The Veil of Darkness
Chapter 397: Elaine X Esmeray (Part One)

Chapter 397: Elaine X Esmeray (Part One)

Elaine climbed the familiar stairs of the North Tower, her destination being the private quarters of the King of Darkness. She knew that he had stayed within his quarters on purpose to avoid seeing her, yet, he forgot that she didn’t care about the social norms. If she wanted to see him, then she could go find him even within the safe walls of his private quarters.

Her heels clicked against the marble floor, making enough sound to announce throughout the tower that she was on her way.

A couple of moments later, she finally arrived outside the huge wooden double doors. Her first instinct was to use a spell and enter through the ward, but she caught herself at the very last moment. She shouldn’t do things that Esmeray frowned upon and her habit of just bursting inside his study used to be very top on that list. She was sure that he would be equally annoyed, if not more, if she just rushed inside his quarters uninvited.

Taking in a deep breath, she knocked on the door and waited. There seemed to be no movement going on at the other side of the door, but she knew better than to believe that no one was inside. If her mother said that the King of Darkness was in his private quarters, then he was surely in there.

She knocked again. "Don’t keep me waiting out here. These heels are killing me. Let me come inside and rest." She pressed her ear against the door as she finished speaking. Much to her dismay, she still didn’t hear any sound. But a moment or two later, the man inside finally replied - "Return to your quarters and rest. I’m busy right now."

There it was - a calm and collected tone that schooled his emotions perfectly. This was the tone he had always used to talk to her, never showing any warmth despite their special relationship.

Elaine almost felt triggered to just give up on being nice. However, she decided to give the man one last chance. "Your Grace, open the doors and invite me inside while I’m giving you the chance. You know better than to test my patience." She didn’t exactly expect her warning to work. The King of Darkness wasn’t one to get scared.

"Your Highness, please pay attention to your image. You should not be here at this time of the night. Please return." - Came the response from inside.

"Esmeray! Open the doors right now. It’s an order from the Crown Princess of this Realm." Elaine used the last card she had in store to force the man. And this time, her trick did work and the double doors finally flew open. He stood right there in front of her, tall, handsome, and powerful.

Elaine felt her heart pumping wildly inside the confinement of her chest as her eyes took their precious time to adore her mate whom she was seeing after ten very long months. He was dressed in long midnight blue robes. Half of his long hair was left loose and the upper half was kept up in a bun with the use of a golden hairpin. He looked enchanting.

A smile, filled with nothing but warmth and love, made its way to Elaine’s lips. Everything inside her body was brimming with excitement and happiness as the bond felt the closeness of her mate.

But all that happiness and excitement came crashing down the moment Esmeray opened his mouth to speak. "What are you doing here, Your Highness? It’s quite late, if you don’t want to return to the banquet, you should head back to your quarters and rest."

Elaine felt like someone was squeezing her heart painfully. He was just as formal and cold toward her now as he had been the past twenty-five years. She had to address him formally and he too always used her royal status to address her.

"I want to talk to you."

"It’s late. We can always talk tomorrow." Esmeray seemed determined to ignore her, something he had been doing for as long as she could remember. From her childhood till her eighteenth birthday, she was totally unaware of their bond and treated Esmeray only as her Master who personally trained her to control her powers and also taught her physical combat and weaponry. She could understand why he acted so formally toward her for those eighteen years, what she failed to understand was why he kept that distance between them even after her eighteenth birthday when he officially acknowledged her as his soulmate in front of the entire Realm and her parents.

It had been over seven years since that day and the distance between them had only grown with time. In these seven years, they didn’t even take their bond to the first stage. Despite Esmeray acknowledging her as his mate, Elaine never experienced the love or warmth that she deserved as his mate. What he was doing to her, was even worse than the rejection of the bond.

But it was already too late for Elaine who was deeply in love with Esmeray and it was not just because he was her mate. She was sure that even if they wouldn’t have been mates, she would still have ended up falling for him. He might not have been acting distant, but that didn’t mean he never showed any warmth. She could still recall those precious moments when he went out of his way to help her and guide her. There were instances when she experienced his protective side for her, his worry for her, his care for her, and even a few glimpses of his love for her.

One thing she knew for sure was that Esmeray did love her. What she couldn’t find out was why he refused to act on that love and end the distance between the two of them.

"Your Highness?"

Elaine was pulled out of her thoughts and her attention returned to the man standing in front of her. "I’m here to sleep with you. Let me inside."

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