Chương 26: You Don't Have To Ask

Laina was at a loss for words. What on earth was going on with Dante today? He went from being cordial and respectful to drunk and playful really quickly and something just did not feel right.

Dante placed her down gently on the bed and straightened his back. Laina was lost in her mind, trying to find a way and plan out her next action. The next moment, when she looked up, she realized Dante was unbuttoning his shirt!

The princess quickly turned her head to the side as the heat in her cheeks rose. But she could not help herself, Laina glanced over as she peeked through her hands. She could see his well-sculpted abs.

But what truly caught her attention the most, was the scar over the middle of his chest. It looked like a stab wound, a deep one too. Laina subconsciously lifted her hand, wanting to touch it. Just as she was about to touch his skin, Dante grabbed hold of her hand.

This action brought Laina back to her senses as she removed her hand from his grasp immediately.

"Sorry, I was just…" she was tongue-tied.

"That's alright," he replied with a devilish grin as he took hold of her hand and placed it on his own chest," If you want to touch, you don't even have to ask."

-What on earth is going on?!- Laina screamed at herself internally.

She could feel his smooth skin, the ridges of the scar. Something about it felt familiar yet she did not know why. Realizing what was going on, Laina immediately removed her hand from his grasp once more.

Dante climbed up on the bed, on top of Laina. But she was not having it. As much as the scene before her was getting steamy, she kept her mind focused. She finally remembered the counter spell she needed!

Just as she was about to recite the incantation, Dante placed his hand over her mouth. Laina was taken by surprise, uncertain of what to do. This man was coming on to her, strong, but all she wanted to do was to lift the spell on him.

As he leaned in closer to her, Laina knew she needed a better plan. She carefully took hold of Dante's hand, which he had placed over her mouth, revealing her seductive smile. Laina carefully placed his hand around her neck as she got up close to Dante.

He was seemingly entranced by her movements, which was just what she wanted. Naturally, Dante wrapped his other arms around Laina's waist. She wrapped her arms around his neck and embraced him as she brought their bodies close together.

She leaned in close to the side of his face and recited the spell into his ear. As she finished the last syllable, the colored glint in Dante's eyes disappeared. He slowly blinked, returning to his senses. He realized he was not in his own room.

But before he could say anything, a wave of fatigue rushed over him. Dante felt his body growing heavy and groggy as he fell onto his side. Sound asleep. Laina, worried that he would hurt his neck, kept her hand around his neck.

The momentum of his fall brought Laina down with him too. She laid down on her side, looking straight into Dante's eyes moments before they closed. In that final moment, she had a feeling that he was looking straight at her.

Just then, there was a knock on the door. Laina jolted to her senses, as she quickly sat up on the bed. Before she could even say anything, there was another knock on the door, followed by a familiar voice.

"Princess Laina, Princess Laina. Are you in there?" the voice called out, filled with worry and concern.

It was followed by a few muffled words before the door swung open and Marius rushed in.

Marius scanned the room as he spoke, "I'm so sorry for coming in like this, Princess Laina but…" he stopped just as he set eyes on the bed.

He saw Laina in her nightdress and Dante laying on her bed. Marius panicked as he rushed over, worried that he was too late.

"I must apologize on the King's behalf he's never like this, ever! I'm so sorry, Princess Laina, it won't happen again! What am I saying?! Dante was drinking and he…"

Laina placed a hand on Marius's shoulder reassuringly, "Marius, it's alright. I understand. He's drunk and people tend to do weird things when they are…"

Marius vehemently shook his head. He did not want Laina to get the wrong idea of Dante. The King might have the devilish looks and charm but he was definitely no playboy!

"No, Princess, you've been mistaken. It's not that, he was…"

"Marius, calm down. I know. Someone cast a spell on him," Laina chuckled nervously.

He paused for a moment and looked at her, "You… you knew?"

Laina quickly clarified, "Well, not immediately. At first, I just thought that he had too much to drink. He even came in through the balcony. Haha… anyways, I lifted the spell and he immediately fell asleep."

Marius heaved a sigh of relief as he slumped on the side of the bed, wiping the sweat off his brow, "That… that is a relief. You have no idea how happy I am to hear that."

Laina looked over to look at Dante, he was sleeping peacefully on the bed. Maybe even drooling a little. She smiled as she caressed the side of his face, and tucked the strands of hair that were out of place behind his ear.

Marius looked over and observed in silence. He realized he had never seen Dante sleep so well. Usually, the king had many sleepless nights, tossing and turning. Whenever he woke up the next day, he would be grumpy and irritable.

Sometimes, he would take liquor to help calm his nerves after a long day of work, but that just gave him headaches the next day.

"I don't think I've seen him sleep so well," Marius whispered.

His words made Laina aware of what she was doing. She quickly removed her hand from his face, placing it close to her heart. Marius took note of her flustered expression. When their eyes met, he gave her an evil grin.

"You're beginning to warm up to him, aren't you?" he teased.

"What? No!" she immediately shot him down.

Not wanting him to ask anymore questions about her emotions, Laina switched the topic, "How did he get so drunk anyway? And why was he under a spell?"

Marius bit his lip.

Seeing his reluctance, Laina said, "It's alright if you don't want to say."

"No no, you have the right to know," Marius replied as he turned to look at Dante who was sound asleep, "After all this happened. I think you more than deserve to know what happened."

