Chapter 140 Be My Queen - Adele's POV

Chapter 140 Be My Queen - Adele's POV

I stared at him. There it was. The one thing he had never bothered to hide.

"You want me," I repeated slowly, almost as though saying the words aloud would make them sound less absurd. "And you think that gives you the right to keep me here?"

"No."

"Then what does?"

His expression shifted, but he didn't answer immediately. I waited.

Corwin had an answer for everything. He always seemed to have some explanation for why he had done what he had done, why Craven was a monster, why I was safer with him, and why I should be grateful that he had stolen me from what had become my home.

But now he was silent.

"You want me," I said again. "That's the truth, isn't it?"

"Yes."

"Not because you think I'm safer here."

His jaw tightened as if he were fighting an argument silently.

"Not because you think the mainland will kill me,” I continued.

His eyes narrowed.

"You want me because I'm the queen."

"You're more than that to me,” he growled low in his throat.

"Am I?" The question came out sharper than I intended.

I watched him carefully, searching his face for the answer. I wanted to believe that maybe there was something else behind all of this. Something that would explain why he had gone to such lengths to take me.

But every time I tried to find it, I came back to the same conclusion. He wanted what Craven had.

Me.

"You keep saying that I am different," I continued. "That I could rule this kingdom beside you. You keep telling me that I'm safer here, but every reason you give me comes back to the same thing." I took a breath. "You want me to be your queen, because you want what your brother has.”

His gaze never left mine. “This has nothing to do with my brother.”

“It has everything to do with it. You are the last mate of the previous queen, and now you want it back. You hate that your brother is my mate and not you.”

Something dark crossed his face. "I never said that was the only reason."

"Then what other reason is there?"

His eyes moved over my face, lingering for a moment before returning to mine. "I want you."

I shook my head. "You don't know me. This is—”

"I know enough."

"No, you don't." I took another step away from him. "You know what I am. You know what I can give you. You know what it means to have the queen standing beside you."

"That's not—"

"You don't know me," I repeated, my voice louder this time. "You don't know what I like. You don't know what makes me happy. You don't know what I'm afraid of. You don't know what I want."

His expression tightened.

"You don't even know what I want from my own life, yet you dragged me here and decided that you know what's best for me,” I breathed.

"I know you want Craven."

The words stopped me. My chest tightened. Corwin stared at me, his expression unreadable.

"I know you love him," he continued. "I know you want to go back to him. I know you would leave this palace in a heartbeat if I opened those doors and told you that you were free to go."

I swallowed. "Then you know exactly why I hate you."

His eyes darkened. "I know."

The admission surprised me. For once, he didn't try to argue or tell me I was wrong. He simply stayed where he was and accepted it.

I didn't know what to do with that.

I had expected Corwin to fight me on everything. To insist that he was right, and I was wrong. To tell me that I would eventually understand him.

Instead, he looked at me with an expression I couldn't quite place.

"You hate me," he murmured.

"Yes."

"Because I took you from him,” he replied. “But have I been unkind to you?”

“You took—”

He stopped me there with one look. “Besides taking you from the Isle, what have I done that was considered unkind? You have been fed, given new clothes, and have not once been touched against your will.”

I hesitated. "I hate you because you think wanting something means you have the right to take it."

“That is the only thing you have to hold on to,” he admitted. “It’s a weak argument.”

I stared at him, unable to believe what I had just heard. "A weak argument?"

"Yes."

I could feel my anger rising again, burning away the small amount of sympathy I had felt for him when he admitted that he knew I hated him.

"You're right," I said coldly. "You haven't hit me. You haven't starved me. You haven't forced yourself on me."

His expression shifted slightly.

"But you did take me."

"I did,” he murmured.

"You severed me from everyone I love,” I sneered.

"I didn't sever your bond,” he corrected. “That was all you and your choice to do. You could still have had your bond to him right now, feeling him.”

“And you would have used that against me.”

His jaw tightened. “You're the first thing I've ever wanted that I couldn't have." 

I was stunned by his words. What was I supposed to say to that? It wasn’t an answer I had expected.

“And I see you are shocked by that,” he laughed. “Get used to it. I’m the perfect match for you if you look at it with a different lens.”

“How are you perfect for me?”

I didn’t move. 

“We’ve been over this for the last three days,” he said, as if it was the simplest answer. “You’d be safe. You could keep those on the Isle safe, as long as they didn’t do anything stupid, such as coming after you.”

He had told me that at least ten times, and I hated it each time.

“You could do good things for the mainland as well, like bringing the people together as you are meant to do,” he continued without missing a beat.