Master of Minds, Master of Me

I lead my pretty flower toward the dining room. I’m so excited. I think my blood is still boiling from finally just having her. I honestly didn’t plan to fuck her against the throne. I did mean to pleasure her, just edge her as much as I could without letting her come, wanting her to be extra needy. And then do the fucking later in my room. Finally letting her come.

But that plan blew out of the window.

Then just fuck me already.

That surely surprised the shit out of me. I would have never, and I mean never, guessed that my pretty flower would actually ask me to fuck her. And since I’m such a gentleman, I of course did what she asked. So basically, I’m just a victim here. Her sexual aura is just way too powerful. No matter how much she tries to hide it. I just love how she molds herself against me in seconds when I touch her or kiss her. All the resistance is just melting away. What an obedient pretty flower.

I truly regret not fucking her earlier. Her tight pussy squeezing me was just something to die for. She really is way more divine than any God.

No offense, God. Don’t be too mad at me. Surely you understand. You have seen her, right? If not, then you should take a really good look at her so you understand.

Or on second thought…

Don’t look at her. She is mine. If you do and realize her holiness, you might try to steal her away from me. And I have worked so damn hard to drag her out of your clutches. So mind your own business God, and leave us alone.

I sense the discomfort and nervousness in her mind, so I shift my focus to her.

‘’It’s going to be fine, Lo. He is just a stubborn old man. Nothing out of the ordinary.’’

‘’You are saying that being a King is something ordinary?’’

‘’Okay, you have a point in that, but just try not to think about the King part. And if it doesn’t go well… Then it doesn’t. It doesn’t matter.’’

‘’Of course it matters. He is your father.’’

‘’Yes. But I don’t care about his opinion. If he doesn’t like you, then screw him.’’

Her mind halts. I definitely sense some panic.

Shit. That’s not good.

‘’Doesn’t like me? Is there a possibility that he doesn’t like me? I was just worried that I might say something stupid. But what if he hates me?’’ Her voice is low and even a little shaky.

Umm… Did I just make her panic worse?

Goddammit Felix, think about things before you say them out loud! This is your first day with her, and you made her feel worse. Way to go. Okay. Let’s try to fix this.

‘’He will not hate you. There is nothing to hate. You are way too kind and sweet. He will like you, I know he will.’’

‘’Why then did you say that he might not like me?’’

‘’I just thought you were stressed about that. If I knew you weren’t, I would not have said it at all. I promise Lo. It’s going to be fine. He is not that scary.’’

‘’Not that scary? But he is still somewhat scary? I didn’t think about that at all. Felix. This really is a bad idea. Could I see him some other day?’’

Goddammit Felix! Stop putting ideas in her head for fucks sake! My father really is a very friendly person. Of course, I occasionally clash with him over how we should run the country. He might be strict, but not mean.

‘’I meant to say that he is not at all scary. He is like the opposite of scary.’’

She furrows her brows; somehow, she looks so fucking cute. So cute that I could just eat her up. Literally. I can already taste her in my mouth. Maybe ditching dinner isn’t a bad idea after all. Perhaps we could just lock ourselves inside my room and spend the rest of the day in bed. Yeah, that’s a much better plan than eating with my stubborn father.

I halt, and she stops too.

‘’Maybe you are right.’’

‘’I am?’’

‘’Yes. Let’s just go back to my room and spend the rest of the day in bed. There are so many places I haven’t kissed you yet, so I prefer exploring your body over having dinner. You can just be the dinner.’’

Her cheeks flush.

Fuuuuck. She is so cute. My heart can’t just take it. It might burst at any moment now.

‘’Let’s just go meet your father.’’

‘’What? Why?’’

‘’I think he is the lesser bad.’’

I can’t help but chuckle at her. ‘’Lesser bad?’’

She nods and starts walking again, and I follow.

