Chapter 1498: The Dragon’s Indulgence: "Can We Become One"

Their little smiles held enjoyment rather than scorn for them outsmarting him, and their interest remained just as keen whenever he gave them reason to reconsider something themselves.

Knowing an answer rarely satisfied them for long. They wanted to understand what lay beneath it and where it might lead, and even when Phei believed they had exhausted a line of thought, one of the twins could draw him back by noticing something he had missed.

He began to appreciate how much of their intelligence lay in that restless curiosity, in the pleasure they took in learning more instead of displaying what they already knew.

Still, the breadth of that knowledge made him wonder.

They spoke so naturally, with so little awareness that he might find their understanding unusual, that he occasionally tried to imagine how much time they must have spent learning.

Their young lives barely seemed long enough to understand the things they did and their intellect too. He let the thought remain unspoken; he had grown accustomed to people whose histories exceeded what their appearance suggested, and he liked this conversation far too much to turn it into an interrogation.

By the time he noticed the music had changed and guests were moving toward another part of the gathering, nearly thirty minutes had passed.

Phei looked between the twins, astonished. "Fuck. Have we really been talking that long?"

"Apparently." Paige smiled while Brielle glanced back toward the rooftop festivities.

"Well, that’s embarrassing," he said, drawing Brielle’s curious attention back to him.

"Why?"

"Because now I’m beginning to wonder how much other interesting shit the two of you know that you’ve been hiding from me."

Paige laughed. "We haven’t been hiding anything."

"That’s exactly what somebody hiding something would say."

"Then I suppose you’ll have to ask us more questions next time." Brielle shook her head, still smiling, and Phei brightened at once.

"There’s a next time?"

Paige gave him a look. "Unless you’ve suddenly decided you’re tired of us."

"Impossible! I’ve only just discovered how thoroughly you can embarrass me. I deserve a chance to return the favor." Their laughter was warm enough to make him join them, and he found himself reluctant to let the conversation end.

Eventually, the twins excused themselves to return inside Infinity Chaos Hotel. Brielle turned back before leaving, with Paige lingering beside her. "We’d like to talk again."

"So would I." Phei smiled, and Paige’s expression softened.

"Then come see us when you’re free. Our door is always open to you."

"Anytime, really," Brielle added.

Phei raised an eyebrow, his grin giving Paige ample warning before he spoke. "Anytime? You should be more careful about what you offer a Dragon."

Paige laughed while Brielle shook her head, neither appearing inclined to withdraw the invitation. They wished him good night and waved before disappearing into the hotel, leaving him beside the balustrade with a thoughtful smile.

He had nearly asked whether their family had finally allowed them to return to the hotel.

The question had occurred to him as they were leaving, but he dismissed it.

Allowed?

They were Heavenchild Immediate princesses they could be allowed to do what they wanted.

His joke about expensive prisoners had hardly been a reason to assume they needed permission to visit their friends.

What remained with him was how naturally they moved together.

They turned almost in unison, understood a glance without explanation and passed a conversation between them so easily that he sometimes struggled to tell where one girl’s thought ended and the other’s began.

He had noticed little of it before tonight.

Now he wondered what else he might have overlooked while thinking he knew the twins.

A breeze brushed through his long hair, and Phei closed his eyes, listening to the music and laughter farther along the rooftop. His children’s heartbeats remained vivid in his memory, Melissa had smiled throughout the celebration, and his family surrounded him.

After nearly a year in the Primordial Frozen Zone, he wanted to enjoy even the quiet pleasure of standing beneath these heavens with no battle awaiting him.

He lingered in the evening air before turning toward the gardens, where his gaze settled upon Catrina. She sat on one of the comfortable couches near the quieter edge of the gathering, warm lantern light resting upon her face while the breeze stirred loose strands of her hair.

She watched the celebration with a gentle expression, relaxed enough to seem unaware of how lovely she looked.

Phei had always found that sweetness captivating.

Apart from the livelier groups, with golden light softening her features, she drew his attention so completely that he remained where he was and watched her... he smiled. He had been meaning to spend proper time with Catrina, and the more he looked at her, the less he wished to leave certain things between them waiting.

He had enjoyed the evening’s flirtation, the laughter and the liberties the princesses were increasingly willing to offer him.

With Catrina, his affection had already grown into something precious enough that he sometimes wondered why he had left so much unspoken. Tonight, surrounded by the happiness of his family, he wanted to give her an answer to that lingering last step.

His footsteps were nearly lost beneath the music as he approached. Catrina noticed him when he was almost beside the couch and looked up with a questioning smile.

"Phei?" He smiled back, then lowered himself onto one knee before her, watching her eyes widen as she glanced from his face to the position he had chosen.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

He reached for her hand, and she gave it almost instinctively, her curiosity growing as his fingers closed around hers.

"Are you free?" Phei’s voice was warm, and Catrina’s surprise softened into a shy smile.

"For you?"

"Yeah." His expression gentled as a little color rose in her cheeks.

"Of course." She nodded, allowing him to take her other hand and hold both between his.

The teasing he had intended seemed less necessary while she was looking at him like that and with her her fingers rested trustingly within his own.

Lantern light touched the growing warmth in her face as he looked up into her eyes.

"Catrina," he began, feeling her hands tighten around his, "I think we’ve reached that time in life when a man and a woman who’ve given each other so much of their hearts finally decide to become completely one."

Her blush deepened.

"Phei..." She seemed caught between laughing at his romantic manner and yielding to the tenderness with which he held her gaze. He waited, smiling while the distant music drifted through the night, until she shook her head with a quiet laugh.

"You’ve got to quit this poetic thingy you’ve got going, Phei."

"Is it working?" His grin softened as she looked at him, her affection so open that he felt it in the gentle pressure of her hands before she leaned closer.

"Yes," she whispered, her smile trembling with happiness. "Can we then become one at last?"