The Crown's Seduction
Chapter 211: Help Me

Chapter 211: Help Me

Nikolai couldn’t help but feel something heavy weighing inside his chest the more he prolonged his cold treatment of his wife. A big part of him already wanted him to stop ignoring his wife, and yet there was still a part of him that wanted to teach her a lesson. Trust was something he didn’t want her to take too lightly in their relationship. She must learn not to hide things from him, especially if it involved either one of them.

Mentally shaking away his thoughts, it didn’t take long for him to return to Valcrez in his mist form. The moment he arrived, the first thing he did was check on Dahlia.

"How is she?" he asked Zaila.

"She’s fine, Your Majesty," Zaila confirmed. "There’s nothing dark in her. She’s clean..."

"That’s good. Thank you so much for this assistance," he nodded. "She will be a part of Mine’s ladies-in-waiting like you and the rest, so please look after her and give her some of the work you three have pertaining to Mine’s daily routine."

"That is duly noted, Your Majesty," Zaila answered.

Satisfied, Nikolai dismissed the shadow maiden. That was one thing addressed. Onto the next...

[Nik, come here.]

Nikolai called to their raven, and Nik quickly flew through one of the many open windows in the hallway. Flapping his wings, he perched himself on the arm Nikolai raised for him.

"Hmm, how are you doing?" Nikolai curiously asked as he petted the raven. "Have you finally found another raven to be with?"

[I did,] Nik enthusiastically replied. [I’ll introduce her to you at your convenience, Master.]

Nikolai nodded as he then walked into the bedchamber where Taro would bring Dahlia to finally settle in. It was the vacant bedchamber beside Lady Krisha, and it would have to do before a more permanent solution was available. Then again, if Dahlia found the room to her liking, then she was free to stay here for however long she liked.

"Do you think you can contact my dear wife without her being suspicious that I asked you to do it?" Nikolai asked the raven. "I want her to see and witness my conversation with Dahlia."

Nik scoffed. [What do you think of Her Majesty? She’s too witty not to notice that,] he snorted. [What you’re asking is impossible. I’m sure she’ll get an idea of what’s going on... Still, I can try.]

Nikolai chuckled at Nik’s straightforwardness. The raven knew his wife well, and of course, he was fully aware that Mineah wouldn’t buy whatever excuse they could come up with. Still, as long as he wouldn’t be the one to talk to her through the bond, then that was fine.

Giving the raven a nod, Nikolai prepared himself as his pet began their plan.

[Master, how are you? I’m with His Majesty, right now and I heard he’ll be visiting this certain Lady Dahlia,] Nik began, contacting Mineah through their own bond with Nikolai listening in. [Do you want to see how things will go through me?]

[I’m good, Nik. I’m already in bed, but I still can’t sleep,] Mineah sighed. [I miss Lai.]

Nikolai couldn’t help but feel affected by those simple words. Oh, how he wished they could just be together again.

[Did you hear that, Master? She knew you were listening...] Nik informed him. [She wouldn’t have said that to me if she didn’t know you were listening.]

Nikolai remained silent. He had no comment, but he still smiled as he let out a relieved sigh.

[She’s currently seeing through my eyes,] Nik further informed him, making him stop just as he reached the door into Dahlia’s bedchamber.

Keeping that fact in mind, Nikolai composed himself as knocked on the door. "Dahlia, it’s me, Nikolai."

The door opened, and Dahlia was quick to greet him. "Nikolai."

"Are you resting already?" he casually asked. It would see that he was still used to informally talking to Dahlia, and the latter was the same to him.

"No, I need to talk to you," Dahlia replied before then grabbing his wrist and pulling him into the bedchamber. Throughout this, Nik had already flown inside the room and perched himself in a comfortable position.

Still pulling Nikolai along, Dahlia then sat on the edge of the bed, prompting him to sit beside her.

"I’m so sorry," she quickly apologized. "I should probably address you formally now since you’re already king according to Lady Dani."

"It’s fine, Dahlia. You can address me casually like old times whenever we’re just alone," Nikolai reassured her with a smile.

It wasn’t like Dahlia was a stranger to him anyway. She had played a huge part in his life and who he was right now, and she deserved to be casual to him.

"I already told everything to Lady Dani, so she can probably just relay them all to your wife," Dahlia remarked. "I’m glad that you got married, Nikolai. I’m glad you’re living a happy life..."

Nikolai wordless nodded at that information. It would seem that Lady Dani had already made sure that there would be no misunderstandings between them by informing Dahlia in advance about what had happened in Valcrez while she was gone. Specifically, she told her of how he was already married to his dear Mineah.

"You don’t know how much I feel at ease upon hearing that you’re doing well," Dahlia added with a smile.

"I’m glad that you’re alive and well too, Dahlia," Nikolai replied back. "Now, tell me everything that happened."

Dahlia nodded. She then took a deep breath before she began telling him everything she knew regarding her situation.

"Zoran asked for help from the Demon King to save me since there was still a chance to bring me back to life using the Tree of Life in the Helion Kingdom," she lengthily stated. "There was no guarantee, but Zoran took that chance anyway. In return, he sold his soul and life to Devon. My body stayed under that Tree of Life for sixteen years, and since then, my body stopped aging."

Nikolai took note of that. Technically, Dahlia was still human. She should be forty-six years old already, but she still looked the same. It was like she was still just that twenty-five year old Dahlia from before.

"After those sixteen years, I woke up without the memories of who I was. There, Zoran took me in. He hid me for five years, tending to my health and making sure that I wouldn’t die again," she continued.

"However, in those five years, he also kept the truth away from me. He fed me medicine that would stop my memories from returning, thinking that it would be for the best. Although, when he found out the truth about my death and how you’re really not responsible for it... He confessed to everything..."

Nikolai quietly hummed in approval at what he just heard. He couldn’t help but admire Zoran’s devotion to Dahlia. In truth, he wasn’t really aware of his true feelings toward Dahlia until her death when Zoran tried to kill him several times to avenge her.

"We need to help him, Nikolai..." Dahlia suddenly begged, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Please help me save Zoran..."