"I think thereās something wrong with Isabel," Ozia said.
To the ordinary ear, he was still talking normally, but to Silas, Oziaās voice was very shaky.
"Ozia, whatās wrong?" Silas asked. He was asking purely because he was worried about Ozia now. Whatever was happening, it didnāt seem like Ozia was in a good state of mind.
The negativity flowing out of his mind was too thick, so thick that his thoughts had gone very dark, like a dark cloud. Silas was struggling to read his surface thoughts.
What dark thoughts were currently buried in Oziaās mind? Silas didnāt know but he couldnāt allow Ozia to stay in this mental state for too long.
Silas could sense a glimmer of hope from Oziaās clouded thoughts. Like one last glimmer of light that Ozia was holding on to.
If this glimmer of light shone well, it would clear out all the dark thoughts. Unfortunately, Oziaās logical subconscious was telling him that that glimmer of hope would soon be crushed.
"Forget about me, Silas. I just want you to check Isabel for me," Ozia said.
The three of them stood on the sidewalk, ignoring the human adults and children going back and forth in the street.
Behind them and the road they were facing was a peaceful park with trimmed green grass spanning for multiple hundreds of meters.
It looked like a young lady, nineteen or twenty years old, was picking up her two younger brothers from school.
Isabelās fiery red hair was quite captivating, as well as Silasās grey hair. Ozia was the only one who looked normal among the three.
"Check Isabel for what?" Silas asked.
"I donāt even know... Check her belly first, I donāt know if sheās sick or something." Ozia sighed and said.
He put his hands in his pockets, hiding the balled and trembling fists.
"Oh," Silas then glanced at Isabel.
Isabel was wearing casual clothes, which was unlike the luxurious dresses she was usually wearing in the past.
Most of those luxurious dresses had been gotten from the leaders of nations.
Now, she just looked very solemn and seemed to be finding it hard to look Silas in the eye.
All Silas had to do was glance at her with seriousness for him to detect the anomaly.
"I didnāt know you had started doing it with her, hehehe..." Silas smiled, talking to Ozia telepathically so that Isabel wouldnāt hear.
"What?" Ozia was confused by Silasās wording.
"Youāve gotten her pregnant, howās that even possible though. I thought our DNA or physiology didnāt allow it..." Silas talked with vigor.
He was unaware that Oziaās mind had gone blank. Silas was more fascinated by the fact that Isabel was pregnant than anything else.
"Ozia?" Silas called, noticing the cloud of dark negative thoughts getting darker in Oziaās mind.
His grey eyes shone mildly as he stared at Oziaās face. Silasās smile froze, he noticed that there was no trace of joy in the whole of Oziaās being.
Not even a little bit of joy could be felt from him. It was gone, all of it.
"You said sheās pregnant? How do you know?" Ozia asked, using his voice this time and speaking with the lion language.
Isabelās expression froze, her eyes glazed over the pavement and she played with her fingers.
Finally, he knew.
"Ozia, wait, donāt you know?" Silas asked, trying to play dumb. He might not be logical but he was smart and could already identify that there was something deeply wrong with Ozia.
"I ASKED A QUESTION, SILAS!" Ozia asked as he took a step toward his younger brother.
Small cracks appeared where Oziaās foot landed and the atmosphere everywhere instantly changed. All the students leaving the school premises suddenly felt like a false pressure was on their bodies.
Silas felt no malicious intent from Ozia, but the latter was looking very scary at the moment.
It had been a long time since he had seen this authoritative and tyrannical side of Ozia. They all thought Isabel had changed him, or at least, toned his true nature down.
"Thereās a consciousness forming in her womb, why are you acting like this? Didnāt you know?" Silas talked with a calm tone, not showing any weakness.
"FUUUUUUUCK!" Ozia screamed at the top of his lungs.
The sheer sound waves from his screams caused the glass windows of the passing cars to shatter.
"You!" Ozia turned around to look at Isabel and pointed a trembling finger at Isabel.
"..."
Isabel had nothing to say. Kael, her King, had forbidden her from hiding it. The king had known this would eventually happen, yet he allowed it to happen.
Silas looked at this, the look of confusion finally fading away from his face. He understood what was going on now.
"I see," He muttered, looking at Isabel with curiosity. He also paid attention to Oziaās mental state.
"Isabel!" Oziaās rage was climbing fast and the logical side of his mind was losing sway in his decision-making very fast.
"Do you love me?" He asked.
Isabel paused, hesitating before answering, "Yes, I do."
