2 In The Middle Of The Night.

At midnight, the door of the castle was pushed open. The butler rushed to the entrance and received the man who just walked in. A tall man stood in front of the butler, his face was frigid and devoid of any form of emotions. His black windbreaker flustered gently according to the breeze that blew past the hallway.

"Where is she?" He asked in a deep cold voice that echoed in the middle of the empty hallway then he passed his suitcase to the bald butler.

"Madam is asleep already" Butler Luther responded, his head lowered in reverence and fear of the man.

"Good. What about the incense candle?" He queried while keeping his gaze fixed along the hallway.

"Madam did not find out about it, when she slept, I entered the room and took away the incense candle. With the strong effect of the incense, Madam will only wake up at noon tomorrow," the Butler asserted.

"That is good. It is better that she rest well tonight else, her memory will become jumbled without a good rest. You have done well, Luther. Before noon tomorrow, I need workers to report here. My wife is here so it is only natural that there are changes in the castle. Do the needful before the effect of the incense wear out. I don't need my wife to believe the rumors about me no matter how true it is," the man uttered.

"Master... you want to employ workers? But what about...?" the butler was about to say something but he was interrupted by a fierce cold glare from the man.

"Forgive me, master, this humble servant spoke wrong!" the butler fearfully fell to his knees and knocked his head on the cold floor. He gulped out of fear.

"You made a mistake, get up and receive your punishment later. About that matter, you are not allowed to mention it before my wife. once the time comes, I will take the initiative to leave the castle by myself. My wife only needs to have a good life" he declared coldly.

"Yes, yes!" the butler agreed with him hurriedly. He narrowly escaped death just now. How dare he speak so openly in front of the devil!

"What else?" the man asked impatiently.

"M-master, if I am permitted to speak... you need to recuperate too, after you activated the time freeze technique and brought back madam, your soul was shaken again. If you did not recover properly, the soul curse will strike again!" The butler voiced with his head bowed. He did not fear punishment but he feared his master's degenerating soul state.

"Without the healer, I will die soon anyway but in this lifetime, before I die, there is only one thing I am greedy for, my wife. You know better as to why I brought her back. You also know that the time freeze technique would not work if the soul of the person disagrees but she returned, it only means that she is fated to be mine. Whether in life or death! Fret not, the future is so far away. I, will live to drag my enemies to hell with me!" the man pronounced maliciously causing the butler to shiver.

Butler Luther lowered his head not daring to raise it until the master was out of sight. When the master was gone, he took the briefcase of the master's study then he returned to his room. He drew a list of workers who will report to the castle the next day and sent the list to the headquarters.

The man pushed the door of the room gently and walked in, his steps were elegant and noiseless as he walked toward the bed. The figure sleeping in the bed was pretty even in her sleep, her face looked as though it was carved out of pure jade. It glowed under the moonlight that shone in the room through the half-opened window. She pursed her lips and her brows knitted in confusion.

The man raised his hand and placed it on her head. "Be calm, wife, it will be over tomorrow. You will be fine," his hand slid from her head down to her face and he caressed her soft face with his calloused palm. Her expression softened immediately and her face regained peace. The man's face was engulfed with warmth.

"Lena..." he called her name which rolled out of his tongue naturally as though it was fitted for his lips. "I am sorry for not attending our wedding. If I scale through in this life, we will have a ceremony again" he swore.

Then he stepped away from the bedside and walked to the side of the room. He removed his clothes piece after piece until he was half-naked. His upper body was covered with old and new scars in contrast to his smooth face. Then he walked to the bathroom, he showered, and returned to the room in his robe. He removed the robe before laying on the bed beside her. He pulled her into his body, wrapped his arms around her small figure, and covered them with the quilt.

"Sleep well, dear wife," he muttered with a deep voice and dropped a feathery kiss on her forehead. In a few minutes, there was a rare occurrence, he closed his eyes and he also fell asleep alongside with her.

In the middle of her sleep, she found herself in an unknown world, where all she saw was a white dimension. She looked around her and knitted her brows in confusion.

"Did I die...?" she mumbled.

"Lena..." She heard a vaguely familiar voice call for her. She turned around abruptly in search of the source of the voice. If she was not mistaken, the voice gave her a familiar feeling of her mother. But she had lost her mother when she was two years so how could she hear her mother call her again?! She does not even remember what her mother was like but the voice she heard... it had to be her mother!

"Mom, is that you? Mom?" She called, her voice echoing in the space.

"Lena..." the voice called again with a sense of urgency.

"Mom, mom! Can you hear me?!" She responded, she kept on turning around but the space remained white and vast, she felt frustrated. This was her mother, she could feel it!

"Lena, my dear child..." Just then, a colorful streak of light flashed and struck the center of the dimension, Lena covered her eyes to prevent the light from blinding her eyes. When the light dimmed, she opened her eyes then she saw the back view of a woman standing in front of her.

Although the woman was not facing her and was dressed in a white glimmering garment, she still felt very familiar with her.

"Mom!" She cried in happiness and ran towards the woman. "Mom!"

"No, don't come close darling. In the world of the unknown, physical contact is not allowed for those who have not come to the realm. You still need to return to the world. Mum just wanted to tell you to protect yourself when you find yourself in the world..."

"Mom... what do you mean?" Lena questioned.

The woman turned her body slightly, she said, "You will know when the time comes... you will remember the legacy that your parents have left you and when the time comes, protect yourself well... mom will leave now"

"Mom, wait!" Lena reached out to grab the woman but she vanished from her sight. What time would come, what legacy? Why does she need to protect herself?! She did not understand anything!

Just as she stood lost in the dimension, she felt a hand pull her out of the space, before she could grab hold her the dream she had, it disappeared as though she never had the dream. Probably, it was not time for her to know these things. She descended into a dreamless void for a long time that she could not even tell how long. All she felt was the comforting arms that surrounds her. She snuggled into this unknown warmth and let it encompass her.

...

Her lashes fluttered and her lids lifted a little, she raised her hand and covered her eyes while she tried to adjust to the light. She yawned sloppily.

"You are awake, wife?" A deep voice enriched with masculinity sounded near her ear.

She jolted awake and her eyes widened. Little wife? She thought. Then the memories from the previous day rushed into her mind. She remembered she got married to an unknown man, she remembered planning to keep her guard up and attack him if he tried to come near her... She remembered planning to stay awake but how did she end up falling asleep so carelessly and even sleeping beside him!

She jumped away to the edge of the bed and turned fiercely to look at the man. Using one hand to protect her chest, she cupped her other fist and entered Karate mode. She parted her lips and looked at the man...