The Crown's Entrapment

Outside the Cordon Castle gates, the protesters kept up with their pleas for their king to break the Mate Bond.

Soon enough, Darius showed himself to his people, the wailing outside the castle only growing louder as he prepared to address them.

"Sire..." Osman gasped, wondering how their King would appease such a large crowd before them.

With a small nod, Darius raised his hand, signaling for his people to stop talking. They did, and silence reigned for a moment as everyone waited for their King to speak.

"Princess Xenia of Ebodia is already a part of our Kingdom. She is very much like all of you... a Cordonian by right. My mate and my wife, who I've completed the Mate Bond with, will always be a part of Cordon now and forever," Darius lengthily began. "Ten years ago, I vowed before all of you, to my people, that I will be a just King who will bring peace and order to our Kingdom. A king who cares, and had vowed to stay with every Cordonian both in good and in bad times..."

There was a pause as he sighed and continued, "What kind of a king would I become if I broke those vows? I refuse to abandon and forsake any of our people, those that I care about just so I can save myself. So please, go back home to your work or family. Do not waste any of your time and energy in begging here, because your king is not someone who will abandon nor forsake his people for his own life..."

There was a silence after his declaration. None uttered a word, seemingly waiting for him to continue.

"I know you're all worried, but you shouldn't be," Darius added with a hint of reassurance in his voice. "Your King won't die, because your future Queen will certainly pass all the hardships that are awaiting her just so she could prove to you all that no other woman deserves to be Cordon's Queen but her."

He monologued on. "A woman, who is willing to sacrifice everything not just because of her king, but for every other Cordonian in our kingdom which she now considers her home. So please, stop with this begging and pleading for me to break the Mate Bond, because your King will uphold his vows till the end."

And with that, Darius turned around and left. He knew he was repeating himself by the end, but he got his point across.

"Hopefully, all of them understand your true heart, Your Majesty," Calypso commented as they walked back into the hallway. There, Leon rushed towards them and handed Darius a piece of parchment.

"Sire, the formal report finally came regarding the investigation on former Justiciar Emer's death," Leon briefed.

Curious, Darius quickly took it and read through the details. He immediately walked back inside his study, giving out important instructions to Osman upon receiving yet another important telepathic report regarding the good news of how Lady Aurelia of House Everett knew Princess Katelina, who had the gift to see the past.

"I thought you needed me to stay by your side, Sire?" Osman asked with knitted brows.

Darius chuckled. His admiral's hesitation to leave him was way too evident in tone alone.

"Aren't you being too clingy right now, Osman? Even then, I still need you to do this important task for me," the king pointed out with a light scoff.

"Besides, isn't this what you prefer to involve yourself with instead of the tournament? Jargon will replace Calypso's spot, while Calypso himself will escort Lady Aurelia to look for Princess Katelina. It all pans out, especially since Jargon is more familiar with the case pertaining to the former Justiciar anyway."

"But who will stay with you here?" Osman questioned.

"Just leave for now, Osman," Darius insisted. "Replace Commander Jargon in the tournament. The subsequent briefings will take some time, so make haste."

Seeing Osman leave with a salute, Darius remained on his seat as he fell into deep thought.

,m A few moments passed... and Darius had already lost count of how many ways he came up with to tear down the Realm of Eferia for all the suffering it had inflicted on his mate.

He kept chanting to himself, and reminding both him and Zeus to honor Xen's request and stay still and let her do her thing. However, it was honestly a struggle on his part. He felt like he was about to give in any time soon, and from there, who knew what he would do...

Intensely, he stared out towards a particular direction as he telepathically ordered to some of his men, [What I will ask of you is a matter of life and death; a selfish move from your Alpha to rescue his mate as I would see fit. You are not obliged to follow, but those who are willing to do so should prepare themselves to come with me at any time into that damn Element Forest.]

He firmly declared, [I will tear that forest apart if need be just to save your Luna, so be on your toes for my signal, those that are willing to go with me.]

[Yes, Sire. We'll be ready for your signal!] everyone answered him in a firm chorus.

Darius cut the connection. It was his Elite Moonlight Shadow Warriors, the best among his pack's warriors who had vowed their loyalty and life to their Alpha. It was the Moonlight Pack's tradition to elect volunteers from the pack, making them bound to follow no other orders except their Alpha without any question.

Darius closed his eyes. He would endure the suffering for as long as he could. However...

[I can feel your worries... I'm not sure if you can hear me, but please trust me and wait. I can handle this...]

Darius's eyes widened. Xenia's voice was ringing inside his head.

[Xen, my love, can you hear me?!] he anxiously replied. He called to her numerous times, but to no avail. It seemed like he was unable to talk to her through their Mate Bond, but he could still clearly hear her thoughts.

That guardian Polo was obviously planning something, seeing as he was the one responsible for this glitch in their Mate Bond. Nevertheless, Darius was at least glad that he could hear from Xen and have her confirm her situation.

Right now, there was still no vision coming from the disc, so he had to solely rely on Xen's emotional and physical outbursts. And so far, everything seemed fine.

[Is this really the only way once things get even worse?] Zeus questioned pertaining to Darius's call to Elite Moonlight Shadow Warriors.

Darius let out a heavy sigh as he whispered, "I can't lose her, Zeus... We can't lose her."