Raphael

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I picked up the devastated and drooping Thea in my arms, who was like a living doll without a soul and the former sparkle in her eyes. Her body hung limply on me, not creating a feeling of heaviness at all, she was too light, like a feather. After opening the portal, I went through it, and we immediately found ourselves in my room in Abion.

- Is anything bothering you? Should I call a doctor? - There was a genuine note of concern in my voice about this fragile creature. There wasn’t a single physical injury on her, but I couldn’t say the same about her inner world.

The whole scene that unfolded before her eyes must have left a strong imprint on her psyche, and I could not blame her for such a decadent state, it was completely my fault. But even if I wanted to, I could not have prepared her for the fact that limbs would be torn off before her eyes, heads would fly off her shoulders and blood would flow like a river, as well as the death of her sister, though not her own, though not her beloved, but this was another aggravating fact.

She shook her head negatively in response to my question and I helped her sit down on the bed, carefully and unhurriedly, like fragile glass, I protected her every movement. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

- Don’t leave me alone. - her voice was so quiet, like a wounded bird that was on its last legs.

I sat down next to her and pulled her into my arms, feeling her put her head on my shoulder and trembled softly. Her tears flowed slowly but surely. Trying not to attract attention to herself, she cried quietly, never sniffing and only occasionally wiped the dripping drops from her face with her fingers, as if correcting her eyelashes, but I could clearly hear her convulsive heartbeat and fleeting, barely perceptible sighs. She was trying to be strong.

I stroked her head, rocking slightly and comforting her. It was the only thing I could do for her right now. Moreover, there was another very important point on the agenda. Probably even more important, for which Thea won’t forgive me if I don’t inform her in advance and get her approval.

It was even funny that I was waiting for her approval in my soul, as if she had tightly entangled me in her web and now I am a weak-willed prisoner, and she is a dangerous predator that can devour me at any second without a trace if I make one wrong step. I knew perfectly well that now a small melted area appeared in my icy heart, on which new life was born and flowers were blooming. And she was the reason for that.

- Baby, I know that now is not the best time and you need to rest after everything you’ve been through, but.... Let’s put aside for a while everything that happened in Riliya... we will definitely return to this issue and to the conversation we had earlier. I’ll tell you everything, but right now I need you to listen to me carefully.

She turned her clear but swollen and reddened eyes on me and, to my relief, I did not see self-loathing in them. But there was pain. Yeah, I guess I’m not a ladies’ man, since I make her cry so often.

- Maybe something else is more important than that? – her question was imbued with a slight mockery, but this is not a reproach in my direction, but rather a value judgment about the whole situation.

- I need to marry Giselle.

These words of mine were like a tub of ice water poured over her head at the most unexpected moment. With every millisecond, her eyes widened, and her eyebrows frowned even more, and no one else remembered the tears. Her face clearly expressed disbelief at my words and their subsequent denial.

- This is some kind of joke, right? – she pushed away from me and moved further away, without ceasing to shake her head negatively, as if this was all not reality, but some kind of unpleasant dream.

I grabbed her hand, not tightly, but enough to let her know my intentions not to let her go until we finish our conversation.

- It’s just a formality, Thea.

- Is everything formally happening with me, too? – she was indignant, raising her voice a little and jumping out of bed, towering over me.

I rolled my eyes inwardly. I just didn’t have enough female hysteria yet. Where is my vaunted self-control?

I rubbed my neck and got up after her, not letting her escape.

- Is that what you think about it?

- Don’t answer a question with a question. - She poked me in the chest with her finger. – I want to know what you feel for me and why you use me in all these palace blood games. I don’t want to be used. This is not what I have always aspired to.

Her eyes flashed again with accumulated, but not shed tears. With one quick jerk, I pulled her by the waist closer and without wasting a second, I swallowed her soft lips, absorbing all the indignation and protests that tried to escape from her small mouth.

- It’s been a long time since I’ve been more honest with anyone in my emotions than with you. Can’t you feel it? – it was like a sharp thorn in my chest from her distrust of me. – Don’t you feel that you have become a part of my world, a part of me?

- Is that why you’re going to marry Giselle? - her voice was still full of sarcasm.

I held her tightly by the waist, and with my other hand I wiped away a single flowing tear, which still escaped from the restrained captivity.

- You saw her father at the ball, didn’t you? He is a very unpleasant type who always acts with someone else’s hands, acts behind others back and it is too difficult to catch him red-handed. - I paused briefly. – If it wasn’t for Dexter and his moralizing, I would have dealt with Christopher a long time ago.

- What does this have to do with getting married? Thea interrupted.

- I invited Giselle here because she has been in love with me for a long time and this is a great way to use her against her father. He has agreements with Riliya that are aimed at destroying Abion. Until today, he was unaware that I knew everything. But now that he knows, he won’t give up on anything. Before leaving, I proposed to his daughter, knowing that she would not be able to refuse, and her mother would go along with it, since she sees this union as a loophole to seize my power.

Thea listened attentively, putting aside emotions, she was focused and prudently analyzed everything that I tried to convey to her in my own words.

- The best option is to hold the wedding in the coming days, before Serena and Giselle get the information about what happened at the Marro Palace. It will also keep you safe.

- And how will this protect me? After she becomes queen, there’s nothing stopping her from just killing me. - Thea was indignant.

- Not exactly. To become a full-fledged queen, she lacks something. I’ll explain it to you later. In any case, her coronation will be formal with a restriction of power. And after the wedding, it won’t make sense for me to be polite to her.

- What will this marriage give you?

- My smart girl. - I smiled and stroked her cheek. - This marriage will give me a legitimate reason to ascend to the throne of Adaman after the death of her parents.