The Crown's Seduction
Chapter 82: Let’s Face Facts

Chapter 82: Let’s Face Facts

Curious, Mineah looked at the Queen Mother and read her thoughts.

[Are they that close now for Nikolai to open up to her about Dahlia? He can barely even mention Dahlia’s name before!]

She couldn’t help but smile at what she heard. Clearly, her calculated words had the desired effect. Looking at Rosela, she didn’t even bother reading the woman’s thoughts, knowing that the viper was probably just cursing and killing her in her head despite her calm demeanor.

Not even done with her spiel, Mineah continued, "Like my husband, I am very grateful for the help you’ve extended to him. I also understand that you weren’t forced to do it and that every action you made was done of your own accord. However, now that I’m here, Lai will no longer need your services every full moon. Last time, he suffered from withdrawal by drinking your blood exactly because he craved my blood now."

"Nikolai had a withdrawal reaction from Rosela’s blood?!" the Queen Mother burst out in disbelief.

"Queen Mother, we’re not sure if that’s truly the case yet," Rosela quickly explained. "It wasn’t the full moon when Nikolai last drank from me."

Giving another glance at Rosela, Mineah wanted to laugh as she read the woman’s thoughts. She was panicking.

"Nikolai no longer craves for Dahlia’s blood... the same blood that Rosela has. Now, it’s my blood that he wants," Mineah almost smugly explained. "He already got a taste of my blood twice, once while we were at Valcor Island and once during the marking. And as you can see, he didn’t experience any negative side effects like before."

The two women in front of her seemed to be taken aback by what she explained, but Mineah was still not done talking.

"I will take good care of my husband from now on. Moving forward, he will drink only from me..."

"But you might end up like Dahlia," the Queen Mother unknowingly voiced out her concern.

Mineah felt touched. Grabbing the Queen Mother’s hands, she gently squeezed them as she further monologued.

"Don’t worry about us, Mother. Nikolai and I will make things work no matter what. Together, we’ll have each other’s back." She then looked at Rosela and hummed, "I wish to apologize in advance if whatever I say now will sound rude to you, Lady Rosela. However, I believe I must clear this matter to Mother."

She then turned back to her mother-in-law and sincerely pleaded, "Mother, please... Don’t suggest Rosela to Nikolai again as a mistress. You should know that seeing Rosela often is not good for my husband. She has the same face as Dahlia, and seeing her twin only reminds him of the tragedy that happened years ago."

"Let my husband move on from the past. There is nothing more we can do about it," she kept on speaking, uncaring about the fact that her lips were starting to dry with how much she had been talking.

"It wasn’t like Nikolai intentionally killed Dahlia. Whatever happened in the past was beyond his control. It was an accident and nothing more. If Dahlia is able to speak from the beyond now, I’m sure that she would also want Lai to move on from her as well."

[Hah, look at you talking arrogantly! You don’t even know what really happened in the past! An accident? Beyong his control? Fool!]

There was a bit of silence, and Mineah inwardly cursed as Rosela suddenly bowed her head. With her eyes obscured, she could no longer read her thoughts. She really wanted to read her thoughts more. Something felt off, and she knew she should learn more about it.

Back to the conversation at hand, the Queen Mother let out a heavy sigh, and Mineah could tell that she needed a bit of help.

[Lai, I need help,] Mineah quickly asked Nikolai through their bond. [Please send someone to get me or Mother in the east pavilion right now. I want an excuse to go back on my own.]

The longer she spent with the two women in front of her, the more she was tempted to read their minds. She knew she wouldn’t be able to stop herself, so she must find a way to either leave first or at least have the Queen Mother leave instead. Already, she could feel her energy reserves depleting with every second that passed.

[Alright...] Nikolai quickly answered.

Before she could even thank him, her husband had already appeared right in front of them with a snap.

[Wern’t you busy?] Mineah snorted. [You could have just sent someone else.]

[I was worried so I went instead,] he cheekily replied with a grin. [And besides, I wanted to see you.]

Mineah stopped herself from grinning back. She was probably blushing right now, and it wouldn’t do for her to add more insult to Rosela’s injury now right after she just all but insulted the woman with her words.

"Your Majesty," Rosela politely greeted.

Nikolai simply nodded in response.

"Son, what are you doing here?" Rania asked with a frown.

"Oh, I needed to talk to you, Mother," he casually stated. "Can I borrow Mother for a while?"

"Of course," Mineah quickly affirmed with a wide smile. "I also have to go back to the Amaranth Palace as well anyway, so feel free to do so."

Nikolai nodded, and he quickly pulled the Queen Mother with him, leaving Mineah and Rosela on the table.

"Your Majesty, I humbly apologize for what the Queen Mother said a while ago," Rosela stated, clearly masking her true feelings with a gentle smile as she spoke.

"While it might not look like it, I have no intentions of being His Majesty’s mistress. I am more than grateful and content with simply being of service to him. I simply wish to be of great use for the betterment of the Ichor and Ivanov Clans, and that’s all that I’ll ever want."

Mineah mentally raised an eyebrow. She could at least commend that the woman was really good at acting. If she didn’t possess the power to read minds, then she would’ve fallen prey to this viper.

[Why would I become a Mistress!? I should be his Queen!]

Mineah snorted at what she just heard from Rosela’s mind. It was so amusing that she was unable to stop herself from laughing.

"Your Majesty?" Rosela murmured as if looking concerned for her.

"Oh, my apologies, Lady Rosela. It’s just that... Hmm... I just remembered something funny," Mineah quickly excused herself with a lie.

She then swerved the topic away from what she just said by stating, "By the way, you don’t need to apologize on behalf of the Queen Mother. Why for? She’s entitled to her own opinion. And like I said, it will all be up to Nikolai anyway."

She then reiterated, "I know my words were a bit harsh a while ago, but let’s face facts... You are a physical copy of your twin Dahlia, and it will only give Nikolai pain the more often he sees you."

"But if the King is still in pain to this day, then that only means that he’s still not over Dahlia, correct?" Rosela fired with a half smile.