"CAN YOU tell me now what's your reason for not listening to Mrs. Valrey's lesson? Have you forgotten how it was your own request to have your private classes before I could bring you back to the palace? Don't tell me that you are now backing out? It has only been a week since your lessons started and yet you're already giving up? Where is that human who was so proud and mighty now?"
It was not the first time for Diana to be scolded like this, but it was the first time that she only had one expression plastered on her face for the whole time. If it was Alpha Frank or Luna Michelle who were doing the scolding, she probably created different expressions, like she was doing a facial exercise.
Honestly speaking, the reason that she only had that blank face is that the muscles in her face had been exhausted from changing expressions of a face showing irritation, then turning to an expression of withholding anger. It will then twitch as a forced smile is plastered, until she becomes numb and her muscles become paralyzed.
Now she could only face all the scolding with a blank face. Despite how the man was being redundant with his scolding, even her ears were already numbed.
Unfortunately, the man started to hit where it hurt. When Diana was being challenged like this, however numbed she became, she would never let someone trample her like that.
"Okay, stop. Enough. Your scolding is already breaking my ears from listening; aren't you done, Your Highness?" Diana said, not forgetting to call out that title sarcastically.
"I can still go on. But since I'm afraid your ears might fall, then I will stop and give you a break. I won't mind though if you would start explaining and answering all my questions. Shall I repeat them for you?"
"No thanks. I remember them well, Your Highness," Diana quickly interjected before the man really started enumerating his questions.
Diana already knows that today is not her day. Probably because of her bad mood in the afternoon, she wasn't able to win over Gener over their bickering. She just thought that it was not her lucky day today to calm herself from losing to the man.
"Actually, if His Highness were just doing it to reprimand me, there is no need for you to bother coming personally. You can just let the alpha, Luna Michelle, or the teacher herself do it. There's really no need to do it yourself. Don't you think so too, Your Highness?"
"Would you listen though? I heard from Alpha Frank that it was not only Mrs. Valrey who complained about you not attending classes, but the other teachers also tried to complain to Alpha Frank and the luna for the past week and to no avail. You were not even listening, so how can I rest assure that my luna will make it within the two weeks deadline you had given yourself?"
And there, her dignity had been questioned again by the man. Diana could only quell her anger and grit her teeth since she could not deny the man's words. She even ignored how the man had already claimed her as his luna.
"Don't worry, Your Highness. Even if I am not doing well in front of my teachers, I can still do everything right. Even if you give me a practical test at this moment, I can proudly say that I'll ace them all."
Not that Diana is lying just to boast, but she could really answer them all and do it all with a perfect score. As she said, even if she was not listening to the lessons, since she was left with the books they used in every lesson, Diana could do her own study after. So whatever questions they ask her now, she could answer them all correctly.
It was just her wanting to make her teachers annoyed with her so that they would complain about it, which would also anger the man. And it was obviously working since he was now in front of her. Albeit, it was not Diana's wish to see the man since her real reason for suggesting she have a private class in the pack was to at least get away from him for a while.
"Then what's the reason for all the fuss you are making? Is it just to get my attention? If you were that eager to get my attention, then what's the use of all this pretentious private study when you can just go back and cohabitate with me in the palace? Let's not make everything complicated and hard, no?"
Diana got tongue-tied. She could only grit her teeth, thinking how the man suddenly became sly and good at giving snarky rebuttals after a week. If she could remember it well, the man might be sly at times, but he would never be more tricky than her.
What made it more unacceptable was how mature his remarks became, and Diana could not think of how to turn the tables and have more snarky rebuttals without sounding immature.
"Did he also get a private lesson about it?" Diana stupidly asked herself.
And it would be impossible to remember it wrongly. Gener might have the title of being a sly fox rather than the real fox, but with the past three times that Diana has interacted with him, the man is actually more serious, cold, and has an arrogant attitude. There is no slyness, but instead, he's more manipulative in an arrogant way.
And maybe a little bit silly and innocent in his own way. Though she would never admit it herself.
"How can a lowly human like me think about that for His Highness? Can—"
"Enough with this pretentious and childish bickering; let's get more serious, Diana."
"I'm not childish," she weakly complained as she got a serious look from Gener. "Fine, I'll stop. But I am not being childish."
"Yes, you are—" Diana immediately glared at the man. "Not." Then Gener smiled.
That's when Diana realized how once again she had been tricked by Gener. It was obviously the man's plan to irk her with everything, yet he's acting like a really mature king.
If not for knowing that it will be her loss once she refutes once again, Diana would have really shot more demeaning words at the man. In the end, she could only eat her tongue and force a smile.
"Then let's have a serious talk, Mr. Brooke. I don't think you would waste another midnight just to scold me like a mother rather than relaxing. So what other business do you have?"
