Upon his return to his mansion, Matthew went to see Harper straight away.

But at the Phoenix House's gate, he stopped for a while. He took deep breaths, steadying himself, and made sure that he was sufficiently calm before he strode further in.

He found Harper sitting up in bed, reading a book. It was one of the miscellanies that he had brought her from his study, and she read through them voraciously. She had already finished two of them.

"You're back." Harper looked up in surprise, her tone gentle, upon feeling his shadow cast down upon her.

In response, Matthew walked up to the bed and sat, wrapping his arms around her waist to kiss her deeply. After a breathless kiss, he managed to shakily reply, "I'm back."

His passion made her blush, but she didn't miss the apologetic, distressed expression in his eyes. "Is something wrong? What happened?"

"His Majesty...has instructed me to go north to catch Kevin and bring him back. I'm to set out tomorrow." After a moment of painful hesitation, Matthew leaned forward and presse

"Before you enter the palace, His Majesty will ask someone to send you the Reviving Pill. Once you get it, please take it immediately, okay? It will do wonders for your health." Matthew ran a hand gently through Harper's hair and cradled her lovingly in his arms. "Though I may not be in the imperial capital, I don't want you to feel afraid. If anyone dares to cross you or do you harm, beat them back with all your might. Should the sky itself fall, your husband will come and hold it away from you."

"But you'll be a thousand miles away. How would you able to hold up the sky from falling on me?"

"Well...I might not be here, but I know Zack will be," Matthew replied bluntly. This was the only reason he had any confidence or courage to leave Harper in the imperial capital. Zack had sworn to protect Harper. If it weren't for Zack's conviction to that idea, Matthew wouldn't feel secure enough to leave.

Just the mere thought of Zack caused a guilty pit to form in Harper's stomach. "You shouldn't bully him all the time like this..."