The Crown's Entrapment

After all was said and done, the dinner meeting went on surprisingly well. Except for the initial bickering-slash-comedy show that was her brother and her mate duking it out for a date for her Ritual of Marking, everything else fell into place rather quickly. Before she knew it, only the finer details had to be hashed out in regards to the Ritual of Marking she was about to undergo in a few weeks.

"I'm so glad that I'm finally off that table," Aurelia sighed as she nursed a cup of tea in one hand. "The embarrassment was going to kill me."

"I can understand that. Even I can feel it in my bones," Freya weakly chuckled in commiseration, her own cup daintily sitting on the plate she was holding. "Really, he's a good man, but he can be overbearing at times."

Aurelia let out a small chuckle. At that point, the dinner meeting had become more casual, with only the men remaining at the table to discuss topics that she really didn't bother to care about at the moment. She was sure that the table was currently filled with talk about the kingdom's well-being. Or maybe they were even having further talks about the upcoming Ritual of Markings of her and Freya along with Freya's upcoming birthday, but she really didn't care. Her domain was only herself and her infirmary, and that was the extent of her attention for the foreseeable future.

"You don't know the half of it," Aurelia scoffed. "Even back in the day, he was always the big brother. The savior of all that was good and holy with my well-being."

"I can only imagine," Freya giggled. "Darius was like that sometimes, but me going away to study helped me dodge all of that awkward brother moments. Although, I kind of wish it still happened just so I can have a few fun memories of us being together."

Aurelia smiled. "I doubt that it won't happen to you even now," she told her. "Brothers will always be brothers, and I'm sure that the King will still have a bit of the overbearing protection that big brothers are famous for."

"I guess you're right," Freya let out a warm smile. "Brother wouldn't dare let anybody hurt me. I'm sure he's already given Gideon a piece of his mind. Too bad I wasn't there to see it."

The two women let out a small chuckle, both imagining what it would be like to see the men in their lives acting so far out of their usual demeanor. Still, their discussion would be all fun and games, and Aurelia didn't even manage to prepare herself when Freya gave her a sudden question.

"Aurelia, do you really like my cousin?"

Aurelia blinked as she turned her attention back to Freya, her eyes shimmering with a hint of thought as she came up with an answer. "Yes? Is there a problem?"

Freya didn't seem to like her answer as she replied. "You don't have to rush yourself into a decision, you know," she stressed out. "You don't sound like you're convinced with your own answer."

"Am I now?" Aurelia asked, raising an eyebrow at her future in-law's observation. "I didn't think I sounded like that."

"That's not healthy," Freya worriedly stated. "You shouldn't go into this just so that you can get rid of those rumors. If you don't like my cousin, then I won't mind if you called this whole thing off. At least you'll be true to yourself."

"Freya, I like him enough to agree to this," Aurelia sighed. "Can we leave it at that?"

The princess kept a level stare instead of replying, and Aurelia could feel the aura of judgment descending over her.

"Fine then. I like him," she groaned in admittance. "He holds power, and he's most certainly not bad to look at."

"And you're just going to base your decision on that?"

"Of course, not," Aurelia scoffed. "If anything, the only reason I'm even giving this a chance is because he… He has conviction, I suppose. He at least has principles. Well, according to what I've observed."

Aurelia didn't like where this was going. She was being forced to reassess her feelings for the man she had already decided to take as her mate. She really just wanted to get it over it. To just let it be done so that she could move on with her life. But with Freya making her points…

She really didn't want to think about this right now.

"Aurelia, I don't want you going into this on an impulse. Sure, you like him for his appearance and beliefs, but if that's the only thing you're basing this on, then it might just collapse on you," Freya insisted. "Please, can you at least tell me that you'll give him a shot?"

"I already had, didn't I?" Aurelia coolly replied. "Besides, he's my mate. Even if I didn't want him, fate has already decided that we're meant for each other."

Well, that was what she thought, at least. She couldn't even feel the Mate Pull affecting her, but if it would get people off her back, then she could just pretend that it was happening to her too. It wasn't like they could verify its existence anyway.

"Are you sure? Wait… You're his mate?" Freya asked, clearly taken aback by her admission.

"Yes. I can even feel the Mate Pull from him," Aurelia lied as naturally as she breathed. "At least, a semblance of it."

"What? That's great, Aurelia," Freya excitedly giggled. "You're blessed just as much as we are."

"I suppose so," Aurelia faintly smirked, a hint of smugness seeping into her chest at the fact that her lie got easily accepted. "Why, I can even feel it now, even with how annoying he was earlier."

"That's… That's a relief to hear," Freya sighed in relief. "And here I thought you were only going into this just so that you won't get bothered by suitors or the rumors."

"Of course not," Aurelia lied once more. "There's something here, and I want to see where this goes."

Sipping on her tea, Aurelia couldn't help but let out a small sigh as she turned to look at Calypso from a distance. She could lie all she want, but her last statement wasn't exactly a lie, as much as she would've wanted it to be. She genuinely wanted to see where this would all lead. And whether or not it would be worth it? Well, that was for her to decide.