Chapter 42: The Temptation

The second Thorn heard mention of his half sister’s name, he felt his dragon blood freeze. *Not now!* Thorn thought. Leila was still sulking, angry at him for some mysterious reason, and he knew it was somehow related to Rina. But her sudden appearance in the Jubilee Inn would only worsen the situation. He decided he’d better stay put.

“Erm…Ben?” Thorn cleared his throat and turned around to look at Ben, using it as an excuse to peek at Leila. To his vast terror, Leila’s face had grown even redder. “Go to the princess and find out what she wants.”

“On it!” Ben peeled away from Leila and raced out through the front gate.

Due to their constant practical experience on the battlefield, each of the knights and warriors in the room possessed an ability to precisely analyze their surroundings. They could sense that their prince was in trouble; they knew he was extremely nervous, even though he didn’t show it.

Shortly after, Ben returned and loudly reported to Thorn, “The princess said she won’t tell me what she wants. She insisted on seeing you.”

Thorn knew his men were all holding back laughter. He looked at Leila, who was crossing her arms and staring at him as if she could eat him alive.

“S...Serlon?” Thorn knew he had to finish this quickly; no one could predict what Rina might do. He was the boss, and he needed to be in control t all times. The last thing he needed was to get involved in their drama, but he couldn’t afford to be alone with Rina at a moment like this. It would be better to drag a man along with him. Speaking in his usual deep voice, he calmly said, “Come with me.”

By the time Thorn and Serlon made their way to the door, they heard the sound of a chair being pushed away as it grated on the floor unpleasantly. Thorn turned around to see Leila storm upstairs without a word. Every pair of eyes in the room followed Leila until she was out of their sight. Then, they looked back at Thorn.

The dragon prince sighed inwardly. He wanted to go after Leila and apologize, even though he believed he hadn’t done anything terribly wrong. Even so, he had already chosen to meet his half-sister. Under his men’s gaze and as their leader, he couldn’t possibly turn back now. He continued his steady pace alongside Serlon, extremely displeased by Rina’s actions.

Rina was waiting for Thorn under a tree on the rear lane of the inn. Leila could see them from her little window. She hid herself behind the curtains, wishing that she could hear their whole conversation clearly.

“Thorn!” Rina’s eyes sparkled when she saw him, “How are you? How’s your wound? I heard you were injured…” She wanted to apologize for her mother’s behavior, but swallowed the words.

“What do you want?” Thorn said coldly. He noticed that Leila might be conveniently listening in on their conversation from her window.

“Right,” Rina said, as she took out the flask Remus had given her, “I acquired this from a friend.” She chose to not reveal the fact that her twin had given to her, in order to take the full credit. “This is the Snow Kiss antidote.”

Serlon took the flask and examined it carefully.

“How did you know I was poisoned by the Snow Kiss?” Thorn asked.

“I…well…Remus may have mentioned it.” She gave in at once and blurted out the truth. It was too difficult to lie to the man she loved. “But I demanded it be delivered to you immediately.”

“Okay. Thanks.” Thorn figured Rina wasn’t aware of everything Amaya and Remus had been up to. His priority was to return to Leila’s side, rather than chat with his half-sister.

Suddenly, Rina touched his arm and stopped him from leaving. “I miss you, Thorn.”

Serlon stepped back quietly.

Thorn shook off her grip immediately, “Watch yourself. I’ve told you enough times.”

“But I’m worried about you! I want to wait here and make sure you’ve recovered.” Rina sobbed and stepped towards him.

Thorn decided to go back to the inn at once. Just before he ordered Rina away, he heard Leila call out to him from her window.

“My prince,” Leila said provocatively, “Come back! We haven’t finished!”

Thorn looked up and saw Leila barely clothed. Her naked body was wrapped in thin, transparent silk. He could clearly see the contours of her plump breasts through the silk. Face flushed and hair tousled, she looked like she always did in the middle of sex.

Serlon left Thorn, heading back to the inn without looking up.

Leila flipped her hair over her shoulder, showing off her gorgeous collarbone and biting her lower lip. She knew Thorn wouldn’t be able to resist.

Thorn immediately grew erect, and felt a slight pang in his wound. He remembered he couldn’t have sex as long as he was poisoned. He needed Serlon to heal him immediately.

Rina scowled at Leila as jealously flooded inside of her. For a brief moment, a brash courage overcame her as she decided to grab Thorn and kiss him in front of Leila. She approached Thorn in an attempt to hug him, but he was faster. Every cell in his body had a desperate desire for Leila. He made his way to Serlon at once, without ever realizing what Rina was doing.

Rina fell straight forward. Her nose began bleeding upon impact with the hard ground. By the time she stood up, Thorn was already gone. Leila flipped her hair, smiled at Rina and waved farewell.

“Serlon!” Thorn pushed into the council chambers and exclaimed, “With this new flask in addition to the one we already have, even though it’s not enough, I can surely conduct the aggressive actions again, right?”

Serlon was examining the two flasks meticulously and didn’t respond to the horny prince. He had noticed that the liquids inside the two bottles were seemingly different.

“Answer me,” Thorn ordered impatiently.

Serlon looked up at him and said slowly, “My prince, please calm down and let me explain. The antidote in this new flask is denser.”

“What do you mean?” Thorn asked, as he tried to repress the overwhelming urge to get intimate with Leila.

“It’s a good thing we have the antidote from Olcan to compare. This one the princess brought is three times denser than the one Olcan gave us. It would be very dangerous if you took them both. It would be a veritable death sentence.”

“What?” Thorn took the flasks from Serlon to examine them himself. Sighing, he said, “Remus wouldn’t miss a single opportunity to kill me.”

“But this is good news!” Serlon said, “I’ll dilute this one into new flasks, and you can just take two. We’ll store the extra just in case. You will certainly recover fully.”

Thorn was so pleased to hear the news. By this way, not only would he fully recover, but Olcan would still believe that he needed the additional doses. Remus might already think he was dead. Thorn could use this as an opportunity for a counterattack... But most importantly, he could have sex again!

“Dilute it now,” Thorn demanded, “Is five minutes enough for you?”

“With my skill, my prince, five minutes would be an embarrassment.” Serlon smiled, then immediately got to work.

To Thorn, the seconds felt like years. Finally, the dilution was finished. At once, Thorn gulped down the antidote. He felt the constant chill in his body vanish as the usual heat in his veins returned. Even his wound was healed, leaving only a scar remaining on his chest.

Serlon observed his change. He checked Thorn's eyes, temperature, and wound, then announced, “Marvelous! You’re fully recovered. But please be gentle! The room is only made of cheap wood. It might not support-”

Thorn didn’t give Serlon a chance to finish his sentence before he had already rushed upstairs to Leila, knowing for a fact that he couldn’t be gentle this time.