"What do you think you're doing you bastard?!"
Haide asked while keeping his gaze focused on Keith.
Keith scoffed, "Aha, so you're the one Yolan spent the night with huh? Who are you to claim someone's wife?"
"Wife?"
Haide glanced at me, asking for confirmation, but I shook my head. That's all he needed to know before he turned his head again to Keith.
"Leave. Before I make you."
"As if."
Keith raised his fist but Haide ducked it. With a swift motion of his feet, Haide swiped Keith off the floor and punched him on the gut.
THUD!
CRASH!
Haide grabbed him by the collar and dragged him out of the room as he gave me one last glance. His eyes glowed red.
"I'll take care of this bastard first."
And he left my apartment.
"…"
Silence soon filled my surroundings. I didn't know where Haide took Keith with him, but what I knew for sure was that Haide had entered his rut because of my pheromone, just like Keith.
'Why?'
Starting from my changed sense of smell to Keith's change in attitude. My regression… All of it created butterfly effect even I couldn't handle.
'What would happen in the future? Will it stay the same or will it change drastically like this?'
No, even without asking, I knew for sure it would change. It would change so much that it created a new reality I hadn't walked the path in.
The uncertainty made me nauseous.
Before I knew it, I was grabbing the hem of my clothes. My breaths shortened and my chest hurt. It felt as if air was slipping out of my lungs.
"Heuk!"
I curled up on the floor, gasping for air. My consciousness seemed to be slipping away.
"Yolan!"
A familiar voice.
'Haide.'
"Breathe Yolan! Take deep breaths!"
Haide hugged me and rubbed my back, encouraging me to keep taking deep breaths.
"Follow my voice. Take a deep breath in, deep breath out."
I followed his instructions, finding myself relaxed in his arms.
"Feeling better?"
I gave him a weak nod. Though my heat was still going, I could breathe easier now.
Wait, my heat?
I raised my gaze when the realization hit me. Haide was in his rut, so how could he stay this close to me without getting feral?
Haide seemed to notice my gaze as he smiled to assure me.
"I took a suppressant beforehand." He chuckled as he released me, "Don't give me that distrustful look, even now I'm trying my best to hold my instinct in."
'His self-control is amazing.'
I couldn't help but be amazed by that.
"Then, I'll leave." Haide slowly released me from his arms. "Sorry I'm late." And quietly closed the front door as he left, his whisper vanished into the air.
With that, I was left alone once again.
"Haa… shit."
Today was one of the worst days of my life.
.
.
CHIRP! CHIRP!
The hums of birds jolted me awake. This time however, I woke up with a clearer mind. Gone was the fever and pain swirling inside me, all that was left was a body covered in sweat.
I rubbed my head as I raised my upper body. I didn't know how long I was lying on the hard, cold floor but judging from the ache on my muscles and chills I had been feeling since I woke up, I knew for sure I was lying for at least days until my heat receded.
'Water.'
GROWL!
'And maybe some food too.'
My throat was parched and my stomach was empty so I decided to make some food.
"Ouch!"
I lowered my eyes when a sharp pain struck my feet.
"A glass shard?"
Broken glass shards were scattered across the floor and I had unknowingly stepped on them.
I finally realized what state my room was in.
After a fight between Keith and Haide, my room was turned into a shipwreck. Windows shattered and chairs upturned.
Everything in my small room was covered in glass shards and dust.
"I might need hours to clean this up… Oh right, the door-"
I touched my door to assess its condition but my mumble was cut short when I saw the thing in front of it. Outside my room, wooden planks had been planted all over my door frame to act as a barricade and as a substitute for my door.
"I didn't even realize someone was setting this up in front of my room."
The noise from all that hammering must be loud, but here I was, out cold on the floor and not realizing anything like a stupid fool.
'Was it Haide?'
No, I was sure he was on the verge of his rut, he might not be able to do it himself.
'Maybe he asked someone to do it.'
Regardless of how he did it, the fact that he had helped me didn't change. And the fact that he didn't immediately jump on an omega in heat was a tenacity I hadn't seen in an alpha before.
A smile unconsciously formed on my lips.
So there was actually an alpha like him huh?
'I need to thank him later.'
GROWL!
"But my stomach is my priority right now."
And with that, I turned toward the kitchen to cook some food – while avoiding the broken shards of course.
.
.
In the War of Throne, everyone who got selected as a piece mostly had the same wish as their King. That's why, as long as the King could unite their pieces well, in-fighting between members could be avoided.
Unless there were conflicts between morals and personality or there was a change within members in the faction, everyone in the faction usually respected a King with great leadership skill.
Unfortunately, that's what happened in my previous life. One of my bishops doubted me because his trust wasn't as deeply rooted as the old member of my faction – who died to protect me.
In her last breath, she gave one of her lackeys her bishop mark by telling him to kill her to obtain it. So in the end, I had to rebuilt the trust I lost after I lose her, which didn't end as well as I predicted.
But today, the wheel of fate seemed to be playing a joke on me.
A woman in her twenties, hair sparkling like woven silk under the sun, wearing a neat shirt with a loose button on top, knee length skirt and black heels – the epitome of a businesswoman – was standing beside me with a smile on her face.
Even after years of not seeing that face, I still remember the first time we met. The first word she said back then was-
"Bonjour! The weather today is nice yeah?"
I looked at the raining sky outside the convenience store then back at her.
"Sure, I guess you could consider rain a nice weather too, like how it helps the plants grow…"
I was shopping for groceries because I was low on stock, but I didn't expect to meet an old acquaintance.
Someone I knew too well in my previous life.
"Ohoho! Finally someone of my humor! It's going to be a while until the rain stops anyway, how about we chat? Ah, right, may I know your name?"
'She doesn't remember me anymore huh…'
That's a given, considering she was dead long before we won. The power of regression that we – the black faction fought for – wasn't granted to her.
But still, the fact that only I remember the memories of our time together made my heart hurt.
"Yolan Carnel, what's yours?"
"Azazel Sylvia." She beamed like a child as she answered. Observing my face, she rummaged through her bag of groceries and handed me a lychee drink with a smile.
"Here, have a drink."
"What's with the sudden offer?" I asked her, tilting my head as I stared at the bottle in her hand.
She grinned, "Your face told me you seemed like the type to like this kind of drink and my gut is usually right. So? Wanna take it?"
I chuckled at her words, her gut was as spot on as it was in the past, which made me realize something.
Even though our time together was erased from her memory, we could always build new memories together.
As long as she's alive, that's all that matters.
Azazel was my friend, and would always be, even in this life.
"Then let's exchange items. Based on my prediction… Hmm, seems like you will like this packet of cheese."
"Oh! Blue cheese! I was eyeing it on the shelf earlier, but my greed of sweet drinks overtook me, so I thought I'll come back later when I have the money. Are you seriously giving it to me?"
I nodded, "Yeah, take it, it's small compared to all the things you have done to me."
Azazel tilted her head, "Hm? But all I've done was giving a drink to you though. No, in fact, isn't this unfair? I only gave you a drink but you gave me something triple the price!"
A smile bloomed on my face. I pulled out my phone and offered it to her. "Then, in exchange, tell me your number. Let's become friends-"
'- Once again in this life.'
I kept my mouth shut, letting the words left unsaid.
Not knowing what's on my mind, Azazel took the phone in my hand and typed in her number.
"Done! Give me a call when you're free, okay? I'm waiting, bestie!"
She grinned widely, making me also mirror her expression. Her outgoing personality was always the sunshine of our faction and I was glad to know her in this life too.
Without I even realized, as I was speaking with Azazel while waiting for the rain to stop, a smile never left my face.