Free Web NovelChapter 26: Chapter 26: The Vulnerability of King
Yue-Senn POV
If I was going to die today, I plan to die had a happy man. I refused to let her go.
Ryophlira shifted against me, her thighs loosened around my waist as she desperately tried to climb off of me, but my hands remained locked beneath her thighs, keep her in place against the dressing room wall.
Crack.
The sharp, stinging slap echoed in the tight space, her palm colliding squarely with my cheek. I didn’t even flinch. I didn’t stop her. For the first time in my life, I simply took the blow, because a dark, hollow instinct in my chest told me I deserved it even if I was still entirely blind to what I had actually done to fracture her this way.
Instead of pulling away, I dropped my head forward, burying my face into the crook of her neck and shoulder taking in her sweet scent. My breath came in heavy, gasps, my chest pounding against her laced bodice. I was losing the battle for control. Feeling the warmth of her skin, the friction of her body pressed on mine, I could feel myself slowly getting hard against her. My hands gripped her legs tighter, I just needed her lips against mine again.
"Ryophlira!" Her mother’s sharp voice rattled the outer corridor again, the clicking of her heels drawing dangerously close to the door.
Ryophlira forced herself to call out toward the door. "Mother! I... I just needed some space!"
"Did the dress fit, honey?" the Queen asked, her voice pausing right outside the door inches away.
"Yes!" Ryophlira called back, her fingers clutching my shoulders as she tried to stabilize her trembling voice. "I just need a moment right now to breathe. Everything is just... moving very fast."
"Take the time you need, but we can’t stay here all day," her mother sighed. "We still have to go to the shoe boutique and the cake shop."
"Okay. I will be out in a second."
The moment the Queen’s footsteps shifted away, Ryophlira tried to squirm out of my grip again.
"Stop moving," I whispered into her neck.
To punish her resistance, I let my tongue slide out, tracing a slow, light lick from the base of her throat all the way up to her pointed elven ear, before catching the soft lobe in a deliberate, sharp little bite.
Ryophlira instantly slammed her hand over her own mouth to smother a loud, breathless moan, her back arching as she pressed herself even deeper into my chest.
Outside,"Ryophlira," Ari’s voice cut through the door. "I know it’s devastating. But please remember... this marriage was only for political gain, not love. Your sister was rightfully supposed to be the Queen of the North."
"Shut up, Ari!" Ryophlira called out, her face burning a deep red.
I froze against her neck, my mind racing. Wait. Did she know her sister came to meet me? Is she... jealous? The realization sent a strange, thrill straight through my veins.
Ari’s shadow blocked the crack of the door as she pressed her hand against the wood. "I am very sorry sorry... I was just trying to help. That asshole doesn’t deserve you anyway. Please forgive me."
"Ari, please stop talking!" Ryophlira begged, her voice entirely flustered.
Amused by the sheer, chaotic panic radiating off her, I let out a low, gravelly laugh against her skin.
Outside, Ari gasped, her footsteps violently shuffling back. "Oh God... he is in there with you isn’t he?. Are you serious?! Open this door immediately!"
"She is currently busy," I answered smoothly, my voice carrying cleanly through the wood.
Ari began violently shaking the brass handle, the door rattling on its hinges. Sensing the imminent disaster, Ryophlira began fighting like a wild animal to get down. Realizing I had pushed the boundary far enough, I slowly let my hands slide down, releasing her legs and letting her feet find the floor.
With a flushed face and trembling fingers, Ryophlira turned and slowly cracked the dressing room door open.
Ari stood there, her mouth hanging open in absolute shock. I stood directly behind the princess, my shirt completely unbuttoned to my waist, my dark hair damp and messy, while Ryophlira looked utterly disheveled in her gown.
Ari stepped closer, her voice dropping to a harsh, panicked whisper. "Have you lost your mind?! Why? What are you doing after what he did?!"
"Can we please talk about this later?" Ryophlira whispered back, her eyes wide with desperation. "Just stall Mother for me."
"Are you kidding me right now?!"
"Please," Ryophlira begged, her voice cracking.
Before Ari could argue further, Ryophlira sharply closed the door, cutting off the rising tide of murmurs and gossiping voices drifting from the front of the boutique. She whipped around to face me.
"What do you want? Why are you even here?" Her voice was frigid, but it trembled with an undercurrent of raw emotion.
"I heard you were carried out of the palace unconscious and covered in blood," I said, stepping into her space.
"Are you watching me?"
"Why wouldn’t I? You are my wife."
