Mute Mate: The Alpha's Obsession-Chapter 211: Mate

The next day, servants moved as they cleaned the outside of the castle. The rain had come, and it had caused lots and lots of disaster. The flowers, many of them, had uprooted, and the leaves as well. The sand, the bench areas, were wet. There was lots of cleaning to do.

Selena ran quickly as she was heading to the royal library, as she had heard that was where the young prince was.

It was rare for him to be at the library other than the one he had in his room—especially given that if he wanted a book, he could simply ask a servant or a guard to search for it in the library. So him actually coming on his own was shocking and was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Despite that she was acting unladylike by the way she had quickened her steps, she did not care at this point. All she wanted was to meet the prince. That would be one thing that would make her happy right now. Even though she liked books, she was not the kind to make such haste for them—meaning her reason for the rush to the library meant she was going to meet the handsome prince.

Mr. and Mrs. Clifford were the parents to Selena. They were royals, as they came from a wealthy background. Given that they lived very far away, most of the time they stayed in the palace for months before leaving.

Her lavender-coloured dress, which she had chosen for a reason—to impress the prince. It was not like she was not seeing the signs that he was not interested. She knew he was the kind that nothing interested him, but that did not mean she was going to give up.

She finally slowed down her pace as she reached the large door. Her heart began to race in her chest as she knew they would be the only ones in that library—just the two of them. She moved as she bit her nails before pulling away. She reminded herself that she was supposed to act ladylike, and an elegant lady does not chew her nails.

She straightened her back, took a few deep breaths, then pushed the door and walked inside the library. Different lines of shelves greeted her.

"Oh no," she whispered. She knew how large the royal library was, and it took time to check all of it. And what if she checks and he leaves by that time? Her shoulders, which were held composedly, fell.

But just as she fell, at one of the shelves, a figure passed. Her breath caught—it was him. She had not caught his sight fully, but she knew it was him. There was a book in his arms... a small book.

She quietly exhaled and inhaled loudly before moving, acting normal. She walked towards the direction he was heading. When she finally stopped, she caught sight of him there at the end. He stood as he picked another book—this time around, this one was red, compared to the other which was black. They had the same shape and size. Why would the prince decide to come here instead of sending the maids or guards to get it?

’Is he hiding something... like maybe a secret?’ Selena wondered as she peeped further. His lean, tall frame finally moved as he opened the red book. She moved again to get a closer look.

"Lady Selena... what do you want?"

She suddenly heard him say, his eyes still fixed on the book calmly, as his gaze did not shift. Her body froze in shock as she did not expect that at all.

How did he know she was there? She had been extra careful. She finally moved. Now that she was caught, there was no way she needed to hide it. She just needed to act as normal as possible. She walked into the view of him—no longer only part of her head peeping. She had fully stepped out of her hiding spot.

"Prince Zavren, I simply came here to read but had seen you. Avoiding not to distract you, I had to stand aside."

Her heart began to beat as she silently prayed that her lie would sound believable. She had not expected him to see her, and now she was feeling embarrassed by it.

Finally, Zavren turned—his boring gaze now staring at her as he spoke calmly, his eyes giving nothing away.

"Did you know what happened to the woodcutter after he lied?"

Immediately those words left his lips, her body trembled in fear. She knew that story so well. That only meant one thing—he knew she had lied.

"I... I apologise, P–prince—"

Zavren interrupted her immediately as the atmosphere turned sharp. Selena’s eyes lowered to the floor as she could not even bring herself to look at him any longer.

"That is not the question I asked you, Lady Selena. I doubt you are that dumb not to know the answer."

Selena’s lips trembled. She knew that story. She had heard about it, and her curiosity had led her to read it. After reading, she had full regret. And what feared her was the fact that he had used that story after she had lied. Her head lowered further as she could no longer hold the deadly atmosphere.

"He d... died," she managed to say in a shaky tone. What had started as a happy feeling had ended in fear. She had been so excited to meet him, and who knew fate had other plans?

"Good. Now get out," his emotionless voice rang through.

"Why are you s-so c-cold?" Selena spoke as she broke into tears. She used both of her hands to cover her face as she wept.

Silence fell. Zavren just stared with a blank, unwavering face as he heard her speak brokenly.

"What if w-we were m-meant to be mates—"

Before she could finish her sentence, a dry chuckle escaped from Zavren’s lips as he stared at her calmly.

"You will never be my mate."