The Crown's Entrapment

Waking up a bit late, Xenia didn’t mind as she slowly opened her eyes. She had a very productive conversation with her sister last night, and they went well into the night simply conversing with one another.

‘Just like old times…’

She slowly turned, and as expected, Mineah was an early bird, having woken up early and was already gone from her bed. She had slept with Mineah in her sister’s private bedchamber connected to the King’s. Funnily enough, it was like her own bedchamber that was also connected to Darius’s back in Cordon Castle.

She had learned a lot with her little sister about the past history of dragons. Mineah also discussed with her some of the plans she had in mind in the event of a worst-case scenario pertaining to their brother Ezekiel.

As of now, it was clear that the dragon that appeared didn’t harm any living creatures fighting for Ebodia at the time. Instead, it burned almost all of Helion’s army on the battlegrounds before proceeding to fly away.

No one knew where it was currently, but some of the chosen warrior mages they had were already on its trail. However, it wasn’t only their warrior mages that were tracking the dragon down, but some of King Nikolai’s men, and it was also heard that a particular group from Helion was also in search of the dragon… a dragon who was, unfortunately, their own brother.

Looking at the current situation, they could only hope that their warriors would be the first to find Ezekiel with Lurio’s lead. It was only a good thing that Lord Atlas was more than enough to contain the situation and handle their army in Ezekiel’s absence, having placated some of the more curious soldiers in favor of focusing more on the task at hand.

From there, Xenia also discussed a few certain things about her trial, along with the dilemma of activating her power once her mate bond with Darius was complete.

“I guess I should get ready.”

Letting out a sigh, Xenia moved to stand up, only for a knock on the door to keep her back down as she stared at the curious visitor.

“Come in,” she called out.

She expected an errant servant, or perhaps Mineah having come for her to help her get ready. What she didn’t expect was for Darius himself to come to her bearing a tray full of food and drink. She almost wanted to smile at him for the gesture, but then she remembered that she was supposed to at least be mad at him for the stunt he pulled that was keeping such an important secret from her.

“Xen,” Darius nodded, his gaze almost apologetic as he walked right in. “I hope I’m not intruding.”

“You’re not,” she coolly replied, having decided to stay in bed as she did her best to look upset. Still… “Is that for me?”

“Yes,” Darius nodded. “A bit of breakfast in bed. I’m sure you’re hungry.”

“No, I’m not,” Xenia quickly replied, crossing her arms over her chest like a petulant child. “Now, if you’ll-“

Unfortunately for her, it was then that her stomach decided to make itself heard. A low growl echoed from her empty stomach, a mad blush spreading across her cheeks as she did her best to ignore what was practically heard by the entire room.

“My love,” Darius smiled, his knowing smirk annoyingly making her heart flutter. “Eat.”

Before she could deny it, her mate had already set the tray on the bed, barring her from standing up as he sat in a way that would prevent her from moving away.

“This isn’t my bed, you know,” Xenia weakly protested. “You’ll get crumbs all over Mineah’s sheets.”

“I’m sure she wouldn’t mind,” Darius warmly smiled. “Now open wide so that I can feed you.”

Xenia blinked at the sudden offer. It wasn’t even asked of her. From the tone of his voice, he was practically ordering her to let him feed her, and here she was feeling that she wouldn’t even mind it one bit.

She was still a bit mad though…

With a small pout, the princess opened her mouth, her blush only reddening further as Darius began spoonfeeding her like a caring husband. He let her chew at her own pace, even going to the lengths of dabbing a piece of cloth on her lips whenever a piece of food failed to go into her mouth.

“Let me get that for you,” he caringly soothed.

Xenia couldn’t help but oblige, offering her face for her mate to pamper her. Yes, she was being pampered, no matter how much she wanted to hate the term. She didn’t think that she’d be susceptible so such forms of bribery, but here she was practically melting with each small gesture that Darius did for her.

‘I’m mad, dammit,’ she inwardly fumed, her heart saying everything but despite her mind’s insistence on her anger. ‘I won’t let him get away with keeping a secret from me!’

“My love?”

“What is it?” she fumed, barely managing to put on a frown despite her heart telling her to do otherwise. “Don’t think that just because you’re pampering me means that I’ll forget what you just did.”

“I know,” Darius nodded. “But it still wouldn’t hurt to make amends. Besides, I have something for you.”

Xenia almost wanted to swat away the small container that Darius presented to her. But seeing the loving look in his eyes as he waited for her to open the package, her heart refused to let her rationale have its way.

‘Fine then. I’ll open the box…’

Xenia pouted as she snatched the package and began opening it. “If this is another gift, I’m not going… to…”

“Well?” Darius eagerly asked.

Her words failed to find her as she stared at what looked to be a small collection of priceless jewelry. She wasn’t one for accessories, but the sheer opulence and sheen on some of the rings and necklaces almost made her wonder as to where they even came from.

Did he raid a treasury somewhere along the way somehow?

“Darius…” she trailed off.

“I know it’s not much, but please accept it as the beginning stages of my apology gift,” Darius wholeheartedly explained.

Apology gift? And… wait… Did he just say that it was only the start of it?!

Xenia almost wanted to cry. Her heart was hurting just looking at how eager Darius was being to her, but she just couldn’t let her leverage go that easily. She had to hold strong, if only not to look too desperate as to have him back in her arms again.