CHAPTER 130: CHAPTER 129. UNDO THE KNOT

Roxanne took a deep breath as the light within the communication orbs dimmed and the chamber slowly returned to its ordinary stillness. The nobles who had been able to gather in the royal palace filed out one by one, each carrying the same dreadful tension in their shoulders.

Something unknown is coming toward their shores, something far beyond a diplomatic incident or the simple problem of turning Aerthysia’s ships away. If Roxanne’s fear is correct, if the beings born of cursed Calonia are the ones who had driven Aerthysia across the storm belt, then no matter what choice they made, whether welcoming the fleeing fleets or forcing them back into the sea, those beings would eventually reach Kaelindor’s ports.

"What a cunning being," Roxanne muttered under her breath, her expression darkening with realization.

Accepting Aerthysia meant inviting the hunters behind them. Rejecting Aerthysia meant leaving them to die, only for the hunters to claim a new, untouched land the moment they arrived. Either way, Kaelindor would be exposed.

"Humans are the only ones capable of such things," Terranova said, voice rumbling like shifting earth.

"They do look like us, right?" Vivianne asked quietly.

"Yes, master," Tempest replied with thinly veiled disdain. "As much as I despise them, they resemble you almost exactly."

"Ugh—what do the gods want from me?" Roxanne groaned, running a hand through her hair. "It hasn’t even been a full year of peace since the last war." Frustration and disappointment churned in her chest, her emotions rising despite her attempt to steady them.

A dull throb began at the back of her skull, irritation pricking along her skin. Vivianne only smiled softly. It had been nearly five months since she had given birth, and Roxanne had yet to touch her since then.

Not for lack of desire, but because the midwife had explained that an alpha’s body naturally followed the rhythm of their omega. If Vivianne’s heat went dormant, Roxanne’s rut would quiet with it. This explained why Roxanne had not experienced her rut in almost half a year.

With a graceful flick of her fingers, Vivianne dispersed the lingering presence of the spirit kings, allowing the air around them to settle. Then she reached for Roxanne’s hands, her touch warm and deliberate.

"Come with me," she murmured, her voice soft but carrying an undertone of something that pulled Roxanne’s attention immediately.

Vivianne could smell it, the faint, rising edge of Roxanne’s rut beginning to slip through her control, subtle but unmistakable. And perhaps her own scent is already shifting as well, perhaps her heat is stirring back to life after months of silence, which made Roxanne react.

She isn’t entirely sure. This is her first pregnancy, her first birth, and her first experience navigating the beautiful perfection and delicate balance between alpha and omega cycles after becoming a mother.

But she knew one thing with absolute clarity. She wanted her wife close. And Roxanne needed her just as much.

Vivianne guided Roxanne down one of the quieter corridors of the palace, fingers laced with hers, their steps steady and unhurried. She had asked the royal butler weeks ago to prepare a new retreat, a private sanctuary meant only for the two of them.

Ever since Roxanne ascended the throne, she had abandoned the empress’s palace entirely; she refused to sleep apart from Vivianne, even for a night. Now, the empress’s palace served only to host visiting members of the royal family or the Grand Dukes of Fenclade and Erevalis.

The emperor and empress lived together, worked together, and shared the same bedroom every day. Both of them preferred it that way, something that never happened before. Because nobles used to sleep separately, only when they were in rut or heat or wanted to share the bed together.

"Oh, this must be the new place you mentioned," Roxanne said as Vivianne pushed open the door.

"Yes," Vivianne replied, a small spark of excitement lifting her voice. "The butler told me the construction finished yesterday."

A faint scent of jasmine drifted out as the door opened, soft and soothing. Before them unfolded a sanctuary worthy of the imperial pair, hidden, exquisite, and crafted for rest rather than duty.

The centerpiece was a grand canopied bed draped in silks. Plush pillows and blankets layered the mattress, turning it into a haven of warmth and comfort. Not far from it, a spring-fed pool shimmered under the gentle glow of enchanted lanterns. The water steamed faintly, releasing calming warmth into the air.

The entire room breathed openness. Smooth stone floors gave way to patches of living greenery, ferns, jasmine vines, and small flowering shrubs that filled the space with subtle fragrance. Each plant was placed with care, framing the room like a living painting.