"I am a political gain," her eyes flashing bitterly. "Not your actual wife." frёeωebɳovel.com
"I feel like I am losing my goddamn mind right now," reaching out a hand to cup the soft curve of her cheek.
Smack.
She slapped my hand away, her eyes glowing.
The rejection tore through the remaining fragments of my restraint. If she wanted a political spectacle, I would give her one. Turning, I grabbed the brass handle and threw the dressing room door wide open, exposing the two of us to the entire boutique the court ladies, children, the attendants, and the guards all froze, staring in stunned silence.
Right there on the carpet, I dropped heavily to my knees at her feet.
"I have no idea what I did, my queen," I said, my voice ringing clearly through the shop, completely devoid of my usual arrogance. I looked up at her through my messy hair, my eyes unblinking. "I am sorry. If you could find it in your heart to forgive me..." freēwēbηovel.c૦m
Ryophlira’s face turned an unbelievable shade of mortified red. Before I could utter another word, she lunged forward, grabbing the collar of my unbuttoned shirt in a wide knuckled grip, yanking me back into the changing room, and slamming the door shut once more.
"Is this entertaining for you?!" she said angrily, she glared up at me. "What the fuck are you—"
I didn’t let her finish. I caught her waist, and pulled her into a brief, hard kiss before sharply pulling back to look her in the eyes.
"This is not entertaining for me," I rumbled. "Seeing you hurt, seeing you humiliated... it causes a physical sensation in my chest that I cannot logically explain. I would destroy this entire world and everyone in it for you."
"Then why did you go to her out of all people?!" Ryophlira suddenly yelled. "On the same night we got married? The same night you..." She choked on the words, unable to finish.
"I swear to you on my life, I have no idea what you are talking about," I said, my voice dead serious.
My mind pieced the puzzle together instantly. Aiyolistra had used her visit my room to spin a web of lies, trying to cause conflict between us.
"I need you to trust me, Ryophlira. Just this once, I have never lied to you about anything since we met" I pleaded, my voice dropping into a rare, vulnerable softness I needed her to believe me. "I never went to see your sister, nor did I lay a single hand on her."
Slowly, deliberately, I raised my hand again, lifting my palm toward her face. This time, she didn’t slap it away. She hesitated, her breath trembling, before gently leaning the soft curve of her cheek into my hand for a second, before her walls came back up and she gently pushed it away.
"That night... I was too excited," I murmured, a faint, smile tugging at my lips. "I had to take several cold baths just to survive it."
Ryophlira took a slow step closer to me, her small hand rising to press flat against my bare chest, right over the erratic, heavy thud of my heart. She looked me dead in the eye.
In that brilliant, suffocating light, she was an absolute marvel when she was being strong and serious. She possessed the kind of ethereal, striking resistance that could bring a kingdom to its knees without a single word spoken. Her skin carried the flawless, warm glow of a summer sunset. Her eyes, wide and heavy with not a single tear left in sight. Her eyes were two brilliant pools of liquid amethyst, dark lashes that held a man’s gaze hostage. Her hair hair that tumbled over her shoulders like moonlight given form, she didn’t merely look beautiful she looked like a sovereign creature born to be worshipped, completely arresting in her fury and her grace.
"This once," she whispered, her voice steadying as she held my gaze. "And only this once... I will trust you."
She pulled her hand from my chest, turned around, and opened the door. She walked out into the boutique without looking back, leaving me standing alone in the small wooden stall. I wanted to reach out, to drag her back into my arms, but I could feel it in the air she needed to be left alone to process the pieces.
As I finally stepped out of the dressing room, low whispers and frantic murmurs echoed from every corner of the shop. I didn’t care. A slow smile spread across my face. She trusted me.
I buttoned my shirt casually as I walked out of the boutique and stepped onto the sidewalk. In the middle of the street, Ki-ri was standing perfectly still, completely surrounded by a tight perimeter of royal. The two shadow puddles of the guards I had trapped still there.
Leaning casually against the hood of the car was her brother. striking family resemblance was impossible to ignore. He possessed the same sun-kissed skin as his sisters, contrasting sharply against a messy, textured crown of silver-white hair that framed his sharp, sculpted face. His pointed elven ears were completely bare, but his high-collared black jacket dripping in heavy, intricate gold embroidery.
But it was his eyes that held the true threat. Underneath thick, dark brows, his deep purple eyes, his gaze tracking my approach with absolute, murderous intent.
"We need to talk," he said, his voice a deep, resonant rumble that carried the heavy weight of a future king.
