Days passed and turned to weeks, and Sisi still hadn’t been able to crack Jojo and make him willingly give her up.

In fact, Jojo became even more clingy, saying that he was scared his mother would actually leave him alone when he wasn’t looking.

Sisi felt conflicted, and she thought that asking Kael about this would give her an idea on how to make Jojo more independent.

However, Kael was no better than his son.

Instead of trying to make Jojo more independent, he simply said:

"Jojo is only four. Isn’t it good that he’s very clingy to you? You’d miss his clinginess once he becomes a teenager."

Of course, Sisi couldn’t say that she had to leave eventually. So every conversation they had about Jojo would always end up in a stalemate.

Thus, over the past two weeks, Sisi had been busy taking care of the kingdom with Kael.

Kael built a throne right next to his in the throne room for her, and now she was also obligated to attend morning court with him.

On top of that, Jojo began to have a habit of walking alone around the palace. Though he was still tightly watched by the guards from afar, he had grown accustomed to the palace and wouldn’t always stick to Sisi—until the evening came, of course.

Once Sisi was done with all state matters and returned to the courtyard with Kael, Jojo would jump into her embrace at lunch and dinner, and then insist on them sleeping together as three, much to Kael’s disappointment.

After all, he was a newlywed, and his urge to breed was at its peak. So he wanted to continue breeding Sisi for at least a whole month nonstop until he was satisfied.

Counting the first time they consummated their marriage, Sisi and Kael had only been intimate about four times, and they had to steal the time by sneaking to the den at the summit right after morning court, or else Jojo would make a fuss.

Sisi enjoyed her time in the palace. She worked diligently as a queen to the point that days passed until she finally realized that she only had a week left before Grandma Tree would call her to fulfill her promise.

Sisi knew that she had to do something to make sure that Kael wouldn’t be shocked once she had to leave.

Thus, she decided to wait until midnight when Jojo was asleep and whispered, "Kael, I have something to talk with you. Come with me."

Kael’s eyes were wide open instantly. He had a bad feeling about this.

He knew that Sisi had to leave eventually, but he didn’t expect it to be this quick.

He was already thinking of many ways to make Sisi stay, but in the end, his last chance was to make her pregnant.

Surely, Sisi wouldn’t leave once she was pregnant, right? Because the child would have half of his bloodline as well.

He knew it sounded devious, but that was the only way to make her stay without forcing her.

"Alright," Kael said. "Let’s get out."

They carefully put Jojo on the bed, making sure that he wouldn’t notice anything as they left, and then went for a walk to the garden.

They walked side by side, but there was nothing but silence between them. Kael didn’t want to talk about her departure since the beginning, while Sisi was trying to find a perfect sentence to start this conversation.

"Husband, do you remember my promise to the faeries? In exchange for Jojo to regain his eyesight, and also for him to be free from any side effects of being a Dawn Star, I will have to return and rule the faerie land as they need me," Sisi opened the conversation, and Kael stopped in his tracks immediately.

She turned around to face him and continued, "I’m afraid that my time is near, Kael. I—"

"Stop talking about it," Kael interrupted. He stared at his wife intensely, and then asked, "I don’t need to know about the details of your promise with the faeries. But this is your home—with Jojo and me. You have no connection there, while Jojo needs you... and so do I."

Sisi’s heart ached seeing Kael, whose hands were trembling. He was definitely angry over this arrangement, but it was a promise that she couldn’t break.

"This is not only about us or the faeries, husband. This is... about Roc Forest—no, about the balance of nature in general," Sisi said. "The faeries have gone for eighteen years without a ruler, and they’ve gone increasingly rogue. If the faerie land continues to be ruler-less, it’ll fall into chaos and the faeries won’t be able to do their job."

"They are fine for eighteen years. What’s the difference with another eighteen—or eighty more years!"

"T-that’s impossible, you know that, Kael. I have to leave in about a week, and by then, I—"

"I will not allow you to leave!" Kael insisted. He strode toward Sisi and hugged her tight. "Those faeries will have to fight me first to take you away!"

"Husband..." Sisi felt utterly helpless right now. She knew that Kael wouldn’t take the news well, but he seemed stubborn, and bloodshed between beastmen and faeries might be inevitable if this persisted.

"Why..." Kael buried his face on her neck, not wanting to let his wife see this vulnerable side of him while he was trying to keep her by his side. "Why do you want to leave so badly, Wife? Am I not enough for you?"

"You are more than enough for me. But this is a decision that I already made long ago," Sisi said. "Besides, if I go back to the faerie land peacefully, Grandma Tree might allow me to come out of the faerie land from time to time to visit you and our son. But if you want to fight them, then... I might be isolated forever in the faerie land."