The Hidden King's Stolen Wife
Chapter 73: Dreadful Realization

Chapter 73: Dreadful Realization

In her defense, Soleia truly wanted to end their discussion after the clock struck midnight. However, Sir Ralph was simply an excellent sounding board for her ideas. Soleia didn’t realize how hungry she was for someone to understand her thought processes until Sir Ralph came and prodded her mind with questions while offering his own insights.

As such, the discussion lasted hours. Soleia had gone through two inkwells as she hastily scribbled their thoughts, ignoring her exhaustion until she could no longer fight the pull of sleep. She didn’t even manage to bid Sir Ralph a dignified goodnight, before face-planting in her own notes.

Rafael laughed quietly under his breath. He had known that Soleia was getting increasingly sleepy, but he didn’t expect her to simply fall asleep at her desk!

"Princess Soleia, wake up," Rafael said, shaking her shoulder lightly. "You have to sleep on your bed."

The only response was a huff, but Soleia’s eyes remained closed. Rafael sighed dotingly to himself; clearly, Princess Soleia had over-exerted herself. It had been a long day. He gently shifted her head away from the parchment, trying not to laugh out loud at the dark marks left on her cheek. The ink hadn’t dried yet, causing it to smudge on her face.

Well, there was nothing for it. Rafael easily picked up Soleia in a bridal carry, sighing at how light she was. The weeks of travel had caused her to lose weight, and he frowned at the realization that her round cheeks seemed to have shrunk.

That wouldn’t do. Rafael vowed to ensure Soleia would eat three hearty meals a day, with tiny treats in between. If he had it his way, his future wife would have finger foods at her beck and call to fatten her up.

Slowly, he moved her over to her bed, making sure to place her head right in the middle of the pillow. Soleia let out a little pleased murmur, but she didn’t wake. Instead, she instinctively turned away from him and wrapped her arms and legs around her remaining pillows.

"That’s a bad habit of yours," Rafael muttered, remembering how she had done the same to him when they shared a bed.

When they got married in the future, he would throw out all the pillows so she could only hug him. He then tucked her in, smoothing out the flyaway strands of her hair just like before. He leaned in closer, as though he was kissing her forehead.

It was nice to pretend. Rafael smiled wistfully to himself, before deciding to turn his attention to her notes.

There was a verifiable gold mine sitting in her scribbles, and part of him was glad that Soleia did not have the resources to start this invention just yet. It would be terrible for Raxuvia if Vramid somehow got their hands on a painless, foolproof method of disguise.

Even his own disguise was a result of many years of trial and error, and a lot of pain as he experimented on himself with magic and other priceless substances. He survived because of his magical abilities, which allowed him to purge toxins a lot faster than an ordinary human. As such, he was uniquely capable of pointing her in the right direction.

Of course, he couldn’t let Soleia know the full truth yet― at least, not until she had fallen in love with him. It was lucky she had been so excited during the discussion that she didn’t ask how he got such in-depth knowledge.

Rafael decided it was time to do a good deed― he took out more parchment and began to write his suggestions down in a more legible handwriting so that Soleia could look over it another time. Since they were going to be married, what was hers would be his, and vice versa. He might as well help her get a head start, and use this opportunity to examine her other ideas.

By the time he was done, it was the wee hours of the morning. Exhaustion was threatening to overwhelm him, and he couldn’t stop yawning. But the satisfied smile on his face refused to leave, as he gingerly opened the door and left for his rooms.

Unbeknownst to him, a pair of eyes widened in shock at his actions. Their owner stood rooted to the floor, their mouth falling open as they stared in disbelief. A strange man had left Princess Soleia’s quarters at such a strange time!

What was going on?

***

Loud knocking disrupted Soleia’s sleep, causing her to stir awake.

"What is it?" She asked blearily, rubbing her eyes.

"Soleia, it’s me," Sir Ralph’s voice echoed from the other side of the door. "I’ve come to fetch you for breakfast."

"It’s morning already? Okay... Let me tidy up. You can eat first," Soleia lamented as she crawled reluctantly out of bed. She wanted nothing more than to sleep in, but she had a packed schedule for today. First, she had to pay Reitan a visit, and then get started on wedding planning.

With that in mind, she had to put in more effort to make herself presentable. She began to wash and change her clothes, taking care to rub some perfume sachets on her skin.

Then she saw her face in the mirror. One cheek was stained with black ink, and Soleia groaned.

"I can’t believe I fell asleep in front of him..." Soleia mumbled to herself, ashamed as she scrubbed her face clean of ink. Sir Ralph had put her to bed and tucked her in, as though she was nothing more than an overgrown child, and not a woman he was attracted to.

She paused her train of thought. Wasn’t it a good thing? She tried to convince herself, but couldn’t quite manage it.

She liked Ralph. She liked it when he liked her back.

The woman staring back at Soleia from the mirror had a red face. Soleia held her head in her hands and tried not to scream at the realization. This was the worst timing! Perhaps this was simply due to a rough day yesterday, she rationalized to herself. Sir Ralph rescued her, so of course she would develop feelings for him. They would fade.

She opened the door to see Ralph’s smiling face. He had changed out of his dirty clothes and dressed like an actual commander in his fitted uniform. Darn it. He looked devilishly good in that uniform too.

Her traitorous heart skipped several beats as she met his eyes.

Oh no.