The Hidden King's Stolen Wife-Chapter 246: Old Friends Reunite

"Perfect," Rafael said, huffing in mock disappointment. "You’re not dead yet."

Orion originally leaned his weight on his knee, propped by his elbow. When he heard Rafael’s voice, he looked up in the direction from which the sound came. His shoulders slackened, his posture turned slightly slouchy, and his lips parted to exhale a long breath.

"If I didn’t know any better, I would say you sound a little disappointed," Orion retorted. Then, after a second’s worth of pause, he added, "Then again, it seems like I don’t know Rafael Biroumand any better."

"Come on, old friend," Rafael said with an awkward chuckle. He looked down, grimaced dramatically at the pools of blood, and carefully made his way closer to where Orion was. "Are we still mad about that?"

Soleia cleared her throat in Rafael’s arms and threw him the nastiest glare when Rafael turned his gaze to her. He sheepishly chuckled a few times before awkwardly clearing his throat, peeping at Orion.

"Alright, the blame is on me, and everyone is indeed still rightfully upset, but I had my reasons."

"A rather awful set of reasons, might I add," Orion said.

With a groan, he rose from where he sat. He raised his arms over his head, and as he stretched, his muscles strained against the fabric of his blood-stained clothing.

"You were once a nobility," Rafael said, grumbling a little. "You of all people should know the woes that come with title and power. I have not listened to your complaints about your marriage arrangement for naught."

At his words, Orion wrinkled his nose. He crossed the dead bodies and closed the distance between them in a few mere steps. As he stood in front of Rafael, his gaze slowly fluttered down to Soleia in Rafael’s arms.

"You’re alright," he said. It was more of a statement than a question, but Soleia could see the obvious relief in his eyes.

She swallowed and nodded. "I am," she said as a little bit of tears gathered in her eyes. "What happened at sea?"

Or more accurately, what happened to Prince Raziel? Soleia pursed her lips as she waited for Orion to reply.

"Prince Raziel is an incapable swimmer," Orion answered truthfully. "I didn’t have to do much for him to eventually drown. I tried to save him, but..."

"But my brother is too prideful," Rafael said, completing the sentence for Orion. He laughed, one without joy nor amusement. "What a pathetic man to have died to his own ego. For all his brains and his wit, you would think he would be smarter than that."

"Pride or not, I hauled his body back," Orion said, gesturing to the docks in the approximate direction behind him. "If you want the throne, you will need to prove that there are no longer any available heirs left to inherit it other than yourself."

Rafael’s lips twitched. "How thoughtful of you."

"Hard not to be, when you’re willing to betray many for a golden crown," Orion replied with a shrug. He looked at Soleia and said, "And you?"

"Me?" Soleia asked.

"Do you still plan on going to Nedour?" Orion asked. Soleia’s eyes fell to Orion’s hands, where his fingers refused to stay still. They twitched and moved, rubbing against each other while his eyes remained as expressionless as ever. "Or do you plan to stay?"

Rafael’s eyebrows immediately knitted themselves together. He pursed his lips, his grip on Soleia subconsciously tightening as he held her just a little closer to himself, if that was even possible. The hidden meanings in Orion’s words hadn’t gone unnoticed. However, as though he was worried it did, Orion made it very clear.

"Our marriage may have been nullified, but I have every intention to live up to the words I spoke," Orion said as he held out a hand. "If you wish, our marriage can continue. I have not acted like a proper husband for you during the span of our marriage, but I see now that marrying for love may not always be the course everyone takes." ƒreewebɳovel.com

The skin under Rafael’s eyebrows jumped. It took every muscle in his body to stop himself from gathering his last strength and sending Orion flying back into the ocean. With the boost from Soleia’s powers, he was sure he could manage that, especially if Orion was caught unawares.

However, this wasn’t his proposal to answer. So he kept his mouth shut and his eyes wide and trained on the woman in his arms.

"Our marriage was purely political," Soleia said. "There is no need or reason to return to it. We have no romantic love for each other."

She then turned and looked at Rafael. Even though she said nothing, Orion could read everything in the way she gazed upon Rafael. Likewise, when Rafael realized Soleia was looking at him, his expression softened. His jaw was no longer clenched, and he gazed upon her just as gently as one would reach for a falling snowflake, careful not to let it melt in their hands.

Her love wasn’t with Orion― it never was. She was only ever bound to him by duty, and that sliver of connection was broken the day they left Vramid. Ever since, they had been on different paths.

Orion slowly exhaled and nodded.

"I understand," he said, taking a step back. A thousand emotions seemed to run through his eyes, and at the same time, none could be observed by the human eye.

Finally, after a moment of silence, he raised his gaze and returned his attention to Rafael.

"And you?" he asked. "I suppose you are going to confront your father now?"

Rafael cast a glance around him. The streets of the town were empty. Everyone had hidden away in their homes, with their windows tightly shut and doors locked. Some of the buildings were even seemingly abandoned, with a couple of them destroyed in the fight between Orion and Ricard’s soldiers.

Bloodshed littered this corner of town, and the coppery smell of blood overwhelmed and overpowered the salty sea breeze that came in from the waters beyond. There were only two bodies he needed― the rest of them could be tossed and burned for all he cared.

"I need Raziel’s body," Rafael said. "And Ricard’s. Then we can pay my father a visit."