In the heart of Lirium, inside the Alhazen palace, the corridors echoed with the hurried click of heels. A woman pushed her way into the presidential office without announcing herself.
"Aidrien, darling… he kicked! Our little Prince just kicked again!" she said with breathless joy.
It was Laura Rose, now Laura Alhazen by marriage. She was thirty-eight, her hair white as snow and her eyes silver. Her Elyth was simple—almost innocent compared to the formidable powers of her bloodline: the ability to create bubbles. A soft, harmless gift that many in the Alhazen family mocked as laughably human.
Behind the desk, surrounded by mountains of papers stamped with official seals, Aidrien Alhazen didn't even lift his eyes. At forty-eight, he was a man who commanded respect: dark hair and beard already streaked with gray, broad-shouldered, immaculate suit. His Elyth—the total manipulation of gravity—made him the strongest of his lineage.
"Laura," he said with restrained severity, "how many times have I told you not to barge in like that? Until the child is born and proves himself worthy of being an Alhazen, he means nothing to me."
Laura's smile faltered. She bit her lip, hiding her anger beneath a trembling sweetness."Oh, Hazy… he's our son. It's not fair that I'm the only one who feels excited, even over a tiny kick."
Aidrien signed another document without looking at her."You already know the duty of an Alhazen matriarch—bear the heir and raise him with discipline. Nothing more."
Laura lowered her gaze. Still, she circled the desk with quiet steps. The documents before him bore seals she recognized all too well—not only from Lirium's government but from the Order of the Black Mantle. She knew exactly what that meant. She had seen the true heart of the family that ruled as politicians by day and criminals by night.
She looked at him with aching nostalgia."What happened to my Hazy? The man who brought me flowers, who sang to me under the moon, who made me laugh with his foolishness… the man who loved me more than anything."
For a moment, Aidrien's pen stopped. His dark eyes softened—just barely."I still love you, Laura. But now, Lirium comes first. I have no time to play family. Fulfill your role, and nothing else."
Laura wrapped her arms around him with desperate tenderness. He, however, activated a gravitational field that gently pushed her away—as if the air itself rejected her.
"You should rest," he said. "And don't interrupt my work again for nonsense."
The door shut behind her with a dry, final thud.
In the hallway, Laura pressed her forehead against the wooden door and broke into tears. She missed the romantic man who once protected her—the same man who, when her family sold her to pay their debts, defended her and showered her with affection. That Aidrien had died the day he became the leader of the Alhazen. Since then, he ruled Lirium like a just president while secretly controlling every crime through the Order of the Black Mantle.
Wiping her tears, Laura placed a trembling hand on her belly and whispered:"Prince… my son. Don't become like your father. Love deeply. Be truly human. I'll stay with you all your life… to remind you who you are. My little Prince, the prince of the Alhazen."
And she smiled—though her eyes still burned with sorrow.