Finally, Ardion closed the door, turned towards me, and immediately began taking off his shirt.
"Your Highness, what are you doing?"
He quickly unbuttoned his shirt. "I heard from the healer. Even though you should be careful with mana infusion for a week, it's fine to inject mana directly into your body in your condition."
My face turned red. "We're in the carriage!"
"So what?"
"And we’re not even married yet!" I whispered.
Ardion furrowed his brows slightly. "Laila, your situation is urgent."
When he came closer, I covered my lips.
He paused. "Laila."
"Your Highness, let’s talk at the mansion first."
"What’s there to talk about? Didn’t we already discuss everything?"
"Still, not here…"
"Laila, what are you hesitating about? Right now, your health is the priority," Ardion said as he took my hand.
I pulled back in surprise. "Right now, I need rest."
"Laila, we’re going to marry each other soon."
Ardion’s soft voice lingered gently in my ear. His breath brushed against my neck, causing me to take a deep breath. Then our eyes met. I could see the hunger in his eyes, like something desperately waiting to be fulfilled.
I quickly pushed him on the shoulder. "I don’t want this to happen in the carriage."
Ardion moved back obediently and put his shirt back on, but noticeably slowly. When I glanced at him, he tilted his head. "You can look all you want. It’s yours after all."
I hurriedly turned my head away. The more Ardion acted so forward, the less I knew how to respond. My heart was racing, and my hands were sweating.
Ardion came closer to me with a smile. "Laila, then after we get married, what about at the mansion?"
There was an unspoken implication in his words, but I understood what he meant just from his bright face. I nodded. After all, once we were married, there was no avoiding it.
My mind was in turmoil, wondering if this was the right thing. But I had no other choice. This was the only way to survive.
Above all, I didn’t mind Ardion. Just hearing that Rowell was planning to marry me made my skin crawl, but the thought of marrying Ardion didn’t bother me in the same way.
While I was lost in thought, Ardion spoke again. "Laila, we’ll marry as soon as the trial ends."
"So soon?"
"The preparations have already been made. The only question was when."
Thinking back, Ardion had indeed been very diligent in offering me many choices.
He gently lifted my hand and placed a kiss on the back of it. "I’ll make you the happiest bride in the world."
As his lips slowly pulled away, our eyes met. There was an overwhelming sense of anticipation in his gaze, as if he had been waiting for that moment.
❋ ❋ ❋
A few days later, I woke up earlier than expected. I looked out the window for a moment, then suddenly wondered how the world was turning.
Come to think of it, I left the newspaper in the living room. Yesterday, one of the servants seemed to hide the newspaper when I passed by.
I hurriedly changed out of my pajamas and went downstairs. The servants greeted me as I walked by. I returned their greetings and made my way to the drawing room.
Unlike yesterday, no servants immediately avoided me. It seemed Ardion had said something to them.
As soon as I entered the living room, I saw the newspaper on the table.
[The majority of the nobles in the House of Nobles have agreed that Crown Prince Rowell’s marriage is inappropriate for the empire and goes against the empire’s sentiments. The marriage approval was hereby not granted.
According to one of the crown prince’s close aides, most of his noble supporters also agreed. In particular, Duchess Heverun strongly argued that the crown prince’s marriage…]
There was also a brief article about something else.
[In the mansions of several high-ranking nobles, loud explosions were heard. Most of them were supporters of Rowell…]
"Laila, what are you doing?"
I turned my head and saw Ardion standing there. I shook the newspaper. "It says Rowell's marriage has been canceled."
Ardion came closer and looked down at the newspaper. His arm brushed against my shoulder. I held the newspaper out slightly for him to see better.
"But is this okay? Your Highness, you threatened the high-ranking nobles who support Rowell. They might not stay quiet." I was quite worried.
Ardion wrapped his arm around my shoulder and replied calmly, "Those who can’t fight back won’t do anything. There are some who live under Rowell’s control and hold ill intentions."
Ardion's voice softly echoed in my ear. For some reason, I felt tense, but I tried to act as if nothing was wrong.
"Still, I doubt Rowell will be that obedient. The verdict for the Duke Orchid arson case will come out in a few days too."
"Rowell won’t be able to do anything right now. I also submitted the marriage application today."
That was a relief.
"But why didn’t you submit the application before the rumors spread?"
"I hadn’t thought about it back then. I guess I was just so happy you agreed to marry me that I was out of my mind." Ardion pulled me closer and tilted his head. His soft hair brushed against my face.
My heart raced faster as our bodies touched. His closeness made me hear my heartbeats echoing. I pushed him away.
"Laila?"
"Why are you getting so close to me? We still have a week…"
"Laila, I heard from the healer that after just two days, you’ll be unstable."
"But I heard it was definitely a week. Didn’t you say the same thing a few days ago, Your Highness?"
"That’s true, but now that I think about it, it’s actually two days. I misspoke back then."
I was uneasy, and then he leaned closer to me. I could smell a faint, pleasant scent coming from him.
I turned my head away. If things stayed like this, I felt like I would freeze up. I was so nervous with him being so close, and moreover, we were in the living room, so the servants could see us.
I made an effort to shift my body away. "Umm, Derol… I forgot to bring him his food."
Ardion grabbed my hand. "Laila, the servants can take care of Derol."
"But if I don’t go in the morning, Derol won’t feel at ease. Even yesterday, I briefly forgot, and he was really worried about me."
Ardion looked at me carefully, and his gaze wavered for a moment. "There are times when I feel powerless. This is one of those moments, when you’re so concerned about Derol."
"Derol is an animal."
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"I’m an animal too, Laila."
"Your Highness?"
Ardion smiled lightly and held my hand tighter. "When I was young, I felt this way about Derol, and now it’s the same."
I hesitated for a moment, then gently ran my fingers over the back of his hand. It was much firmer than the hand I had held before, which surprised me.
When I looked up, Ardion’s expression was stiff. Slowly, like a creaking machine, he looked down at me. "Laila."
"I don’t do this for Derol. I do it only for you, Your Highness."
At least Derol’s hands were too small for me to do the same.
Ardion’s face brightened. Then he gently cupped my face with his hands and kissed my lips.
TN: Ardion is really in love with Laila. Let's wait until she opens her heart to him, and it's getting closer! I can smell it ~
