Chapter 231: Required Skills

When Ileus didn't answer, Lila added very sweetly, shyly, "I have waited so impatiently for your arrival over the last one year." She lifted her hand and the silk cloth slid down her creamy skin. "See I also got your name tattooed on my wrist and at places I can't show in the open." She giggled. A pale blush spread on her cheeks. 

Anastasia blinked her eyes as she tried to process what she heard or saw. Lila was the girl who was promised to him for marriage by his grandparents. She sized her up and found her… petite and sweet. Since Lila didn't know of their relationship, her behavior towards Ileus was expected. 

"All through the last year, I have been waiting for this moment, Ileus," Lila said in a honeyed voice. "And now that you are in front of me, I don't know how to express my feelings." Tears appeared in her eyes and they became reddish. Once again her gaze traveled to Anastasia but she gave her a royal ignore. 

Anastasia raised her eyebrow. Though flustered, she stopped herself from showing more of her emotions. There was something that didn't dwell well in her chest. 

This girl talked about creating tattoos of his name on her wrist or whatever other places she mentioned, yet Lila acted very calm when she saw him holding her in his arms. Anastasia's thoughts scrambled to understand the situation. She took a deep breath as she stood beside Ileus. 

Undecided whether he should tell about Anastasia to Lila or not, Ileus first tried to enter her cell, but he came across thick mental shields that instead gave him a terrible headache, which died the moment he was out of her cell. And this was… shocking. He stared at her and her blush became deeper. "How are you doing Lila?" he asked gently so that she would lower her guard. 

In a dulcet voice she said, "I am feeling happy now that you are here." 

When Ileus tried to enter her cell again, once again he was met with the same mental shield and he had to back off. "It's great to see you too!" he said and instead of wasting more time on her, he looked at Anastasia. He introduced Lila to her. "This is Lila, daughter of the Minister of Relations. Her father is responsible for maintaining harmonious relations between Draoidh and other realms. One of the most important realms where he has shown phenomenal work is the human realm. Along with Uncle Niiya, he has struggled a lot and been successful." 

Lila dipped her head in courtesy as if accepting all the praise. 

Ileus continued, "And this is Anastasia, princess of Vilinski." Ileus didn't mention his relationship with her. He realized that the entire hall was silent and not a single king or queen spoke. The silence was so thick that one could cut it with a knife. But he also knew that all of them would never reveal the truth until Adrianna permitted it. 

Anastasia too dipped her head in courtesy. "It's a pleasure to meet you Lila," she said with a faint smile. 

Lila forced a smile on her petite face and replied in a voice dipped with sugar, "It's a pleasure to meet you too." She immediately turned to look at Ileus. "When can we—"

"Ileus!" Lazarus called from the far corner, and her conversation was snapped. She pursed her lips at the interruption. 

"I will be right back," Ileus said. 

"Oh yes please. You must listen to the guests first." She behaved as if she was the host and waved a hand in Lazarus' direction. When Ileus was far away, she gave a big smile to Anastasia and stepped forward. In a very low voice, she said, "I saw what Ileus was doing to you, but I ignored it. That man is betrothed to me, so I understand his dalliances especially when he was away for more than a year. You are nothing but just a fae doll in his collection." 

Anastasia jerked her head back. "A fae doll?" 

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Lila nodded. She maintained the sweetness of her voice while she dripped venom with it. "I don't even know how he is so close to a fae when the entire kingdom hates them. And so I assume that these are just his dalliances. So before he is seen with you in our kingdom, you better leave. In the meantime I am going to keep your presence a secret and do everything in my power to not let this news out that Ileus is indulging in a fae princess. You are absolutely nothing here and you never will. I suggest that you pack your bags and leave. If you want I can tell you a few places to go because I know that once a fae is out of Vilinski, they are called fallen angels. And fallen angels are not accepted back. So—" Suddenly her tongue swelled. She couldn't speak one more word. When she tried to speak, the word that came out was "Tho—" She swallowed saliva down her throat and attempted to speak again. "Tho— tho— bou—" She glowered at Anastasia. The fae was using her magic? 

Anastasia raised her eyebrow again and cocked her head as if straining to hear her. "I am sorry I can't understand what you are saying," she said with a shameless look on her face. 

Lila closed her eyes for a moment and then somehow regained her voice back. "A prince like Ileus will have concubines, which is natural," she continued, but her tongue felt like it was cut at various places on the inside. Her throat burned. "But I will never tolerate a fae concubine." 

Anastasia laughed on the inside. "Who are you again?" she asked in the most condescending manner. 

Lila glared at her. "I am Lila, Ileus' betrothed." 

"I see," said Anastasia. She opened her mouth to say something, but Ileus was back by that time. 

"Let's go back to our room," he said enthusiastically and held her hand. 

Lila paled. Her breath hitched. In order to grab his attention, she said, "Ileus, do you have a minute to talk?" 

"No, we have something urgent coming up," he snapped. 

"It is very important. Please if you have two minutes only," she requested in the same soft voice. 

Not happy at the intrusion, he said exasperatedly, "What is it Lila?" 

"Father wanted to purchase precious rubies and emeralds as gift to the ministers in the human realm. He has asked me to help him in buying the gifts," she said looking at Anastasia as if trying to tell her that this was the level of trust the council had in her. "But the money belongs to Draoidh's treasury. We need to have acumen for recognizing true gems so that we don't squander the treasury's money." 

"Good, then go and buy them," he replied in a curt voice. 

At first Lila was shocked, but she ignored his words and said, "I would love it if you can help me buy it. We have to go to Silver Vales to buy it because that's where we have called the jewelers." 

Ileus narrowed his eyes. "Lila, I am sorry but I can't go to buy gifts for ministers of the human realm. You can do that yourself." 

Anastasia intervened, "Can I go?" 

"No!" Ileus replied. 

"Oh! It's not a child's game, Anastasia. You don't have the required skills," Lila commented.

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