An Unexpected Proposal Chapter 7

Chapter 7: An Illusion (1)

Alicia's mother always talked about Loubertine. She said they would be there together someday. and that they'll live happily there. Alicia thought that was all vain hope, but she never said this out loud.

She never forgot the look in her mother's eyes as she held out Alicia's hands on her deathbed. She whispered to Alicia that they would meet again in Loubertine. Alicia missed her mother dearly, so much that she clung to superstitions she didn't even believe in and begged the man from an enemy empire to kill her.

"If my story has moved you even a little bit, please end my life now."

Alicia lifted herself up carefully and knelt before Cabelenus. She put her hands together and looked into the man's eyes and begged for mercy.

"I have no intention to kill you...." Cabelenus said as he let out a sigh and swept his hair back roughly with his hand.

"Why?" Alicia's grey eyes wavered.

Cabelenus clenched his fist.

"Because I don't want to."

It would have been easy for him to kill the woman who wants to die. She was so small and frail to want such a thing. Her neck was so thin and delicate that he didn't even need a sword. He could snap it with one hand. But.....it was her eyes that were problematic for him.

Her faded, lifeless eyes always bothered him.

"I may be unattractive, but I am a member of the Neustein royal family. You should kill me for the sake of your future, so there will be no repercussions."

"Repercussions..." he growled in a low voice. She gasped at his sudden change in tone.

"I think you've misunderstood something. I make the judgment, This isn't a matter for a mere slave to decide."

In moments, his breath touched her lips. Startled, Alicia blinked slowly, not sure what had happened. Cabelenus' face was right in front of hers. He approached so fast that she had no time to attempt an escape. His golden eyes that held two suns were very close. Their noses almost touching, and they could feel each other's breaths.

"I just...."

She was going to say something, but seeing his bright burning eyes gave her chills and her mind went blank.

The person before her was a true man.

He was so different from her father. who merely relished in wealth under the pretense of being royalty. The man in front of her, who seemed ready to pounce and kill at any moment, seemed more like a beast in human skin. In addition to having been born royal, he had achieved all his glory with his own hand.

He was a true ruler.

"You cower and tremble so easily, yet you speak so boldly."

Did he smile...?

She may have been mistaken, but she thought she saw Cabelenus' eyes smile for a moment. Alicia's expression, which had hardened earlier, softened,

"Don't get any ideas. Once I make a decision, I don't change my mind."

Cabelenus exhaled slowly and tilted his head.

"You don't change your mind?"

Alicia involuntarily traced his movement with her eyes. Rulers have the power to charm their opponents in various ways. They instinctively know how to lure people and make them follow. Alicia wasn't sure if this was true or a mere myth, but she was certain of one thing:

The man in front of her definitely had that ability.

"I will not kill you."

"You said you may show mercy."

"I said maybe. I never said definitively I would."

That's what she had said at the trial. Alicia found herself laughing out loud.

"Then I must live out the rest of my life like this?"

"It's not too bad. Much better than living in a state where people mistook you for a maid."

Alicia's expression contorted. She thought she had long forgotten about shame, but seeing his eyes study her made her stomach tighten.

"You probably have no idea..... How I felt when I hoped for mercy."

Alicia loosened her grip on the sheets which she had been holding onto for dear life. She released all the tension in her body, which had been rigid before, and looked up at Cabelenus weakly. If she were to move her head just a little, their lips would touch.

Would he kill her if she kissed him first?

It would be reckless, but she knew it would be a way to make the arrogant ruler waver. Her body moved faster than her thoughts.

Kiss.

"What are you doing?" Cabelenus growled.

He immediately grabbed Alicia by her shoulders and pushed her away. He seemed ready to devour her at any moment. His piercing gaze was so terrifying that her entire body trembled.

"I was hoping you'd want to kill me now that a mere slave had dared to touch royalty."

Despite the terror she felt, Alici tried her best to maintain a smile on her face. It lasted only for a moment, so fleeting that she questioned if it even happened at all, but their lips had touched. His warmth that remained on her lips was proof that they had.

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