Chapter 75: The Secret

I gasped. "Cantavalle?" My jaw dropped. "Did you say 'Cantavalle?'" I stepped forward while I heard my heart pounding so fast.

"Dominixe... No, you must not learn about it yet!" Niccolo said and was about to take another step when Luna Queen Rachelle halted him.

"Yes." She faced me. "House of Cantavalle," she corrected.

"What do you mean he is a Cantavalle? Demetrius does not even have cognac eyes! He is not even an heir candidate. How did that happen?" I exchanged glances between Demetrius and Luna Queen Rachelle, looking for answers. I couldn't shake this feeling that it had been bothering me.

And what the hell was this timeline thing? I did not understand what was happening right now!

Luna Queen Rachelle sighed and oscillated her rapier sword from left to right. "Apparently, Demetrius is from a different timeline that does not belong here with us. What I mean is... he never existed in this world."

"What?!" I gasped before I hastily turned to Demetrius. "Is that true?"

I suddenly remembered that strange dream. Did it mean...

"Mother..." Demetrius started to cry and rushed to me before kneeling in front of me. "Mother, please... I only did what you told me. You said that for me to atone for my sins of not looking like father, you ordered me to come here in this timeline..." He sobbed. "You said you will love me as your son if I do anything... Please... Please let me stay here with you. I will be a good son. I know how to behave. I can meet your expectations... I will do anything for you to notice me. Just please! Please let me stay by your side!"

He started wailing in tears while he was hugging my waist. I even found myself crying, shocked that this was happening.

My mouth was stitched, unable to express a word. I lowered my gaze to Demetrius before I stepped back.

"I..."

"Mother..."

I shook my head, distancing myself from him. My heart was crushed when his chartreuse eyes expressed how hurt he was. "I..." I turned at Niccolo when he rushed to Demetrius. "I-I need to get a gist of this..." I was about to turn my back when Luna Queen Rachelle spoke again.

"Don't you want to know how Demetrius travels in this timeline?" I halted. "Don't you want to know how the turnout of events differs from this timeline?" That made me look at her, seeing that she knew something. She put down her rapier sword. "It seems that you already know who you really are, correct? You can piece it together, don't you... Dameta?"

The whole room was surrounded by Demetrius' sobs and Niccolo, who kept consoling him. Shivers ran up my whole body, realizing that this was not what I expected to happen.

Why?

Why was I her?

How come...?

"If you mean calling me by that name, it means..." I turned at Demetrius, who looked so broken as our eyes met. "I was the former head of the House of Cantavalle and conceived Valerian's pup on that timeline...?"

"I became a marchioness...?"

"The dream... It means... they happened? It means... Demetrius is my... son, and I was his... abusive mother in that timeline?"

"Yes. Yes, you are correct, sister."

I was rendered speechless. My hands covered my mouth, horrified by what was happening.

"Dominixe!" Niccolo and Henry said.

I found myself kneeling on the floor since my knees failed me. I stared at nowhere, trying to get the gist of everything bestowed on me simultaneously.

"No way... Such timeline does exist...?" I slowly looked up at my... sister. "V-Valerian and I had a pup..." I felt Henry settling beside me, putting his hands on my shoulders. "I was abusive to my son..." I mumbled mindlessly.

"Domi..." Henry said.

"Mother said that on that timeline, you passed down your title to your son and helped him go to this timeline. After that... you ended your life without his knowledge." My eyes widened before I looked up at her.

What?

What did she say?

"I... ended my life?" I felt more chills creeping through my whole body.

"Mother is dead?!" Demetrius stood up. "But why?!" He clung to Luna Queen Rachelle. "She said that she will forgive me... Did I make her wait too much, auntie? Did grandma say that it is my fault? Did it mean I become a failure?" He knelt before her. "This means... she never loved me even if I did what she wished."

I gasped and reached for him. "No..." I muttered. "No, Demetrius..." My heart was broken when our eyes met as I saw how he looked devastated.

