Chapter 39: 39. Dirty Little Secret

Narcisse raised his head slowly to meet the gaze of the King. His hands and feet had been chained to the floor, restricting his freedom to even move around inside that damp little dungeon cell. His body was covered in red and blue bruises. His eyes, however, depicted that he was calm and unbothered from inside and this bugged Xavier to a great extent.

King Xavier scoffed once again. "It shocks us how you do not even show an ounce of remorse for the sin you have committed."

"The sin that I've committed you say, Your Majesty?" Narcisse smiled as he shook his head. "Please. Do not give me all the credit for something that you and your father have done."

"Under your influence, of course." Xavier retorted.

"What type of King is a king who is easily swayed by others?" asked Narcisse with a triumphant smile on his face.

Xavier gritted his teeth and clenched his fist in order to control himself from shifting right then and there to murder the bastard in front of him. He got distracted when he heard footsteps approaching. The guards behind him bowed on the arrival of the Duke and the Duchess Lily walked towards him and put her hand on his left shoulder. "Calm down, Xavier."

Narcisse chuckled. "As if His Majesty has ever calmed down on your request, Duchess Lily. The only one who can overpower the Alpha King is his mate."

Motivated by their guilt-ridden silence, he decided to ridicule them even more. "Guards! Go fetch your Queen Persephone this instant. Your King needs her. His mate!"

Duke Lorenzo sneered at him. "Why call someone else when Ariana has returned already?" He spat.

The smile on Narcisse's face had faded and the color from his face was drained. "If she returns to him, all of my efforts would have been for nothing. Why the hell is she back!" He thought in horror.

Narcisse took a deep breath and shook his head in denial. "So what? Even if she is back, she shall never be yours. Do you really think she will believe your words over your actions? You're sadly mistaken, Your Majesty!" He spat. "And even if she believes in your reasons and miraculously forgives you, she won't be able to forget that you rejected her. That you chose her own sister over her. Her self-respect won't allow her to."

Xavier stood stunned, listening to every word which fed his insecurity and fear of losing his mate. His mind had started to ache already at the thought of his Ariana rejecting him when he offers his heart at her mercy.

"You don't have to listen to any of his words, Xavier. Let's go." Duchess Lily took a hold of his arm and dragged an absent-minded Xavier out of the dungeon, followed by Duke Lorenzo while Narcisse's shouts could be heard in the background.

Xavier, Duke Lorenzo and Duchess Lily were seated on sofa of the meeting room of the King while a maid prepared them tea. Duchess Lily took the cup from the maid's hand and offered to Xavier. "Here. It shall help you relax and think better."

Xavier took the cup and muttered a thank you to the Duchess as well as the maid. The maid bowed and left, giving the higher-ups their privacy.

Duchess Lily took a sip and started talking. "I can't help but agree with Narcisse on one thing. Even if you explain everything to Ariana, it is highly unlikely that she will believe you. After all, she cannot possibly trust you. So, don't hurry and dump all your trauma on her. Firstly, show her by your actions that you truly care for her. That she can trust on you and your words."

"It may be too late, Lily." said Duke Lorenzo. His thoughts wandered to the time he had witnessed the closeness between Sean and Ariana. He feared that their relationship might have gone further as he recalled Alpha Nathaniel calling someone Ariana's "lover boy."

"Nonsense, Lorenzo. This is mate-bond we're talking about. She won't be able to resist her mate for long. All she needs is a little push and assurance from Xavier's side."

The Duke contemplated if he should inform Xavier about another angle of the story. He took a look at him and saw the same vulnerability in his eyes that he had seen when Xavier had once been a boy who had stood alone in front of his parent's grave just after their funeral. So, the Duke decided not to say anything.

Duchess Lily hadn't stopped talking. "Show her how blissful it feels to be loved by a mate, Xavier. Win her trust."

Xavier woke up from his pensive state and walked out of the room full of determination.

**~~~**

Ariana woke up from her deep slumber and let out a long exhale. She had slept well for the first time in many months. She felt energetic as the weakness in her body seem to have vanished. She smiled as she got out of the bed.

"I feel good today." She informed her wolf.

"Sorry to burst your bubble but all of this is because your body was in his presence." said Saoirse.

Ariana's mood turned sour quickly. She would rather fall down the stairs due to weakness than be healed because of him. She thought.

"Oh come on. Let that useless mate of yours be of some use." Saoirse chuckled.

"He isn't of any use, okay? This is nothing compared to how much Sean has taken care of me for all these months." Ariana retorted.

"What can I say? He has raised the standard so high that you don't even count anybody else's efforts. Not that the bastard King has put in any effort. But you know what I mean."

"Yeah yeah. Don't ruin my morning." Ariana rolled her eyes and headed into the bathroom with a towel in her hand. When she came out, she opened her suitcase which had been delivered late at night. Luna Iria had all of their luggage delivered as they had to stay in the Royal Palace for a week. She sighed as her eyes scanned the suitcase before she chose her outfit and changed into it.

After some time, a maid came and informed her about the invitation to the high tea. She quickly made her hair and headed out of her room.

On the way, the guards looked at her in shock and some even in horror. Ariana could feel their eyes on her but she ignored everyone of them and walked with confidence. The maid, who was escorting her to the venue stopped suddenly and turned towards her. "Perhaps my lady could return to her room and wait while I bring her a different dress." She suggested politely.

Ariana glanced down at her dress before shaking her head. "I appreciate your concern but I'm already late for the gathering. I cannot arrive later than the King and disrespect him, can I?"

