Arianna woke up early the next morning. Her body clock had worked perfectly meaning that she had recovered. But how?
Her mind was layered in confusion. Just like that day on the cliff, she seemed to have gotten amnesia again. She couldn't remember what happened after going to the bathhouse.
When she started thinking about it, it rushed into her head like a flood. Yesterday, after bathing she went to the training grounds to continue training. What her mind told her was different from what her body told her. She didn't feel very tired. She decided to accept what her brain made her believe.
She stood up and washed her face and hands. She put on her new uniform. She went to the training ground and along with the other two trainees, she lined up. They were giving her strange looks and she thought it was because she had managed to survive in the wild so she didn't think much of it.
The general and the officials soon came in.
"Let the train..." He had just started when he stopped and looked at Arianna.
Arianna's heart skipped.
"Human, what did you do?" He asked the question on everyone's mind.
Arianna was confused. Had she done anything wrong?
...
Xavier sat in his study reading a book. He knew he wasn't really reading, he was just staring at the book. For a long time, he couldn't concentrate. His mind would occasionally drift to what happened yesterday.
Elder Lorenzo bowed.
"My queen."
Arianna was speechless. Xavier was even more speechless. The Royal Doctor stared on in disbelief.
"Lorenzo, are you crazy?" Xavier asked but after a while he didn't reply
"Ferlin..." He called in his head but he was unresponsive. He checked for his location and found that he had been imprisoned in the Confinement Hall by Elder Lorenzo. He immediately released him.
"Lorenzo." He called and then Elder Lorenzo stood straight.
"Xavier." He answered.
Ferlin appeared then and bowed to Xavier.
"Your Majesty. My deepest regards." He said.
"Take this human out of here, now." He ordered but he watched Ferlin hesitate. These two, were they beginning to disobey him. He would deal with them later.
"Ferlin. Do you not listen to my orders anymore?" Xavier asked in a voice that shook the ground.
"Forgive me, Your Majesty." He said and bowed. Even though he saw Arianna as the queen and didn't want her to hate him, Xavier was still the king and he had to obey him. He walked to Arianna slowly.
Arianna who had been silent the entire time suddenly had a realization. Amidst the awkward atmosphere, she suddenly exclaimed.
"Xavier, are you the King of Aysha?" She asked without thinking. She then gasped and continued "I feel a strange sense of longing for you like we are connected. And your subordinates call me their queen. Am I perhaps, your mate?" She asked.
Xavier felt his eyes almost popping out. His ears rang. He thought the human was stupid but in just a few minutes she had figured everything out. It was all Lorenzo's fault. If he hadn't called her queen, all this wouldn't have happened. He was still in shock when he saw the Royal Doctor go on his knees and bow his head.
"I acknowledge you as my queen."
Ferlin replicated it. And Lorenzo replicated it as well. These three. Did they not understand that declaring this woman queen was indirectly saying that he would marry her? Xavier became angry and his aura flared up.
The atmosphere would always become stifling when he became angry but this time there was something suppressing his own. A calm aura. And it was coming from that human.
It was then he realized that her aura was very strong. At this moment, he felt like he was standing near Queen Elena.
He looked at the three people and realized that this was why they had knelt for her. She, just like Queen Elena was carrying with her a calm and cold aura.
She walked towards him, ignoring the three people. She bowed.
"Long live Your Royal Majesty."
Since noone wanted to take her away, he snapped his fingers and she disappeared immediately.
He looked coldly at the three people in the room. He took to a chair and sat on it. His eyes spilled fire and the obvious meaning was hidden in it.
"Explain." He calmly barked a simple order.
Elder Lorenzo narrated the entire process to him. As he narrated, the three could feel Xavier getting angrier with every word. When he finished, Xavier sighed.
"Get the human." He said to Ferlin. Ferlin walked into a portal and came back with Arianna in his arms.
"Lay her on the bed." He ordered and Ferlin did as he said.
He waved his hand and three short daggers appeared in his hands. He passed it to them.
"Now, stab the human. I want to see deep holes on her body." He said with no expression on his face.
"But Your Majesty, stabbing her is stabbing...you." The Royal Doctor said in fear. Wasn't this treatment a bit psychotic?
"Do you dare to go against my word?" Xavier asked in a low and cold tone.
All three of them hesitated, each waiting for one person to go first.
Elder Lorenzo walked forward first. Even if Arianna became the queen, Xavier was still the king. He had been with Xavier's father. He knew one thing, the King's decision was always final. He just hoped Arianna wouldn't be unreasonable. After all, it was Xavier who ordered them to do this.
