The Crown's Seduction
Chapter 182: Dahlia’s Safety

Chapter 182: Dahlia’s Safety

Zoran quietly entered Dahlia’s room and walked toward her bed. Leaning down, he carefully grabbed the empty bottle that she was still holding.

"And I just told her not to get drunk," he mumbled. "She just refuses to listen..."

Sighing, he then moved Dahlia’s body to position her comfortably on her bed, pulling up her bedsheets to cover half of her body as he tucked her into sleep. Nodding at a job well done, he then sat on the edge of the bed and simply stared at her sleeping face. Every night, he would often visit her and check on her while she slept... And of course, he wouldn’t miss sneaking in a kiss on her forehead every night without fail.

Zoran was someone who had a hard time expressing himself and what he truly felt. He was the one that saw and met Dahlia first. He would never forget how he, for the first time in his life, fell in love with her at first sight. He met her in the public market of the Capital City of Valcrez. She was fifteen at that time, and he saw her chasing after a man who happened to steal from her.

"Aren’t you feisty for your young age, my dear?" he whispered with a chuckle.

Zoran helped her out back then, and from there, they became good friends. He was twenty at the time, and he was already a good friend of Nikolai since his family had business connections with the Ichor Clan. Add to that, Nikolai wasn’t actually as scary as the other vampires since the man hated human blood. Since Zoran himself was human, he deemed it safe too to introduce Dahlia to him.

Looking back, that meeting almost seemed destined by fate, seeing as Dahlia’s family was also connected to Abel Ivanov. From their shared connections, a solid friendship formed between all of them including Dahlia’s sister Rosela. Little did Zoran know, however, that Dahlia and Nikolai would eventually fall in love as the years passed by.

Watching Dahlia sleep, Zoran let out a breath as he moved his hand to gently caress her cheek. "I wonder if things would’ve turned out differently if I had been braver that time and told you how I feel," he muttered with a downcast tone. He then chuckled as he added, "Even now, nothing has changed. We’ve been together for five years, and I still can’t tell you how I really feel."

He took a deep breath as he continued, "How come you’re not angry with me when you found out the truth about how I’m depriving you of your memories? Was I only hallucinating to think that you somehow already learned to love me?"

He wasn’t that stupid. Zoran knew how much Dahlia cared for him. Somewhere along the way, he really thought...

His face darkened when he recalled how Dahlia lovingly called out Nikolai’s name when he was about to kiss her. The pain he felt inside his heart at that moment was even more painful than the actual physical wound he received from Nikolai just hours earlier.

[Zoran!]

Zoran groaned as he felt a familiarly excruciating electric jolt run through his body. Knowing what was to come, he immediately got up and walked out of Dahlia’s room.

[Zoran!!!]

Devon yelled through their bond, and Zoran was rushing as he made his way inside his confined room protected by his spell so that Devon wouldn’t be able to locate him whenever he answered his calls.

[Zoran!!!]

Zoran was crawling into his confined chamber when he coughed blood. He had to answer this monster quickly before he got too impatient.

[Yes, Master...] he immediately answered as soon as he made it into his safe room.

[You bastard! Do you really want to die by my hand?] Devon barked at him. [Be grateful that you’re the best warlock I have, or else I wouldn’t hesitate to take your life!]

Before he could even brace himself, Zoran’s body convulsed as the dark mist of the serpent symbol on his back crawled out and appeared in front of him.

"I’m sorry, My King. I was badly wounded during my fight with Nikolai that it took me some amount of time to let myself recuperate," Zoran reasoned while he was bent knees. "I would literally die if I ever abruptly cut off my meditation to answer your call."

"You! How could you let that opportunity slip by... And that damn Seer! I knew I couldn’t trust that bjtch!" Devon ground out. "I will deal with her later. You, make sure you get a hold of Vulcan or I will hunt down your woman no matter how hard you try to hide her from me! After all, you don’t seem to care about your life now, Zoran..."

Zoran didn’t respond but his body still trembled at the thought of Dahlia’s life being in danger. He would do everything to protect Dahlia. His spell enchanting their cave was powerful enough that he was confident Devon wouldn’t be able to track their location.

Things were still salvageable. Devon might have a hold of his life, but his thoughts were still his. The monster would only be able to manage to give him physical pain to make him obey his commands. Unfortunately for the demon, Zoran’s life didn’t matter to him anymore. Dahlia’s life was all that mattered to him now and nothing else would change that.

"I humbly apologize for this mishap, My King," he firmly apologized with gritted teeth. "Next time, I will make sure to deliver you the golden dragon so you can absorb its power. This time, I will succeed."

"You better, Zoran, because I’m running out of patience already," Devon threatened. "Don’t test it, because you won’t like what happens next. I will kill the woman you saved."

With that one last threat, the dark mist in front of Zoran disappeared. Feeling it left his presence, he finally let himself cry as the pain inflicted by the serpent symbol on his back began coursing through him.

The seconds ticked by, and he was panting hard by the time he raised his head. Sweat poured down his body as he gathered his strength to stand up. Devon was punishing him, and he was sure the monster would once again make him face that lightning-like pain all over his body.

Resigning himself to his fate, Zoran took his seat as he prepared himself for the numerous strikes of lightning coming for his body. A brief second passed, and his punishment began once more. His eyes welled up as tears ran down his cheeks. He refused to compromise on Dahlia’s safety. Not now. Not ever.

’Maybe it would be better if she returned to Nikolai...’

It was a thought that kept coming back to him since he found out about the truth. There was no doubt that Dahlia would be safer under Nikolai’s protection compared to his. As long as Dahlia was well and happy, then he was already content.

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