The Crown's Seduction
Chapter 380: More Acting

Chapter 380: More Acting

Mineah wanted to vomit at what she was seeing with Ahmed’s eyes. He looked at her like she was already his, and she couldn’t help but feel disgusted at his behavior. Nevertheless, she had no choice but to keep talking to the man. As such, she casually drank her tea as she did her best to keep a blank expression on her face while doing exactly that.

"The coronation will be held tomorrow, My Queen," Ahmed reminded her with a grin. "I want to hear your answer before that happens."

’The audacity!’ Mineah inwardly seethed. She couldn’t wait to see this man’s downfall. Just imagining it now was already giving her a lot of happiness. The fact that it would also coincide with Nikolai’s return also helped her hold on against just getting rid of the minister herself. At the very least, she wouldn’t have to wait long before Ahmed finally got what he deserved.

"Very well then. Still, I think you should allow me to grieve still," she carefully stated, making sure to lower her tone while also still looking tired and unassuming. "It’s still too early."

"I still need an answer, however," Ahmed insisted with a smug grin. "I can’t protect you from the others otherwise. And we both know that we don’t want that, right?"

Mineah mentally narrowed her eyes at the man that she once thought was someone calm and neutral. There was practically no trace of hiding left in him now at this point. He was that sure that he was going to be king and that she would be his queen come tomorrow.

Well, not if she could help it. That, and Nikolai was going to make sure to destroy him once he arrived. In the meantime, she’ll just have to stall for a bit. Maybe gave him a false sense of security.

"I know..." she weakly sighed, acting out the usual weak-queen-grieving-for-her-husband role. "It’s just... Can you give me some more time?"

"Time isn’t something that can grow on trees, unfortunately," Ahmed shrugged. "I will need a decision from you as soon as possible. That way, I can properly defend you from those who might want to harm you and your interests."

She mentally raised a brow at his words. Interests? Did he honestly think that her shadow maidens were mere pawns to her? She supposed it might look that way when looked at from an outside perspective. They did act as her will whenever she was too busy, after all.

Well, maybe she’ll indulge him in his misconceptions. It would be fun to keep playing with this bastard for now anyway.

"I’m not sure what you mean," she replied, stalling for more time just for the fun of it.

"Oh? Am I not mistaken that your handmaidens act more as your confidants and executioners?" Ahmed probed with a smirk. "They’ve managed to control a considerable amount of power here in Valcrez, after all."

Mineah blinked, her mind immediately switching on once she heard what Ahmed was trying to say. Did he imply that he knew more than what he was supposed to?

"Again, I’m not sure what you mean," she stated.

"Ah, I guess I must be mistaken," he chuckled. "Either way, I’m sure that Lady Dani and the others will be fine even without my protection."

"They will be," she pointedly replied, ignoring the fact that he just threatened her friends right in front of her. "I don’t think they would even need protection in the first place."

"Of that, I’m sure..."

Ahmed darkly chuckled, and Mineah did her best not to shudder at the malice wafting off of him. If Nikolai wasn’t scheduled to get rid of this man tomorrow, she would’ve gone ahead and done it already just from what he just said to her.

"Anyway, your answer?" he asked yet again, his tone clearly saying that he’d refuse to take no for an answer. "We don’t have all day, Your Majesty."

Letting out a sigh, Mineah decided that she had done enough stalling for today. This man was clearly not going to let her go no matter what she answered, so she might as well let him hear what he wanted to hear.

"You’ll... You’ll have your answer once you’re crowned," she relented. "No sooner than that."

Ahmed raised a brow at her before shrugging. "I suppose I shouldn’t be greedier than that," he chuckled. "Very well. I’ll be waiting for your answer tomorrow then."

Giving her a wave, Ahmed promptly left her office, leaving Mineah to stew in her thoughts as she finally let the mask drop from her face. Immediately, her anger showed itself as she balled up her hands into fists, her desk practically shaking at how much she wanted to punch the thing just to let off some steam. She wanted so badly to talk to Nikolai right then and there, but she knew for a fact that doing so while she was this angry would just be unproductive. That, and she just knew he’d come running to her the moment he heard about her recent conversation and potentially putting whatever plan he had in jeopardy.

So instead, Mineah let out a deep breath before letting herself relax in her seat. She was going to get through this one way or another, and she didn’t want to ruin tomorrow’s surprise just because she was getting rather impatient.

"Just one more day," she sighed to herself as she closed her eyes. "Just one more day of enduring all of this nonsense."

She had endured worse than this. Surely, one day wouldn’t feel that long compared to her other experiences. What was the worst that could happen in twenty-four hours? Not that she was trying to jinx things, but she trusted her husband to know what he was doing...

...Well, maybe she should check in on him.

Awkwardly chuckling to herself, Mineah opened her eyes and looked out the window. At the same, she opened up her bond with her husband against her better judgment and asked, [Lai? Are things going according to plan on your end?]

Seconds passed. Then a full minute. Mineah sighed as she received no response from her husband. Then again, he was probably too busy right now gathering whatever it was he needed to enact his grand plan for tomorrow. She shouldn’t expect anything from him right now, especially since she was going to see him tomorrow anyway-

[Things are going according to plan, Mine,] he suddenly replied, breaking her train of thought. [What’s wrong? Why the sudden question?]

[Oh, nothing, really,] she quickly chuckled back, making sure to not let him sense that she was still a bit angry. [Just making sure that I don’t have to do any more acting after tomorrow.]

[I see,] he chuckled back. [Apologies for taking too long, by the way. I’m sure that pretending I’m dead isn’t an easy feat to keep doing for weeks on end.]

[It’s exhausting to frown for prolonged periods of time,] she joked back as she leaned into her seat. [It’s also annoying to keep things a secret from my friends. They’re worried, you know.]

[They shouldn’t. I’ll be returning with everything I need come tomorrow,] he confidently stated. [I’ll make sure that whatever chaos Ahmed and his lackey caused will all be resolved come tomorrow. The plague might take a bit longer, but at least we’ll be cutting off the head of the snake.]

Mineah darkly smiled at her husband’s declaration. It was just the words she wanted to hear after what she just went through. [Make sure to make it hurt even more than you already would,] she reminded him with smug satisfaction. [I want to see them humiliated.]

[I’ll do exactly that and more, Mine. Don’t worry,] Nikolai shared with his own chuckle. [But for now, let me focus on getting a few things ready. I’ll be back before you know it.]

And with that, their bond was cut off, leaving Mineah alone with her thoughts yet again as she rested in her seat. Well, she would at least get what she wanted later. That was the least she wanted to get after Ahmed tried to intimidate her earlier.

"Your hours are numbered," she muttered to herself. "And I’ll be watching eagerly for your downfall..."

Standing up, she made her way to the nearest window and peered out into the rest of the kingdom below. It wouldn’t be long now before all of this confusion and suffering would end. She could only hope that this would be the last of their problems moving forward. Or at least, for a long while.

"I’m waiting, Lai," she smiled to herself.

Perhaps they were due for a vacation after all of this. Maybe somewhere private so that they could continue where they left off. Nikolai still had to keep his word to her before he left after all.

"We both deserve it," she chuckled as she turned around and left. "And no, I refuse to let you keep working after all of this."

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