♕︎ IX ♕︎

To my dismay, uncle flinched, "Ouch, what the… how are you this strong?" He gasped caressing his nose. "Sweet moonlight, you have a immense physical strength for a baby, little Siren. This better than I thought, if I help you hone this, you will be a devastatingly strong Dame. I'll definitely be teaching you the sword!"

His nose turned redder than before and I realized he wasn't making light of it. Thomas Amerongen, the Nebelhain spy who was my swordsmanship and martial arts in my 4th life, did tell me I was weirdly physically stronger than he thought I would be, but I didn't think much of it at the time, thinking that he was just saying that to sooth my Royal ego. Seems like he was telling the truth.

Speaking of him, he'll also be a key to my plans.

"We'll start tomorrow. I'll come here and take you to the Firelight Castle, while there no one will know what we are teaching you. I'll just say that we want to spend more time with you, they will eat it up. Especially because with you out of here, your siblings will only be able to focus on their personal training, as they've been spending more time with you than anything. They are the prospect Heirs after all, they need focus." He said clearly proud of his idea. "You will be my first disciple, feel proud, what I'm giving you is a privilege of a lifetime, little Siren."

Hah, he sure has the characteristic arrogance of all Alderidge. That is for sure. Be it extrovert or introvert, governed by Yin or Yang energy, specialized in incantations, elementals, or martial arts. All Alderidges have the same ego. I know that because I have it myself.

In uncle Christian's case, he does have the skills and power to act like that. He's definitely one of the ten strongest Fae on Midgard right now. That's why it's overwhelming to be so near him like this. Never in any of my reincarnations I had phantom the idea of meeting my grandfather's forever-single younger brother. It's a given that I did and in the life I'm so determined to change by sacrificial fate.

Getting up, he took me in his strong arms and took the book from the shelf. The one I was reading before he came in, "Let's act as if I was the one reading this book in your chambers and forgot it there, alright? This way you will be able to read it to your heart's content," he winked.

To show him that I was thankful, I smiled softly.

"Ah, I can't believe I gained such a beautiful smile from my stone-cold indifferent beautiful niece," he exclaimed dramatically. "And it is her dimples-smile at that. So, so, so, beautiful. But how wouldn't you be such a beauty when you look similar to me, hm?" He winked again, which I noticed to be a habit he has. "Aren't I your best uncle?"

He's my only uncle from dad's side. Widening my smile a bit, and mimicking him, I winked my citrine eye, making he giggled amusedly.

"Oh, my. You will be such a flirt. Winking as a yes? That is the best choice for communicating. Stick to me, little Siren, and you will learn the best flirting technics ever. I'm a wonder, you see?" Hah, and still single! "I've had countless flings throughout my life. I'll be the most experienced ever when I find my mate!"

So, he's waiting for that to commit. I confess that it's noble.

"You won't be telling anyone either way," he joked with my 'mute disability'. "But it's a well kept secret that only mother knows of. And well, now you do too. I like to keep my fame of being a womanizer, I've made my bed, now I'm laying on it. What can I say?" He rolled his wide broad shoulders, "I needed training."

That was a gamble from his part, in my opinion. He may be waiting for his long-time mate, but there's no knowing if she is waiting for him too. You never know. Maybe she's a noble/royal who, like me in my past lives, got in a convenience marriage, and is now married and with children with a male who isn't her mate. But I appreciate his passion.

Though, when he speaks of needing to have experience in romance before getting with his mate, it only brings me bad memories. In my longest life, in which I married Aiden Astrophel, he used me for that exact reason, plus wanting me to bear his children because of my bloodline. He married his mate, Dove Lana O'Brien, a noble from Nebelhain, before becoming the Emperor when I was 17, and then he made her his Empress and I, Queen.

She only saw me as powerful incubator cow, as she called me. She also wanted me to bear the heirs, because she didn't want to 'deform her outstandingly slim body with a pregnancy' and thus, she didn't want to have kids from her belly. Dove wanted children, but she wanted mine. It made it all worse, and maybe the stress of that situation ended up causing me to go through all of those miscarriages that left a deep scar in me.

From all I know from that time, Dove and Aiden learned that they were each other's mates when they first met when they were both 5 years old, in a secret meeting between their parents. On the same meeting, they firmed a deal that when she turned 20, she would move to the Astrophel Empire, marry Aiden, and become the Empress. And as they were all the same age as Roman, they were 3 years older than me; I mean, they still are.

So, as no one else but them knew that, Aiden married me and acted as if I would become his Empress, though he didn't act like it. We married each other when I was 12 and he was 15, a year after I was already living with him in the Palace. They waited for me to have my period for me to get married, as my purpose to them was bearing his children. He abused me sexually from my 12 years old to when I was 25. 13 years of that. Until I turned 17, that was the time he 'trained' fucking with me to be experienced for his mate. I heard that so many times that those cruel words are engraved in my very being.

His reason for teaching me about magic, energy, and elementals, was because he thought that if I could use my power prominently, my body would not face any problems during the pregnancy. They believe that if I grew magically stronger, the baby would be strong too. Nevertheless, in my 3rd life, that proved to be fruitless.

I still am thankful for all the knowledge though. Without it, I wouldn't have been able to do all I did in my 4th life, and I wouldn't end up meeting Margaret either. As I said, Aiden was my only useful husband, but a piece of shit like the others. Aiden didn't sadistically torture me as Kalil Montara and Dwayne Thornbury did, but it was still a type of torture.

All because he wanted my body strong for his Heirs.

Remembering it now, it was the life I felt the most hopeless. Every time I got pregnant, I was filled with hope, only to be stripped from it with the miscarriage that followed it after three to five months.