She actually wanted to add about how the man loves to disturb her midnight solo dates. If not for the fact that he really is a lycan wolf, Diana would really believe her first impression of him that he is a mosquito vampire.
What sane person would do a midnight visit just to scold and all? Aside from the insane man in front of her, Diana knows no one.
Right until this moment, Diana still had no idea about the man's unique way of expressing schadenfreude. That man, Gener Brooke, never failed to change her understanding of a royal.
As a Lycan king and the most powerful of their Iland Kingdom, Gener is a very unique and different ruler. With the four times, in addition to today's visit, that Diana has interacted with Gener, she will always wonder what the truth is about him. Since she would learn new things about the man that she had never heard of from other.
"Nothing important. It was just Gray wanting to have a sniff of your smell. I can't let him run amock for the lame reason of me being stingy about simple things."
Diana shook in anger. It was he who said about getting serious, yet look at who is starting another bout of bickering?
"Got a sniff now? Then fvck off!" Diana cried out.
This only earned a smile from the other. "You're cute, but a simple sniff is not enough to calm a lycan, Diana. Don't you learn about that from one of your lessons? Since you are so proud about your self-learning ability, how about you do a short practice with me on how to soothe a lycan's raging hormones?"
Diana felt all her hair stand up. With those pervert words added to his invigorating and provocative voice, Diana felt that she was currently being sexually…stimulated.
"Pervert!" she spat between her teeth. "Don't forget that you are not allowed to touch me inappropriately, not unless it's that time. And with how you look, it's not the time yet, and you're just being a lecher right now!" she added, glaring holes at the gallant man.
"W-what do you think you're doing?" Diana shuddered as she tried to maintain space between them, but Gener did not stop.
He completely stood up from his chair and walked slowly towards her. Each step took her breath away, rendering her in a drunken state. Diana knew that the wine they were drinking was not strong enough for her to be drunk, but she did not know the reason why she felt intoxicated, and all her thoughts became disorganized. Even when she was being trapped by the man, she just looked up at him in a daze.
"I don't know how you do that, but as a human, how can you release that strong and intoxicating scent? You're saying I'm a lecher for acting like this, but you can't blame me when my mate is trying to seduce me. Did you also learn this from the books?"
Using a finger, Gener tucked a lock of hair behind her ears. The sudden touch brought heat within Diana's body, going through her face. That was enough to wake her from her drunken state.
Diana pushed him away. Because she was still affected by something, which is why she fell into a daze, there was no force from her push, so she knew it wasn't enough to push it away. That's why she was a bit surprised when Gener backed away on his own. What made her feel more confused was how a slight feeling of disappointment appeared.
She immediately shirk that thought away as she fixed her expression. "I don't know what you are talking about. Whether you really smell my scent or not, at least that's enough to soothe your wolf, am right? So if you no longer had anything serious to discuss with me, Mr. Brooke, I will take my leave then. I still have a lesson early morning and it's too late now. I don't think you would be happy if you heard that my reason for being unable to attend again is about my lack of proper sleep."
Diana stood up. Although she was still looking up at the giant man, she said, "Good night, Mr. Brooke. Have a nice and safe travel back to the palace. Bye."
Without waiting for the man's answer, Diana walked out of the alpha's office, which became their meeting room every time the man visited her, as she requested from Alpha Frank. Since she couldn't let him enter her room and couldn't have a private talk in the visitor's area.
The longer she spent with the man, the more Diana found him annoying and unbearable. However, she may repeat this, but with only four interactions and knowing Gener, she is getting more and more perturbed with how different the lycan is from the rumors she heard about him.
Yes, it might be wrong to judge him based on rumors, but that was the only way Diana could know and understand what type of person her mate is. After all, she would be living with him all her life. And that is an indisputable fact.
Until now, Diana herself is still in the process of acceptance. Acceptance about how she became the mate of the notorious demon king. Not only that, but she will also take on the great responsibility of reigning over a whole kingdom as Queen Luna.
For a human, it brought her a lot of pressure, but since she grew up leading the humans and even some omegas and she-wolves in their pack, she could say she already has a grasp on how she would do a better job.
Maybe if it were other people who gave her this responsibility, she would have proudly accepted the challenge. Unfortunately, the person who brought this burden of responsibility is the man she had the most animosity with.
The question now is, "How and when did this all start?" Everything seems like a blur to her. She was just a simple human within a pack, then one turn, and she will now become a queen reigning over a kingdom.
"Regardless of how I don't want to remember the start of all this suffering of mine, I could still not believe how that ill-fated encounter with him that night in which the philandering bastard tried to sneak at me while having my bath in that lake ended me in this terrible position."