I only sense embarrassment from her mind, not even a bit of anger or hostility. So I’m not that offended by her sentence. I just think she is cute when she acts like that. I’m so full of people treating me with silver gloves that I always get excited when someone is blunt towards me. It assures me that they are not just a bunch of brown noses who want to benefit from my status. And of course, converting someone who dislikes me to actually like me gives me satisfaction.

We arrive at the dining room door, and I look down at my pretty flower. She is clearly still nervous. I lean to kiss her forehead.

‘’Ready?’’

She nods.

I open the door and see my father already there, sitting at the table.

‘’I hope we didn’t make you wait for too long, father.’’

‘’Of course not. And it’s not like I’m in a hurry anyway. Glad you made it.’’

‘’So let me introduce you to Lorelia Helesantra. And Lo, here is my father, Charles Barham.

She approaches him and bows gracefully.

‘’Greetings to the sun of the Empire. I’m honored to meet you in person.’’

‘’Pleasure to meet you, Lady Lorelia. Please sit down.”

We do exactly that, and I can't shake my smile. If it were anyone else meeting the King for the first time, they would definitely try to shower him with compliments or talk about themself highly to get on my fathers good side. But not her. She just says the bare minimum and keeps herself silent.

“I hope you have enjoyed your time at the Palace.” My father speaks while the maid brings our food.

“Yes and no.”

I fight my chuckle escaping. I can see the slight shock on my father's face. Clearly surprised that probably for the first time in history, someone dares to say something like that. People always compliment when visiting the Palace. No one would ever dare to say a bad word.

“Yes and no? What do you mean by that?”

“Of course, the Palace and the staff have been perfect. But this place is vastly different from home, so it has taken some time to get used to all of this. And I have never been separated from my family this long, so that has been hard as well.”

“Oh, right. I can imagine that being a daughter of a High Priest affects your life quite a bit.”

“It surely does.”

We converse about her life a little bit. I just hope my father doesn't probe too much in her past. Since she isn't good at answering anything related to that.

“So I heard that you tried to drop out of the Selection before it even started. Why is that?”

I so knew my father was going to ask about that. I can't help but wonder what she will say.

“I just never wanted to be a Queen.”

This time, I can't stop the chuckle escaping, and try to cover it by coughing. I know my pretty flower is blunt and honest. But I thought since she was so nervous about meeting the King that she would try to win his favour with words. But apparently not. And I love it.

“And is that why you faked your results?”

My pretty flower lowers her gaze, looking rather remorseful. “Yes. I know it was the wrong thing to do. But I didn't want to risk being selected to the top three.”

“Well, you succeeded in that.”

She lifts her gaze, looking surprised.

“I did? How did I get picked then?”

My father looks at me.

“This twat of my son just barged in with the meeting and demanded that you be picked. Saying that if it wasn't you, he isn't marrying anyone. He had this long speech about why you should be the Queen.”

Now she looks at me, her button eyes instantly make my heart beat faster.

“Felix? You did that?”

Goddammit, I love how she says my name so naturally now.

I just shrug my shoulders. “I told you that I’m making you my Queen. There were no other options.’’

‘’So you just basically wiped all the hard work people have done to make this whole Selection happen to trash?’’

She seems rather angry. Should I feel remorseful about it? I don’t, not one bit. But her reaction makes me think that I should. So let’s pretend that I am. I rub the back of my head with my hand.

‘’Yeah, kind of. I do feel bad for them for doing all the hard work for nothing. But it’s about my future, not theirs. So I think it’s only right that I get to choose whoever I want.’’

‘’Stop saying you feel bad for them when clearly you don’t. And it’s not only about your future, it’s also the whole country's future.’’

I clearly need to step up with my lying game. Especially when I always tell her how bad a liar she is. I’m about to open my mouth to argue back, but my father cuts me off.

‘’I’m happy to see that at least your fiancée understands the gravity of your choice and actions.’’

Fiancée. I can’t help but smile at that. My pretty flower. My fiancée.

