The Crown's Seduction
Chapter 184: A Vacation

Chapter 184: A Vacation

Mineah woke up later than usual the next morning. Looking at her side, she was no longer surprised when Nikolai was no longer beside her. They were scheduled to leave today, after all, so her husband was probably busy having meetings with his officers before leaving.

"I can’t wait to tell him everything," she mused as she moved to get ready. She would first have to talk to her mother, Tarah, and wizard Lurio to confirm Ezekiel’s condition. They must make sure that her brother was able to control his ability to shapeshift first before she could tell Nikolai everything.

Humming to herself, she was fixing her hair when Nikolai entered. He had a bright smile on his face as he walked towards her. "Let me help you," he offered.

Smiling back, Mineah let him take her comb. "Do you know how to do it?" she curiously asked.

"Well, the reason I know how to comb your hair and do a few hairstyles is because my sister Ezme would often ask me to fix her hair," Nikolai chortled in recollection. "At first, it was a struggle. But in time, I must say that practice indeed makes things perfect."

"Let’s see if you’ll do great then."

Letting him do his thing, Mineah watched as she let her husband fix her hair. She grabbed a hand mirror and watched him work, making sure that he wouldn’t make anything too offending while fixing her hair.

After a few moments, he crooned, "Done!"

Mineah raised an eyebrow as she looked at herself in the mirror. "I must say that you have a talent for it, Lai," she praised, loving what he did with her hair. He braided her hair from the crown of her head to the nape of her neck. "You have some skill in hair styling." She then stood up and hugged him. "Thank you."

Nikolai hugged her back. "I love how touchy you are, Mine, but as much as I want to show you the skill where I truly excel... We must get going," he reminded her with a chuckle. "Mother and the rest are already waiting for breakfast."

Mineah blushed as she gently pushed him away with a hit on his arm. There was definitely no doubt that he excelled in his skill in bed as he suggested!

Nikolai simply chuckled, giving her a glimpse of his adorable and very subtle dimple on his right cheek. He then pinched her by the chin and said, "Come now. Let’s go."

Nodding, Mineah composed herself and let her husband lead her away. With their hands intertwined by the fingers, the two of them walked outside. Making their way to the dining area, she immediately saw someone that she was hoping would arrive sooner rather than later.

"Dani, you finally arrived!" Mineah greeted her shadow maiden as she sat on the table. She was sitting with Chancellor Abel who politely greeted her as well. Mineah then promptly greeted and exchanged curt bows with all the other present attendees before saying, "Please, let’s all be seated."

With that, they all sat by the long table inside a private tent. Commander Atlas was present as well together with Princess Ezme.

Looking around, Mineah turned to her mother and asked, "How is Brother, Mother? And where is Tarah?"

"Your brother is still unconscious," Queen Dana answered. "Tarah is looking after him."

Mineah nodded, but she still couldn’t help but notice something off about her mother’s smile. Flexing her power, she began reading her thoughts.

’Ezekiel is still struggling to get a hold of Vulcan. I must tell Mineah that it’s for the best that she leaves with her husband as soon as possible so that Ezekiel’s movements won’t be too restricted. Princess Ezme wouldn’t be a problem since Atlas can keep her busy, but Nikolai... I can feel his rage just from the mention of Vulcan’s name.’

Mineah’s body froze as she read her mother’s thoughts. She couldn’t help but look at Nikolai who was currently busy pampering her without a care about their surroundings as he put bread, butter, and cheese on her plate.

"Speaking of which, I believe we still haven’t been enlightened as to how Prince Ezekiel fell to such a state," Princess Ezme casually pointed out. "Are there any answers so far?"

"According to our Seer, he fought against a powerful wizard and he held them captive..." her Mother explained.

"It’s Zoran," Nikolai interrupted.

"Zoran?! Is it really true that he’s now siding with the Demon King?" Ezme exclaimed with a deep frown. "I should knock the sense into that bastard!"

"That can’t be helped, Ezme. There have been so many misunderstandings lately," Nikolai assuaged her. "I will try to contact Zoran later to try and clear things up."

"It’s a good thing that we haven’t faced each other in our battles yet then," Ezme commented.

Seeing that the conversation didn’t involve her so far, Mineah looked at her shadow maidens and said, "Nikolai and I will be leaving today to go back to Valcrez. You three can stay for a while longer and meet with your families. Treat this as a vacation."

"But, Your Majesty..." Dani was the one to speak, but she was unable to continue since Princess Ezme and Abel were still around.

Mineah silently gave her shadow maiden a knowing look. She knew what Dani was worried about since she used to borrow energy from them.

Still, the three of them should already be aware that she was getting energy from Nikolai lately. Well, she would let them continue thinking that. Once they’ve returned, only then would she discuss the new source of inner energy that awakened inside of her.

"Ah, you don’t have to worry Lady Dani. I will be the one to personally attend to my wife’s needs in every aspect," Nikolai said as he winked at her shadow maidens. "I will be her personal servant as I’ve always been. I would even prefer if the three of you took your time on this vacation."

Mineah blushed hard at her husband’s shameless words. Of course, he’d do this out in public.

"Ah, I can’t take it anymore! I can’t stand seeing you act like that, Brother. Ewww!" Ezme complained as she latter quickly stood up from her seat. "I’ll excuse myself then," she politely said to her, her mother, and the rest of the table. She then looked at Atlas and said, "Follow me."

Atlas let out a mournful sigh before he stood up and politely excused himself as well.

"Looks like the brother-in-law isn’t giving you a hard time, Abel," Nikolai commented.

Abel scratched his head and confessed, "Well, good thing I manage to hypnotize him."

"What?!" Dani burst out. "No, you didn’t!"

"Yes, I did..." Abel plainly answered.

Mineah smiled as she watched Abel and Dani bicker. She would love to read Abel’s thoughts someday to confirm his intentions with Dani, but she wasn’t getting the opportunity to do it just yet. For now, she would focus on her brother and getting Nikolai away from him as soon as possible.