“Your Royal Highness…”
Papa and Valerian bowed before him while I curtsied. I sighed in relief when His Royal Highness arrived. He was smiling gently while he had this gentle facade. But his expression quickly changed into a meaningful one when our eyes met.
He turned at Valerian. “I am afraid Father needs your presence, Duke Leveaux. The meeting is going to start.”
Valerian flinched, realizing that he almost forgot about that. He cleared his throat and nodded. “Ah, yes. I did not notice the time. I shall go there at once.” He bowed before him and turned at us. “We shall meet again, Lady Dominixe.” He took my hand and did not hesitate to plant a kiss on the back of my hand while he was looking at my father. “And to you as well, Marquis Cantavalle,” he said meaningfully.
Papa almost smiled bitterly, seeing that Valerian was trying to provoke him.
“Papa-”
“Lady Cantavalle, may I have a dance with you?”
I looked at the crown prince, surprised that he had asked me for a dance. I glanced at Papa, who was also surprised, but then he simply nodded.
“Certainly, Your Royal Highness.” With Papa’s approval, I could freely accept the crown prince’s hand. I curtsied after that before he led me to the dance floor. “You saved me back there,” I said in a low tone, enough for the two of us could hear.
He cleared his throat when it seemed like he was going to chuckle. “I do not wish to have a bloodbath on my birthday. It is good I made haste to interrupt the three of you.”
I smiled, a dazzling one. I needed to avoid suspicion from my father and pretended I was trying to get along with the crown prince. “Thank you then.” I tried to form my lips into a different shape to avoid my lips being read by Papa or my other siblings.
I must be careful since I did not want them to read what I was saying to him.
“Are you supposed to be joining in the meeting?” I asked him after he gently spun me around and drew me closer to him.
“I will join later.” He looked behind me. His lips almost curled up into a smirk. “It seems… I would be deemed questionable by your mate, my lady.” He glanced up.
I followed his gaze, where Valerian was already on the second floor, having a drink in his hand. He looked annoyed when our eyes met before he averted his gaze and left the patio.
I sighed and returned his gaze to see that he had this amusing expression. “He knew about my disguise. He even knew I had a negotiation with you, but he has no idea what we talked about back in Pran.”
“He told me back then that he is serious with you.”
“When did you two talk about?” I arched my eyebrow.
“A few days before my birthday.” He shrugged.
“I see…” I did not know that Valerian was already talking about me to this man.
He seemed comfortable talking with this crown prince as if they were friends, perhaps, because Valerian became one of the royal playmates of Crown Prince Henricus when they were little. I also remembered that Marquart, Achilles, and Liutrich became royal playmates of the crown prince.
It must be why he was comfortable and became a secret retainer of the crown prince.
“I thought that you were going to involve him in your plans. I have already prepared everything to cover for you.”
I chuckled, pretending that he had said something funny. Crown Prince Henricus looked bewildered at my action, but he went along with it.
“I need to change my plans, Your Royal Highness.”
“Call me Henry.”
“Huh?” I parroted, looking at him, bewildered.
He smiled. “If we are working together, you shall call me by my name. I am being called by my sister and my friends as Henry. Short for Henricus. How about you, Lady Dominixe?”
I looked at him in disbelief. The last time we talked, he threatened me with hurting his assistant. But right now, he wanted us to call each other by our names.
But if he was the one who insisted on it, then I should grab it as a chance to befriend a member of the royal lycan family.
“Domi. That is my nickname.”
“I see. Domi… I shall remember that.” He nodded. He was smiling until his smile disappeared when he looked behind me. He growled softly while his face darkened. “I told her not to dance with him…” he muttered, snorting.
I looked where he was looking and saw that he was glaring at Princess Eustacia, dancing with another man.
“Can I excuse for a moment?” I returned my gaze to him when Henry asked.
“Certainly.” I nodded before he led me out of the dance floor.
After that, he went to where Princess Eustacia looked surprised when Henry arrived to interrupt them. Then he took her hand and dragged her closer to him. They even looked like he was arguing. I was confused about how he looked at her as if he was… jealous?
That was the term I thought of.
I castigated myself. It would be bizarre if Henry saw his sister as a woman, not as his kinsperson. It never occurred to the royal lycan family to have an incestuous relationship between kinsperson or blood relative.
“Perhaps, he is just overprotective?” But I gasped when I remembered something. “Hold on…” I stiffened when I looked at Princess Eustacia when I remembered about her in my previous life.
Valerian told me that the princess here was not the real Princess Eustacia. It was said that she was fake when they found out about it. She was an impostor, as he proclaimed.
I almost gasped, looking at Henry and Princess Eustacia. My eyes widened, seeing how they were looking at each other differently. They looked like they wanted to ravish each other.
“Dear me…” Was she the impostor? “What the hell…”
“Dominixe.”
I jumped to my feet when Ingram approached me. “Ingram…” I looked at Henry and Princess Eustacia one more time before I returned my attention to him. “What is it?”
“Papa said that we must go now. He did not wish to stay here anymore.”
That rendered me speechless for a moment. It looked like he was really pissed about Valerian. It did not suffice until he released that annoyance he felt.
“Alright.” But then I felt that I was being called by nature. “Can you tell Papa that I shall be late for a while? I need to use the lavatory…” I smiled wryly.
