Dumping The Ice King His Mini-Tyrant novel Chapter 431

He’d wanted to stay a while longer in Selene’s hospital room, to sit with her until she woke.

But when Leo realized that the sight of Selene—still unconscious, unmoving—stirred up urges he could barely restrain, he quickly pressed the button on his wheelchair’s armrest.

His electric wheelchair, fitted with the latest technology, hummed softly as it turned and carried him out of the room.

At the doorway, Leo paused. For a moment, he glanced back at the woman lying motionless in the hospital bed.

That single look felt like an eternity.

On most days, Leo seemed as if he were sealed away in glass—aloof, untouched by any mortal feeling, a celestial being merely passing through the world before ascending again.

But now, facing Selene’s sleeping form, all the emotions he’d locked away for so long surged to the surface.

For that brief instant, his strikingly handsome features seemed to come alive with warmth.

But only for an instant.

The next second, Leo’s deep eyes grew remote again, their expression shuttered by indifference.

He turned away and guided his wheelchair down the corridor, vanishing as if he’d never been there at all.

*

Night had fallen over the Vaughn family estate.

Inside the ancestral chapel, Harrison, Damien, and Gemma knelt on thick cushions. The padding beneath their knees was soft, but after a while, even that couldn’t keep their legs from going numb.

Especially for Damien. Ever since the car accident, his legs couldn’t handle kneeling for long. Before long, he’d shifted so he was sitting cross-legged on the cushion instead.

The chapel was drafty, wind slipping in from three sides. Even bundled up in a thick winter coat, Damien’s small head felt cold from the constant chill.

But then Liam, for reasons unknown, had someone escort her straight to the chapel and practically pressed her down onto the cushion himself.

“Grandma, how long do we have to stay here?” Damien whined. “I want to go play with my Legos!”

He was done kneeling and had no intention of getting back on the cushion. The chapel was dull at the best of times. On earlier visits, he’d spent his time roughhousing with other Vaughn kids, only to be scolded by the adults.

Of course, the elders only ever scolded the other children. Damien, as the Vaughn family’s future heir, was always met with affectionate smiles and endless indulgence.

Gemma’s heart ached for her grandson. “Go on, play with your Legos. Your uncles are out of their minds—making you kneel in here for the sake of some stray they picked up from the street.”

“Yay!” Damien leaped up, grinning, and bounded out of Gemma’s lap.

As he turned, he spotted Leo, seated in his wheelchair, silent and imposing as a king, suddenly appearing behind Gemma without a sound.

At that moment, Gemma had no idea Leo was already there.