Chapter 39
“Exactly. You were the King before me. But not anymore.” Micah’s voice was even as he tried to control his anger.
“What do you mean?” Arthur’s voice hardened even more.
“I mean exactly what I said. You are not the King anymore.” Micah didn’t back down.
“This isn’t like you, Micah. Are you doing this to please your mate? Was she dissatisfied with something?” Arthur couldn’t accept the way his own son just talked to him. “I’ll talk to her and she
will understand.”
Arthur’s suggestion made Micah go alert, as his bdy stiffened a bit. Abby wasn’t ready to meet anyone. “Moreover, I still haven’t met her,” the former king continued as he looked thoughtful. “It’s time I met her, after all, the ceremony was just around the corner.” The ceremony was scheduled to be held in the following week, but the King’s father hadn’t even met her yet. He wondered whether at least the elders got a chance to meet the future queen of this kingdom. Maybe they could all meet her at once. However, Micah didn’t think so. “This has nothing to do with her. You don’t have to meet her for this in particular,” Micah deflected in a heartbeat, sounding almost threatening. Arthur was surprised by his choice of words, but why would Micah threaten him over nothing? But then what was his son saying? “How is it not related to Abby when you yourself said Ruby is being punished for failing to take proper care of your mate?” Arthur asked the King, exasperated at his logic. “Because punishing Ruby was my decision alone,” Micah said as he folded his arms in front of his chest. “Ruby needs to learn from her mistake.” Even if Micah couldn’t find any evidence to prove Ruby did it intentionally, the fact that Ruby’s carelessness escalated the situation that night until a guard was killed couldn’t be stricken off easily. And that was what he pointed out to his father. However, Arthur still couldn’t come to terms with it. “How would she have expected for that guard to attack Abby of all people?” “She couldn’t have. That was why she should have been careful enough,” Micah stressed. “But you saved Abby in time, there is no need to vent your anger on those innocent girls,” Arthur pointed out, 15:06 Fri, 8 Mar DB · Chapter 39 “What if I had been late?” Micah almost lost his control just at the thought of this ‘what if once again. Arthur could see how Micah felt about the possibility of his mate getting hurt. And he could understand his son, but he didn’t approve of his decision. “This isn’t the way to deal with this situation, though,” Arthur couldn’t help but criticize his son. He believed that Micah’s actions were being influenced by his emotions. And he didn’t miss the way Micah steered him away from the topic of himself meeting Abby. “I know what I’m doing, father.” Micah’s response only enraged the already frustrated former king. “So you won’t revoke the punishment?” Arthur stood up, almost toppling his chair backward. Micah also stood up, out of respect for his father, of course. And the way his eyes hardened at his question let Arthur know his answer. “It would be best if you don’t get involved in the court matters too much. I am perfectly capable of running the court,” Micah said as he pinned Arthur with a look. “If you feel you are not busy enough, maybe you should think about going on a vacation.” Arthur was taken aback by the hidden meaning behind Micah’s words. His son just told him to remember his own place. “What do you mean?” Arthur shouted, feeling offended. “You don’t need to worry about the kingdom anymore, it’s my job now. After all, I am the King.” Micah elaborated. His tone was a bit harsh, as he didn’t want his father to take his words lightly. He was adamant on not letting Ruby off easily after what she tried to pull. His father should be glad that he couldn’t find the evidence or else those four women would be counting the iron bars in the dungeons now. No one would be spared if they tried to harm his mate. On the other hand, Arthur was stumped by Micah’s words that he couldn’t say anything when Micah turned to leave after a nod in his direction. “Now, if you will excuse me.” Micah threw over his shoulder. He didn’t feel the need to continue this conversation when he was done saying what he wanted to say. It would be better if his father could come to terms with his way of dealing things quickly. Only the former king was not done talking with him yet. Arthur almost ran after his stubborn son, but held back at the last moment. He couldn’t help but shake his head as he watched Micah leave calmly. Just as Abby opened her eyes this morning, she saw a bunch of yellow flowers placed in a vase on the table beside her bed. 2/5 15:06 Fri, 8 Mar DB Chapter 39 66% This was her third time finding these flowers in that vase since she noticed Alyssa bringing a single stalk of flowers a week back. These were the same flowers she saw in the back garden of this palace. That garden was filled with these flowers until it looked like a bright yellow mat. No. A sea of yellow would be a better comparison. The very first time Alyssa and Reyna took her there, Abby fell in love with that place. She told the same to Micah that very night.. She remembered Micah looking at her with this gentle smile on his face when she told him how she wanted to spend her following morning in that garden. Thinking about it until that point, Abby realized how badly she missed Micah in the past fortnight. But every time she thought of Micah, the image of his black beast with blood dripping from his fangs assaulted her senses as well. And she couldn’t help but nip her urge to meet Micah in the bud for the umpteenth time every time she recalled that gruesome sight. Her nightmares wouldn’t go away either, but these flowers made her breath a little easier in the past week. “Thank you for these,” Abby told Alyssa in a soft voice the moment the maid returned from the kitchen after taking away the cutlery Abby used while having her breakfast. Alyssa looked a little confused at her words. Abby pointed to the vase of flowers with a small lift to the corners of her lps.
This was the first time Abby did anything remotely similar to smiling after that night and Alyssa. couldn’t help but smile at this progress.
“These? It wasn’t my idea,” Alyssa said while looking at Reyna with a happy smile on her face.
“It’s not my idea, either,” Reyna immediately denied the silent question flashing in Abby’s searching eyes when they fell on herself.
“It wasn’t either of you? Then…” Abby was genuinely confused for a moment as she couldn’t connect the dots.
Only these two people had been here save for the few times Dax came to visit her.
But he always came when she was awake and never had these flowers with him. The royal gam ma had a cheerful personality and in a way, his goofiness that rubbed on herself until she started to talk with them again.
If neither of these three were the person behind this, that would leave her with the only other option.
Micah.
15:06 Fri, 8 Mar DB.
Chapter 39
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Only he knew how excited she was about going to the back garden where she could be drowned in these flowers’ beauty.
“Yes, it’s the King, who sends these flowers for you everyday,” Reyna said excitedly when she saw the realization dawn upon Abby.
“Yes, my lady, he has been waiting for you outside the door everyday,” Alyssa supplied, wanting to make Abby understand the King’s plight.
Only Abby immediately closed off and stopped talking altogether at the mention of the King.
Abby couldn’t say she wasn’t touched by his gesture or deny the fact that she too missed him. But she still didn’t know how to look at Micah without the shadow of his beast’s cruel act plaguing her mind.
The scare she got that day was too huge, Abby didn’t know how to look at Micah with the same eyes. she used to.
“So you want to postpone the ceremony?” Alan, the royal beta, asked Micah.
He didn’t sound interrogative, as he just wanted to confirm if he had indeed heard what the King just said correctly.
Micah only nodded at his royal beta, who could only lower his head in contemplation.
He wondered if Micah caught wind of the rumors circulating in the town, surrounding his attempts to search for a girl two weeks back.
People were gossiping like crazy as they were dying to know the identity of the girl who made the King himself step down into the field to come look for her in person.
Some speculated that the missing girl was the future queen but they couldn’t confirm it when there had not been any official statement from the palace yet.
Only the important figures of the capital city had received the news that the King finally found his mate, while the commoners were still in the dark.
The authenticity of the rumor couldn’t be proved when no one could gain information on Abby.
The people will be curious, My King.” Alan said when he thought about all of this.
“But she wasn’t ready yet,” Micah said with finality.
However, Alan still felt like pushing his luck. “They had been waiting for years just to listen to the news of you meeting your mate…”