Clotilde’s fingers curled firmly beneath the table until her knuckles turned pale. Her teeth sank into her lower lip, biting a little too hard until a thin bead of blood appeared.

"We... have many women like that in our kingdom. I presume my king would easily find one suitable for you." She tried her best not to think too deeply about his intentions, but the way Max looked at her made that almost impossible.

"I don’t want just any random woman." Max’s voice remained calm, almost lazy, but his eyes never left her. "I want someone strong and beautiful. Someone I could trust. Someone I have already met." His smile grew a little. "Do you know anybody like that?"

"King Maximus, your words could have consequences you won’t be able to handle if I’m reading your implication correctly." She turned her face slightly to the side, but the movement only exposed the red spreading across her cheeks. Her voice warned him to stop, yet her body betrayed something else. Her breathing had grown shallow, her fingers were trembling under the table, and there was a strange flicker in her eyes that did not match the firmness of her words.

Max moved closer.

Clotilde’s body went still.

His fingers landed on her thigh, not roughly, not possessively, but with a slow, deliberate touch that made her breath catch in her throat. He gently brushed his fingertips against her skin, watching the way her knee tensed, the way her lips parted before she quickly pressed them shut again.

"What exactly would the consequences be then?" he asked.

Her skin was hot under his touch. Far hotter than it should have been.

"King Maximus..." Clotilde’s voice came out lower than before, almost unsteady. "This is inappropriate. My king has not even agreed to this yet..."

But even as she said those words, she did not move his hand away.

Her heart was pounding hard enough that she felt it in her throat. Max was dangerous, arrogant, and far too bold, but he was also a handsome king who had looked at her as if she was not just a diplomat carrying another man’s message, but a prize worth demanding by name. She had never felt desired like this before.

Something inside her shifted.

It was small at first, almost shameful, but impossible to ignore. The possibility alone that Max wanted her, out of all the women in her kingdom, made her feel strangely important. Special. Like she was no longer just a tool sent by her king, but someone who could stand at the center of an alliance and change the direction of two nations with her own body, bloodline, and choice.

And that thought scared her almost as much as it thrilled her.

"That would be..." She found it hard to finish the sentence. Max’s sudden move had taken her by surprise, and the words she was supposed to say scattered before they could leave her mouth. "I should leave... I need to send a letter to my king, carrying your message and request."

"Go. You’re free to leave if you want." Max’s voice stayed soft, almost too calm, but his fingers did not stop brushing over her skin. In fact, his palm lowered a little more along her bare thigh, slow enough to give her every chance to pull away.

Clotilde did not move.

Her shy expression betrayed her. Her eyes kept avoiding his, yet her body remained where it was, caught between duty, fear, and something far more dangerous than both.

"But..." She pressed her fingers against her lips, trying to hide the tremble in them. "You’re holding me down."

"Am I?" Max pushed his chair even closer, his free arm wrapping around her waist, pulling her just enough for her breath to catch. "Do you want me to let go then?"

She did not answer.

For a second, her body shivered, but both of them could tell it was not from fear. Her fingers tightened against her lips, her knees drew together slightly, and her breathing grew quiet, almost careful, as if even one wrong breath would reveal too much.

That was all Max needed to understand her answer.

He leaned closer, his gaze lowering to her flushed face. A part of him felt guilty for seducing yet another woman while Rosalia was still recovering from her wounds, but the guilt did not last long enough to stop him. He saw the bigger picture. If he could secure more bloodlines, especially one as useful as the Crystal Bloodline, he could grow his kingdom into an empire far faster than anyone expected.

Mana weapons, mana armor, fortified cities, a capital built with his own hands and defended by forces no ordinary army could break... With his mana and her bloodline, what could not be accomplished in this world, as long as he had the means to shape it?

He did not want to miss this opportunity, not while Clotilde was acting so strange. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Max was not that experienced with women. He had only been with two so far, but even he could tell she was feeling it too. Her words kept trying to stay proper, but her body was telling a different story. Behind that calm diplomat’s face and polished armor, there was a woman hiding something far more dangerous, something that seemed to want exactly the same thing he did.

"Clotilde," Max said softly, his fingers moving from her thigh to her cheek. "Do you want to experience what I can offer you for the rest of your life?"

His touch was gentle as he turned her head toward him, not forcing her, only guiding her just enough for her to decide the rest herself. And she did. Slowly, almost shyly, she leaned closer under his hand, her breath brushing against his lips.

"I... guess it wouldn’t hurt..." she whispered.

Her eyes closed halfway, her lips slightly parted as if waiting for something she was still too embarrassed to ask for directly. Her heart kept slamming against her ribs, and the strange fluttering in her stomach made her feel light, nervous, and excited all at once.

She had walked into this room as a diplomat carrying her king’s offer.

But now, sitting this close to Max, with his hand on her cheek and his eyes fixed on her like she was already his answer, Clotilde could barely remember the words she had planned to say.