The Crown's Seduction
Chapter 139: All Broke Loose

Chapter 139: All Broke Loose

"Welcome aboard, My King, My Queen," a man that looked like in his early forties greeted them aboard with a curt bow.

"Welcome aboard, Your Majesties," all the crews hummed in chorus.

Mineah looked around as they boarded the ship. She didn’t know how large the ship was, but she was pretty sure that it was quite bigger than the ship they used before.

"Mine, please meet Admiral Sixto," Nikolai said as he introduced her to the man leading their fleet.

"It’s a pleasure to meet you, Your Highness," the admiral greeted.

"Likewise," Mineah hummed in agreement. "I hope our added presence won’t be too much of a problem."

The admiral simply gave her a nod. And then, Nikolai gave out his signal, a loud drum roll playing throughout the ship as the fleet began to move. Mineah then felt her husband hold her hand before he then led her up to the upper deck where she had a better view of the fleets moving alongside them. If she recalled, they were the reinforcements Valcrez had sent to further aid their Kingdom’s war against Helion.

"Come," Nikolai hummed as he led her into the hallway. "This is the biggest ship Valcrez has. Our cabin is located here on the top deck. I hope you’ll like everything I prepared for you tonight."

Mineah turned to him. "Huh? You prepared something?"

Nikolai blushed, and Mineah bit her lower lip as she wondered what it was. A dinner date, perhaps?

With her mind still wondering, her questions were about to be answered, it seemed as Nikolai entered a dimly lit room. There, she instantly caught a whiff of the relaxing and soothing aroma of lavender.

She gasped as the lights suddenly came on, revealing what looked to be a line filled with flower petals all arranged to lead out onto the spacious balcony just beyond the room.

"A dinner date?" she excitedly hummed.

Nikolai didn’t respond. Instead, he led her out onto the outside balcony of the room. The air was cold, but the fires on the corners of the room all made it look romantic with how they glowed.

The table was set in a romantic way, with flowers being arranged beautifully in the center of the room. The ship was moving steadily as well, the calmness of the sea making things even better for what was about to happen.

"Come now, Mineah. Let’s have dinner," Nikolai offered as he pulled out a chair for her to sit on.

Taking her seat, she gulped as he then sat close to her. She then watched as he very attentively put food on her plate.

"These are the dishes you love if I recall," Nikolai murmured as he started cutting the mutton steak in front of her into pieces. "I also had the desserts you like most prepared to your liking."

Mineah smiled as she let her husband pamper and feed her. She was thoroughly impressed. He remembered everything about her from entering her dreams, it would seem. Although...

"I feel like someone who’s about to be slaughtered with how much of all these heavy sumptuous meals I’m being given..." she couldn’t help but humorously comment.

Nikolai simply chuckled while he poured some wine into her glass. "Don’t worry. I won’t slaughter you later, Mine..." he reassured her with a mischievous smile. "However, I might end up tiring you out."

Mineah blinked. Gulping, the realization that struck her almost made her blush. ’Is he planning to consummate our marriage tonight?!’

The thought made her hold her breath. Her heart raced, and her face turned red as the image of it happening threatened to send her over the edge. Licking her lips, she hastily grabbed her glass and drank her wine in one shot.

"More please..." she murmured, gesturing to Nikolai to pour her another glass.

"But I don’t want you getting drunk on me tonight," Nikolai whispered into her ear.

Mineah shook her head as she opened her mouth to protest. However, a soothing melody suddenly made itself heard around them. Someone was playing the violin, and this sweet and slow music quickly made her change her mind.

Looking back at her husband, she felt Nikolai’s hand land on hers, holding her close as he guided her to get up. "Come. Let’s have a dance instead of just drinking," he hummed.

Mineah simply followed. For some reason, her body was tensing up the more she spent time with her husband.

"Relax, Mine..." Nikolai murmured with his hypnotizing and soothing voice. He then gently and smoothly pulled her in closer.

Mineah felt herself relax as she wrapped her arms around his neck. She then leaned in and was about to close her eyes when she saw lanterns moving up from some of the ships not far from them.

"Lai..." she murmured, her eyes focused on the numerous lanterns going up the sky.

At that point, Nikolai had already moved to let her have a better look while he hugged her from behind. "Those are..."

She narrowed her eyes as she followed the lanterns moving in the sky. Slowly, they formed what looked to be a set of letters. Eventually, the letters made sense, and she couldn’t help but gulp as she blinked at the message being given to her...

’I love you, Mine...’

Did... Did she just read that correctly? "Lai?"

Turning her gaze to him, he sported a smile as he firmly declared, "Just as you read it, Mine... I love you..."

Mineah felt her eyes well up as her heart swelled to the point that she thought it would explode.

"When?"

She didn’t even realize that she had voiced that question out. It wasn’t supposed to escape her thoughts....

Smiling, Nikolai caressed her cheek while staring intently into her eyes. "It started during the siren attack on the ship that you were on, Mine," he began. "I felt like I was going to lose my mind at the thought of losing you. I wanted to protect and save you... Then those feelings eventually grew stronger the more we spent time together."

Nikolai then touched his forehead with hers and further explained, "At first, I tried to control it because of the guilt that’s still consuming my heart from Dahlia’s death... I tried my best not to get affected by these feelings I’m having for you, but in the end, I failed. Then, all broke loose when you saved me, Mine... You brought light into my dark life, saving me from my misery..."

Mineah was speechless as her tears flowed from her eyes... Letting out a hum, Nikolai gently wiped them away as he whispered, "Making you cry like this is the last thing I plan to do, Mine..."

Mineah chuckled as she sobbed. Smiling brightly, she whispered, "But they’re tears of joy, Lai."

Nikolai smiled as he gently kissed her lips. "Thank you so much for coming into my life, Mine..."