Chapter 22 22

Chapter 22 22
She sighed with contentment, a dreamy smile on her lips.
"Okay, so what's the grumble?"
She surrounded her body with the white bed sheet and got off with the intention of losing Kayden.
“But where does it make sense to be?  Is this a good time to leave me, instead of staying in bed waiting for me to wake up with a delicious breakfast to make up for what he drained from me in return?”
She opened the door, surprised by Larissa, who was about to knock on it, and the two of them stood opposite each other, looking at each other nervously...
With a spontaneous movement, Celine lifted the sheet, trying to hide Kaiden's fangs from her neck when she noticed Larissa looking at her.
And Larissa did not hesitate to show her reaction, gagging her mouth with her palm, gasping in disbelief.
Her eyeballs glorify with tears that refuse to liberate, knowing the truth that has been waiting for her since the arrival of Celine.
He declared her his queen, and she lost her chance, which she had been sure of for centuries, but despite all this, she wished that that fortune-teller had lied and that the daughter of the sun would never come to him.
Celine opened her mouth, whimpering by saying something. Well, what can she say in such a situation??!!
Ah, it's not what you think...
Ah, I'm sorry it happened without planning...
Ah, he loves me and wants me, and I don't care that you're there...
Ah, what has kept you under his control until now...??
Celine pulled out of a state of self-reproach, a slight movement coming from behind Larissa, glimpsing Mark hiding behind a far corner, watching the event with pain parallel to the pain she sees on the features of her opponent.
Surprised by what you see of him, as I have always found him rigid and cold, not moved by anything.
Is what you see real or illusions? Mark is angry for Larissa!
O mighty one!
eat this time?  eat these years??
Larissa Celine crossed to the room, and the latter closed the door quietly and followed her, watching her trying to gather her scattered feelings.
Larissa stood in the middle of the room confused, not knowing how to start her speech, trying to find a way to preserve her dignity and position after Kayden found his twin.
She stood in front of Celine, dominated by her tall height and stark beauty. The latter shrugged, trying to drown between the folds of the sheet, acknowledging that she was losing her self-confidence in front of the splendor, beauty, and calmness of her rival.
Larissa clasped her fingers together in front of her, whispering her usual Celine tune to the spring breeze.
“I was expecting you for a long time. You were so late that I began to doubt the sincerity of the clairvoyant and allowed myself to dream of my future with my lord, but your ghost always stood between us like a high wall that hindered our embrace, and he never lost hope in you. He always carried your necklace and strayed towards the future, to that scene in the bath where he was foretold to see you for the first time in his life, his waiting sun.”
Larissa speaks, and Celine stares at her stupidly and questioningly, unable to connect things together, wondering what she is talking about.
And Larissa continued, taking a few steps towards her, as if she needed to be close, begging her: “Please, do not ask him to release me. I have lived under his control for all these centuries, and everyone knows that I am his property, his future wife who is still waiting for the marriage that will never be consummated. No one will dare to harbor me or accept me, or even my request.” She pressed her forehead in desperation, adding, “If he asks me to leave, I will be homeless, as there is no place for me to go.”
Celine's heart contracted; bathed in a feeling of guilt and inferiority, she had failed in the right of this gentle creature, who had done nothing wrong but to serve her king with all honesty and respect.
Kaiden's defenses were breached without caring for Larissa's presence, which seemed clear to her that she was receiving the respect and acceptance of everyone around her.  It was clear that he had never loved her, and she knew it.
She sat on the edge of the bed, still bearing Kaiden's clear trace of Larissa, and whispered to her:
"I apologize, Larissa, if I unintentionally hurt you, believe me, and this mansion was your house before it was mine, and you can stay there as long as you like."
Larissa breathed a sigh of relief, as she did not expect to accept Celine so easily.
She smiled softly, letting a few tears escape from her eyeballs, whispering gratefully.
“Thank you; I will be grateful to you all my life.”
The two turned towards the door, hearing the sound of regular footsteps coming from the hall, so Celine went to the door to check what was happening and saw Kayden's private guard, which numbered no more than five, surrounding Mark, leading him towards the weightlifting hall.
She recoiled, wondering
"What's going on outside when they don't drive Mark to the weightlifting gym?"
A slight gasp emanated from Larissa's lips, her palm over her mouth, trying to hide their slight trembling whisper.
“The king has decreed his punishment for failing to protect you on the day Damian kidnapped you.”
"What?!"
She turned around, searching for her clothes, to find them tattered and unwearable.
She insulted angrily, then Larissa gasped, denouncing her insult, and the last one angrily threw it into a hanging
"What?  Haven't you heard insults before? Don't you insult?
Larissa shook her head innocently.
And Celine stared at Blaine, pitying her condition, as she is more than four centuries old and still retains her innocence that is similar to that of children, an innocence that is clearly visible in her looks, her walk, her speech, and her actions...
He pulled her from the focus of her pity for Larissa's condition, the sound of the noise that rose from outside reminding her of her primary goal.