An enchantment of invisible magic veiled the chamber, ensuring that no sound or presence from the outside world could intrude. Within these walls, the emperor and empress existed alone, untouched by court duties, crises, or prying eyes.

Arched windows curved elegantly along one wall, crafted from enchanted glass that allowed light in but let nothing be seen from the outside. Through them, the distant mountains unfurled in serenity, peaks dusted in snow, valleys bathed in gold by the setting sun.

It’s a place of quiet. A sanctuary shaped for peace, intimacy, and the promise of countless shared nights, away from war, councils, or threats from distant continents.

Roxanne exhaled, the tension in her shoulders finally loosening as she crossed the threshold. "This," she murmured, lips curling, "is perfect."

Vivianne’s only answer was a slow, knowing smile as she tugged her deeper into their sanctuary. "Let’s undo that knot," she purred, fingers trailing up Roxanne’s arm.

A smirk flickered across Roxanne’s lips as she arched a brow. "Which knot?"

Vivianne laughed, soft and breathy, catching the shift in the air, her own heat, sweet and thick, curling between them. She hadn’t even realized she’d been drowning Roxanne in it until the alpha’s gaze darkened, hunger sharpening in her crimson eyes.

"Are you sure?" Roxanne’s voice is low, rough, and controlled, fraying, her rut surging beneath the surface.

Vivianne closed the distance between them, her lips brushing the shell of Roxanne’s ear. "Unleash it," she teased, nails scraping lightly down her chest. "I dare you."

The moment Vivianne dared her, something inside her snapped, the leash of restraint, the alpha’s careful control she’s so proud of, gone. The palace baths glowed under flickering torchlight when Roxanne’s patience shattered.

Without warning, her arms locked around Vivianne’s waist, and they tumbled backward into the heated pool, water exploding around them in a silver cascade. Vivianne gasped as they sank, her heavy velvet gown billowing like a dark flower blooming beneath the surface. Roxanne’s leather jerkin absorbed the water instantly, becoming a second skin stretched taut over her heaving chest.

"By the gods, Roxanne!" Vivianne sputtered as they surfaced, strands of hair plastered across her face.

Roxanne answered by crashing their mouths together, her fingers already tearing at the laces of Vivianne’s bodice. The sodden fabric resisted, and with a growl, Roxanne simply gripped the neckline and ripped, the sound of tearing silk lost beneath the water’s churn.

Vivianne arched into the destruction, helping shrug the ruined gown from her shoulders. "So eager, my highness," she taunted, even as her own hands clawed at Roxanne’s waterlogged shirt. The linen tore at the seams as they wrestled with it, their movements sending waves sloshing against the marble steps.

The moment she heard Vivianne call her ’my highness,’ Roxanne truly lost all of her control. She let her shaft spring free the moment her trousers were shoved down her hips, already painfully hard.

Vivianne moaned at the sight, it had been long since she saw it, her own undergarments discarded with impatient tugs. The water swirled with their discarded nobility, velvet and leather sinking beneath the surface like fallen banners after battle.

"No more waiting," Roxanne growled, lifting Vivianne by the thighs and slamming her against the pool’s edge. Vivianne’s back met marble just as Roxanne’s shaft met her wet, slick, heated core, and they both cried out as she was speared open in one relentless thrust.

Water surged around them with each push of Roxanne’s hips. Vivianne’s legs locked around her waist, her nails carving crescents into Roxanne’s shoulders as she took every brutal inch.

"You feel..." Roxanne panted between thrusts, her teeth grazing Vivianne’s mating mark, "...tighter than before."

"I don’t know, just keep going." Vivianne could only sob in reply, her body alight with sensation after so long without her alpha’s touch. The water made everything slippery and primal, Roxanne’s grip the only solid thing in a world of liquid fire.

When her knot began to swell, Roxanne snarled, "Mine. Say it."

"Yours!" Vivianne wailed as she was stretched wider, her body convulsing around the thickening knot. "Always yours, my emperor, my alpha—!"

Their climax crashed over them like the waves their frenzy created. Roxanne’s roar echoed off the vaulted ceiling as she spilled deep inside, her knot locking them together as the water slowly stilled around their shuddering bodies.

In the aftermath, Roxanne nuzzled Vivianne’s throat, tasting steam and salt. "We’ve likely scandalized the entire palace guard."

Vivianne’s laugh was breathless, victorious. "It’s fine, they know that their empress is well loved."