SUY NGHĨ CỦA NGƯỜI SÁNG TẠO
ValestriaMoon

Crisis averted? XD

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Please check out my latest book <The King's Cursed Bride>!

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Chương 27: Sundrop

Marius explained how the liquors were switched. How the purple hair maid was trying to seduce Dante. Laina listened to all of it in silence. Marius carefully watched Laina for any change in expression, any signs of jealousy.

"That maid sure had a lot of guts to pull off something like this," Laina commented after hearing Marius's recount of what happened.

"Yeah, you're right," Marius replied, as the gears in his mind processed the information, "She probably acted on someone's orders."

Laina nodded in agreement, "You have a point there. I mean, trying to seduce a King and getting him drunk to do so? One of the oldest tricks in the book."

"Oldest trick in the book? What do you mean?"

Laina explained to Marius the tales she had heard, sometimes through the gossip grapevines. These were tales of the lower classes wanting a better standing in life. Sometimes, they will try to climb up in society through different means.

Falling in love and marrying into wealth sometimes took too much time. So some of them would opt for a shortcut instead. One night stand with a member of the royal family, followed by the rumor mill spinning things out of control.

If a child came into the picture, even better, for the person in question.

"People do that sort of thing?" Marius gasped in disbelief.

Laina shrugged her shoulders, "At least that's what I heard."

Stretching her arms out over her head, Laina let out a yawn. It was getting late in the night, and Laina needed to rest. Seeing as she was getting ready to turn in for the night, Marius decided it was also time for him to make himself scarce.

Looking over to Dante, who was still sound asleep, Marius let out a sigh. How on earth was he going to carry the King back to his quarters? Without being seen? Marius looked over to the balcony, he could certainly fly him back to his quarters.

But before he could do so, Laina could see the look of distraught on his face. Though it was not the best available option, she did not mind.

"Why don't you let him sleep here for tonight? He's already sound asleep. I don't think it would be wise to wake him up," Laina suggested as she got out of bed.

Marius's face brightened up with a smile as he looked over to Laina. She immediately knew what was going through his mind. She slapped him on the arm and pointed her finger at him menacingly.

"Nothing is happening tonight. Alright?" she warned him, also warning herself, "We won't be sharing a bed."

"What? Then where are you going to sleep, princess?" Marius asked out of concern.

Laina scanned the room. She pointed at the daybed, "I'll just sleep there."

He looked over to see where she was pointing. He rejected the idea.

"What? No no, you'll catch a cold. If that happens, he's going to be even more worried…"

Laina laughed as she patted Marius on the back, "I'll be fine! I never catch a cold. Besides, the cold never bothered me anyway."

Marius was still concerned, "Are you sure, princess? I can get something arranged for you."

"No no, it's quite alright. Really, Marius. Stop worrying. You've had a long night too, you need sleep too!" Laina reassured him as she pushed him towards the door.

"Just come and collect him tomorrow, alright?"

"I will do so, princess," Marius promised.

Just as Marius was about to leave the room, Laina could not help but ask a question. It had been on her mind ever since she heard Dante call her that. Something about it seemed familiar. But she could not pinpoint what or why.

"Marius,"

"Yes, princess?"

"Does King Dante have a lover?" she asked as she bit her lip.

If he already had someone in his heart, she did not want to overstep her boundaries. She was not about to involve herself with a married man either. But so far, she had not heard or seen the presence of a queen, so she was hoping it would not turn out that way.

Marius darted his eyes away for a second as he pursed his lips. Laina did not want to put him on the spot.

"It's alright if you can't say or don't want to. I won't force you."

He quickly shook his head and clarified, "Oh no no, it's not that, Princess Laina."

"Well, he had someone. Someone whom he really loved."

"Had?"

"The person passed away… but it was a long time ago."

This made Laina wonder just how old was Dante really? But she decided that that was a question for another day.

"How did she… die?" She was curious.

"I'm sorry, but that, I cannot say," Marius apologized.

"That's alright, you don't have to say. It's alright."

But her sudden question piqued his interest.

"If you don't mind me asking, princess. I have a question."

"Speak your mind, Marius."

"Why did you suddenly ask about that?"

"Oh well…" Laina paused for a moment before continuing, "He called me Sundrop…"

Marius grabbed hold of Laina's arm immediately, staring at her with his mouth agape.

"Did you… did you just say he called you Sundrop?"

Laina was surprised by Marius's sudden actions. Realizing what he had done, he quickly unhanded the princess and apologized profusely.

"It's alright, Marius. No offense taken. And yes, he called me Sundrop," Laina placed her hand on her chin, "For some reason, I find that sounded familiar. But I could not quite pinpoint where I've heard it before. So I was just curious."

"Ah, I see. As far as I was aware, that was the pet name he gave his lover," Marius explained.

"Oh, I see."

"His lover had a pet name for him too, I think it was-"

"Moonkiss?"

Marius feigned surprise.

"Yes, that's right. How did you know?" he asked, cheekily.

Laina was caught off guard for a moment. The word just slipped out from her mouth. She did not know how she knew this either. In all her interactions with Dante, they had never talked about this before.

"I… I don't know. Lucky guess?" she tried to play it off, hoping Marius would not ask any follow up questions.

SUY NGHĨ CỦA NGƯỜI SÁNG TẠO
ValestriaMoon

Hmm... how does Laina know this nickname? Coincidence or not?

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