The maid smiled nervously. "Of course, My Lady."

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They resumed walking. Just before they reached to the garden where the gathering was supposed to be, someone called her from behind. "Oi Saoirse!"

Ariana halted and turned back to wait for Nate. She dismissed the maid. "You're kind of late." She commented.

"You're too." Nate answered back. He walked up to her and stopped to look her from top to bottom. He then met her eyes and gave her a smirk. "You think you can get away with anything? You can't be sure that you won't be asked to leave for breaking the rules."

"I'm not exactly dying to be here, am I? If I'm asked to leave, I shall leave happily." Ariana shrugged her shoulder.

"Where is all this confidence coming from! I'm starting to like you, Saoirse." Nate smiled.

Ariana leaned in and whispered mischievously. "You'll soon love me blind." She started walking ahead of him. Nate laughed loudly and followed her.

When they reached the garden, everyone had already arrived except for the King. Ariana made her way to an empty chair when everyone's eyes landed on her and remained wide in shock.

Luna Barbara looked around nervously before she stood up and approached her. She leaned in and whispered, "Ari! What are you wearing? This isn't appropriate."

Just then, the King entered making everyone stand up. As he motioned them to sit down, Luna Barbara returned to her seat before giving a stern eye to Ariana.

Xavier quickly stole a glance at her before greeting, "Good afternoon my lords and ladies. I apologize for my late arrival."

"There's no need, Your Majesty. We were just busy observing Lady Ariana's unusual dress." Persephone interjected. Now, everybody eyed at Ariana shamelessly. Nathaniel shook his head in disappointment.

Xavier had only taken notice of his Ariana's beautiful face. So, when Persephone mentioned her dress, he looked back and lowered his gaze to take notice of her dress as well. "It flatters her body." He thought.

Persephone waited for an outburst but Xavier's lack of negative reaction irked her. She spoke once again. "Your Majesty must forgive my sister. She just returned from the human world after all. Of course, she is influenced so much by their fashion that she forgot that dresses made in human world aren't allowed to be worn in Royal Ceremonies and certainly not inside the Royal Palace. She had worn a beautiful werewolf-made dress yesterday. Don't know what happened today to make her break the rule."

After a long silence, Xavier responded. "Oh..."

"Oh?" Persephone asked accusingly.

Xavier snapped. "Yes, Lady Bennet. It's just one syllable. You couldn't possibly fail to hear that for us to repeat it." Earlier, he had to let her talk her nonsense as she was formally the Queen. But now, she should have known better than to question him in front of everyone.

Persephone bit her lip. She was fuming from inside but put up a front. "Your Majesty, what I meant was although she shouldn't be punished, she shouldn't be allowed to break the rule as well even though she is my little sister. I suggest Your Majesty command her to leave right now and change into a more appropriate outfit."

"Shut her down. She's making it seem like you still listen to her. What would Ariana think? Do not care about the rules." Duchess Lily mind-linked Xavier.

Xavier shuddered at the thought of this simple interaction hurting his Ariana. He was about to speak up when Ariana beat him to that.

"Where are my old dresses then, dearest sister? I had been sent to the human world with nothing and when I returned, I brought these human-made dresses with me. I didn't have time to buy dresses as I'd been busy fighting Xanthus all these months. And I see everyone from the family already got their luggage delivered from Ravernia. Where is mine, Luna Barbara?"

The Bennet family was speechless.

"Actually, when you were sent to the human world, Persephone had ordered for all your clothes to be distributed among the servants." Luna Naomi revealed. She'd always had great sympathy for Ariana and immense dislike for Persephone. She would have never gotten any better chance to act on both of her emotions in such a subtle manner. Alpha Edward glared at his daughter-in-law for her audacity.

"So was her order executed?" asked Ariana.

She was given no answer or explanation, only silence.

Ariana smiled sadly. "Of course, it was, wasn't it? After all, it was the order of the King's Queen."

Xavier, who had been glaring at Persephone since the revelation, shut his eyes in pain. "Now even this Persephone's delinquency will be blamed on me." He thought in frustration while he gradually opened his eyes. He didn't dare to look at Ariana as he knew he wouldn't be able endure seeing her hurt.

"But of course, all of these are excuses." Ariana continued. "I should have known better than to be in presence of the King in a human-made dress." She stood up and walked away when Xavier stood up as well to follow her, much to everyone's surprise.

"Ariana!" Xavier called from behind but she didn't stop. He caught up to her quickly and stood in front of her, blocking her way.

"Yes, Your Majesty?" Ariana whispered through gritted teeth while she bowed slightly.

"You know you don't have to." said Xavier. As a King, he expected everyone else to bow down to him but his Ariana doing the same made him extremely uncomfortable. It just didn't feel right.

"Actually I don't. I'm not sure what I should or shouldn't do when it comes to you." replied Ariana, trying to sound casual and composed.

"You shouldn't have left either." Xavier took a step towards her. "It isn't a big deal. Even I wear human-made clothes once a while. Don't you remember seeing me in them in the garden?" He smiled faintly reminiscing those precious and untainted moments of theirs while he looked at his mate expectantly, hoping she remembers them as well.

"How could I forget?" said Ariana with teary eyes. "The time when I was foolish enough to dream of a future with you while oblivious to the truth. The time when you were treating me like your dirty little secret, unknown to me. And to my misfortune, you still are.." Saying this, she walked away.

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