CHAPTER 407: AND SO THE BELLS RING AGAIN, LOVE

[KOSTA]

Kosta stared at Danny, unsure of whether he wanted to laugh at the man for his antics or if he wanted to tell him to fuck off.

For the past weeks, Danny had been silent with him. The man had avoided him like the plague. Their words had remained limited to ’yes, my lord,’ and ’yes, chief.’ It all never went past that, and now he was suddenly talking of help?

Granted, Kosta knew Danny would never do anything to cause him any harm, seeing as the man was the prince’s best friend, and Kosta was the Erasthai Tamiko loved more than he loved life, but it didn’t make it any easier to trust the guy.

This was the first time Danny was looking at him like they were not enemies, and it was confusing for Kosta. For ten years, he had lived with the truth of Danny never forgiving him for abandoning Tamiko that one night, ages ago.

But now he was trying to wrap his head around the possibility that this was one of the mad king’s sick games.

Everyone knew King Zaffuto always had unhinged shit up his sleeve, and he would be surprised if this was one of the things the king had pained Danny into. Maybe Kosta was overthinking again, right?

"Help me, you say?" Kosta chuckled humorlessly at the possibility of this being a hoax.

He knew the Lycan lord before him well. Well enough to know that the man would sacrifice him for Tamiko’s happiness. It wasn’t even a question anymore, and Kosta, for all he stood for, understood it so damn well and had no complaints about it.

"Unless you want to go see Tamiko like that," Danny said as he pointed towards Kosta’s whole getup.

The Lycan Chief of Kawai looked like he had been to hell and back.

"You lit—" Kosta began, ready to curse out Danny forever.

But then they were both interrupted by the harsh sound of the Kawai invasion bells.

It was almost surreal because one moment they were thinking of what to do next, and in the other, the Lycan lord and the Lycan chief had shifted into their combat wear and had portaled together to the throne room.

It all happened too fast; it was unbelievable to even say the least.

The significance of those bells was doom. Pure doom, and frankly, it was unexpected for a kingdom of Kawai. The last time those bells rang was back when the queen had been murdered.

It had signified the worst time of their lives, and for them to hear the bells ringing again was something else.

"Those are invasion bells. How the fuck did we get invaded?" Kosta asked, the memory from nearly forty years ago haunting him still. The past was suddenly coming back, and it wasn’t for a good cause.

Honestly, Kosta was right to be pissed and anxious.

This was not what he wanted for Kawai.

Hell, this was not what he wanted for Tamiko.

He didn’t want the young prince to be forced to remember the kind of shit that had happened back when the entire kingdom failed to protect him and his mother. It was a terrible time then, and Kosta refused to let that shit happen a second time.

"The traitor Sanjiro created a time portal for when he died," Lord Sadako said, and Kosta could swear that someone had poured a bucket of cold water on him.

In that moment, the Lycan chief faltered, stepping back like that was supposed to make the words hit a little less hard. He knew what this meant. He knew how hard they would have to work to close a portal opened by the dead.

He knew the time and risks that would be involved, and he hated himself for not reading into the situation soon enough. And it hurt to the core. This was not how it was all supposed to be for him. This was not how life should have been.

He had been close to Sanji.

He had been the omega who had let shit happen.

He had failed in his duty as the Lycan Chief.

And gods, no amount of regret could make up for what he had done.

He had fucked up.

It was all on him, not anyone else.

"I did this," Kosta whimpered as he staggered a second time, tripping over air as he tried to get a better understanding.

Thankfully, Tamiko was there in time to hold him. To anchor him. To remind him that he wasn’t alone. Maybe it was a cruel fate for both of them, seeing as Kosta had wanted to kill himself last night, or rather had tried to and failed.

Kosta wondered if this was the price he was paying for mingling with a traitor and getting so close. He should have known better, yet as he looked at everyone, he knew that this was never ever going to be better.

"I did this," Kosta said regretfully as he looked at everyone once more. He knew there was nothing that could save him from their wrath. He knew his guilt would never let him be, and he was okay with that.

Because for the first time in so long, Kosta was certain of what he was.

A man who didn’t hide who he was, and an Omega who knew when to be and not to be an Omega.

And even though he was in the Prince’s arms, Kosta knew that the time had come for him to change. For him to embrace what he had always been all this time to begin with. What the entire realm knew him as.

The barbarian of Kawai.

"This is no time for regrets. We have to get to work and protect our people. We all know what is expected of us today; there’s no way around it. What Sanji did is unacceptable. But he’s dead and we can’t keep complaining about what we can’t control," the king said.

King Zaffuto understood what the consequences were. He knew how hard this would be for everyone, and yet as he stood there staring at his son and the council that was focused solely on him, the king knew the time had come for him, too.

The time had come for him to step up and be the true king of Kawai.

An invasion of Kawai was not appreciated.

It was an insult, truly.

Hell, it was not something that should have been remotely possible after what had happened years ago, and yet they were here again, much to the shame of the royal family.

That right there was the trigger for King Zaffuto, the mad king who had been in hibernation for years on end.

He had been a good father.

A kind king.

King Zaffuto Hinata had been everything that Kawai had almost never dreamed of. He was a dream in itself, and a powerful one, yet as he heard the bells continuously ring, the unhinged king knew.

It was time to bring back the monstrous protector of Kawai. The devil whom all the devils were afraid of. It was time to reprise the horror of monsters and gods; was it the only thing that the mad king had been looking forward to over the wars?

And now, this was his time.