After a decent amount of time traveling, the carriage had a stop at an inn just by the road. It was exclusively opened just for them to have lunch according to Mineah, and Xenia was grateful that King Nikolai was considerate enough to make sure that their travel would be smooth without any disturbances.
Sitting down, the food served on the table was like a feast, with stuffed chickens, quarters of a stag, loins of veal covered with pomegranate seeds, sugar plums, and sauces. There were even vegetables and pies as well.
Looking at the spread, Xenia was surprised to see the Vampire King heartily eating those meals alongside them. She had thought that Nikolai wouldn’t enjoy these types of dishes since he preferred blood, but she supposed that she was wrong in that regard.
In all honesty, she had already prepared herself to eat without care despite imagining the latter drinking raw blood in front of them.
“Xen, stop staring at Nikolai. It makes me uncomfortable,” Darius suddenly complained. “It’s not like he’s more handsome than I am.”
Xenia blushed at her mate’s behavior. She couldn’t believe how childish her mate was being right now to even voice such a thing out loud. Was she that obvious? She probably was, considering how deep Darius’s frown was right now.
Still, she couldn’t believe how her mate couldn’t hold it in. Then again, Darius was probably too close to Nikolai to not mind showing his childishness in front of the latter like this.
On the other side of the table, Nikolai chuckled. Looking at Darius with a broad smile, he said, “Look at you showing how possessive you are around your mate. Tsk… Don’t stop her from admiring other beauties than you, my friend.”
Xenia’s jaw almost dropped at the antics of the Vampire King. Of course, there was no point for debate since King Nikolai was indeed handsome as well. But in her eyes, it would only be Darius that was the most handsome of all of the men out there in the world.
Still grinning, King Nikolai shook his head, baffled eyes still at Darius as he added, “I still can’t believe that you’re the same old friend of mine seeing the way you’re acting right now. I see a total change. You didn’t even bother to look at any other women before. But now…” He shook his head with a smirk, “I guess being head over heels in love did bring out the most hilarious man inside you.”
Xenia’s face reddened at the Vampire King’s words. Looking to her little sister Mineah for help, she expected to get at least some explanation of what was happening. But instead, Mineah was too focused on eating her meals instead of participating in the conversation.
Not that there was anything new to it though, seeing as no one could ever disturb her whenever she was in front of a feast like this. She had her own world in front of delicious food and meals, and it was particularly hard for anyone to get her out of it.
“I simply hate it whenever my love looks at any other men except for me. I get jealous quite easily,” Darius shamelessly admitted, staring at her with his snapped brows.
Xenia lifted an eyebrow in return. How she wanted to knock her mate out in that instant for blabbering such nonsense. But then, she honestly didn’t find it annoying. On the contrary, she found her mate quite amusing acting like that.
‘Who would’ve thought that I can bring out this side of him?’ she mused.
Her gaze shifted back to Nikolai. It wasn’t like she admired the beauty of the Vampire King, but she was curious about him, seeing as this was her first time meeting a vampire like him; one who enjoyed human meals unlike what she had heard before.
Still, she supposed she should apologize. A timid smile on her face, she apologetically explained to him. “I didn’t mean to sneak glances at you like that. It’s just that it fascinates me to see you eat these types of meals heartily,” Xenia admitted. “I’m sorry for my ignorance. I’m not too familiar with the royal family of Valcrez unlike my sister Mineah. I skipped classes more than I should have.”
“Well, I don’t just sip blood to fill my stomach, milady. Like most humans, I also enjoy your meals,” Nikolai commented with a soft smile on his face. “Although, I must admit that blood is preferable to my taste, and it gives me more energy than simply eating normal food…”
Xenia simply nodded. She then turned to look at Darius and murmured, “There are no other men more handsome than you in my eyes, my king, so stop with your sulking.”
She couldn’t believe that she had to say those words out in front of others, but it simply slipped through her mouth, seeing how her mate was indeed sulking in front of others…
She really wished he wasn’t doing that though.
“Aren’t you just jealous of these two adorable lovebirds, Mine?” Nikolai suddenly asked, looking at her sister who was casually slicing a portion of meat onto her plate. “What do you think? These two are shamelessly showing their affection to us in public, and I’m feeling envious of their love.”
Xenia blinked her eyes as she watched her sister closely, wondering how Mineah would react to such shameless bait. Her sister had a reputation of being an ice-cold and unbothered princess aside from being infamous as the cursed princess. She was stoic most of the time, and she rarely showed emotions in front of other people except for her family and those she considered as such like Dani and her shadow maidens.
Curiously, Xenia watched as her little sister stopped eating. Mineah then gracefully put down her knife and fork before turning her head to King Nikolai. Showing her sweetest smile with her perfect white teeth to her husband, she sweetly said, “Would you like me to feed you then, Lai? A meal you wouldn’t forget?”
Xenia almost choked in her own saliva. ‘This isn’t good!’
Thinking back, Mineah only showed her pearly white teeth of hers whenever she was utterly annoyed at someone… And what a perfect way to annoy her than to interrupt her from a good meal.
“What’s wrong?” Darius asked her, seeing how keenly she was staring at Mineah.
Instead of replying, Xenia held her breath as Mineah grabbed the knife. Pursing her lips to hold herself from laughing, she watched as her little sister took a rather large portion of meat and practically shoved it in front of Nikolai’s face.
“Ahhh. Open your big mouth, Lai, and receive this heaping amount of affection coming from me,” Mineah sweetly stated.
Xenia turned to Darius, and with her lowest voice, she murmured, “You’re so lucky you ended up with me and not someone as crazy as my little sister.”
Darius chuckled as he leaned in to whisper into Xenia’s ear. “You’re the one lucky, my love, because you ended up with me and not with someone as crazy as Nikolai.”
********
AN: Nikolai and Mineah will have their own book. I’m torn between The Crown’s Seduction, The Crown’s Temptation, and The Crown’s Desire for the title. Help me decide and comment on what you think sound’s better. Their story will be published next year (2023). Pls. do look forward to it. I’ll just wrap up my still incomplete book, The Untamed: Game of Hearts, first. Thanks hehe
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