CHAPTER 410: THE ONLY LIFE THAT MATTERED

[KAWAI]

"You talk too much," Tamiko said, before he lunged at Gabriel and began fighting him, putting an end to whatever dialogues the Grealors were ready to spit in the direction of the royals of Kawai.

It was a futile attempt on Gabe’s side anyway, and right now Tamiko was not going to slow down. Strangely enough, in the middle of that shit, Tamiko realized the one thing that he hadn’t wanted to think of.

There was a primary target for this war.

One that everyone here, save for the Kawai Lycans, was rallying against, and for a moment, Tamiko wanted to believe it was all in his head. That he was just being as proactive as always, but there was only so much he could lie to himself.

The truth was right there before his eyes, even as he fought Gabe with all he had.

His Erasthai.

His Kosta was the obvious target.

Everyone was coming for Kosta.

It wasn’t even that hard to tell anymore, especially given there were several openings around the Lycan warriors that the Grealor army could exploit, yet a good number of wolves charged towards Kosta.

Once again, Tamiko almost thought it was all in his head.

Surely, he was mistaken, right?

"Kosta!! You alright?" Tamiko shouted, trying to get his voice past the angry blades that were striking skin and ending lives. He didn’t want to believe it, but then the fight with Gabe was useless to him if his Erasthai was in danger.

They all knew how to weaken Kosta, thanks to their association with Zula, which was something that Tamiko didn’t quite appreciate. This was the love of his life being targeted right in front of him, and he hated every bit of it.

Oh, he would burn them all if they even went against his Kosta. He would flatten the realm in his Erasthai’s name, and no one would be able to stop him other than his dear Kosta.

He hated how they had learned so much from Zula, and as much as he didn’t want to admit it, Tamiko knew.

He could tell that they knew how to make his Erasthai submit; otherwise, they wouldn’t have come this far as to breach Kawai and risk their lives for a war they were not sure they could have an advantage in.

Maybe it was that simple.

Weaken Kosta and make the Kawai prince bow.

Because for Kosta, everyone knew Tamiko would bow without question.

It was just a matter of when for the enemies. That was dangerous leverage and information, but then, here they were. It was the greatest betrayal by Sanji and Zula, and fuck it if Tamiko didn’t feel his hunger for more blood grow.

Desperately, the prince struck down Gabriel, his sword running through the Grealor Alpha’s thigh, a clean cut, one that would probably take months to heal, judging by the precision.

But that was just enough to slow Gabriel down.

Enough so that Tamiko could get to his Kosta, the man was surrounded by warriors who thought he was weak. That was the only person who mattered the most to him in this field, more than even his papa dearest.

Tamiko’s heart bled for his Erasthai.

He had done this to them.

It wasn’t even Sanji.

It was never even Zula.

Hell, not even Yilena had done this to them.

It was Tamiko.

And now on the battlefield with enemy forces advancing on his Erasthai, Tamiko felt his heart shatter.

For the barbarian who had dressed up and came to battle after months of living his life freely as an omega. For the man who had been so good in his role that he had almost forgotten how to live.

Tamiko thought back to the previous night; the image of Kosta trying to kill himself was still so raw in his head that it haunted him to the core. And once again, Tamiko loathed himself for it. He hated himself for what he had done.

This was all on him, no one else.

And in his rage, the Lycan prince wafted through the warriors who had surrounded his Erasthai, killing them without even having to strike twice. He only ever had one goal on that battlefield.

To get to his Erasthai.

To protect the love of his life.

To be there when Kosta needed him.

And it was not easy.

Not when the battlefield was so concentrated.

Not when Gabe was shouting orders to his men, orders that whirred past Tamiko’s ears and into the ears of the very warriors who had come to take away one thing that would cripple the entire realm.

If they were to succeed, the realm would burn, and everything would be reduced to ashes. Even the children would be burned. It was evident that the Grealor wolves knew that even as they kept advancing towards Kosta.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Kosta shouted as he fought off the warriors.

He had noticed Tamiko’s advances and thought Tamiko wanted to fight beside him, but the longer that he saw Tamiko fight, the more he realized what this was about, and he hated the unsettling feeling in his stomach.

This was not part of the plan, and he wasn’t about to let it all go to shit, but was he supposed to stop his Erasthai right here in front of everyone? What would that look like for them in front of their enemy combatants?

What the fuck was this even about then?

It was a tad insulting for him, seeing as he had been to battle more than once.

Just because he was an omega didn’t mean that he was weak now. The barbarian of Kawai had bested so many while hiding his truth, and this was not new to him. He had made a name for himself despite being an omega.

He would win like always.

He would make sure everyone was alright at the end of the day.

It wasn’t that hard a task for a man who had lived on the battlefield.

But the sight of Tamiko continuously whirring right in front of the warriors determinedly caught his eyes again, and Kosta was confused for a moment. He had not expected this. He knew what this meant.

Kosta had wanted to call the bluff, to say that it was all his head, but as Tamiko rushed and eliminated whoever was daring to surround Kosta, it was more than obvious to anyone who had eyes.

The prince was not fighting to save the kingdom.

Hell, he wasn’t even fighting for revenge at the moment.

The crown prince of Kawai was fighting to save his Erasthai.

And gods, did Kosta hate that to the core. This was not what they had agreed on. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Then again, to be fair, Tamiko had nearly lost him to himself last evening.

Kosta was surely supposed to understand, given that he had been the trigger for this in the first place, no? But even that didn’t stop the crown prince from charging towards his Erasthai.

It was like Kosta was the only thing that mattered on this battlefield.

The only one who was worth more than his life.