The Crown's Seduction
Chapter 146: Keep Your Hands Off

Chapter 146: Keep Your Hands Off

"It’s too bad that we were left behind," Krisha sighed as she stared at the balcony where their King had just turned into mist along with their Queen. "I feel so bored doing nothing here, Dani."

"Well, only someone with Exordium blood in them has the ability to safely bring someone with them in their mist form," Dani reminded her as she fed Nik. "We’re not even close to anyone that has the requirement, let alone having to make a request for them to bring us to the encampment."

"It seems that only Zaila’s the one that gets to enjoy having fun here with another suitor in line," Krisha scoffed, her face twitching as she sat on their snack-filled table.

Dani chuckled. Indeed, Zaila was now with Admiral Sixto. The two seemed to be getting along rather well. Poor Vassal Gregory... Well, Zaila was still a single lady, after all, so there was no harm for her to mingle around with men so long as she wouldn’t give anyone her hand in marriage yet.

"Look at you chuckling like that. I guess I’ll be left as the only old maiden here in this kingdom," Krisha snorted. "I even almost forgot you’re already engaged to the Chancellor, as well."

To Dani’s surprise, Krisha’s words made her cheeks turn crimson red.

Their Queen didn’t even require her to come on this journey with them thinking that she would need to spend more time in the palace with Chancellor Abel. The reasoning was that the two of them needed to get to know each other more. But of course, Dani insisted otherwise.

’I need time away from him,’ she joked to herself as she shook off the embarrassing scene inside her head.

Even now, remnants of what happened that night with her and Abel keep coming back to haunt her. In particular, she saw herself pouncing on Abel and even trying to kiss the man before ending up puking on him. It was like the worst nightmare she ever had, and she was hoping to not have to encounter Abel for some time because of it. And as it so happened, this journey was just the perfect excuse!

"Also, come on out you two. Let’s have an actual productive conversation," Krisha scoffed, addressing the two shadow knights lingering around them. "There’s no need to hide in the shadows."

Called out, Luis and Marlo appeared before them. The two men exchanged weird looks with each other before turning to face them.

"Come and have some snacks with us," Krisha offered. "Or would you two prefer fresh blood?"

"This is fine, milady. His Majesty’s Scions have the same appetite as him," Luis explained. "After all, we were all humans once before being turned aside from Taro. We can still enjoy human food."

By the sidelines, Dani watched as the two men comfortably sat with Krisha. "So Taro isn’t human?" she curiously asked as she finally walked towards their table.

"Taro has fairy blood in him. He’s initially a hybrid between a fairy mother and a human father, and the fairy blood in him makes him more powerful than all of us," Luis informed. "That’s why His Majesty would always task him with the most important missions..."

Dani narrowed her eyes. "So how did he turn into a Scion?"

She wasn’t aware of it, but she did recall Taro emphasizing to her before that all the King’s Scions became one upon their own discretion.

"His Majesty found him on the brink of death after he fled from King Devon and his sorcerers. They were on a hunt for fairies at the time, and Devon found their tribe in a secluded mountain near the dead sea," Luis recounted.

"Many died including Taro’s parents, but he managed to escape along with a few others. However, he was badly wounded. The only option for him then was to be saved by His Majesty and have him turn him into a Scion. Taro said that he had begged His Majesty to give him a chance to live again..."

"I see... It must have been a traumatic experience for him," Dani growled. "Devon has been spilling blood for years now, and I can only hope Ebodia can finally win this war and end his madness!"

"I guess most of the shadow knights have their own stories to tell then," Krisha interrupted, watching Luis closely. "Tell me, how about you and Marlo? Do you two have any interesting stories with you?"

Seeing that she was no longer needed, Dani stood up and let Krisha converse with the two shadow knights. She then walked to the balcony to have a view of the sea.

Letting out a sigh, she supposed that it had been a long time too since she last saw her brother Atlas who was the Great Constable of their kingdom. The last she heard from him was back when they were still looking for Prince Ezekiel who had gone missing together with the newly appointed Seer.

"You seem to be in deep thought, Lady Dani."

Dani turned around upon hearing Taro’s familiar voice. "You’re back, Taro," she raised an eyebrow as she addressed him. "That was quite fast of you."

"His Majesty did ask me to make sure that you all safely arrived in the encampment," Taro chuckled. "As such, it’s expected that I stay here with you throughout the journey."

"We can most certainly take care of ourselves, you know," Dani pointed out with a chuckle. "And besides, Marlo and Luis are already here."

Taro’s face darkened as he mumbled with a pout, "You sound like you don’t want my company around, Lady Dani. I even came here in a rush just to be here..."

Dani frowned. "Huh?" she scoffed. "Why would you need to hurry here?"

Taro’s shoulders slumped as he muttered, "I can’t believe she’s this dense." He looked straight into Dani’s eyes and continued, "I like you, Lady Dani."

Dani’s face paled with that unexpected confession. She parted her lips to say something, but she only ended up blinking at the man that just confessed to her.

"This is quite interesting..."

Her eyes widened as she then heard another familiar voice. That deep and husky voice... That belonged to Abel!

Turning around, she saw Abel currently approaching her. He then comfortably put his arm around her shoulders as soon as he was near her. And before she even knew what was happening, Dani saw Abel looking straight at Taro as he addressed him.

"I guess you’ve been away for far too long to hear the news about my upcoming wedding and Coupling Rites with Lady Dani," Abel cooly stated. "Nevertheless, I’m informing you now, Taro: keep your hands off my woman."

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