The courtroom guards left the room as Lord Chisthalmagne orders. Alrossia and the crowned man were the only ones left on the wide floors. Alrossia kept her head low, averting her gaze from the king, and spoke.
"I have heard from Captain Kavor that you had just won the battle in the North, My Lord." she croaked before the silence.
Lord Chisthalmagne did not respond, letting her continue.
Alrossia's became more nervous when he did not speak a single word. With this cold passiveness, she knows what he would want to hear.
She gave a big sigh. "I am sorry that I left the palace, My Lord."
Lord Chisthalmagne's frosty orbs directed on her frail body. "A trail of bodies will be sent to the ocean had you left."
Alrossia bit her lip as her chest started to twinge in uneasiness.
"Two hundred and fifteen soldiers have their blood on my blade, I don't suppose a whole village would be too burdensome-"
"I apologize, My Lord! Please forgive me!"
A small snicker formed on the king's lips. "Stand."
Alrossia immediately stood and looked fixedly at him. He gestures her to come near him. "Come."
Alrossia immediately obeyed. She dragged her scarred feet to the carpeted floors towards the throne of the king and lowered her head. She shut her eyes as Lord Chisthalmagne's fingers reached her wet hair. She was frozen in place. She was so afraid of the sword hanging beside his golden throne.
His fingers started to crawl upwards until it reaches the side of her cheek. He brings his palms to her neck and caressed her.
Alrossia was already used to Lord Chisthalmagne touching her skin when he gets agitated. All Alrossia could do was shut her eyes as Lord Chisthalmagne traces his fingers on her hair and nape.
Because of these gestures, Alrossia's mind was put to confusion in the past months. At once she concluded that Lord Chisthalmagne was interested in her, but she had long discarded that thought after proving that Lord Chisthalmagne would never lead her to bed.
All these months, she felt a fuzzy feeling on her chest when she catches a glimpse of him. She would hide in a corner after his arrival and watch him as he interacts with the other nobles.
She was only a property of his. An object or token in his sight. She had never once felt that she had a value for him.
Alrossia secretly kept this fuzzy feeling inside her chest. The very reason she wanted to escape.
She didn't want it to grow bigger. And this moment, she could finally ask Lord Chisthalmagne her true value.
"My Lord."
Leonardi Chisthalmagne's palms stopped and raised his eyebrows at her.
"I am certain that I am uselessly no one to be worth your time, my Lord. Why should you keep a woman like me under your palace when I am no one but a criminal's daughter?"
Her teeth chattered and her legs started quivering.
"M-My Lord, have you not realized that my father has given you a peasant for a payment? Would you truly accept that?"
Lord Chisthalmagne leaned towards Alrossia peeking from below. Her eyes widened when his cold, red orbs gazed at her. Her teardrops fell to the side of his cheek. She immediately reaches out to wipe the teardrop with her fingers gently. But his warm, large hands caught hers. He brings her fingers to his lips and intently looked at her, commanding her soul, to never look away.
"I do not mind sleeping with a peasant."