章節 11: “My Prince.”

"Take a seat, Lady Micah."

The king's voice made Micah tear her gaze away from the Deadly gorgeous man sitting across from the table and will her legs to move forward to have a seat herself.

However, her eyes keep falling back on him. The beast lurking beneath his golden skin can bite anyone's throat out, yet he looks so holy. He wore a white silk shirt that clutched his body flawlessly, the body she had above her last night.

Micah erases away the images of him from last night that pop up into her head and bow at everyone before sitting on the softest chair I probably will ever sit in.

Is she really sitting with a royal family to have breakfast? Erline would faint or maybe even lose her life from a heart attack if she found out. She feel like someone had just swiped away some lines of her fate and redrew them.

The table is crammed with so many kinds of food she has never seen or heard of. The hunger resurfaced in her belly with a noise that made her cheeks red with embarrassment.

The maid pulls a food-brimming plate toward Micah and motions her to eat, the heavenly aroma instantly sneaking into her nose and making her mouth water.

Her fingers itch to shove everything into her mouth in one go but she takes a deep breath instead, slowly looking up to see if anyone has their eyes on her. Fortunately, no one is watching except those blue and golden orbs. He looks away the moment her eyes find his.

Micah's fingers softly touch the golden fork beside her plate. Real gold. Not some iron painted with golden color. She doesn't dare to take it in her hand but how does she eat without it?

"Why aren't you eating?" The voice isn't the King's. It is deep, yet it has a soft undertone that keeps her from flinching.

Her eyes ride up to the man sitting by the Queen's side. She hasn't seen him before. He is young, but not younger than Severo. He has the same red hair as the queen. His eyes are sharp just like hers but a soft green shade when hers was a dark blue. He must be Severo's brother. But he doesn't look like him at all.

His thick brows pull down a little as he watches Micah, and that's when she realized she hadn't answered him yet. She feels heat rushing to color her cheeks as she finally finds her voice to say, "I will eat now."

Did she answer it right?

Without throwing another gaze at the stranger, Micah compels herself to take the fork and dive into the food waiting to be devoured.

She almost moans loudly when the food melts her taste buds and the spice pleasantly burns her tongue. Goosebumps erupt in every inch of her skin as she consumes one piece after one.

The world around her vanishes as she fills her empty stomach with these heavenly spices and sweets.

Her head swipes toward the king when he clears his throat. His plate is clean as he wipes his hands on a tissue on the table.

He gazes at Micah with a small smile tugging on his lips. His lips are just like Severo's. Pink and full. "About you being Severo's mate. Did you think about that?"

She feels the food in her stomach traveling up and threatening to come out. Her fingers clutched her dress under the table as she gulped down the invisible thing stuck in her throat before answering, "I do not wish to mate with him."

She doesn't dare to stare up from her half-finished plate. She doesn't know why it hurts her to say that, when that is the truth. She wonders if it hurts him too.

"Are you rejecting him?" The king asks, calm like every other time. But she can't seem to calm down her wildly beating heart. Is she rejecting him? That mere thought sits unwell in her gut.

He's her mate. And Micah genuinely relished every moment she had with him. She couldn't unlove it even if she wished to. It was heavenly. But that doesn't change the way she doesn't like him as a person. She despises his actions. She was horrified by the lives he took.

"If that wasn't a rejection, then what is?" She finally pulls her gaze away from her plate and stares at the Queen who is staring right back at her with a…smirk. Smirk?

"I want to hear it from her." Micah's heart jumps at his mere voice. When her eyes lock with those blue and golden orbs her tongue doesn't dare to lie. She could never reject him with this mate bond between them tangling her in its invisible roots.

"Tell me, Micah. Are you rejecting me?" His tone has a deep touch to it now. And his face is so calm as if he doesn't care even if she rejects him. But in his eyes, she can see it all. She can see the worry flashing through his orbs and the self-grown affection toward her fights to let free.

Her thoughts are clouded, and she can't even answer his question. What should she do? She doesn't want to mate with him and she can't reject him either. How does she say this to him without making a fool out of herself?

"Her silence answers your question, Son." The Queen says. "She indeed doesn't want to mate with you. And it's not like you want to mate with her either. The loss is hers."

Micah's eyebrows crease together at her last statement. How did the queen know he didn't want to mate with her? Did he tell her that?

Like she said, was it her loss? If she rejects him now, right here, what will be next? Her life was over even before she came here. She was sold to him. She does not have a place to go anymore. Erline doesn't even know she was alive. And she would not go there anymore. She would not wish to be thrown to hell again.

"Sev, like I said, spend your ruts with her. So you wouldn't be kill—" Severo cut her off before she could finish. His eyes look wild as it lands on Micah.

Her eyes won't leave his as she lets the words flee out of her lips, "You can spend your rut with me. I'll help you. But I have my own conditions."

"What is it?" His voice is thicker as he stares at Micah— stares through her.

"I wish to talk to you alone, My prince."