The Crown's Entrapment

Gilas inwardly smirked as he saw just how affected Clara was looking to be with each coordinated attack that he did on her defenses. He knew that she would have her guard up, so he did his due diligence and took the initiative to make sure that they'd have as much skin contact with each other as possible.

Sure, it helped that they were truly needed in the dining room for dinner, but he also made sure to never let up on his advances as he took Clara's agreement to his request to its logical conclusion.

[It also doesn't help that she looks so hesitant to even fight against us,] Ham remarked. [She's clearly liking the attention, but is just too proud to admit it.]

[Which means we just have to keep our offensive,] Gilas quickly supplied. [I already have a foot in the door, so to speak. I just have to fully enter her heart and occupy it before she gets a chance to try and kick me out.]

It was brilliant in its simplicity. He had everything going with his plan, and all he had to do was play his cards right to make sure that Clara would fully accept him into her life. Sure, she already did; even declared herself to be his wife, but that wasn't enough for him. He wanted her to fall in love with him all on her own. He wanted to replace the area in her heart where Darius resided and crush every single remnant his king had left in her.

'I'll be good enough to oust even a king from the throne that Clara put him in,' Gilas inwardly declared. 'I'll take it by force if I had to. I will be victorious on this.'

"T-That may be, Gilas, but nothing's truly set in stone yet," Clara weakly rebutted, her blush making her point weaker than it should've been as she narrowed her eyes at him. "I might just make it harder for you, you know?"

"Oh? But you already promised yourself to me, remember?" Gilas bravely prodded, knowing that he was risking her patience by bringing up her own words. "You gave me your word that you'll be my wife, wholly and fully. Even giving up your own pack just to be by my side."

"A-Again, that's not final yet!" Clara yelped. But just as she continued, her eyes widened as she cleared her throat, her tone going back down as Mother giggled in the background. "I-I mean, I still have the right to take my offer back."

Gilas raised an eyebrow as he saw an opening in her argument. "Oh? But then you'll go back on your own word."

Clara coughed, and he knew in that instant that he had won that particular argument. Taking his chance, he grabbed her hand by the table and gave it a squeeze, further making her blush as he beamed at her current misery. It wasn't truly teasing, but it was fun seeing her act like this. She was just so cute acting all prideful even when she knew it was solely to her disadvantage.

"F-Fair enough, but you also have your own promise to keep," Clara wittily replied, having seemingly regained a bit of composure after a bit of time. "I won't let that go even if you tell me that you want to go even further."

Gilas raised an eyebrow at her rebuttal. This conversation was getting rather out of hand, and he had half a mind to try and nip this in the bud before it could spiral even further out of control.

"And I fully intend to keep that promise," he promptly replied, even bowing his head slightly as he gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "I don't go back on my word, Clara, and if it makes you comfortable, then I'll keep my advances to a minimum."

Clara was taken aback by his words, evident by the small flinch that she did away from him. Still, she hadn't yanked her hand away from him, which meant that he still had the upper hand in this verbal duel that they were having. Not that he didn't mean for this to happen, but his mate just constantly went ahead and initiated it anyway, even if she also didn't mean for it to happen.

"I-I didn't mean it like that," Clara weakly replied. "You're just…"

[Is… Is she going to admit defeat?!] Ham excitedly asked. [Go! You should keep up your advances!]

But just as it was sensible for Gilas to go ahead and seal the deal, he smiled as he removed his hand from hers. It was only proper, he thought. And besides, he had already won in his eyes. The look in Clara's gaze was something akin to admitting defeat already. Even if she didn't say anything, he knew he was victorious.

"I understand," Gilas nodded, giving Clara a gentle smile as he addressed her. "I'll keep to my boundaries."

"T-That's all I ask," Clara sputtered out, her lashes blinking hesitantly towards his direction. "Just…"

A terse silence settled across the dining room table. Looking down, Gilas noticed that neither he nor Clara had even touched each other's plates. And then…

"You two truly are made for one another," his mother giggled, clapping as if she was finally announcing her presence. "Why, you two haven't even touched your food yet. Instead, you focused on each other, leaving poor old me in the dust as I watched you two bond."

This time, Gilas blushed alongside his mate as he stared at his mother. With how much he was having fun with Clara, he didn't even remember that Mother was eating with them.

"M-Mother, I'm sorry," he quickly apologized. "We just-"

"T-That's right," Clara apologized alongside him, even cutting him off with her own sorry tone. "It was inappropriate of us to-"

"Oh please. Feel free to continue," his mother cut them both off, nonchalantly smiling at them as she swallowed another spoonful of her meal. "You two are simply experiencing what it's like to be in a relationship. Besides, you two make for great entertainment. I know things between you two happened so fast with Nasser before, but I really do hope that you two get along well. You two are still in an adjustment period, but I expect many grandchildren soon, alright? "

Both Gilas and Clara sputtered as they gave each other a look of embarrassment and sympathy. It would seem that despite both of their efforts to one-up each other, the one true winner of their duel wasn't even a participant.