack Knights. The Royal Pack was a particr unit where all the knights were the best warriors from various Packs across Vasilos, meaning the Royal Pack’s strength was unmatched by the other four units. While the other four units contained multiple species, the Royal Pack consisted purely of werewolves, tasked explicitly with tracking enemies or anything asmanded by the Emperor, essentially the imperial trackers.


    In addition to the elite knight units, there are the imperial guards and a secret intelligence unit called The Shadow, which is directly under themand of the Emperor. Only Alkrevas knows of The Shadow’s existence, as it is a unit designated for carrying out his secret orders. There are also forces from various noble houses and warriors from different packs. The Vasilos Empire is known for having the best military and formidable defences.


    Alkrevas paused briefly and gave a short nod. His dark brown eyes stared intently into the distance before asking, “What are the results?” His dark brown eyes turned red like ruby gemstones for a moment before returning to normal.Content provided by N?velDrama.Org.


    He looked at Mathias with a cold, freezing gaze. Suppose Mathias wasn’t a werewolf and a warrior. In that case, he might have immediately fallen to his knees and exposed his left neck as a sign of submission.


    Mathias crossed his arms behind his back, his ck military uniform fitting perfectly on his muscr, broad-shouldered frame. His dark blonde hair was perfectly styled, and his blue eyes looked at the Emperor with emotion. For a moment, his lips formed a thin line, a sign that doubt had crept in, but he decided not to withhold the information he had received from Thea.


    “ording to Commander Abony, it is true that the power in the sacred forest has reactivated, and the magic mist that had previously disappeared has returned, covering the entire forest.” Mathias paused briefly before continuing, “Commander Abony has also investigated the truth of the light.”


    “The results?” Alkrevas asked in a demanding tone.


    “The light was indeed seen a few days ago, soaring high into the sky, and the elders of Foryeust also said the sign indicated that the portal had reactivated, but they found no activity around the temple when they checked the ce.” Alkrevas’s fingers tapped faster as he listened to the report.


    “When Commander Abony tried to enter the forest for further investigation, he was stopped by the Knights of Foryeust. They forbid outsiders from setting foot in the forest.” Alkrevas’s tapping fingers stopped.


    His dark brown eyes immediately focused outside the window, where he saw a woman in a light blue dress walking around the garden, followed by several female servants he had personally selected.


    “That means they don’t know that a ‘neer’ arrived through the portal,” Alkrevas murmured.


    He could already conclude something from Mathias’s report, confirming his suspicion. Luna was not from this world. The light was seen a few days ago, as was the forest’s power returning. Shortly after, he met Luna wearing a trantion bracelet. It was unusual for someone to wear a trantion bracelet at an adult age, especially since the primarynguage used in Rhodes was the same, and only those from outside this world wore such bracelets to adapt.


    From that fact alone, Alkrevas realized that Luna was a mortal being from another world who hade through the portal, just like in the past. That was why he had never found her, no matter how hard he searched across the continent. He believed that Luna’s arrival had been known first by the Fae he saw with her at the inn, preceding the Foryeust royal authorities.


    A slight, terrifying grin slowly appeared on his lips. If Luna came from another world, Alkrevas was sure she would try her hardest to return to her world. This wasn’t the first time he had faced a mortal being from another world.


    “Order Thea to destroy the temple in the forest. Leave nothing behind.” Hemanded in a firm, unyielding tone. His eyes were as sharp as knives, emphasizing the importance of the order to him.


    “Alpha…”


    “You must understand where my Lunaes from, right? I want to prevent her from leaving. I can’t let her slip from my grasp and disappear from my life. After searching hard, I finally found what I was looking for.” Mathias sighed deeply, understanding his Alpha and Emperor’s thoughts. If he were in Alkrevas’s position, he would think the same. Fear was inevitable, especially knowing that the soulmate he had been waiting for was not from the same world.


    “I think it will be difficult to destroy the temple because the magic mist will make anyone get lost, and Queen Maia will be furious with our actions.” His words were total of caution.


    Alkrevas’s jaw tightened. Mathias was right, but leaving the portal active would be too risky. Alkrevas would be haunted by the fear that his soulmate could leave him at any moment. “What about the Fae?”


    “The tracker hasn’t found her yet. Thest time they caught her scent, she was at the border of Vasilos and Foryeust.”


    “That means she has returned to her territory. I don’t know what my soulmate was thinking about protecting that Fae, but we must capture her immediately. Besides us, the Fae knows the truth about Luna. Order Thea to search the Fae’s residence; we might find something about Luna there.”


    Mathias nodded in agreement with Alkrevas’s orders. “And Mathias, summon Markus to see me.”


    “Are you sure, Alpha? Lord Markus is in the northern region inspecting the situation there, and it will take a few days for him to reach Mylonas even with teleportation portals.”


    “That’s fine. There’s something important I need to discuss with him.”


    “Alright. I’ll send a message for him to return to the Capital.” Mathias paused momentarily, unsure of the Emperor’s reaction to the question he was about to ask. Still, he gathered his courage and asked, “When will you introduce Luna to the public, Alpha?”


    …