He smiled bitterly. "Mother... I mean my other mother, where I will never be born in this world... Thank you... At least I felt loved by you. At least you are not pushing me away... I am grateful to be your son even if I did not look like Father." He hiccuped.

"Demetrius..." I started to cry when he faced Luna Queen Rachelle.

"I wish to return, auntie... My work is done here..."

"No..." I stood up, already crying. "No... He is my son!" I declared and reached for him before hugging him. Demetrius stiffened. "Demetrius... Please... Forgive me..." Even though I had never done such things, I would like to apologize to him since it was still me who he faced at that time.

I did not know I had become such a horrible mother to Valerian and my son. How could I be acted like this?

I was expecting that he would hug me, but he didn't. Instead, he slowly pushed me away as if... he did not want me anymore.

"You cannot return him! He is going to stay here!"

I was surprised when Niccolo spoke angrily. I did not expect him to be mad, but the way he looked he was frightened.

Niccolo marched towards her. But Alpha King Claudian blocked him before he could even approach her.

"I have seen this before," His Majesty said. "You think my mate is being cruel to all of you, and you shall resort to violence just because she is the General of my military." He smirked before he pushed Niccolo away. "Distance yourself, two-faced, before bloodshed happens."

I creased my forehead. Two-faced? What did he mean by that?

"Oh, my..." Luna Queen Rachelle approached them. "It's you again." She smiled meaningfully. "I know who you really are."

Niccolo looked frightened as he stepped back. He even gulped. "P-Please do not return Demetrius to his original timeline... He already suffered enough from his... mother." He glanced at me, which made my stomach somersault. "Demetrius did not even want to become the head of the House of Cantavalle. He just wants—"

"You are the reason why Dameta has been desperate to be with you... yet you are lying the whole time." She turned to me. "Right?"

"Huh?" I was dumbfounded again by her meaningful words.

Lying the whole time?

What did it mean by that?

"What do you mean at what—"

"I think this is enough for today, Rachelle," Henry said as he used his body to protect me. It was as if he was not letting me expose from her gaze. "Dominixe and Demetrius have enough. Please be considerate of their condition. And let your sister absorbs what she knew today."

When I glanced over his shoulders, Luna Queen Rachelle arched her eyebrow. "Henricus, aren't you telling us something crucial?" she asked suspiciously.

I heard Henry's breathing cease momentarily before he cleared his throat. "We can talk about this later, Rachelle. Please be considerate with Dominixe."

Alpha King Claudian stepped forward. "Here we are helping you for ascending the throne, yet you are manipulating things that are beyond our imagination." He glanced at me before he returned his gaze to Henry again. "You may fool them, but you cannot fool us. Remember that you are facing the first daughter of the Moon Goddess, who happened to be my Luna Queen, my wife, my mate, and the mother of our son."

Luna Queen Rachelle clung to his arm. "I bet that you are not going to tell my sister everything. You were aware, right? The sudden existence of Dominixe and Valerian's son from the different timeline and, of course, Niccolo Andreu."

I felt like someone pulled me down to the water with a low temperature as I looked at Henry, who remained silent. "What are they saying, Henry?" I made him face me when he was not saying anything. "What else are you not telling me right now?!" I asked dangerously. "Answer me!" I raised my tone enough for him to glance my way.

I was getting impatient, so I smoothly fished out my dagger and pointed it at his neck.

"I do not have all the patience, Henricus la Chandelier. What else are you not telling me right now?"

I could have sworn that my patience was thin now. Seeing that Henry was keeping something from me was enough for me that it was wrong for me now that I trusted this man.

Henry heaved a breath, closing his eyes for a moment before slowly peeling them to look at me with a stoic expression.

"I was the mastermind who sparked the arson in the Nocturnal Crest pack to slaughter Valerian's pack members," he revealed and faced me. "And our plan of saving Valerian back in the underground arena, and I said we failed, that was why he died... I lied." He looked into my eyes after I gasped. "Valerian is still alive, Dominixe. And he is here with us." My eyes widened in horror. "Niccolo is Valerian, Dominixe. I have been hiding him the whole time."