The Crown's Entrapment

Xenia was still nursing her throbbing head when Darius came into her chambers. She was caught off guard, of course, but she somehow managed to keep her composure.

She also managed to recall bits and pieces of what happened to her last night. Although it was far from clear, the sensations were still as vivid as she remembered, down to the point when she started acting crazily in front of Darius. If her memory was to be believed, she let it all happen without so much as a fight.

Her face reddened at the thought of it. She even moaned and felt pleasure with…

“Xen, your presence in the Royal Breakfast will be appreciated,” Darius said, snapping her out from her stupor. He then placed some sort of bowl on her table as he added, “I brought you this to help with your hangover. Take a few sips. It’ll help you feel better. You were too drunk last night, so I’m sure you’re feeling good right now. As much as I’d like for you to take a rest, we still have to meet with my mother and have breakfast with her this morning.”

“C-Can’t even look at me?” Xenia weakly scorned out. Even now, she wanted to keep her pride intact and let Darius think that she wasn’t acting like herself last night. After all, it was the truth. She was indeed not herself.

‘Are you even sure you can control yourself in that kind of situation when you’re sober?’ her inner self asked.

In her own thoughts, she then recalled how vulnerable she was around Darius even though she was in her right state of mind. It wasn’t like this was the first time they became intimate with one another. And to think that she wasn’t even drunk during that time.

“D-Do dress accordingly to your stature,” Darius neutrally intoned, his eyes barely flickering towards her. “And…”

“And what?” Why was he staring at her like that?

Xenia felt her heart skip a beat, wondering if Darius would decide to talk to her about the incident last night.

As if sensing her judging stare, the king blushed ever so slightly. It was so subtle that she wasn’t even sure if her eyes were seeing correctly.

“How are you feeling? You were so drunk last night that you were not quite acting as yourself,” Darius inferred. “Do you recall what you did last night?”

‘What I did?!’ Xenia wanted to scream. He made it sound like she did something when he was the one who put those marks on her skin and…

Xenia blinked, her mind hard at work as she strung up her next words.

“Well, I do feel weird in some places… As if someone assaulted my body,” she confidently remarked with a frown as she stared at the king.

“Assaulted your body?!”

She kept up her naive look as she continued, “Yeah. Jayra said I have these suspicious marks on my shoulders. She then told me that it was you who brought me here inside my chambers.”

She then added extra emphasis, “Also, my body feels kind of weird, my King. Did you somehow do something to me while I’m not in my own sound mind last night? I can’t remember a thing, but my body definitely feels off somehow.”

Xenia had a triumphant smirk upon seeing the king’s guilty expression. He avoided her gaze as soon as she spoke up, and he looked so conflicted as he formulated his response.

“Well…”

Darius breathed out, and Xenia stared at him closely. She was too curious to know just what the king had to say with her accusations. Would he play innocent? Or would she blame her for his actions?

“Ermm… I apologize. Something indeed happened last night, and you will probably recall it after some time,” Darius whispered out, his eyes staring intently at hers. “I tried my best to control myself, but the pull is so strong, Xen. If you only knew how hard I tried to not take you last night.”

Xen gulped and murmured, “The Pull? You mean the Mate Pull…”

It was barely a gasp, and she doubted that Darius even heard it. Somehow, she felt disappointed at his answer. Why? Was it because he was blaming the Mate Pull for his own actions? Somehow, that didn’t sit right with her.

Such a thought left a bitter taste on her mouth as she said, “You can leave now. Like you said, I need to prepare to eat breakfast with you and Queen Mother. So please, I need a moment to do so.”

“Alright, I will ask the servants to attend to you an-”

“No need, I can attend to myself. I only need my privacy for now. So please…” Xenia interrupted.

The princess could only bite her lower lip as she watched Darius hastily leave her to her lonesome.

“So early for this…” she mumbled out with a frown. She didn’t envision her morning starting on a sour note. The sun hadn’t even fully risen yet and she already felt annoyed.

With a sigh, Xenia forced herself out of her bed, her world still partly underwater as she staggered her way to her clothes. She knew she should really call for Jayra’s assistance right about now, but she was feeling rather petty at the moment, and her friend was clearly raring to tease her about her current misery.

So no. She was going to do this alone.

With a determined frown, she grabbed onto the nearest drawer for support as she got herself ready. She didn’t care if she’d be late. She was far from the mood to be patronizing when her world was spinning all around her.

She didn’t care anymore if she was still sulking for no reason. So what if it was all nothing but the Mate Pull for Darius? Why was she even bothered this much by such a thing? She should just focus on her goal instead, and that was to become the Queen of Cordon and help Ebodia.

Absently, she gave the bowl on her table a parting look. For a moment, she thought about walking towards it, but she quickly changed her mind as she stubbornly murmured, “Hmmp… I’m not drinking that…”

With a defiant frown, she murmured to herself, “I-I can handle myself just fine…”