THE FORGOTTEN LUNA

ADESSA.

"Your brothers will be the ones screening all the applicants for the Royal Games. They should know who your ex-husband is." Father's words kept resonating in my head, and I was losing my focus. Father talked about not wanting to meddle with whoever would be joining the games, as he was the one to determine who would take the crown after him.

So he needed not to give any favor to any of my possible husbands.

I still couldn't understand anything. So, instead, I looked at all the men around the table.

Esmaeel, Eston, and Esriel, the three oldest, listened intently while Esaias, the youngest, looked bored and kept yawning, although he was trying to be discreet about it.

Esegar was playing with a Rubik's cube and seemed to be in his own world. But he did ask a few questions while Father was reminding all of them when the screening would start, so I knew he was listening.

I did wonder, though, who among them wanted the crown. Maybe I could plead to him or them to let Kael participate in the Royal Games with a promise that I would not campaign to be the Queen of Absalom-if campaigning were such a thing.

I only wanted a peaceful life back in Kael's pack. I would rather meet everyday the people who were distancing themselves to me but have Kael beside me than be adored by the whole kingdom but married to someone I didn't want.

"I only want to be assured that whoever Adessa ends up marrying will be capable of protecting her and the kingdom." I heard him say as he took the folder and opened it.

I held my breath and watched him take out something from it.

Father laid down a copy of our divorce paper. The date where we both signed was encircled. And then he laid down many photos after that. I was left aghast watching him present photos taken days before and after our divorce. Each photo was stamped with dates.

They were all with Desiree. Some of the photos crushed my heart because they were holding each other too close or they were walking hand in hand.

I didn't know what I was supposed to think. I knew Kael was confused during that time, and Desiree took advantage of his vulnerable state.

"Tell me, Adessa, when did he change his mind and tell you he wanted you back?" Father asked.

"Two weeks after the divorce," I answered.

"When did the mark on your back change?"

"I don't understand the question, Father?"

He laid down another photo, and my eyes widened. It was me in a bikini. I had my back to the camera, and it was only then that I understood his question when I saw my birthmark.

The photo was taken a few months after we married, and the mark on my hip bone was not yet near the shape of a heart. It looked more like an irregular triangle shape.

"During the course of your marriage with him, did the mark change?"

I hooked my head. I couldn't remember it changing.

"So it changed when you divorced him. And he probably saw that it changed because the female who outed you screamed your mark was almost heart-shaped."

I swallowed, still confused. But Inoveldrama

knew Miranda saw that mark when we argued about her not letting me see Kael. She pulled my shirt to stop me from reaching Kael's room and saw my back. en

Kael had never seen my mark when he woke up, except that time when we had sex the night of our divorce. But I doubted he remembered seeing that.

I could confirm, though, that when we were in the hostel, I took off my clothes in front of him to change into a dress. Though surely he wouldn't remember what my old mark was.

I kept all this information and remained quiet.

"The changes in the mark, and

especially the red heart-shaped mark, declaring the Royal lineage, were not common knowledge to

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ordinary people. But this was part of the curriculum at the Alpha University he attended. I am fully convinced he had knowledge of that mark."

"Are you saying that Kael identified the mark for Royal Blood, so he changed his mind and decided to get back with Adessa?" Esmaeel asked.

"Kael would never do that," I said almost immediately.

"Two weeks after the divorce is such a short time to change his mind, Adessa," Father added.

"He saw your mark and decided the best way was to bring you to the King's Court." It was Esmaeel again.

"He wanted to save me from Draco because I killed his men. That was why we came here!"

"Save you, or did he want the prestige that comes with your name?" Father asked and his calmness was making me more uneasy.

"No! No!"

"He has the power to ask Draco for your freedom. But he opted to go here and asked for an audience with me."

"Because he knows that the only thing that can save me is your pardon, my King."

"Or to tell me that you are of Royal blood. In a way, taking you back here and with you smitten with him means you will bring him to the Royal Family." "No, Kael will never do that."

"Two weeks is too short to change his mind about the divorce, Adessa!" He repeated this statement again.

"He lost his memory of me! He couldn't remember me after his accident, so he asked for a divorce! But he realized he wanted me, so he looked for me! He protected me when he realized I was in danger." There, I finally said it.

"Did the accident really happen? Did he lose his memory, or was that an act to force divorce on you because he no longer wanted you?" Father asked all this in one breath.