The Dragon Prince's Bride
Chapter 130. Why do you hate me?

Chapter 130: 130. Why do you hate me?

Neriah spent almost another hour in the bathroom before stepping out into an empty bedroom. He was not there.

She dressed herself for bed and climbed onto the bed hoping she would at least fall asleep and just wash away all the complicated thoughts that filled her head. But sleep was not on her side, for she laid awake for over two more hours till he returned and climbed next to her.

At first she awaited his arms around her, it was something normal, something that made the night feel incomplete if it didn’t happen. So although her back was turned to him, she waited, but then minutes later, he was still at the other end of the bed while she remained where she was.

He was to leave in the morning, she wished that night would be as it usually was... Warm.

But she was cold, and it made her wonder if this was the kind of cold she would feel for the next two weeks or more.

"Neriah," Her name stretched out into the air and her heart leapt and she still could not understand why she was wanting and waiting for him nor could she understand that leap in her heart.

"You are awake." Was it a question or a statement? She did not know, but she decided to respond either way.

"Hm." She hummed.

"Can I ask a question?" His voice was low, and she could tell he had not moved closer to her. He remained where he was. She wanted him to move closer though.

"..."

"Maybe you have told me the answer to this question before, but I just need to know again... Why do you hate me so much?" The question was sudden. So sudden and unexpected that she actually could not think of the answer to it. She always knew why she hated him, but right now that he asked out of the blue she could not cough out a reason.

"Is it mainly because I have dragon blood? Or is it not me as a person you hate but the kingdom I come from? If so, why do you hate Trago and Tragonians so much?"

"..."

"I am certain that coming to Trago, most of the things you believed have been corrected. I know you expected to come to a kingdom of barbarians with no solid roof over their heads and no good fabric to cover their nakedness, but you have seen Trago, you know better now that we are more developed than most kingdoms, and dare I say more developed than Avelah."

At his words, she opened her mouth to counter him, but then again, he was right. Annoyingly so. Trago was a hundred times more developed than what she had imagined. She didn’t even think they would have a bed and yet look how massive the bed they shared was.

Maybe this was it, maybe this was why she so much hated him. Because he was right. He was always so right. It was very annoying.

"So what else causes your hate? What fans it and causes it to persist?" He asked.

"Neriah?" He paused and she wondered if he was right. She was sure she hated him but was she really sure it was him she hated?

"Riah, tell me." His voice was gentle. So gentle that she felt caressed by it and she once again yearned for his embrace. Something was really going wrong with her. She knew it, but she could not say what.

"Fine." He muttered and she felt the bed move she could tell he had turned his back to her. "You do not have to tell me if you do not wish to."

Silence had never been more strangling for Neriah. She wanted to go to him even though she hated the idea, she wanted him to hold her even though it would be just his arms around her and nothing intimate.

But her pride wouldn’t let her. How could she go to him when she claimed to hate him?

"Is it really because of him?" He asked and Neriah’s heart instantly sank at the thought of the ’him’ he spoke of. She turned and was met with his broad back still facing her.

"Because you love him, you cannot help but hate me."

No, that was not it. She wanted to explain to him that Lyle wasn’t the reason she hated him, but then again... She remembered she had once had that thought that if there was no Lyle, she would have no problems loving the man whose back she stared at.

So was he right? Was it because of Lyle?

Even if it was, for some reason she didn’t want him to think that way. She didn’t want him to keep it in his head and heart that she hated him because she was in love with another...

Because for someone who claimed he would take all her hate even though she loved another, he sounded broken.

"I’ve heard stories..." She finally opened her mouth as she turned her whole body to face his back completely.

"Stories of how wicked you all really are. That you show no mercy in battle. They say it is common courtesy to spare the lives of the enemy once they surrender, but I’ve heard that you go on to kill them even when they surrender and lay down their weapons." These were things she had heard knights discussing about. She really wasn’t lying this time, and she wondered if he believed her.

"It is said that when you conquer a village, you put all the women and children in a hut and burn it down." She waited to see a reaction from him but nothing came. He did not turn.

"The stories say you all drink and eat right in front of the burning flames, you laugh and behold and listen as the screams of the women and children fill the air."

"..."

"Tell me, who would not be scared of such wicked people?" The question lingered in the air like the faint cry of a wounded puppy. She wanted him to say something. She needed him to respond with anything, but it seemed he did not believe her words.

He still thought her hate was because of Lyle. She felt something sting her eyes and realized she was about to cry and she hated that fact so she turned her head and was about to turn her entire body when she heard him speak.

"I cannot tell you of battles passed," He said and slowly his body turned but not before she wiped away the single tear that had fallen out. "Nor can I tell you how war had been fought before I was born." He said and finally, she saw his face.

"I can tell you what the records say, but records can lie. So all I can tell you is that I have been going to battle since I was a man of thirty. And by the grace of the gods I shall be two hundred and fifty-nine soon. That is two hundred and twenty-nine years of being a warrior prince and I assure you, throughout these years, neither I nor my soldiers have carried out such brutality before."

Why? Why did he sound so sincere? Why was it that even in the darkness she could see the genuine expression on his face. And why, why did his mere words seem to set her mind at ease?

She was going mad. She knew.

"Truth?" She asked and he stretched his hand across the bed to reach hers, and although it wouldn’t have reached if he hadn’t shifted his body a little, she had unconsciously, almost naturally moved her hand to allow him touch her.

Gently, his thumb stroked her knuckles as he spoke again...

"I have no reason to lie to you. I only wish to ease your wary heart around me. I will not hurt you Neriah. Tha—" He paused as if weighing his words, as though he was thinking if it was better to keep them to himself but then he spoke again.

"That one time when I had hurt you, when I had almost forced myself on you, I_ I—" He paused yet again as his voice shook, "I have never regretted anything more in all my life. And although I have asked for your forgiveness, the regret is still great. That is why I want to reassure you that I will never hurt you. You should know this by now."

Neriah remained silent for a while, just staring at him, allowing his words sink into her, digesting them before she spoke, "Okay." She nodded. What she actually meant was ’Okay I think I believe you so wrap your hands around me now.’ but all she could utter was Okay.

It was a lonely night. Although he still held her hand in his own and they both silently stared at each other, she felt lonely. She prayed in her heart that he would pull her close like he always did...