However, that hesitation was noticed by both Silas and Ozia.
"You liar! You vixen! How could you do this to me? How could you betray me? After everything Iāve done for you?"
Ozia kept on raising his voice as he now walked toward Isabel. Subconsciously, Isabel took several steps back out of fear.
The scene of Ozia ripping out the guts of that man at the club flashed in her mind, leaving her with fear.
"Ozia, wait, you donāt understand..." Isabel said.
"I donāt understand?" Ozia asked, tilting his head to the side like Katari.
"It wasnāt intentional, I swear. I just got carried away!" Isabel shouted, trying to defend herself.
"You fucked another fox while you and I were already together! Iām not a fool!
Fuck! This was probably not long before we came to this planet!
Aaargh!"
Ozia seemed to be going mad, his voice was shaking and he could no longer speak properly.
If Isabel had just kept quiet, things might have been fine, but she still tried to defend herself.
"Ozia, Iām sorry, we were not doing it, and he..."
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!"
Ozia suddenly moved with violent intent, closing the gap between him and Isabel.
*BOOM!*
A loud boom was heard as Ozia was pushed back. Ten meters of the pavement was blasted away and pieces of the ground flew through the air and into the school.
Panic and pandemonium set in, humans running around like headless chickens.
Meanwhile, Isabel stood unharmed with a thin magical membrane covering her body.
She looked a bit surprised. The itch she felt in her chest reminded her that Kael had left a means of protection on her. A defensive rune.
Now, she knew what the protection was for.
Ozia stared dumbfounded at the golden glowing membrane on Isabelās skin. He hadnāt even tried to attack her, but just the intent for violence had activated the defense mechanism of the rune to shield Isabel from him.
"Ozia, calm down," Silas said, while placing his hand on Oziaās shoulder.
Ozia immediately shrugged his shoulders, "Donāt fucking tell me to calm down, Silas. Donāt you fucking dare!"
By now, Oziaās sadness and sorrow had fully transitioned into pure rage.
His mind was filled with nothing but the darkest thoughts. That faint glimmer of hope had long left his mind.
That budding anger was further stoked like a wildfire when he saw the golden membrane protecting Isabel.
Ozia didnāt like the resistance at all.
"Do you know what Iāve done for her?" Ozia asked Silas. Silas didnāt answer.
"Do you know what Iāve done for you?" Ozia turned to Isabel and asked.
"I gave you everything you asked for. I clothed you, I cared for you, I worried about you.
I disobeyed my family for you! Isabel, everything you have now, you have it because of me.
I even abstained from sex because of you. Lionesses were willing to jump into bed with me and I never indulged because of you.
I was loyal as fuck! Aaargh! How could you do this to me? How could you do this to me Isabel?!
You told me that we should wait but you were already fucking someone else behind my back!
Do you think itās fair? Do you?"
The tears that streamed down were drying up fast as his body began heating up.
"Wait," Ozia said, suddenly realizing something.
Isabel sighed, and looked down at the ground, thinking of how to explain her way out of this.
"How long have you been doing this? How long have you been fucking that guy behind my back?" Ozia asked, his face twisting to express a different level of his anger.
Isabel froze.
"Silas, what did she think of just now?" Ozia turned to Silas for answers since Isabel chose to stay silent.
Silas also froze. He had indeed read the surface thoughts of Isabel and as Ozia thought, Isabel had subconsciously thought of the answer.
"Silas, answer me!" Ozia demanded with pain and agony tainting his voice.
Isabel looked at Silas with a pleading gaze but Silas ignored all the hints and signals she sent his way.
Silas sighed, "She had known the fox guy before she knew you..."
"Hahahaha," Ozia began laughing, his eyes widened with madness starting to settle in, "So that means she has been fucking him behind my back from the moment I knew her.
Good, good, good. Very good."
The sound of sirens could be heard as emergency response teams were already on their way.
"Ozia, Iām sorry," Isabel pleaded, tears welling up in her eyes.
Ozia shook his head with a strange and sorrowful smile on his face. The flickering lights of runes sparked around his body as his aura turned darker.
"You know, I always had it in the back of my mind that the relationship I had with you was making me stray away from my true nature.
I was willing to suppress who I was and change for the sake of love.
They were all right.
Perhaps...
Perhaps, I should stop.
I am a royal motherfucking lion.
Isabel.
For breaking my heart, I must kill you."
As soon as Ozia made that declaration, he didnāt give Silas or Isabel any chance to react.
He threw a power-packed punch at Isabelās belly.