Free Web NovelChapter 86: 86-To save you
The first thing Princess Sheana noticed was the silence when she woke up. It was a heavy, unfamiliar silence that wrapped around the room like a thick blanket.
The curtains were drawn halfway, allowing soft golden sunlight to spill across the floor. The scent of herbs lingered in the air.
Princess Sheana blinked slowly as she stared at the ceiling above her. Her body felt weak as though every bone had been drained of strength. Even lifting a finger felt like a challenge.
Confusion clouded her thoughts. The last thing she remembered was taking Aenyra to meet the other beasts after Sseraphis got attacked. Then she felt colder and eventually she felt nothing at all.
A soft rustling sound drew her attention. Someone was sitting beside her bed. Her heart skipped.
Even through her haze, she would recognize the dragoness anywhere.
Long dark hair fell over one shoulder as the woman sat quietly in a chair, reading a book. Her posture was elegant and composed, her expression calm and distant.
She looked exactly as she always did, beautiful in a way that felt untouchable. Sheana smiled despite herself.
"Well," she croaked, her voice rough from disuse. "Either I’m dead, or I’ve finally started having very detailed dreams."
The dragoness slowly lowered her book. Their eyes met, and for a brief moment, guilt flickered across Aenyra’s face. It vanished so quickly Sheana almost thought she imagined it.
"You’re awake," Aenyra said simply.
Princess Sheana grinned weakly. "You sound disappointed."
"I’m not," Aenyra denied on the spot.
"But you’re not exactly celebrating either," Sheana called her out.
Aenyra closed her book and set it aside. "You nearly died. Can you ease up on the attitude?"
The teasing smile on Sheana’s face faded slightly. The words settled heavily between them. She could instantly tell that something was off with Aenyra.
"What happened?"
Aenyra remained silent for several seconds. The silence itself was enough to make the Sheana’s stomach tighten. She felt something amiss about Aenyra.
She slowly pushed herself into a sitting position, ignoring the ache in her muscles. The movement made her dizzy, but she forced herself to stay upright.
"What happened?" she repeated.
Aenyra stood and walked toward the window. Her gaze remained fixed outside. "You collapsed and were paralysed for two days."
Sheana’s eyes widened. "Two days?"
"No healer could identify the illness," Aenyra continued. She bit her tongue, thinking of how to break the news of what she had to do to Sheana. A chill ran down her spine. "You’ve been unconscious ever since."
The room suddenly felt smaller. Two days, she had missed two days of her life? Sheana panicked inside. That was time erased from her life where she did nothing.
She opened her mouth to speak, but another strange sensation distracted her. A warmth that strongly pulled at the strings of her heart. It was deep inside her chest. ƒгeewёbnovel.com
The sensation felt familiar yet entirely new. Her breath caught. Slowly, she turned her head toward the dragoness standing by the window.
The feeling immediately grew stronger, like an invisible thread connecting them. Suddenly, it was like she could sense exactly where the dragoness was without looking and like her heart instinctively reached toward her.
The realization struck her all at once. Princess Sheana froze. Then, she stared hard at Aenyra’s back. The longer she stared, the harder the pull was.
Aenyra closed her eyes briefly, already knowing Sheana would figure the truth out sooner or later, but she still couldn’t find the words to express the truth.
"Icy, what is going on?" Sheana asked. She clearly spotted something different inside her that had never been there before.
A long pause followed. Aenyra didn’t date turn around. She couldn’t bring herself to name it.
"Why do I suddenly feel like you... me... nmph," she sighed, unable to name it, but her delusional mind was already spinning theories.
Aenyra’s shoulders stiffened.
Sheana’s mouth slowly fell open. "No way. It can’t be?" Realization starred hitting home. Hard.
Silence was loud in the room. "No. Absolutely not," Sheana denied again, "You would never."
Still, Aenyra kept silent. She finally turned around.
Her expression was unreadable. "I didn’t have a choice. It was the only way to save you."
Sheana blinked. One, two, three... she blinked again. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
"Come again?"
Aenyra sighed softly. "The illness was killing you. The fairy suggested two methods to save you, and this was the only one that was doable."
The room felt oddly warm. Sheana could barely hear the rest. Her pulse thundered in her ears. The dragoness she had spent years hopelessly loving in the quiet of her heart. The ice beauty who had never returned those feelings, who barely tolerated her flirting half the time.
That very female had bound themselves to her. Her mate, that’s what Aenyra was to her going forward. The reality nearly caused her to explode into a million tiny pieces.
Sheana suddenly laughed. Going mad from the pure happiness of getting her lifelong dream fulfilled. Then, she laughed harder. She buried her face in her hands and laughed until tears fell out of her eyes.
"This has to be the greatest day of my life."
Aenyra blinked, confused, "It is most certainly not."
"It absolutely is."
Sheana cursed that she didn’t have the strength. If she could, she would rise to her feet and dance around the room to celebrate and express her joy. Holding it in was dangerous for her health because she felt it in large doses.
Aenyra looked thoroughly unimpressed. She had formed a mate bond with the help of fairy Zarathia’s power without the consent of her parents or elders.
Their bond didn’t go through the proper channels. In a way, they can be considered runaways and be accused of eloping with one another.
"Even though I did it to save your life. It is still wrong."
Princess Sheana peeked through her fingers. "You bonded yourself to me?" She asked, unable to believe it.
"To save your life," Aenyra immediately justified.
"Still counts," Sheana’s face was brighter than the sun. The joy spread all over her body that she couldn’t feel the soreness in body at all.
"It does not count for celebration. It was a necessity that now binds us together. It doesnt countbas anything else."
"It really does!" Sheana argued.
Princess Aenyra pinched the bridge of her nose. For the first time since waking up, Sheana noticed the exhaustion beneath her usual calm appearance.
There were dark circles lingered beneath her eyes. Her shoulders looked heavier like she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders, and her movements were slower.
A realization slowly dawned on her. "You stayed here all night to take care of me?"
Aenyra didn’t answer. In her mind, she was thinking of the best explanation to give her mother. The truth wasn’t going to cut it with her, and claiming she had fallen emotionally weak and allowed herself to get affected by Sheana’s presence to the point of sacrificing he future as she did would disappoint her greatly.
"You stayed the whole time," Sheana said, but she wanted it to sound like a question so that Aenyra would answer her.
The silence from Aenyra was answered enough. Warmth bloomed inside the Sheana’s chest. For once, she couldn’t think of a teasing response. Her delusions had paid off. She managed to land Aenyra as her bounded mate for life.
Three weeks of uncertainty since they met at Nytherael’s house in Lioris. Three weeks where she doubted whether or not she would survive the unrequited love, and somehow, Aenyra had remained by her side through all of it and was now hers.
Aenyra finally looked away. "You should rest."
Princess Sheana smiled softly. "You’re worried about me?" She teased.
"I’m making sure my sacrifice isn’t wasted," the response was cold, yet somehow, Sheana could hear the concern hidden beneath it.