With great regret, he raised the dagger and stabbed it into Arianna's body. The Royal Doctor followed after a moment.
Ferlin still hesitated. If Arianna woke up and found out that he had once again stabbed her, would her final shred of trust towards him not be severed? He glanced at Xavier begging him with his eyes. But Xavier looked on adamantly with no expression on his face.
Ferlin took in a deep breath.
"Your wish is my command, Your Majesty." Ferlin said and performed the action.
"More. I want to see as many holes as possible. Ones that would remain for the rest of her life." Xavier said.
They started pushing the dagger in more ruthlessly. Xavier felt the pain of being stabbed over and over again but he kept a quiet expression as sweat broke on his back.
Soon, something miraculous happened. Whenever they pulled the dagger out, the wounds would immediately heal and close up.
Xavier felt the pain of the wounds go away and then he looked at them.
"What is happening? Why is the human healing so quickly?" He asked.
"Well the thing is... Your Majesty, we performed a blood transfusion on her...using your blood." The Royal Doctor explained hesitantly.
"You did what?!" Xavier barked and the ground shook. He banged his hand on the chair on which he sat and The Royal Doctor fell on his knees.
Soon, Ferlin who had been putting up a resistance also fell on his knees. Elder Lorenzo also fell after much resistance.
"Xavier...You...you ha-ave to under... understand." Elder Lorenzo found it difficult to make a complete sentence.
Xavier was adamant. He was so damn angry. Outside the door, people in the infirmary who had felt the anger coming from him were rushing towards the door. Anyone who got within a ten-meter radius would also fall to their knees.
The Royal Doctor was bleeding from his nose and his mouth. Gosh. They had made a really wrong decision. He should have listened to his assistant.
All three of them felt themselves bleeding and they found it difficult to breathe. Xavier had finally shown them how powerful he is. Elder Lorenzo had once thought that if he should go on against Xavier, he wouldn't totally lose but now it seemed Xavier could kill them off in a swing if he wanted. He had greatly underestimated Xavier's strength.
Amidst the heated atmosphere and the anger, Arianna woke up like some Sleeping Beauty. She sat up. When she saw the scene in the room, she was surprised. Xavier, was he planning on killing them?
Then, she looked at him. He seemed to not have noticed her. She then looked down at herself. Why was she not also on her knees?
"You dare perform such. Who told you you could do anything to me without my permission?" Xavier barked and Arianna felt fear at how thunderous his voice was.
And then a sense of belonging came. She didn't feel fear anymore, just belonging. She stared at him. Xavier felt the feeling of being stared at and raised his head. The human's gray eyes bored into his own. Her eyes seemed to have exposed all his secrets. Her eyes seemed to be telling him that he was doing something wrong. He suddenly felt guilt. A feeling he had probably never had. His heart skipped.
"Xavier, stop doing this." Arianna said.
The voice was like a melody in his ears. His heart skipped again and then started beating fast. Because of this, his effect on the three people in the room was slightly alleviated.
When he realized what happened, shame washed over him and he looked away. He continued using his powers on them.
"Xavier, I said stop!" Arianna said and lifted the dagger by her side. She didn't know what fueled her with so much courage. She aimed and threw the dagger at Xavier.
Xavier caught the sharp edge of the dagger with much ease. He flipped it over, his hand bleeding.
Arianna's eyes widened in disbelief. This was the King of Aysha. She actually had the audacity to throw a dagger at him.
Xavier stood up from the chair. His bleeding hand quickly healed. He walked to Arianna with slow and steady footsteps. Arianna felt the bloodthirsty aura coming from him and instinctively backed away until her back hit the edge of the bed.
He stopped in front of the bed.
"Xavier...Your Royal Majesty, please forgive me." Arianna begged. After all, she hadn't confirmed if she was truly his mate or not.
His slender fingers didn't seem to pay attention as slowly they wrapped themselves around her neck like an octopus. In an instant, she found it difficult to breathe. She put her hands on his fingers trying to remove them but they were like chains and didn't budge.
"I want to kill you but I can't." Xavier's eyes were red. He also felt the feeling of strangulation.
Arianna's eyes were red. When she heard his words and saw his face, she became 90% sure that she was his mate. She wasn't ready to die or faint again from hypoglycemia. There was only one way to solve this.
She reached out her hands and pulled his head down. Her lips pressed on his own.