Special thanks to Erin_Phillips_7003 for the Golden Ticket.
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"Ignored? I am not ignoring you Elysia, like I have told you before I have affairs to attend to." Azreal replied, his voice calm and collected.
Elysia scoffed making Azreal narrow his eyes at her, "What is your plan now Your Majesty? Do you intend to let me be on my own till I am old and gray?"
"You did not seem to have a problem with being on your own when you ran away from me." A small smirk playing on his lips.
"What do you want from me Your Majesty? You act like you want me sometimes and at the same time, you keep paintings of a naked woman." With the words leaving her mouth, Azreal's smirk fell and his face turned expressionless.
"You saw the drawing room?"
"Of course I did and I saw everything, I could hear the voices Your Majesty. You loved her?" It was more of a conclusion than a question.
His jaw clenched tightly as he watched Elysia, it took him a moment to respond. "The room was locked for a reason Elysia, you should not have been there. Marina was my breedmate."
Elysia's brows knotted together in confusion, "Breedmate? What does that even mean?"
"Breedmate like soulmate Elysia. She was very important to me and she was killed, end of the story." He replied curtly, not wanting to talk more about his breedmate.
Elysia took a minute to digest his words, she did feel a little bad for being jealous over a dead woman. "I am sorry Your Majesty, may her soul rest in peace." She muttered.
"If you still wish to stay in the rain, then you are free to. I want to return to my study." The King announced, preparing to turn around, but Elysia was quick to wrap her fingers around his wrist stopping him.
"I was foolish to think that I could live happily outside the walls, I... I took your kindness and that of Sir Sevastian for granted that I would forever regret, please forgive me Your Majesty I can not bear this heartbreak any longer." The words spilled out of her mouth, her eyes heavy with emotions.
The King surprised her by taking a step towards her bringing himself closer, "I trusted you and you broke that trust Elysia. You made a fool out of me in front of my people, you also made a fool out of Sevastian and my guards. I treated you with care and respect, gave you a title and the respect of every single person in this continent, but it was never enough for you and you still ran away." His breath fanned her face as he spoke, that was how close they stood.
Tears had welled up in her eyes threatening to fall down her eyes, her lips trembled either from the cold or guilt Elysia had no idea. "I.... Forgive-"
He took another step closer, "And yet with all you have done, I can not bring myself to make you suffer, to cause you pain, to make you bleed. When I had found out you left, I was extremely angry and disappointed, I thought of all the things I would do to you when you were brought back to me, but when I saw you, all the built up anger and disappointment vanished like air, like it was never there and i found myself caring for you even more." He brought his hand up to push the strands that were sticking to her face away from it.
"I have lived for many many centuries Elysia and I have been with a fair share of woman which includes Marina, she was very important and special to me, i found it hard to get over her death because of that. I kept everything that belonged to her so i could keep her memories and presence close to me. But, for some fucked up reason, I found it hard visiting that drawing room since you arrived at this palace."
Elysia felt her heart swell up with many emotions, her eyes locked with that of the King as she wanted to smile, but she could not bring her lips to stretch into one. She swallowed the lump in her throat, "I care about you too Your Majesty, I can not tell you how many times I have wished you would come visit me, but you never did. I am sorry for all the mixed emotions I have caused." She shifted her eyes to her hand which was still on the King's wrist and slower began to move her hand until it was placed on top of the Kings'
Azreal watched her intensely as she slowly pushed his hand down, removing the umbrella from over their head. The rain still heavy washed them with its wetness immediately they were away from the coverage of the umbrella.
A smile graced Elysia's lips, her eyes watching the King as he closed his eyes welcoming the raindrops on his body. She lifted her shaky hand and brushed Azreal's hair away from his face, her fingers trailing his cheek, nose, lips and jaw.
Everything about the man was so beautiful that she felt her knee turn to jelly, as she continued to caress his face feeling every curve and line of his face. Her heart was beating so fast that she could hear it in her ears. Elysia's eyes lingered on his lips, her insides burning up with her thoughts filled with how his lips would feel against hers.
She raised to stand on the tip of her toes making her grow a little taller, her head tilted up bringing her closer to the King, so close that she could feel his breath against her face.
Just when her lips were about to touch his, Azreal opened his eyes, his black orbs swallowing her whole into his darkness. He watched her intensely, his eyes flickering from her eyes to her lips. Before Elysia could process another thought, Azreal slammed his lips against hers with so much force that almost knocked her off her feet.