Page 73 of The Soulbond and Her Beloved

Daemonikai glanced out at the firelit streets, at the people dancing, laughing, raising their cups in celebration. "Everyone is happy about this.” He lifted his chin toward them. “Look at them."

Vladya did.

Daemonikai turned to him, then slowly opened his arms.

Vladya threw him a side-eyed glare, then looked away. "I am not a youngling. I do not need hugs."

Daemonikai refrained from rolling his eyes.His famous last words.

So he waited, patient as ever.

A beat passed.

And then Vladya barreled into him, clasping him with a force that even Daemonikai had not expected.

"I have aSoulbond, Ancient One," Vladya said, voice hoarse.

Daemonikai relaxed into the hold, clasping him just as tightly. "Congratulations, V.D."

Vladya wasn’t the only one who felt a knot in his chest loosen. Daemonikai felt an overpoweringrelief.

For his friend, for this moment, for the way Vladya’s world had suddenly, unexpectedly righted itself.

Finally, Daemonikai sawcolorin a world that had once been nothing but black and white.

And it made him—completely, immensely—happy.

Chapter sixteen

REKINDLING OLD FLAMES… AND THE FLICKER OF A NEW ONE.

Thefollowingmonthwasa whirlwind of highs and lows.

On one hand, the kingdom basked in newfound joy. The news of not one, buttwogrand rulers finding their destined mates had spread like wildfire.

Whispers of Grand Lord Vladya’s human princess mistress—as many had once called her—going into heat and emerging as hisSoulbondreached even the farthest outskirts of Urai, seeping into the smaller villages.

And with it, something changed.

The two grand rulers, whose minds had long been rumored to be failing, had begun to show remarkable improvement.

According to murmurs within the city, their grand king appeared visiblyhappierthan he had been in centuries. He attended court more frequently, fully engaged in matters of the realm, and presided over official duties and festivities with a vitality unseen in years. The people had never seen their Grand King more alive.

So, they began to wonder...Were the rumors of his return to madness false after all?

And then there was Grand Lord Vladya.

Unlike the First Ruler, the Third Ruler hadconfirmedhis own rumors himself.

One fateful day, he gathered the people before the dais, standing tall, his voice clear as he proudly declared his mind was healing. That he was drinking more from hisSoulbond, growing closer to her intimately, and with each passing day, hefeltthe difference. His mind was better. Clearer.

Once, the people of Urai had hoped their grand rulers would one day fully return to them, and everything would be as it used to, before the tragedy. But that hope always felt distant, like an unreachable star.

But now, for the first time, that hope felt withingrasp. Theybelieved.

And with that belief came the first steps toward stability. For their monarchy. For their kingdom. For the future of Urai itself.

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