His Contractual Mistress

Chapter 509 My One and Only Emperor

　　"Thank you for giving me such precious gifts, my darling. You did great."

　　Vincent kept planting tiny kisses on Hailee's forehead as he whispered in her ear.

　　"I love you so much, my empress. You are always the bright moon in the night sky. I will always adore and love you till eternity." 

　　Vincent didn't want to put down Hailee's hand, but he also wanted to meet his children. He was anxious to hold them after James constantly sent him their photos. James reports their condition and progress daily, something he was grateful for. The guy's dedication to his family. With that, James earned the title of being his children's uncle.

　　"Wifey, I'm leaving again, but I'll be back soon. So, don't worry. First, I will visit our children. I was too excited to meet and hold them. I know you do too. So, please wake up soon." 

　　Vincent covered Hailee's lips with his. He wanted to prolong the kiss, so he planted light kisses all over Hailee's face. 

　　Then, Vincent was surprised when Hailee returned his kiss. Vincent pulled his head and stared at the woman staring back at him. 

　　"You're finally awake!" Vincent gathered Hailee in his arms and embraced her tight.

　　"Welcome back, hubby," Hailee whispered into Vincent's ear. He choked after he heard Hailee's sweet voice. He longs to hear from her again.

　　"Thank you, Wifey… You don't know how worried I am. I can't wait to wake up and tell you I am fine from the attack. How are you feeling now?"

　　"I feel better," Hailee replied, tightening her firm hold around Vincent's neck.

　　"I'm so glad to hear that, Wifey. I miss you so bad!"

　　"I missed you too!" Hailee answered back.

　　Lovingly, she stared at Vincent. Her fingers trailed the shape of his jawline, the bridge of his nose, and those kissable lips.

　　That dream haunted her until now, but she knew that the person holding her was the real Vincent because her husband only treated her gently and spoke with her softly. Unlike that man, who was cruel and rough. 

　　Hailee darkened her face as she recalled her nightmare, in which Vincent could feel the resentment aura emitting from her body.

　　"What's wrong, Wifey?" he asked.

　　"Nothing, hubby. I'm just trying to sort out all my thoughts and memories in the right places. You know, the past life memories and this lifetime…."

　　"I understand. When I woke up inside the Sub, I experienced the same too… I even pant so heavily as I'm trying to breathe hard. There are times I was shouting like a madman."

　　Vincent paused and let the memories fill his mind of the past life, flashing back, particularly on the battlefield where thousands of bleeding bodies were scattered on the ground, dead. As he recounted them, Vincent hurled a long breath and let out.

　　"I'm glad that Zed and Ed were there. The twins would calm me down until I got used to all the memories sinking into my memory lane. I…" Vincent shook his head to bury those terrible memories.

　　Hailee, who noticed the heaviness in his breath, placed a finger on his lips and shushed him.

　　"It's all right now. It was already in the past. So let yourself be free from everything and put it behind. God has given us another life, and I am sure you have been serving your fair share of retribution. So you have to stop letting the guilt linger in your chest. The one I remember now is Vincent Shen. The man who did his best to treat his employees right. Showed them compassion and equality—not the emperor who executed thousands of lives four hundred years ago."

　　Vincent pressed his eyelids to suppress the tears that wanted to be free from his eyes. Hailee's words are soothing and comforting.

　　It was the same gentle voice of that girl he met in the woods, living a carefree life. In the present, he was delighted to share past life memories with her.

　　He was happy Hailee remembered as she was the only person who knew what the cruel emperor had to bear for the empire. 

　　Before becoming the emperor, he encountered terror on the battlefield. He worked hard to control his emotion and fear to get through it.

　　Life on the battlefield is dreadful and frightening.  Later the years, he only got to feel tranquility every time the empress was by his side. 

　　Vincent rested his forehead against Hailee, eyes closed, and took pleasure in the solace he found around his wife.

　　"Our fight is not over yet. We must settle the score and make him pay for what he'd done in our past life," Vincent muttered.

　　Hailee cupped Vincent's face and echoed, "We have an unfinished battle against him. How favored we are, and he came to us."

　　"That's right. If he only let us live a peaceful life in this lifetime and did not cross our path again, we will never regain our past life memories and remember that ...."

　　Vincent was interrupted by Hailee to finish the rest of his words.

　　"He needs an ATONEMENT." 

　　"And retribution…"

　　The couple partly parted and looked affectionately at each other's eyes. Determination surged in their hearts to defeat that man this time.

　　"So, how could we defeat him?" asked Hailee afterward. "As I remembered, I shot an arrow straight into his heart, but it didn't kill him."

　　As Hailee says this, her past life memories pass in her eyes. She could clearly remember that day. She was wearing her empress robe. The wind was still, and she held a bow and arrow to help the emperor fight against that man. 

　　When they thought she got him in the heart, that man only grinned and wielded his spear and slashed the emperor, leaving him with a deep and fatal wound.

　　"I know a way," Vincent spoke, and Hailee was pulled out from recounting the past life memories.

　　"How?" Hailee asked curiously. She was eager to know so that they were well ready this time. 

　　"Have you remembered the broken sword? A female blacksmith, also a sorceress, revived the sword and presented it to us."

　　"Are you talking about the Myth sword?" asked Hailee when a bell rang in her head. "If I am not mistaken, we entrusted the sword to those children…."

　　Hailee paused as she figured out everything and remembered all the crucial happenings in their previous lives finally sorted out in one place. 

　　"The sword contained enough power to kill him. We hid the sword along with our son. Now I fully understand why we did that instead of using it that time." Vincent paused and let a brief moment pass before he continued, saying, "The sword will find its way back to me."

　　"In the future, you will use it against that man." Hailee comprehended. "And that future is now."

　　Hailee rubbed Vincent's chin with her thumb where stubbles grow longer after a week that he did not shave. 

　　"When I was in a coma. That man tried to seal off my soul," she told Vincent. 

　　Vincent narrowed his gaze. His eyes flashed dangerously, listening to Hailee's story. "Madison told me. She felt his presence here in Dream City. So it was what happened in your dream then."

　　'How dare he desire to make love with my wife!' Vincent darkened his face as he thought about Hailee's dream. He is not only infuriated by him, but his anger has even multiplied.

　　Hailee cuddled Vincent when she sensed a dark aura emitted from his body. Even so, she found security in his arms.

　　"I'm grateful that Madison was here. I don't know what would happen to me if she didn't save me from him. Is he trying to control me?" Hailee still wondered, although she had already guessed the answer.

　　"We would not let him get near us again, especially to our children."

　　"Hummed…" Hailee concurred. She buried her face between Vincent's neck and collar. 

　　Hailee thought she would stop craving Vincent's scent after she gave birth. But she had already delivered, yet Vincent's scent remained alluring in her nostril, probably because his scent has a smell of security. 

　　"I love you, Vincent Shen. My one and only Emperor…."