Chapter 61: Chapter 61

Danterion let Shia sleep for a few minutes before attempting to wake her up again, but it was futile. He couldn’t let anyone know what had happened so far in account of Edelfina, so he could not do anything but to let her lie peacefully on his lap.

He looked back at her face and saw that she had grown a little paler and thinner since he had last spoken to her at the library. He could still recall her brave countenance at that time as she said her words:

“I will forget your sins if you help me free Langrey and Khailis and expose the truth about the king.”

She looked like a person who would never give up on her convictions once she had set up her mind to do it. If she was like Nana in terms of tenacity, who had never wavered to decline the advances of his uncle even after so many years, she would never retract her decision to take revenge against her family’s killer. However, here she was – a girl whom his brother had been in a whirlwind romance with a few months ago - telling him that she was willing to forget something so big for the sake of helping Langrion. Did she really mean it?

He peered down closer at the sleeping lady in his lap. Her long, wavy tresses flowed richly on all sides as she was sprawled across his thigh. He looked closer at her long lashes, her nose, and her luscious lips that slightly parted as she slept. She looked like a golden porcelain doll.

Seeing how she had been aggrieved when Langrey kissed Edelfina and how she had pleaded with him to help his brother, it seems like her feelings for Langrey were genuine. Danterion sneered internally. Just how lucky can Langrion get?

He half wished he could have such devotion. Although he knew Edelfina had eventually chosen him, he won’t be able to shake away the fact that it was somewhat a political move and a game of circumstance. If Edelfina had not learned that his brother was planning to give up on the throne and if he did not lure his brother to his bed chambers so that he would discover their affair, he knew he wouldn’t be the man in Edelfina’s side right now.

“Langrey,” Lady Shia mumbled softly in her sleep. A tear rolled down at the corner of her eye. Although it was advantageous for him to let his brother be in prison, he did not want anyone suffering from it. He was cold and calculative, but he had a heart too. As such, these falling tears were such miserable sights for Danterion.

He wondered, if this lady here were to meet him first, could she have fallen for him and not for his brother? He was after all his brother’s perfect version on the outside. Wouldn’t he be a more suitable candidate to be by her side?

He hovered closer to her face and her lips. Was it just an illusion, or does her lips really looked so... inviting? He remembered the time he met her at the library. He had curiously wanted to kiss her then because she smelled so invigorating, and she blushed at him. Wasn’t that enough of an agreement that she had wanted his kiss as well?

Thinking of this, Danterion had instinctively inched closer towards her face. She smelled like some sweet wild flower in the grassfields just as she did when he first met her in the library.

Before Danterion knew it, he had already drawn closer towards her and kissed her lips.

He kissed lightly at first. Then, as if by miracle, she had started to return his kiss. It began to deepen.

He drew up from her face, flushed and surprised at his own actions but equally surprised at hers. Thankfully, she had not woken up.

‘You like her too, don’t you?’ the Tainted One said inwardly. He chuckled as he spoke to him.

He looked back at the attractive woman in his lap. True, she was physically beautiful, and he admired her spirit, but does he really adore her that much?

‘Of course you like her. You’ve always liked everything else that your brother has, didn’t you?’

Although half-mocking, he knew that the Tainted One spoke the truth about him. It is precisely because she is his brother’s girl that’s why Shia felt so alluring to him.

‘It’s alright. She belongs to us, so there’s no need to restrain yourself,’ the Tainted Once menacingly chuckled.

Feeling stirred, an idea crossed Danterion’s mind. It wasn’t a good idea at all...

He moved Shia’s body away from his own and rose from the floor. Then, he started to carry her sleeping body in his arms.

******************

Khailis had a bad feeling from the moment that Shia accepted Edelfina’s invitation to see her. She knew they weren’t in good terms, so why go there at all?

“I want to know what she’s up to,” Shia said firmly.

“Alright, so let’s go together then,” Khailis said.

“No. You have a lot of things to do. I’ll just go alone.” The term ‘a lot’ was an understatement. The things that Khailis needed to do today were crucial to the success of their plan.

“Then, don’t go. I have some bad feeling about it,” Khailis frowned.

She had known Edelfina since they were small. Although she was friends with her, they had clashed so many times in the past as children due to their personal differences, and when they had grown up, they drifted further apart due to Edelfina’s jealous streaks. She always wanted Langrion and Danterion to herself, even going to the lengths of bribing officials not to accept Khailis as part of the Imperial Guards. Based on Shia’s recount of how they had met as well, Khailis knew that it would be impossible for Edelfina to help her without any hidden motives.

Of course, at the end, since Khailis was leaving, Shia was more determined to go and see her. After all, they were really desperate to free Langrion.

It had already gotten dark when Mage Silas sent Khailis home. She was therefore surprised to see that Shia hadn’t returned to her own chamber.

‘This is bad,’ Khailis thought as she nibbled the end of her thumb. She wasted no time and acted on her instinct. Before she knew it, she had dashed over to the halls leading to Edelfina’s bed chamber.

Luckily, as she turned in a corner, she saw Prince Danterion in the hallway with Shia. Their pose was puzzling though as she was lying in his lap. This made Khailis’ jaw fall open. What she saw next made her more shocked.

She saw the prince’s face come down to Shia’s sprawled body and kiss her.

This was really bad!

She quickly dashed in a space between the walls to peer at them. It was not a short kiss. It was probably a good two minutes when he parted away from Shia.

What the hell? Why wasn’t Shia reacting at all?

It then occurred to Khailis. Something did not seem right with Shia!

The prince suddenly moved Shia away and stood. He then cupped Shia in his arms.

As it seemed like he was about to take her somewhere, Khailis got out from her hiding place and shouted.

“Stop right there! What are you doing?”

The prince looked at her coldly. “I should ask you the same thing. What are you doing?” he said back to her.

There had also been a time when Khailis were such good friends with Danterion, but over time, as Danterion became overly wicked and colder towards everybody else save Edelfina, they had drifted apart completely.

“What have you done with her, and where are you going?” Khailis repeated her question. She took a peek at Shia who appeared to be sleeping. Was she perhaps drugged?

“She said she had ingested something bad. I was simply helping her.”

“Did you poison her?!” Khailis said exasperated. Was that the reason he had kissed her – to deliver a poison?

“Lower your voice. Are you accusing me?” Daterion stare turned cold, and his eyes looked horribly angered. It may have made ordinary people cower, but Khailis was a knight, and she had been used to seeing his wild side as a child.

“I am not, your highness,” she said, clutching her hands into a fist.

If he was not the prince, Khailis would have just stepped on his toes, slapped him, or aimed her sword at him. “Thank you for your help. Please help me further by sending her to her very own bed chamber,” she quickly said.

The prince did not speak for a long time.

“I will just call a servant to help me then, your majesty. You can put Lady Shia down now,” Khailis said, curtsying. Why was he hesitating to send Shia to her bed chamber? Is Danterion going out of his mind again just now? The more Khailis looks at him, the more it seems that he was up to no good.

“Lead the way,” he said impassively.

Khailis sighed inwardly. She thanked the heavens she got there on time to see Shia in this state. Otherwise, Danterion could have taken her to his own bed chambers, and who knows what other horrible things could have happened, right?