Ingram nodded. “Certainly. I shall wait for you outside, 1st sister.”
Nodding, I scurried to the nearest lavatory. I was so annoyed since this did not happen in the previous life that I needed to rush to pee. I regretted drinking so much champagne tonight and had eaten only a few appetizer bites.
When I was done, I stayed there for a moment, trying to grasp the situation for tonight.
So far, Valerian did not get to say that he was my mate to Papa. That was good. It meant that it would be safe to say that I was safe for tonight.
“I might proceed for my next step…” I muttered as I inhaled and exhaled, mustering up some courage before I opened the door, only to see that Valerian was already there. “V-Valerian?”
I was about to ask what he was doing here, but Valerian immediately got inside and trapped me between the door and his body.
“What are you doing?” I asked, hearing how fast the beating of my heart right now. “I thought you have a meeting with…” I couldn’t continue my words when his face was so close to me while smelling his scent that it made me feel intoxicated. His breath was fanning my face, which shivered me down to my core.
“Do forgive me, honeydew. But I fucking missed you so much.”
He did not wait for me to respond when he reached for my cheek and slammed his lips. I was supposed to be shocked by his action, but I found myself returning the same fervor and intensity of his kisses.
I clung to him as if my life was dependent on him. I showed him that I missed him so badly that I did not want to be separated from him again.
Butterflies were fluttering my stomach right now as Valerian deepened our kiss. His hands started to wander around my body while I reached for the doorknob to lock it. I did not want anyone to disturb us. I wanted to be with him just for a moment before returning home.
I felt Valerian smiling under our kiss when I reached for his suit buttons to feel his chest. Impatiently. As for Valerian, he was undoing the ties of my dress and corset so he could pull down my dress and reveal my perky breasts.
“Val…” I moaned when he sucked on my tits. He even arched my back so he gained full access to them. I unbuckled his belt and sprang his already alive cock pulsating under my palm. “We must be quick… We are about to go home…” I said in my raspy breath when his lips left wet kisses up to my neck. “Valerian… Honeydew… Take me now… Make haste!” I said impatiently as I started moving my hand up and down his shaft.
He grunted, growling softly from my action. He reached the hem of my dress and pulled it up to my waist. “Dominixe… You are going to be the death of me, woman…” He looked into my eyes before he raised my leg to wrap around his waist. “Can you remain quiet while I fuck you so hard?”
I bit my lower lip and nodded. “Fuck me now… Please…” I begged. “Do not leave some hickeys… I am going to kill you if you do.” I glared at him.
I did not want him to ruin my plans tonight. If I had some hickeys on my neck or shoulders, Papa would question it.
Valerian chuckled darkly before he kissed my jaw. “Alright… As you wish, my lady.”
I did not get to process what he said when Valerian slammed his cock inside me, causing me to gasp and cling to him. I almost moaned so loud if only he did not cover my mouth. He shoved his thumb inside to prevent me from creating noise.
“Suck it and be a good girl if you wish us to finish,” he commanded.
Nodding, I did what he said and sucked his thumb to distract myself while I felt my insides stretched by how rough and hard he was fucking me. Valerian was showing how he wanted me so badly. I was already rolling my eyes at the back of my head, feeling the pleasure crawling on my skin.
“Hmm…” I wanted to call his name, but I couldn’t.
“I want you to remember me later tonight that I fucked you so hard until I made you cum,” he whispered huskily before he licked my earlobe. “Can you do that, honeydew?”
“Yes,” I answered, muffling. I removed his thumb and reached for his lips, kissing him hungrily.
It did not take long for me to reach my orgasm. We both deepened our kiss when he also had his orgasm and released his seeds inside me.
Valerian leaned forward to me after that while we were panting heavily. I couldn’t even move my legs for a moment while I was garnering support from him.
“Dominixe…” He huffed.
“Yes?” I sniffed his scent, wanting to memorize it even though I had my own hyacinth garden there that smelled like him. I was feeling tired as well. But I must remain awake and return to the carriage after that.
I stiffened when I felt something prick on my skin. My eyes widened before I immediately pushed Valerian away from me. “What did you…” I looked at the thin injection on his hand before I lowered my gaze to my arm. “Why did you do that?” I growled at him as my chest rose up and down.
“My apologies, but you are going with me, honeydew.” He tossed the injection and walked in my direction.
I tackled and shoved him to the wall when he was in front of me.
He gasped. “How?” He looked at me, shocked. “How can you still move?”
I apprehended his hands on his back and smirked at him. I calmed myself, not believing that Valerian had just injected me with a paralyzing shot. I had felt its effect.
That tingling sensation almost made me unable to move, but I knew better. I could move since I was trained to consume poisons and other potions.
“My apologies, honeydew. But that potion seems substandard.” I tiptoed to kiss him on his cheek. “Try again next time.” I stepped back before I hit him hard on the back of his head, causing him to kneel on the ground.
Valerian grunted and reached for me. “Dominixe… Halt from running away from me… Please!”
Panting, I immediately fixed myself, not minding taking the bangle he kept in his pockets. I turned at him. “No.” I cocked my head from side to side and smiled sweetly at him. “Enjoy your freedom, for now, honeydew. Because the moment we cross paths again, you will not be able to run away from me,” I said meaningfully and stormed out of the lavatory, rendering Valerian speechless.