Yesterday, after she saw Neoma and Meir together in the garden, she rushed to Ael as quickly as she could, and Ael promised that Neoma would be leaving the castle as soon as possible.
For whatever reason, she was still here.
Where was Ael anyway? What time was it?
She moved through the dark halls and stopped at the end of her favorite tapestry, listening for anyone on the other side.
Carefully moving aside the hanging rug, she peeked out and saw that the morning light filtered through the windows. She let out a sigh of relief when no one was around and slowly slipped out.
She began walking down the open corridor, and after turning a corner, she accidentally bumped into someone and stumbled backward.
Meir stood there, staring at her with angry eyes. “Where have you been, Luelle?”
She plastered a smile on her face, despite wanting to smack him, and stood back up. “I should be asking you the same question, Meir.”
Their eyes stayed locked as they studied each other.
He broke the silence. “Last night, that damn Lionne almost attacked our king, andyouhave been missing.”
He had to be lying. Elco wouldn’t just attack Ael.
“Where’s King Ael now?” she asked.
“In the dining room.” He squinted at her, clearly trying to find a break in her facade.
She fought the urge to laugh at his face. He looked so funny when he was all mad and red.
Deciding she could mask her smirk at his expression with sarcasm, she said, “Perfect. I’m heading there now and will check in.”
She let out a purposeful, annoying laugh, hoping it would piss him off more.
His eyes darkened completely for a moment, causing her to freeze.
She slowly stepped away, squeezing past him as he watched her go. She shook her head, dismissing it. She wasn’t sleeping, and her mind was playing tricks on her.
She could feel his eyes boring into the back of her head and chuckled when she remembered how Misandra would tell Ael that story about her secret eyeball on the back of her own.
When she entered the dining room, everyone else was there. An open seat next to the beautiful Corvid woman, Ferona, remained, and she gladly took it, looking over at the gorgeous creature and winking at her.
She noticed a faint pink tint spread across Ferona’s cheeks, gliding over her moonlit skin.
Both the Corvid women were absolutely stunning. They looked identical except for their accent colors, but Roya’s demeanor was too abrasive for her. She could also see that she had a thing for Benny, who was sitting next to her with doe eyes.
Can’t blame the man for being obsessed,she thought.
“Welcome to breakfast, Luelle. You look like shit,” Ael said, chuckling, as everyone fell silent when he spoke. His hand was yet again on Seda’s thigh, and she looked... like she sleptreallywell.
“Why,thank you. I slept rather poorly. Neoma’s still here, by the way, snoozing like a baby in that cloud-like bed of hers.” She grabbed the serving spoon to dish herself out a portion of chopped fruit and plopped it onto her plate.
Ael narrowed his eyes but didn’t respond. He simply tapped his finger on the table, clearly annoyed by the news.
“Same for us,” Askold chimed in with a smirk. “There was a lot of noise last night.”
Benny cleared his throat, and Luelle looked at him. His eyes started to water as he held a napkin over his lips to conceal his smile.
“What exactly did I miss?” she asked as she looked between Benny and Ael. “I heard there was an incident with the Lionne?”
“Oh, just Seda experiencing her firstorgasmwhile Elco thought she was injured from all the screaming.” Benny’s voice was muffled through the napkin, but his eyes sparkled mischievously as he looked at Seda, who was visibly pale.
