The Hidden King's Stolen Wife
Chapter 90: Humiliating Affair

Chapter 90: Humiliating Affair

Soleia felt herself being plunged into icy water. Her body shivered in the cold, but no matter how hard she swam, she could not feel herself resurface. It was as though someone had buried her in an avalanche, and she had no way of digging herself up.

Pressure wrapped around her, squeezing her body. Soleia tried to fight her way out, but her limbs felt so heavy and she couldn’t move them. Her body was weakening, and her chest tightened in pain, she had to gasp for air―

Only to come face to face with Orion’s stormy visage.

She blinked weakly, wondering if she had already died and gone to heaven. Either that or she was hallucinating from the lack of air. She reached out a weak hand to touch the image in front of her, stilling as she felt warm flesh in place of air.

Huh. Turns out she wasn’t imagining things after all. Then she remembered what happened earlier, and jolted back, nearly slamming her head against the headboard.

"Stop that!" Orion yelled, grabbing her arm before she could scramble her mind against the wood.

He gritted his teeth; was this a pathetic attempt to escape his questioning? He tightened his grip around her figure and pulled her closer to him, making sure she couldn’t flee.

The bloodied wounds that he received earlier touched her bare skin, his blood staining her skin red. The warmth of his skin made the chill in hers even more galling. Orion hissed, unknowingly squeezing her arms more tightly, as though he could transfer his own warmth to her.

"What are you doing here?" Soleia asked, her voice nothing more than a breathy whisper.

She wanted to squirm away from his hold, but she might as well have hit a brick wall, for all the good it did her. Her struggling just made her more exhausted, and she couldn’t stop coughing from exertion.

Somehow, simply being around Orion was making her feel more tired, almost to the point where her eyes were closing again. It was as though he was siphoning her energy to replenish his own.

That thought made Soleia snort internally. Maybe this was just her body’s way of dealing with Orion’s nonsense. Maybe her very soul was just too tired of Orion’s presence and all she had to endure because of him.

In her tiredness, she failed to notice her selenite earrings glowing faintly.

"Are you dying?" Orion asked bluntly, tilting her head up so she would be forced to meet his eyes. She couldn’t die, at least not until she revealed Elowyn’s whereabouts.

But somehow, the need to find Elowyn was less pressing than before. He shook his head slightly, feeling a bit like a dog with water in his ear. In fact, he couldn’t understand why he was so frantic to search for Elowyn to begin with.

She was a grown woman who could walk around the palace if she wished, even if her pregnancy did make him more worried than usual. If she needed help, his men would be able to help her. Now his focus was on Soleia’s welfare, which seemed to be deteriorating by the second.

"Wouldn’t you hope that I was?" Soleia retorted before she shivered at the sudden chill that overtook her body.

Orion frowned irritably and he aggressively grabbed at the blankets, trying to swaddle her in an attempt to warm her up. It seemed like his wife was truly ill, but no one seemed to give a shit. That thought incensed him. Surely someone should have noticed she wasn’t getting the help she needed to recover. Was King Godwin hoping that his daughter would die under his roof? It made no sense.

"Why are you sick?" Orion asked, a furrow between his eyebrows as Soleia’s lips continued to remain blue, trembling with the cold. He had wrapped all the blankets around her, but they seemed to have no impact on Soleia. "Have you seen a physician yet?"

"How could I? You’re the first person I’ve seen since I collapsed today." Soleia smiled wanly. How ironic, that it was the man that detested her that was the first to burst through the door. "Are you so worried that I’ll ruin your wedding with Elowyn that you’re here to make sure I’m alive?"

"My wedding with Elowyn," Orion repeated flatly. "What has it got to do with you?"

"Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten I’m planning it," Soleia said, not daring to believe her ears. Was this some sort of scheme so that she would let her guard down?

The last time Orion displayed such a forgetful memory was when she helped dispel some of Elowyn’s influence on him.

But then all her progress was thrown out the metaphorical window when she tore Elowyn’s amethyst necklace away from her fragile neck and tossed it into the wild for the thornhounds to find.

He couldn’t be trusted. Remembering his rage, she slowly shied away from him, but Orion’s grip held firm.

"You’re planning my wedding? Why? Is Elowyn incapable?" Orion asked, sounding genuinely puzzled.

He didn’t know much about women and weddings, but it was incomprehensible to him that a bride would not want to be in charge of the proceedings, let alone hand it over for another woman — one already married to the groom — to organize.

Then his face turned dark. Perhaps Elowyn did not have a choice in this matter.

"Did your father put you up to this, or did you ask for this? Are you hoping to ruin the wedding as some twisted form of revenge?!"

Soleia had to snort. "You should be answering your third question, not me. And believe me, I want nothing to do with your wedding as much as you do. Do you think I enjoy being humiliated in such a manner?"

Exhaustion clouded her restraint, and her tongue loosened further.

"Our own wedding was barely an afterthought, but here I am, scouring the kingdom for the finest silks and prettiest blooms money can buy, all for the sake of your wedding with a concubine. Vramid’s citizens pity me the moment they realize I’m not the bride in this wedding, and when the foreign dignitaries from various kingdoms arrive, I will become an even bigger laughing stock than I am now."

Not allowing Orion a chance to cut in, she continued.

"But none of this matters to you now, does it? Because you get to marry your precious Elowyn in style while stamping over my dignity and reputation," Soleia seethed, her hands gripping the blankets so tightly that her knuckles turned white. Her eyes were burning with unshed tears, but she refused to let them fall in his presence.

Orion Elsher had done enough.

"Despite all of your previous promises to me, in the end, you have still decided to choose her, and I’m paying the price for it," Soleia said bitterly. "But don’t worry, your wedding will go as planned. After all, it’s my head on the chopping block if I fail to please you. So don’t worry, you can leave now. I have nothing more to say to you."

Soleia closed her eyes and tucked her entire head under the blankets. If only she could simply turn into a piece of cotton and cease to exist. Living was too hard― her body ached everywhere, and there was a chill in her heart that refused to fade.

It seemed to course through her entire body, from her head to the tips of her toes. She let out a breathy laugh at how outrageous it was. In the end, she could still freeze to death in her own room in the palace.

To her utter surprise, a warm body slid in under the blankets next to her, enveloping her in sudden warmth.

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