The soft rumble of rotor blades echoed across the Matten estate, breaking the early afternoon silence.
Staff and security lined the periter of the estate's central courtyard, all eyes trained on the helicopter descending onto the reinforced helipad. The insignia of the Nightmare Court shimred on its side, but there was no doubt in anyone's mind who it belonged to.
Princess Akiko.
The sa woman who had helped him get acknowledged by the Nightmare Court and get integrated into the Monarchy.
Ezra stood at the edge of the helipad, arms folded loosely behind him, his black coat stirring in the wind kicked up by the descending craft. His eyes narrowed slightly, even as his expression remained neutral.
This was a surprise. He hadn't received notice that she was coming. That wasn't like her.
The door opened with a hiss, and Akiko stepped out like royalty descending onto foreign soil.
She wore a dark red gown that was fitted tightly around her petite form, her long hair braided tightly over one shoulder.
But there was no smile. No flash of teeth. Only a cool gaze, asured and unreadable.
"Princess." Ezra said with a polite nod.
"Ezra." She replied, voice smooth but clipped. "It's been too long."
He gestured with one arm. "I wasn't expecting you."
"I know."
No warmth, no mischief.
The guards fell into step beside her as Ezra led her toward the estate. They moved in silence through the corridors until they reached the private eting chamber.
It was a circular room, softly lit by red-glass chandeliers, with high-backed chairs and velvet drapes to swallow sound.
Ezra gestured to a seat as the guards took their post outside the closed door. "Drink?"
"Blood wine. Human." She said, settling into her chair like a queen into a throne.
He poured it himself, setting the glass before her. She sipped, then studied him.
"So," she began, "are the rumors true?"
Ezra took a seat across from her. "Which ones?"
"That you've brought soone back from death."
Ezra's lips twitched. "You've always been a direct woman."
"And you, evasive." She shot back.
He didn't deny it. Instead, he leaned back slightly. "Yes. It's true."
Her eyes sharpened. "Gen?"
Ezra nodded. "She's alive. Fully. Flesh, breath, blood. The soul that was stolen has been restored."
Akiko was silent for a long ti. She took another sip of her wine.
"I didn't believe it when I first heard. But I felt sothing the mont I crossed into your territory."
Ezra tilted his head. "Jealous?"
She didn't laugh.
"I ca here for two reasons." She said, placing her glass down with a soft clink. "One was curiosity. I had to see it for myself. And now I have."
Ezra said nothing, waiting.
Akiko leaned forward, folding her hands in her lap. "The other… is harder to admit."
Ezra straightened, the tension behind his eyes growing.
Akiko's voice softened, almost too quiet for the room. "I've always wanted a child, Ezra. Always."
He blinked slowly.
"It awakened sothing I thought I buried deeply when Olivia birthed Aurora. I felt the change within myself. It could no longer be hidden."
"You brought Gen back. And you have a child born of two powerful lineages. Vampire and empowered. Yet, you've broken no laws. And in doing so, you've reminded of everything I'll never have."
Ezra inhaled deeply. "Akiko—"
"I want you," she said, eyes locked on his, "to give a child."
The silence that followed was thick, thunderous.
Ezra's mind went into overdrive. Was this it? Was this the reason Prince Romanus told him to be wary of Akiko back at his coronation ceremony? Did Akiko have other plans apart from getting him to make her heavy with child.\\
At the end of the day, it didn't matter. Whether Romanus had warned him or not, his answer would still be the sa.
"No."
Akiko's brow twitched. "You didn't even think about it."
"I didn't have to."
"Why?" Her voice didn't rise, but her Aura did, spreading all over the place.
"I have wives, Akiko." Ezra leaned forward. "What I have with Olivia, Red, and Gen... wasn't a transaction. It wasn't power. It was bond, trust. Shared blood and pain and mory."
Akiko's jaw tightened. "You think I'm incapable of love?"
Ezra shook his head. "No. I think you're used to having everything you want. And you're not used to hearing no."
Her eyes glead now, sharp as cut glass. "You think yourself better than ?"
"I think I know what this would beco. It's not about children. It's about legacy. About proving you can do what the world said was impossible."
She stood then, the motion too smooth to be casual. "I ca to you in honesty. In vulnerability."
"And I answered in the sa."
Her expression cracked. Not with tears, but with fury. Cold, bitter fury.
"You don't get to judge ." She hissed. "Not after what you've done. You burned down a noble house and call yourself righteous. You raise the dead and pretend you're not playing god."
Ezra's tone never shifted. "I don't pretend. I know exactly what I am."
"And yet you stand there, denying a future I would protect with my life."
"No." Ezra said. "I'm denying you my blood. Because it's not sothing I give. It's sothing I share."
Akiko's hands clenched at her sides. "You've made an enemy of today."
Ezra stood as well, standing tall over her.
"Then leave knowing it was your choice."
She stared at him for several long seconds. Her Aura throbbed around her, dark and rippling with unspent wrath.
Then she turned without another word.
The guards didn't need a signal. They followed in silence as she stord back through the estate.
Ezra didn't walk her to the door.
She didn't look back.
No goodbyes were spoken.
The halls felt colder when she was gone. The wine in her glass still shimred under the chandelier's light, untouched since her confession.
Ezra remained standing long after the doors closed.
He wasn't angry.
Just disappointed.
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