So she grabbed the edge of Larissa's elegant silk dress and groped it with a hurried interest.
"Lend me your dress now; I need your dress."
Larissa stared at her stupidly, shrunken in her dress, as if the latter would pull it out of her body against her will, and Celine laughed, justifying the reason for her strange request.
“I have to prevent Mark’s punishment, and I can’t go out like that with the sheet, so it’s either your dress or Mark’s punishment, so decide quickly.”
The last feature was when she understood Celine's goal and told her with clear disappointment.
"You cannot interfere with the decisions of my lord, especially in such matters; they will not let you in."
Celine came out of the room dragging Larissa's dress behind her; she was sure it wouldn't fit her size, but not so much as she looked like a teenager in her mother's dress.
When she reached the entrance to the great hall, she saw two guards blocking the entrance.
She stood in front of them, waiting for a reaction from one of them, and when she waited for a long time without getting it, she bowed, arching her eyebrows, trying to give them a serious impression of her.
But they continued to ignore it completely, refraining from entering it.
She exhaled tightly. "Do you know who I am? I am your queen, and I command you to open the door at once."
She was silent for a moment, adding, "You must obey me, or else the King will punish you as he punishes Mark inside."
And when all her attempts were unsuccessful, she tried to break through them by force, making her tight.
She hit her foot on the ground, expressing her anger, clasping her arms at her chest, staring at them in displeasure, and thinking of a way to break their deadlock.
A resonant voice came from within, breaking the silence that had dominated the place, a monotonous sound repetitive at one pace.
They are lashing Mark; they started lashing him before she reached them, and this made her revolt against the two guards trying to get past them again, so she was interrupted by their arms in front of the door insisting to prevent her from penetrating their shield.
"Please, let me in; Mark doesn't deserve what's happening to him."
She changed her strategy, pleading with them this time that it might work, to no avail.
She held her breath, counting the sound of repeated lashes that Mark received, without hearing him in return.
And after she had reached the count of fifteen, and her heart almost stopped, the place was quiet again, followed by the sound of footsteps on the hard floor approaching the entrance, she retreated to make way for them when the door opened and the five soldiers came out of him, Sanden Mark, who is trying not to lean on them with his heavy gait between them  ,
He stopped near her and raised his head for a moment when he sensed her presence and addressed her with a faint smile that adorned his face as he was trying hard to curb his great pain.
“Praise be to the Almighty for your safe return to our King and to us, my Lady.”
He saluted her and continued his heavy footsteps, leaving her shaken in body and soul, rigid in body, watching him go away with teary eyes, a sick heart, and anger, threatening to unleash him on Kayden.
She turned around, sensing his presence before she saw him.
You watch him contemplate her with sad eyes and a broken heart that rips apart.
It hurts.
suffers because of Mark,
in pain because of Damien,
He suffers because of his dignity, which his brother has touched in the cruelest and ugliest of ways.
She gave her virgin blood to Damian; she offered him what she had pardoned for fear of doing her harm.
And as usual, Damien got him with the cruelest and ugliest of his actions.
Seeing him in this state, he made her forget her anger. Drowning in a wave of guilt, she was coming to blame him, unaware of the suffering they had all caused him—she, Damian, and Mark....
And so, in the blink of an eye, her anger vanished, and she ran to him, and she fell into his arms.
She longs for his embrace, his warmth, and his containment, and she seizes him at once.
He pressed her body to his chest, buried his face in the hollow of her neck, inhaled its unique scent, the scent of drowning in its folds, and bathed in its elixir for hours during the last night.
the smell of sun and warmth,
spring and summer,
light and tenderness,
strength and courage,
The scent of his beloved son
Which alone is able to nip his suffering in the bud.
"Are you done?"
He asked Kayden, trying to lift his head off the pillow, and Celine pushed him so hard that he prevented him with a phone.
“No, not yet; try not to move,” she said, warning him. “Stop, you are ruining my delicate work.”
“Oh, mighty!!  You're too slow; I have an important meeting in an hour from now.” He grumbled, satisfied with her request.
"I'm not slow; I'm just trying to perfect my work. Don't forget that you are the king, and you have to go out in your best dress."
He tried to raise his head again, and I pushed him down again.
Telephone "stop"
“Do you think I’m going to come out with these braids of yours to my meeting?” he shouted in a muffled voice across the pillow.
“Oh, of course,” she said, adding in affectionate longing. “Since the first time I saw your black hair falling on your shoulders, I wished you could see it with thin braids.”
No sooner had she finished her sentence than she found herself lying on her back as he lay flat on top of her, trying not to throw the weight of his whole body on her.
“Well, I have volunteered to fulfill your wish, but what did my senators do to see me in this state?”
He's talking, and she's watching his neck closely.
Silence, watching her, watching his neck with great interest, raised an eyebrow questioningly.
"Your looks!!! ...as if you desire something that you don't know how to reach."
“How do you feel when you feed me?”