The Crown's Seduction
Chapter 429: Oranges

Chapter 429: Oranges

Just as Dani had anticipated, false rumors began to circulate, which only got wilder and wilder as people began exaggerating and blaming the tragedy that happened in the province of Norman on Mineah and her being cursed. In response, Laura did her best to spread the truth to counteract them. At that point, the only way to dispel the false rumors was to take serious action. And with Nikolai’s orders to capture and imprison anyone who spread false rumors and tarnished Mineah’s name, the matter was finally put under control without too much effort. By the time she was done with her responsibilities, Dani felt drained and exhausted. Still, she was glad that Mineah finally woke up.

With a yawn, she slowly made her way to the Queen’s bedchamber. Walking down the hallway, she saw Krisha coming in from the other side. It would seem that they were all called in by the Queen to discuss something important, so Zaila was probably already inside since she was the one monitoring the Queen’s health.

"You look very tired," Krisha commented as she approached her.

"Look who’s talking, Dani retorted."

"What can I say? A lot of things happened in a very short amount of time recently," Krisha chuckled as she replied. "Anyway, aren’t you curious to know how our Queen manages to keep that divine dagger inside her body? Do you really think that it’s because of the divine dagger that she managed to turn all those weapons into divine weapons? Why do I feel that something in her is divine, and that..."

"Let’s not speculate, Krisha," Dani reminded her. "Wait for our Queen to tell us everything once the time is right."

Dani could feel how anxious Krisha was from where she stood. She wanted to get definitive answers too, but she was trying her best to assess the situation and do what was best for Mineah. She was confident that their Queen wouldn’t keep them in the dark like this unless there was a valid reason for it.

"What do you think about the King’s sudden departure then?" Krisha questioned. "Shouldn’t he be staying here now that the Queen is awake?"

Dani raised a brow at that. She too was also surprised to learn that Nikolai left the same day Mineah had woken up. Still, all they could do for now was question the seemingly nonsensical things happening around them, hoping that they would soon be answered.

When they arrived at Mineah’s room, they saw Zaila already inside. They also saw that Niran was present as well, which Dani was glad about as this gave them the chance to interact with her more. Niran visited their queen everyday, always making sure Mineah’s comfortable, and sometimes even giving her sponge baths to keep her clean.

In the eyes of many, they were all acquainted with each other given that they were all people inside the Queen’s close circle. Dani and Krisha sat on the vacant chairs that Mineah pointed to, and Zaila poured them some tea as they waited for the queen to speak.

"The truth is... I am a hybrid," Mineah began after a deep breath. "My mother is a fallen angel, and the reason I was weak before was because the power inside me was dormant, taking a toll on my physical body. Now that it’s active, I have become much stronger. However, my body is still getting used to it, so I’m not sure when I will gain full control of the power that has awakened in me."

All the ladies’ jaws dropped upon hearing what Mineah said. They could only stare at her in shock.

’So she had angel blood in her? Something divine in her blood?’

"Is this why the King suddenly left?" Zaila directly asked.

Mineah’s shoulders dropped. "I kept a lot of secrets from him, including matters about Niran and Laura," Mineah explained with a sigh. "It will take some time for him to process everything."

"But it’s not your fault. I mean, what did he expect? You were about to be married into a foreign kingdom, so it’s only rational and wise of you to plan things ahead," Zaila reasoned with a frown. "You had to at least know what to expect in the place you’re going where you know absolutely no one else. He should understand that."

Queen Mineah smiled. "He’ll come around eventually. But for now, I’ll give him the space he needs," she shrugged. She then looked at Zaila and said, "Right, I will need to leave tomorrow. It’s my sister Xenia’s final battle, and I want to witness that event myself. My family will also be there to witness it, so I shouldn’t miss it."

"You will need to travel with someone that has Exordium blood to reach Cordon in time, milady," Dani reminded.

"I know," Queen Mineah nodded. "I’ll try to talk to Nikolai later about it once he comes back."

"What if he doesn’t come back tonight though?" Krisha curiously asked.

The Queen looked at Dani with an awkward smile. "Do you think you can ask Chancellor Abel on my behalf?" she asked. "I might need to use him as a ride..."

