The Crown's Seduction-Chapter 45: Valcor Island

"Mine…"

Mineah stirred upon hearing Nikolai's familiar voice. Unknowingly, she smiled at his soothing tone. Somehow, his simple voice was more than enough to make her feel secure.

Slowly opening her eyes, she hummed, "Lai?"

Instead of hearing a reply, Mineah felt his warm lips gently kissing her knuckles. She turned to him, and there was Nikolai smiling lovingly at her. With how surreal everything was to her at the moment, she couldn't help but wonder if this was nothing more than another dream to her.

'Will it turn into another erotic one?' she inwardly mused, which ended up making her weakly chuckle at how silly her thoughts were even in her dreams.

"Mine, you're scaring me. Why are you laughing?" he soothingly asked. "Oh, please don't tell me you hit your head or something… but there's no single scratch on you at all."

Mineah frowned at his words. "Is this real?" she asked as she tried to sit up on her own.

Seeing her efforts, Nikolai quickly moved and helped her. Mineah smiled as she felt his warm body move close to her, his familiar sandalwood-like scent that she had been missing for days wafting over her nose as she inhaled what she could get for herself.

Unknowingly, Mineah touched his soft face. She then proceeded to pinch him as if to see if he was real.

"Ouch!" Nikolai cried out, making her blink rapidly as he amusedly lifted an eyebrow at her. "Aren't you supposed to pinch yourself if you want to see if things are real, Mine?"

"So, I'm not dreaming then," she murmured with a sigh.

"You tell me, Mine. Am I always in your dreams that you thought that you're just dreaming right now?" Nikolai whispered with his roguish grin as he gently caressed her cheeks.

Mineah inwardly cursed at his antics. She just knew that she was already blushing hard from his touch.

"What happened?" she quickly asked, immediately changing the topic as she let her thoughts wonder about the people she cared for. She was silently praying and hoping that everyone was safe like her. "My Shado- ladies-in-waiting? Aunt Alexa? The ship and the rest?"

"Everyone is safe now, Mine. You don't have to worry," Nikolai reassured her with a grin. "Sirens are powerful beings, but they still won't win against our kind."

"No casualties on our side then?"

Nikolai simply nodded.

Mineah weakly nodded at his confirmation. Relief was something she sorely needed, and him reassuring her that everyone was fine was more than enough for her to relax. Faintly smiling, she squinted as her nose picked up something familiar.

Seeing her curiosity, Nikolai murmured, "Right, I'm brewing you some of your favorite chamomile tea."

He then quickly moved to stand up with Mineah simply watching him. He was looking around for some reason, but there were more pressing questions she wanted answers to.

"How did you know it's my favorite tea?" she skeptically asked. "Also, where are we? What is this place?"

Looking around herself, she was obviously inside a cozy stone house fully furnished with both amenities and furniture to live comfortably in. Curious, she got up from bed, and her eyes widened when she just notice that she was wearing a huge male tunic. Was it Nikolai's?

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"I have my own ways of finding out more about my wife," Nikolai cryptically said with a smile as he handed her the cup of tea. "And we're currently at Valcor Island. Specifically, in the stone house Darius and I built together at the highest peak of this island's dormant volcano."

"I see," she hummed. "And this?"

"That's mine. There are no women's dresses here excluding mine and Darius's clothes," Nikolai explained as she gestured to her current attire. "As such, I changed you into my tunic. But don't worry, Taro will be coming soon bringing you enough clothes to change with."

"You… You saw it all then?" she subconsciously burst out while staring at Nikolai in disbelief.

"Do you expect me to change you with my eyes closed, Mine?" he scoffed. "Of course, I saw everything. But don't worry, I still have enough self-control left not to touch anything beyond what I'm required to-"

"Stop!" Mineah burst out, her face deep red in embarrassment.

This was disastrous. Being exposed like that was so hilariously embarrassing that she wanted the ground to eat her whole.

But then, she realized how Nikolai would probably see all of what she had to offer sooner or later anyway. She did promise him that she would please him in bed in other ways, and that would obviously involve her getting naked in front of him.

Nikolai chuckled, "Your tea's getting cold, Mine. Take a sip."

Walking to the nearest window, Mineah swallowed down her embarrassment before sipping on her tea. Immediately, her eyes widened at the taste.

"You used milk as a base?" she asked, flabbergasted. "How did you know I…"

She wanted to question him further, but she stopped as soon as she realized how Nikolai would surely just answer her that he had his ways.

Deep inside, however, she was feeling giddy again. The thought of Nikolai making an effort to know her more was making her heart flutter.

Shaking her head, she looked outside only to gasp as soon as she had a proper look at the breathtaking view of the hills and forest from her spot. "It's beautiful here."

Closing her eyes, she took in the nature around her as she inhaled the fresh scent of the lush greeneries before her.

"Valcor Island is an island in the middle of the Miran Ocean located in between Cordon and Valcrez territories," Nikolai casually explained.

"It's a deserted island protected by both kingdoms. Darius and I were the only rulers who discovered it. So we named it Valcor which came from the names of both of our kingdoms."

Aware of his keen eyes directed at her, Mineah couldn't help but point out, "You and King Darius seem to really have a good relationship."

She then turned to Nikolai while trying to sit on the thick wide edge of the window, not minding how the tunic she wore had been pulled aside to expose her shapely porcelain long legs.

"The Beholden Law," she began. "How did you become-"

Mineah's words hung from her mouth. Not because she was tongue-tied, but because Nikolai had suddenly silenced her with his hungry kiss.

'What just happened?' she thought with wide eyes.

"You're really testing my patience, aren't you?" Nikolai hummed inside her mouth.

"What did I even do?" Mineah murmured back while he was busy suckling on her lips. Why was he blaming her when she was simply sipping on her tea and admiring the beautiful scene outside?

As if he suddenly got burned, Nikolai backed off. Letting out aloud exhale, he said, "We'll need to stay here for a while until I'm able to control my hunger and thirst for your blood."