What Sisi said made sense. If they parted ways peacefully, the faeries might be kind enough to allow Sisi to leave from time to time and visit her family.

But if he stubbornly refused to give her up, then the faeries would think of the Dusk and Dawn Star as the enemies they had to separate from their Darling.

But Kael was too selfish to let her go. Everything was based on probability. It was a big what if. What if the faeries decided that Sisi didn’t need to return to the Beast Kingdom anymore, and barred her from ever leaving?

He didn’t want to risk losing Sisi permanently.

"I still won’t allow you to leave, Sisi. And Jojo... Jojo will be devastated knowing that you’d leave him alone. Don’t you realize that boy is your son too?"

Sisi’s heart was aching whenever Jojo was mentioned. She kept telling herself that Jojo had his father by his side to protect and guide him.

But deep down, she also knew that it was impossible for Jojo to accept that his mother was just... gone.

"Then what should I do? Kael, my promise to my grandmother cannot be revoked, and I still have the responsibility to maintain the balance in nature!" Sisi’s chest heaved. "It’s not only about our family, but also about the entire forest and the livelihood of all creatures in this world!"

"I don’t give a damn about this balance-of-nature nonsense! They all can die for all I care!" Kael insisted. He raised his voice out of desperation and hugged his wife even tighter. "You don’t understand me, Wife. You... you are the light in my life and in Jojo’s! Do you think that we can just continue without you by our side? What’s the meaning of saving the forest if that would make you leave us!"

"KAEL!"

Sisi snapped when she heard those words coming out of his mouth.

She knew that he didn’t mean it badly. But it was still painful to hear that, because it was utterly selfish to let everyone die just so you could have a piece of heaven for yourself.

"You know that I am not that type of woman, Husband. I... I can’t let the world around Jojo wither and die just because I want to stay with you two."

Kael knew that would be Sisi’s answer. His wife had always been selfless, to the point that Kael wished she would be a little more selfish—at least selfish enough not to think about anyone else but her own family.

"Listen to me, Husband. Just let me go for now, and once I’ve finished taking care of the faerie land, I’ll beg so I can return to your side," Sisi tried to pacify her agitated husband. "Maybe I can visit you once every year or two and—"

"You’re insane if you think that I’ll allow that!" Kael snapped. "Once a year? That’s impossible! You’re starving me to death, Sisi!"

The more Kael listened to his wife, the more he realized that he couldn’t let go. So what if the whole world was destroyed? As long as Sisi stayed by his side, then nothing else mattered!

Slowly, a dark aura began seeping out of his body, followed by his crimson eyes that gleamed in the dark.

He looked down at his wife while thinking of a way to possess her completely, making sure that she wouldn’t be able to leave, even if the whole world burned to hell because of it.

Of course, Sisi noticed Kael’s aura and knew that she should’ve pushed him away or scolded him for having dark thoughts over this non-negotiable term.

However, she couldn’t do any of that, because she was suddenly hit with a wave of exhaustion.

She knew that she had been overworked these days and had ignored all the signs of getting sick, such as morning sickness, vomiting, and just general exhaustion.

She was so stressed with how to tackle this problem that she had been missing her regular period.

She didn’t expect that a faerie like her would actually get sick like a human. But then again, she was half human after all, so getting sick was always possible.

She just didn’t think that a wave of exhaustion would come now.

Was it because Kael was agitated, so she also got agitated and caused her sickness to flare up?

Or was she overly stressed by now and her body couldn’t keep up anymore?

"Husband, I—I feel... dizzy..." Sisi murmured while she put her entire weight on her husband.

Kael had been planning all sorts of things to keep Sisi by his side. But when Sisi said that she felt dizzy, his mind cleared up a bit when he realized that Sisi suddenly went silent.

"Sisi? Sweetheart?" Kael tried lifting her head a little, and his eyes widened once he realized that Sisi had fainted for an unknown reason.

"Sisi!" Kael panicked. He carried Sisi in his arms and rushed to the doctor’s office.

*

Kael kicked the doctor’s office door, startling the doctor who was still asleep.

"Doctor, come and check on the Queen! She has fainted!" Kael said as he put Sisi on the bed.

"Y-yes, My King!"

The doctor was flustered, but he quickly regained his composure and rushed to check on the queen.

Based on his quick observation, there was no external injury on her, and her breath was regular. So the doctor asked, "Did something happen before this, My King?"

"We..." Kael paused for a moment. Of course, he didn’t want anyone to know that Sisi wanted to leave the kingdom. "We had an argument. And my wife suddenly fainted while I was hugging her!"

"It could be overstimulation, My King. You have a terrifying aura that could scare anyone, including the Queen herself," the doctor explained.

"But since you two are newlyweds, I think it’s just right for me to check—" the doctor checked on Sisi’s pulse for a few seconds... and gasped.