Dani’s eyes widened. Surely, she wouldn’t dare let her Queen experience Abel’s bumpy ride in his mist form!

"Oh no! You wouldn’t want to do that, Your Majesty. I think it’s probably because he’s a Curb who just recently mastered or developed his ability to shift, but his mist form is the worst," she directly complained. "I haven’t heard you complaining during your travels with His Majesty in his mist form, so I assumed it would be a smooth affair. But with Abel... It’s too bumpy!"

"What an icebreaker," Krisha exaggeratedly sighed. "Since when did you overtake Zaila in being funny?"

"Ah, I missed these kinds of interactions," Niran chortled, and Dani couldn’t help but smile upon seeing her friends banter like old times.

"How about Lady Alexa? She was worried as hell when she visited you almost every day while you were unconscious, milady," Krisha suggested. "I’m sure she’ll be willing to help."

"Or I can just use the teleportation portal," Queen Mineah murmured with a shrug. "Why bother asking when I can do everything myself?"

"NO!!!!"

Mineah was startled when the chorus of her shadow maidens suddenly shouted at her in unison. She gulped as their narrowed eyes all darted to her.

"You just recovered, and you’re already planning to use another powerful spell again?!" Dani complained like a scolding mother. "Your Majesty, why are you always this stubborn?"

"It’s just an option, Dani. That’s why you all have to work hard and practice more whenever you have the time," she humorously replied. "Don’t forget to cultivate your inner energy so that you can all finally cast the teleportation portal for once. It would be very helpful for all of us, right? So do better so that next time I need it, one of you can simply do it for me."

"Don’t worry, milady. I’m almost there," Dani immediately boasted. "I’m near to perfecting the spell."

"Hah, you probably won’t since you’ll soon be very busy playing with the Chancellor," Zaila teased.

Dani could only glare at her friends in embarrassment as the others chuckled. A few moments later, the Queen soon dismissed them, so she walked straight back to her bedchamber only to see Abel waiting for her inside.

"Damn, Valcrez should implement a law about the invasion of privacy like this from vampires having the ability to turn into mist!" she snorted. However, her eyes didn’t fail to notice the meals currently arranged for her on the table.

"Is that how you greet your future husband after he brought you dinner?" Abel scoffed with a grin. "I heard you haven’t eaten yet, so I took the initiative in cooking for you."

"You did?" Dani blandly remarked with a blank expression as she quickly sat on the chair to eat. "I suppose you did..."

Despite her cool demeanor, her heart was actually racing hard and fast from his actions. Her stomach churned, but not because she wanted to vomit. It was because she was touched by how thoughtful Abel was being to her.

’That Rosela is so stupid,’ she couldn’t help but think. How could she waste her energy on the king who didn’t even pay attention to her when she already had Abel in her life? But then, that was probably because fate thought Abel was for her, right?

Dani’s face turned as red as a tomato with that sudden thought.

"Eat," Abel urged her just as she started staring at the dishes. He then started putting meat on her plate and cut them into neat bite-sized pieces.

"I’m sure you’re not here just to feed me, right?" Dani asked as she casually ate, and she inwardly praised herself for how well she managed to have a poker face in front of Abel even though she was already melting inside because of him.

"I really admire how sharp your senses are, Dani, but before we talk about it, can you please finish your dinner first?" Abel hummed.

Dani didn’t respond. Instead, she focused on eating, all while she watched Abel peel some oranges for her. She felt strangely nice about that.

"I have them in my backyard. I saw a few ripe ones, so I picked them up," Abel said as he handed her the peeled oranges. "Try them and tell me if they’re sweet."

Blankly, Dani took half of what Abel gave her.

"Dahlia is alive."

She froze at his words, her half of the orange just barely getting past her lips as she stared at Abel with wide eyes. However, what shocked her more was how Abel managed to steal said orange from her mouth.

Everything happened so quickly, but Dani swore she felt Abel’s lips touching hers.

"It’s sweet. Eat more," he nonchalantly commented with a smile.

Dani couldn’t come up with a proper response to the shocking news along with the bold method of how Abel took her orange from her mouth! Truly, she didn’t know how to proceed.