The Dragon Prince's Bride
Chapter 42. Only a monster.

Chapter 42: 42. Only a monster.

As he spoke he saw the look on her face. The fear in her eyes. And he had no idea why it made him even more angry. Maybe it was the fact that he could tell what the meaning of those eyes were. She was silently begging him. Begging him not to mention her lover. He could tell, he could just tell that that was what she silently pleaded.

The nerve of the woman. After the almighty stunt she pulled just now, to still want him to hide her secrets!

All eyes were on Neriah, waiting for her to say something, to oppose his words but she said nothing. Her bottom lip was the only one suffering from her silence. It was already bleeding.

"She told me her name was Ria and that she was the personal maid of the princess and that she had been sent by the princess to spy on Prince Barak." Ah may the gods curse those green eyes of hers. Eyes that looked at him desperately. Eyes that clearly hated him but still wanted something from him.

Curse those eyes!

"She also said that—" He paused, lords he had no reason to hide her lover! He had no reason whatsoever. If it was a different situation, he wouldn’t even be sitting there explaining anything. She had planned things in a way that her father would have cut off his neck with his sword. She literally wanted him dead! So he had no reason whatsoever to save her lover, but...

Curse those damned eyes, "she also said that she wanted to see the prince Barak because her princess had told her to try and talk the prince out of the marriage. She seemed to believe that I was an old man with many wives, so she was there to beg the prince not to marry her and make her one of his many wives." He didn’t lie so his flower did not flicker. He only left out a major detail of the story.

"After interrogating her, I had left her and told her I was going to return her to her mistress, come the next morning. She was angered by my decision but she could do nothing. So she sat on the floor by the fire. I saw she couldn’t sleep and I moved closer to her, to know why she couldn’t sleep. I would confess again that maybe one of the reasons I did not release her at that moment was in hopes that she would give in to the lust I felt for her. But I had given her my word so I did not touch her. But then she kissed me." Another series of murmurs and loud gasps filled the room.

"Nay!" She rose to her feet in tears and cried out and a petal instantly went off. "Liar!" Another petal died. "I did no such thing!" She cried out and yet again a petal lost its light. Eyes widened, mouths were murmuring and if she was not the princess, fingers would have been pointing too.

Gerald’s face was switching between anger and disgust and then anger again. He looked at King Bashan who had been silent ever since the Royal detector entered. He felt ashamed before the man. "Sit down." He commanded. But she still stood with anger and it only angered him more." Sit back down this instant!" He roared and even the queen flinched next to him. Even Erra could not say a word in this case. As it was she could also tell where this was headed.

Neriah obediently sat back down. And Barak was allowed to continue.

"I asked her why she had done that and she had cried and said that as a maid, she was going to follow her mistress to Trago and was scared of being forcefully taken by an old dragon blood. She said she dreaded the thought of giving her first time to an unknown old man. So what she wanted was for me, who wasn’t an old man, to take her first." Gerald’s eyes closed with shame and pain. His fingers clenched tight and Erra placed a hand over his own again. She knew how he was feeling right at that moment.

"What man could refuse such a request when it was sincerely spoken, with tears running down her face. When a woman as beautiful as she, was looking vulnerable and scared, holding onto me to take her first, how could I say no?" again, there was bitterness in his words as his gaze shifted to hers.

"Who would have thought that she had such a devious plan in place? To take my head. Just so she can run away from the marriage alliance with me."

So, aye, that was how it happened. Or would Your Majesty like more details of what followed her request?" He was mocking her, no he was mocking their entire kingdom.

Once again she bolted up from her seat with the flower in her hand. "Damn you! You liar, I did no such thing. Why would I? I did no such thing! You are a liar. Why would I lay with a barbarian on purpose? Why would I willingly give myself to a dirty dragon blood? I have done no such thing!" For every single word she spoke, her Gaskiya only got darker and darker and the audience only moved from whispers to actually pointing and discussing the matter.

"Damn this stupid flower!" she annoyingly threw the flower to the flower and stomped on it angrily.

"Neriah!" Gerald called but she was angry and was throwing a tantrum like the spoilt brat that she was. Refusing to accept that she was wrong. That she had been defeated and also shamed in front of all these people. "Neriah, sit down!" Gerald ordered again.

But she only screamed and continued claiming that it was all a lie. That Barak was a bloody liar and she felt a hand on her arm, she felt herself being twirled around and before she could see who held her, a hot resounding slap landed on her face.

It was a deafening slap. For her left ear left ear resonated a certain thin sound like a bell. Before she could recover from that one and another one landed on her face again and this one was both deafening and blinding for she instantly lost her vision for that moment as she staggered to the ground.

Never before. Never before had she been hit. She had hit people before, but she had never been a receiver. So it was an unfamiliar feeling. So slaps were this painful? She was suddenly having a headache.

Her eyes were the first to clear before her ears opened. She could see her father standing before her pointing at her, she could see the anger in his eyes. She could see him spitting out some words at her angrily. But she could not hear at all. It was like the slap on her left affected both ears.

After a couple of moments, her ears began to function, albeit not fully, but she could hear his words now... "How could you! Come up with such a scheme! To kill a man. To make a man be a scapegoat for your childishness. I could have started a war for your honor! I was about to burn down the entire Trago empire for your sake! How despicable! How did I raise such a woman? You are nothing like your mother!! You do not deserve to be called princess because the evil deeds in your heart are darker than the bottom of the sea! I cannot believe you would do this. If you had simply ran away I would have understood because that was what a normal person would do. But what you have done is inhumane! Only a monster would come up with such a strategic plan. I should probably make you the general of my army. I am certain you would be a beast in battle, destroying your enemies by any treacherous means possible!"

He was angered. His face was red, you could almost see the steam coming out of his ears. She turned to her mother, but Erra’s eyes were even darker than Gerald’s. Her face was turned from her daughter.

Neriah knew she had failed. But Erra and Gerald could see that they had failed as parents. They could blame no one for their child’s behavior, no one at all but themselves. For they had pampered her, spoiled her rotten and now was there no redemption for her?

"When I said I was going to break the engagement," Barak finally rose from his seat, his flower still shining beautifully. "I meant to do so, so I could find the maiden I had taken that night and have her for wife. I wanted to take responsibility for her." He stood next to Gerald looking down at Neriah’s disheveled state on the floor. "What a shame. I did not think she hated me this much." He bent down to the ground before her, his eyes staring deep into hers with all the hate of the world. And it was evident that the hate was mutual.

He placed the flower on the ground next to her feet. And with that he had no more truth to speak nor did he have any more stories to tell.

"Now, King Gerald," King Bashan who had been silent all through the show finally rose from his seat and calmly walked towards Gerald, "From what has been said, I believe it is evident to everyone that prince Barak is innocent of all accusations thrown at him." He stood almost three heads taller than Gerald and stared down at him with no form of laughter in his Jaws.

Gerald’s hand clenched and unclenched, he had drawn his sword against them during a time of peace. It was as good as declaring war against the Trago nation. And all for his precious daughter. His heart ached.

"For this disgrace and discourtesy that has been shown to not only my son, but myself and the entire Trago, I believe a head for a head is proper." Gerald’s eyes dilated with horror.

"You aimed to take the head of my son when he was accused. Now I ask for the head of your daughter as compensation."

He turned his gaze to Neriah on the ground and her eyes locked with his. And she trembled... Vehemently

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