The Crown's Seduction
Chapter 114: Drinking Fellow (1)

Chapter 114: Drinking Fellow (1)

Abel was the one who initiated preparing Rosela’s body and performing the burial rites for her together with her family.

Currently, he stood in front of the family tomb where Rosela was laid beside her sister Dahlia... Though, there were discussions on whether or not Rosela should be buried there due to her crimes. In the end, it was her mother who decided to bury Rosela beside her twin.

"Her mistake is falling in love with the same man," Rosa Bennet, Rosela’s mother, spoke from behind with a sigh. "I still can’t believe how things turned out like this. Losing Dahlia was painful enough... And now watching Rosela choose the King despite what happened broke my heart. Only to then find out the truth... This is making me miserable..."

She stared at the tomb, her eyes watering as she sobbed into her palms. "I harbored a great grudge against the king for so many years, and now I feel like everything is all my fault," she regretfully cried out. "That my twins had to leave me this way... I... I f-failed a-as a mother..."

Standing in front of them all, Abel didn’t know what to do or how to even comfort Rosa. She simply stood at attention, gritting her teeth through all of the misery.

"Why?! Why did Rosela turn out like this?" Rosa hysterically cried out. "Before, I wondered why she wasn’t crying while she took care of her sister’s burial... Now... Oh, heavens!"

The woman slumped to the ground as she hysterically hit her chest numerous times. Seeing her distress, her husband quickly came to her side. Abel was watching it all as her husband then gave him a knowing look. He nodded, and from there, he turned around and walked away to give them some privacy.

It was the least he could do. After all, he too was to blame for all of this. He should have taken more care of Rosela. He had been way too absorbed with his new position and busy schedule that he ended up letting his men look after her instead of doing the job himself...

Wordlessly, he shifted into his mist form and traveled back to his residence inside Corvus Palace. From there, he rematerialized himself only to hear a familiar voice echo from behind him.

"It must be really nice to be a Curb that also harbors the ability to shift into mist form," Dani casually stated. "I heard not all Curbs can do that."

He turned around and frowned. "What are you doing here?" he questioned. "Surely you’re not here just to mock me, right?"

Dani leaned against the nearest wall to her, her arms crossed as she looked at him from head to toe. Meanwhile, Abel found her posture and expression at that moment to be slightly funny and amusing since she was being boyish while wearing a dress. She acted like this often, he noticed, especially in front of him.

"Hmm... I feel kind of bad since I’ve been manipulating you out of your own will from helping Rosela out. Then again, I have no regrets about doing that, to be honest," Dani casually shrugged as she walked around him.

"So to make it up to you... I was thinking of being your drinking fellow for tonight so you can have someone you can share your misery for losing your secret love. I already asked permission from Her Majesty to go out tonight, so I’m available to accompany you, Chancellor. Come now. Let’s go."

Abel stared with a frown as she led the way in front of him. ’Is she seriously doing this to me right now?! A drinking fellow?!’ he inwardly whined. ’Why does she even sound excited about having a drink?!’

For a while, he stood unmoving, and Dani stopped to turn around and look at him with a raised brow. "Come now. Stop standing around and bring me to the most expensive and extravagant tavern that you know," she commanded using the same old spell she had over him. "If I recall, that’s the Titan tavern somewhere in the city."

Abel inwardly cursed as his body moved against his own will.

In front of him, Dani suppressed her chuckles as he began walking beside her. She didn’t know why, but commanding the Chancellor like this was actually fun, especially whenever he would make that annoying expression despite him moving to her whims.

Well, that was one thing that she wanted to do. Aside from her genuine attempt to comfort him from his misery of losing a good-for-nothing woman, Dani was actually on a mission to meet Laura outside the palace gates. That was why she wanted Abel to bring her to the tavern that just so happened to be the place where she and Laura would meet.

Against his will, Abel guided her out of the palace. Once they were outside, the two of them then used a carriage to travel to the tavern which Dani knew was not that far away from the palace. Of course, there was still some travel time to be had, and she used that as her opportunity to ask some questions.

"Are you good at drinking?" she curiously asked Abel who was currently sitting next to her. "A high tolerance for alcohol perhaps?"

Predictably, he ignored her as he simply stared out of the carriage’s open window with a frown.

Seeing his reaction, Dani shrugged as she confidently hummed, "You’re mad at me right now, I know. And I get it, but I’m sure you’ll thank me once you get another person that’s much better for you thanRosela. And I’m not even talking about appearances here..."

Abel narrowed his eyes as he turned to look at her. In response, Dani simply gave him an honest smile as she continued, "What I mean is someone that has a good heart and genuine feelings for you. No one should settle for anything less, Chancellor. Know your worth..."

He remained silent, only letting out a deep sigh before promptly ignoring her. Again, Dani simply shrugged as she chose to stay quiet throughout their journey as well.

Soon, they arrived at the tavern, and Dani could almost hear how loud the customers were inside the closer they approached. According to Laura, the tavern was always crowded which made it a good place to meet since no one would pay attention with everyone drinking out and having fun. Also, they had private rooms as well for anyone who wanted some privacy while drinking.

Heading inside, she followed Abel as he led her to what she supposed was his known spot. Almost immediately, she spotted Laura alone at a table not far from where she was standing. The woman was currently disguised as a man, and she obviously saw her too but none of them bothered to give each other a signal.

The further they went in, Dani noticed how the head of the tavern knew Abel. Giving her chaperone a look, the owner then immediately greeted him the moment he recognized him.

"Chancellor! It’s been a while since your last visit," the head of the tavern greeted him with a sly smile. "We’ve kept your private room tidy with the same arrangements you’ve always wanted..." He then stared at Dani from head to toe, watching her as if seeing her worth.

"This is the first time for you to bring a woman here, Chancellor. And a human on top of that."

Dani was about to retort when she was caught off-guard by Abel suddenly grabbing her wrist and pulling her close to him.