The Crown's Entrapment

Aurelia sat in her smug superiority as she watched Calypso squirm in his seat. In truth, she hadn't really planned to be that abrasive, but the words just kept on flowing out of her mouth to the point that she really didn't have the will to stop it anymore. Besides, she was still speaking the truth, and she really didn't like being taken out of her work for something that she could do while she was working in the first place.

'Still, I am kind of overdoing it...'

She let out a small sigh as she allowed herself to relax. And it was just in time as well as their food finally arrived. As was expected of them, they both thanked the servers before they left, leaving them with a few plates of food and snacks that honestly didn't look half bad.

"I suppose we can start eating now," she nonchalantly shrugged.

"That, indeed..."

Grabbing her eating utensils, Aurelia went ahead and took the first bite. All the while, she kept a close eye on Calypso as she watched him watch her. It almost felt like a standoff, and while she was sure of her earlier victory, there was a part of her that knew her mate wouldn't just let her take the last word in this lunch break of theirs. And yet...

Somehow, despite knowing from his face alone that he was planning something, Calypso hadn't done or said anything to her yet. They simply ate in silence, their eyes being the only ones engaged in unspoken conversations as they took each bite.

'What are you planning...' she inwardly pondered. 'You clearly have something in mind... What is it?'

"Have something in mind?"

Her eyes widened at the sudden question. If she wasn't thinking any better, she would've accused him of reading her thoughts. Of course, she wasn't going to say any of the sorts.

"You're staring at me an awful lot," Aurelia countered back, doing her best to regain her footing without being caught. "Is there something on my face?"

To her surprise, Calypso smirked. And it was only too late for her to take back her question when her mate took the opening she unwittingly gave to him.

"Nothing except for your beauty."

She inwardly cursed herself as a faint blush spread across her cheeks. She knew for a fact that she walked right into that one.

"Smooth," she sarcastically remarked. "Did you use that on your other conquests as well?"

Aurelia smirked as she felt herself regaining the upper hand. Calypso was clearly taken aback by her words, which meant that she had regained the momentum of this-

"Why are you so cold to me, my dear Lia?"

She froze. That name he called her... again...

"I still remember the time you even complimented my red hair," Calypso dramatically sighed. "When did that all go away?"

Aurelia narrowed her eyes at her supposed mate. "It never did. I'm not responsible for whatever things I said when I was drunk."

"But those are still your unfiltered thoughts, are they not?" he smirked.

"I didn't deny that," she quickly replied, doing her best to fight off the full blush starting to form on her face. "I only said that I won't be responsible for them. There's a difference."

"The same difference between my hazel eyes and their supposed effect on you?"

Once more, Aurelia cursed herself for her own words. Why did her drunken self just have to lower her standards during that one time?!

"I-I vaguely recall such words," she fired back, her voice buckling against the embarrassment growing within her. "Also, have you no shame in using a drunken woman's words against her?"

"Whatever happened to not being responsible for your drunken self's words then?" Calypso countered with the smuggest smile she had seen on him in a long while. "You just don't want to admit that they're your true thoughts."

Grinding her teeth, her hammering heart just kept on skipping madly within her chest the more she looked at this man's smug face. Why did he have to be passingly handsome anyway? She really didn't want this to happen to her, but there was just no running away from it...

"I... Fine then. Perhaps I do find your red hair and hazel eyes passingly attractive," she relented with a begrudging sigh. "It still doesn't excuse you from using my drunken self's words against me."

Calypso raised an eyebrow at her. "Maybe it doesn't, but at least I got you to admit to something," he chuckled. "Seriously, why are you so wound up around me?"

"And any other woman that knows your reputation wouldn't be the same?" she scoffed. "There's a reason you're called a womanizer, you know?"

"Alright, I can admit that," he shrugged. "And for the record, I still make sure to remember your exact words to me even to this day."

The sudden admittance took Aurelia by surprise yet again. Unfortunately for her, her blush was now in full swing, her self-control finally faltering as she quickly averted her gaze from him.

​ "L-Let's just continue eating," she grumbled. "We're wasting enough time as it is, and I'm sure you also have more work to do."

"I suppose you're right," Calypso nonchalantly shrugged while letting off an amused sigh. "Well, at least I got to enjoy your adorable blushing face for a while. I'll take that as a win."

Aurelia let out another sigh as the blush on her face intensified. Still, she supposed she'll let him take this one. As much as she would like to say otherwise, she had marginally lost this one exchange with him.

"Let's just keep eating and get back to work," she shrugged.

Taking another bite, she noted just how cold her food had gotten. Well, they did get into a heated back and forth just now. At least it was still tasty... And while she wouldn't admit it, she also had fun verbally sparring with Calypso, but she wouldn't admit that to him just yet.