Alice's lips went dry on hearing this. Subconsciously, her grip tightened around her shawl, for the next few seconds with her eyes opening all wide. 'No..did he bring it up so that he can make sure that I agree to his wedding again?'
No doubt that all his words seemed genuine, so did the last one. King Almen wants him to get wed again, and with another King's sister..
Was he any tool who can be simply thrown into the marriages? Aren't their other Princes too? What was he supposed to do to actually take her husband?
A bitter taste had spread on her lips when she recalled that he had once told her...that he will need to marry again. At least to continue the lineage since she can't.. give birth.
After all, they are forbidden to mate. A normal human like her, and a powerful Vampire like him...the child won't survive..
"Did King ALMEN really ask you to get married again?" She asked again, with the same level of uneasiness that had clutched her heart. At the same time, Cyrus's brows had started to lower to pass her a soft nod. "He did..."
"What did you reply to this offer then?" Alice's voice turned slow, with the time. As she took a few steps back, her mind collided with the tones of the sentiments.
However, the same can't be said for Cyrus. He had kept the same level of calmness in his actions, almost making her still don't doubt him. "I refused to marry her. I just got married to you a few days ago. And he thinks that he will ask me to marry whomsoever, and I will straightaway say yes to it."
"I do have responsibilities, Alice, towards you, my kingdom, and..my oneself." Cyrus's words finally made her take a deep breath. At this point, she surely felt herself actually relaxing a bit. No, she felt her lungs were once again filled with air, which had earlier gone on strike.
At some stage, his answer was very much unexpected by her. In her eyes, she always knew that he will marry again...although the news came as a bomb over her head that King Almen had persisted him to marry this early.
They haven't even completed one week of this marriage and he was already given the offer to marry again. It disrupted her mind, but she had stood firm in her place, without moving. "Your responsibility toward me lies as a husband but towards your kingdom, as the next ruler."
"You said so to your father but I can imagine that he must be really angry.." she couldn't even differentiate what King Almen must be going through. Although there was no trace of sympathy for king Almen's either, her heart ached for this Prince...
Meanwhile, Cyrus's lips turned into a straight line. "You don't have to worry about that. I know that he does have powers but knowing his temperament, I know how much I can annoy him and how much I can't. You can rest assured that there will be nothing wrong happening this time."
"That is very much what I wish for.." because, in this kingdom, no one has shown her much of their caring attitude except him.
He had sent her breakfast early in the morning....she hadn't even presented her gratitude for that but her heart did bloom.
Similarly, all the walls she made around her heart to persist and remain aloof from this deadly monster..were slowly crumbling down. It wasn't at the fast pace either but somewhere, she could sense herself growing steady to those foreign touches..feelings..emotions.
But the hesitation can't be erased in the next few minutes either. Her hands held together before she lowered her eyelids to not look back at him. "It is your decision to marry or not...but..."
"But?" Cyrus's brows are raised when he can't help but enquire, to find her amusing expressions. "What do you want, Princess Alice? Do you want me to marry?" he had asked, despite his heart telling him not to.
There was a tinge of tease present in his words, which weren't overlooked by Alice either. She had stayed quiet, wetting her dry lips through her tongue. While from her lips, initially there was no voice through her throat. But then, she found herself lifting her eyes to stare at him in his next words.
"She is the King's sister. If I marry her, there will be no war against our kingdom."
"NO! DON'T MARRY!"
Alice finally blurted, with the unconscious mind. When the words made sense in her mind, the heat consumed her cheeks. It burnt her entire self, to the extent she found herself almost not ready to accept that she had actually....said that she doesn't want him to get married.... once more.
Whereas, Prince Cyrus's lips curled upwards. A deep expression sank in those eyes, from which he gazed at her. "So you don't want me to marry anyone else...? But how are we supposed to live when you are already rude with me, Princess?"
"I..I..will try to not be rude." was all she muttered under her breath, trying to act cautiously. His stare was intoxicated. If she stare at him, she would get lost. 'Why the hell is this monster appearing so handsome to me right now?' it was still an unknown fact in her eyes.
All of the sudden, the cold breeze, the night, the moon, and the view, everything was making her heart skip a beat. She was standing with her husband...a vampire...what are those nervousness crawling under the rain?
While Alice's brain was going through a malfunctioning, she grabbed her shawl closer to her body, when Cyrus took a step ahead, in her direction, without tearing his gaze out from her. "Princess Alice..."
Saying this, he brought his hand to lift her chin upwards, making her look in his direction. With just one finger, he was able to lift the entire head, forcibly putting eye contact between them. "You....have..many secrets, don't you?"
"Everyone has them, Prince Cyrus. So do you." Alice muttered after gulping the saliva.
"I do have....but your secrets and powers are making me curious, my lady." tilting his head a bit to the left, he once again looked at her, "Your abilities aren't normal. You aren't a normal human, Alice."
The words struck her mind like any other lightning. Subconsciously, she immediately took a step back in her shock, unable to digest what he had told her so openly. 'Does he know that I have some more powers?'
She was all over confused about him once again. Till now, Alice thought that her father and brother were the only ones who had the depth to hidden secrets. So how come Cyrus noticed them vibrate when she hadn't even used them here...?
Her actions and her stiff body were the signs that Cyrus searched for. He didn't need an answer, since her silence was itself an answer to his every word. As his brows curled upwards, Cyrus didn't even raise his voice anymore.
That was enough for him to make sure that whatsoever he thought, wasn't wrong either. He was damn right in his way of thinking..she is..special.
However, when he noted down that she was still not able to come out of her daze, Cyrus had to cough once to gain her attention, "Princess Alice, you are the princess of the Suzania Empire. That is your birthplace."
"I have always lived here. But we married, to save our Empires. And to let them be at the farthest distance from the wars, I want you to please cooperate with me. Open yourself..because the world is really small for humans.."
"I..I..will try.." Alice answered, in her slumber, when she was still trying to cope with the fears...
Yet when Alice noted that he had too easily removed the talks of theirs and transferred into the other way of the conversation, Alice didn't pester on the same topic anymore. She was way more than happier to let that bass by..
But the same can't apply to all the questions which are still in her heart. "Prince Cyrus, did you don't mind me asking..who is this Lady Sharon actually?"
Now that he had openly told her to open up, the first step was to get a clear understanding. Who are the members close to him and till now, Lady Sharon was like a ticking bomb in her mind.
On her question, Cyrus pressed his lips together before answering. "She is an old friend of mine. We have grown up together. Also, she is the daughter of the personal advisor of the King."
"....and.. the lady betrothed to Second Prince Alex."
"Wait! You mean to say that Lady Sharon is Prince Alex's bride to be?!"