The Crown's Entrapment

Calypso, who had also witnessed what happened in the arena, was overwhelmed with how things turned out. He had been wandering around the world for ten years, but he failed to find anything solid enough to prove that Nasser killed his uncle Lucian.

With everything that had happened, he could only be grateful for the arrival of their new Queen. He had jokingly stated one time that an angel would do well to assist his cousin in ruling their kingdom, and it just so happened that the princess was just exactly that. It was funny how fate seemed to line up in the strangest ways…

Returning his attention back to the real world, his eyes wandered off towards the guests, and there he saw Gideon busy entertaining them along with his mate Lady Freya. He let out a sigh at the sight of the couple. It had been so long since he laid his eyes on Aurelia, who according to her chamberlain, had already left without even telling anyone where she might be.

Truthfully, he had been itching to ask Gideon about her, but he knew it would be futile. Besides, he also doubted that the man was even aware that Aurelia was out.

"Where could she be?" he murmured as he kept looking around.

Ah… he could feel that he had changed much after meeting Aurelia. Usually, he would already be mingling about with beautiful noble ladies at this point. But here he was… surprisingly looking for no other woman other than Aurelia.

Calypso shrugged. He should probably get out of the great hall and try his luck searching outside. After searching almost every corner of the castle and making sure that Aurelia was no longer inside Cordon Castle, he had instructed every guard of each of the castle gates to inform him as soon as Aurelia came back. And seeing as nobody had told him anything, he could only assume that she was still out there.

Resigned in his search, he readied himself to leave the castle gates and go to Cordon Infirmary. But just as he was about to leave, a woman mounted on a horse arrived. She stopped by the guards and said, "I am Tarah, the Ebodian Seer. I am expected inside…"

The latter introduced herself, showing her identification tag as proof of her identity. Looking at her, Calypso noted that she was a very beautiful and alluring young lady. With her shimmering silky long white hair, he was sure the old him would've personally tried to entertain her. Now, however, he simply looked away as he shifted into wolf form. He wanted to see Aurelia soon, and stalling for another woman was far from helping him on that end.

'Something's wrong with me. The Mate Pull is too strong,' he thought. He was still in awe of how weird he was acting ever since he met Aurelia.

[That's a good thing,] Axel reminded him. [Besides, you promised Aurelia and Gideon that you won't look at any other woman aside from her.]

Calypso shook his head and was about to walk away from the shifting area only to halt when he suddenly smelled Aurelia's scent. He quickly shifted back to his human form and put his clothes on then walked back to the gates.

'She's near…' he thought as he stared further out to see Aurelia approaching in her own horse.

A wide and bright smile carved itself onto his face the moment their eyes met. Waiting till Aurelia stopped before him, Calypso extended his hand out to her. As expected, however, Aurelia ignored him as she wordlessly unmounted her horse on her own. Her eyes were trained in a particular direction, so Calypso followed her gaze to see what she was looking out.

And apparently, she was looking at the Seer of Ebodia who had just entered the gates.

"Do you know her?" he curiously asked.

Aurelia shifted her cold gaze back to him and answered, "No…"

"I see," he smiled, ignoring the way Aurelia gave him the cold shoulder. "Come. Let me escort you inside."

He then reached out his arm toward her, offering to be her chaperone. Seeing the offer, she sighed before accepting his arm and holding onto it.

"We failed to bring your friend, Princess Katelina, but it was fortunate enough that our new Queen managed to secure that magical pearl from the Elemental Forest containing Nasser's past," Calypso remarked. "By the way, did your friend reply to your message?"

"She did, and I've met with her already," Aurelia replied. "That's why I suddenly left in the first place…"

"I see, how come you didn't bring her here then? Cordon could become a safe haven for her…" Calypso asked "I'm sure our new Queen will be generous enough to give her a fresh start befitting for a Princess. And if she's uncomfortable here, then Ebodia could definitely take her in for sure…"

"Hmm… Thank you for your concern, Lord Calypso. I will tell her about it," Aurelia commented after a deliberate pause of thinking.

Feeling around, Calypso knew that everyone's eyes were currently on them. Then again, the rumors around him and Aurelia were already spreading out like wildfire anyway, and seeing them together like this would simply confirm their relationship.

"When do you plan on going back home?" Calypso asked.

"I'm not sure yet. Brother wants us to be here in the castle for tomorrow, and our parents will also arrive to formally meet with the royal family and talk about him and the Princess's Ritual of Marking," Aurelia stated.

"Are you still hurting?" Calypso cautiously asked. He wasn't sure if Aurelia had noticed it herself, but her grip on his arm tightened while she was telling him about Gideon and Freya's upcoming Ritual of Marking.

Aurelia didn't respond, so Calypso took it as his cue to continue. "I know you still don't like me, but I'm hoping that we can have a good start by getting to know each other," he remarked. "You promised you'll try to make things work between us, and I want the same thing, Aurelia. I want you to feel comfortable around me."

Calypso stopped walking, and so did Aurelia as he turned to face her. Currently, she had a stoic expression on her face, and he could only shrug in frustration. Before, he could easily read any woman he was with, but now, he was having trouble even trying to do it with Aurelia.

"I hope you can rely on me more. I'll always be here for you to listen and hear out your thoughts," Calypso added. "Someone you can lean on, especially when it comes to him. Don't let it all build up inside…"

[Hah, are you being genuine? I'm sure you'll kill Gideon a dozen times over in your head once Aurelia starts opening up to you about him!] Axel reminded him, but Calypso didn't care anymore. He was already too desperate to form a deeper connection with Aurelia. He wanted to become her strength while she was at her weakest, and he'll use every avenue he could take to get there.

"I… I'd like to have a drink with you, but can you promise me that you won't take advantage of me if I get drunk?" Aurelia asked with a lazy blink.

Damn… Since when did he become attracted to such a cold woman? Her icy stare literally sent chills all over his body. But apparently, that wasn't enough to put out the burning desire he had for this woman currently going haywire inside of him.

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