Stolen by the Beastly Lycan King-Chapter 40: I Hate It that He is Always Right

Lucia arched her eyebrows for a moment, surprised by that sudden question.

"I think of them the same way everybody else does, Lady Drella. They are nothing more but civilized animals whose sole power is based on instilling fear into everybody else."

Drella chuckled, standing closer to her friend. "You do not have to pretend, Lady Lucia. And that was not what I was asking about."

Lucia found herself caught off-guard again. "Then what is it that you want to know?"

"There is no need to be coy! Their appearance, of course! Don't you find them irresistibly dashing?"

Lucia moved her attention to the gathering of the beasts in the center of the banquet hall and carefully scrutinized every single one of them.

Drella was right; despite being dabbed as animals, they looked surprisingly neat and well-groomed with their tanned skin beautifully complimented by their black-and-gold robes and their long, usually unruly hair, tied carefully behind their necks with expensive black silk ribbons.

If it were not for their peculiar eyes, tattoos, and gruesome scars, one would definitely mistake them for humans.

"Well," she finally replied, "they do look exquisite."

"All the other ladies-in-waiting have been drooling after them ever since they entered the hall. You know, they are extremely wealthy too!"

This time, Drella leaned closer to Lucia, her voice was barely above a whisper. "I've heard they gift the women they sleep with. Imagine the kind of a gift you could receive if you spent a night with the king himself."

Instinctively, Lucia's hand reached back to her diamond necklace and she instantly felt Kai's cold fingers closing around her neck. Then, she tried to imagine how hot the beast's body might be and a ripple of goosebumps ran over her skin.

"Too bad, though. I don't think the king will be sending for any of us during his stay here. It looks like he only has his eyes set on one person. That useless crippled princess."

Lucia followed her friend's gaze and found Lorelai in the mingling crowd. She then shifted her blue eyes back to Rhaegar and finally realized who he had been looking at this entire time.

'She is right, he cannot seem to take his eyes off her. I wonder why.'

***

Halfway through the banquet, Rhaegar was beginning to lose his patience. He kept looking at Lorelai, his sharp eyes refusing to leave her side, but she pretended to not see him at all.

Was it really because of what she had witnessed last night?

His mind could not get a moment of rest as countless thoughts continued to rush through it.

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At last, he finally caved in.

Leaving his crowd behind, the king marched toward the princess, ignoring the curious glances of the rest of the guests, and when he finally approached her, his cold, low voice made freeze on the spot.

"Why didn't you come to greet me? I know you have been watching me before."

At first, Lorelai did not know what to say to him; she felt rather embarrassed that Rhaegar had noticed her looking at him, but she could not admit that it was her way of keeping a safe distance between them. Especially with so many prying eyes glued to the lycan king no matter where he went.

And now, everyone's attention was glued on them once again.

Lorelai sighed and started slowly walking through the hall, leaning heavily on her cane. She thought that if they would be constantly moving, the tone of their conversation would be blended in with the rest of the guests and it would not give any reason for further gossiping.

Unfortunately, she soon came to understand that it was not such a bright idea after all. Having spent so much time standing and walking, her right hip started throbbing unbearably, and while she could still conceal her limping before, right now, it was absolutely impossible.

With every step she took, the pain in her hip would shoot her like an arrow, prompting Lorelai to wince each time.

Rhaegar noticed her increased suffering right away and it hurt him too. She already looked like she was on the verge of breaking apart, but her limping concerned him the most.

He carefully placed his large hand on the small of her back, offering her his steady support but instead of feeling grateful or relieved, Lorelai's eyes widened in shock and she instantly recoiled as if the king's hand burned her very skin.

That abrupt and sudden movement was another mistake. Startled, the princess lost her balance and almost fell down, dropping her cane, but Rhaegar caught them both right away, wrapping his strong arm around her waist and pulling her closer to his own body.

Lorelai blinked at him absentmindedly while the king stretched his lips into a cunning grin.

"See? If you keep running away from me like this, you will only get hurt, princess."

The princess' cheeks flushed red, her heartbeat ringing loudly in her blushing ears.

She wanted to stay as far away from him as possible, but just like before, she could not help but keep getting closer to him.

As she was finally able to get a hold of herself once again, Lorelai snatched her cane from the king's hand and pushed his body away. This time, Rhaegar did not make her struggle and took a small step away from her as well, scoffing.

Lorelai casually fixed her attire, throwing him a brief warning glance. "People are watching. You promised."

The lycan king shrugged his shoulders as if not understanding what exactly he had done. "What did I do wrong? I only prevented you from falling down and embarrassing yourself, Your Highness."

Even though his arrogant words rang true, the princess could not suppress a deep frown from joining her eyebrows together.

'He is right. If I had fallen down right at his feet, I would have attracted more attention and given them all another reason to ridicule me. I hate it,' she looked into Rhaegar's smug face and sighed. 'I hate it that he is always right when it comes to me.'