He turns to look at her again with a little more serious expression.

‘’So what are your thoughts about being a Queen now? I presume that they have changed since you are sitting here.’’

She falls silent for a while, clearly contemplating what to say. And I’m rather curious too about what she thinks right now.

‘’I have to admit that my thoughts are not clear. I mean, I have always devoted my life to helping people around me. Feeling that it’s my purpose. So I am intrigued about the possibility of helping them even more. Since there are many things in our country that could be better. I’m not saying I have solutions for them, but at least I have the will to try to make things better for everyone. But being in the center of attention is not something I enjoy. I’m not very good at being the social type. So I’m not too confident about performing Queenly duties.’’

Honest as always. I love how straightforward she is. Not afraid to say her honest opinions. Well, except if they have something to do with her feelings, then she is just a big fat liar. But I don’t mind that. Since I can always sense the truth in her mind.

‘’So you accepted the position of a Queen without being sure you actually want to be one?’’ Father’s tone is rather harsh.

‘’All due respect, Your Majesty. Do you really think I had any choice in the matter?’’

My father lets out a heavy sigh and rubs his face with his hand.

‘’Son. Please don’t tell me that you forced her to do this?’’

‘’Absolutely,’’ I say with total confidence.

My pretty flower just keeps eating her food, unfazed about all of this.

‘’Son. If I had known you were forcing her to do this. I would never agree to this.’’

‘’And that’s why I didn’t tell you about it. Obviously.’’ I roll my eyes.

My father faces her again. ‘’I do apologize on my son's behalf. He really is too hasty and reckless sometimes. I have tried my best to calm him down. But apparently my attempts have been futile.’’

‘’No need to apologize. I think I already got somewhat used to it. Surely he can be a real pain in the ass with his acts, but I think that is also part of his charm.’’

She says that looking totally neutral. Clearly, not realizing how my lungs stopped breathing because of her words. Part of my charm? I have been anxious about her disliking some parts of me. And thinking if I should try to be calmer and quieter. So hearing her say that really makes me unimaginably happy. I lean against my hands, watching her with a playful smirk.

‘’So you think I’m charming?’’

He shoots me an annoyed look, so cute.

‘’You make it seem like you have known each other for a longer time. But the meetings just started this week.’’

I face my father to answer. ‘’Oh, I have been pestering her since the first day she got here.’’

‘’Since the first day?’’

‘’Yes. There really was something wrong with my eyes when I met her then. Since I just couldn’t take my eyes off her.’’

She lowers her gaze, trying to hide the redness creeping to her cheeks.

For the millionth time: so cute.

My father sighs heavily.

‘’Well, Lady Lorelia. If I give you the option to give up the position of the Queen and let you go back home. Do you want to take it?’’

My heart freezes.

No.

Absolutely not. I know my father’s words are heavier than mine. If he decides to send her back, there is nothing I can do about it.

‘’Father! You can’t just—’’

He lifts his hand, gesturing to me to be silent. I shift my gaze to my pretty flower. Who is clearly shocked by my father's words too.

Please don’t take it. Please don’t leave me. Please, please, please. I feel like the whole world around me stops existing as I just stare at her, waiting for her answer. I try to sense her thoughts, but her mind is too messy. Too many emotions at once, so I can’t predict what she is going to say.

When she finally just shyly shakes her head, I feel like breathing again. I lean back against the chair in relief.

Thank you, God.

My father also looks pleased.

‘’In that case, could you take the exams again?’’

‘’Why?’’ I put in.

‘’The lessons to come lean on those results. So we need to really know what she knows. So we don’t waste time teaching something familiar to her.’’ She faces her again. ‘’So what do you think?’’

She gives her usual polite smile. ‘’Of course I can. And I promise to be honest this time.’’

‘’Glad to hear. I will arrange them to happen tomorrow already, so we can start planning the future lessons right away.’’

After we finish the dinner, a couple of staff members approach us, escorting my father back to his room. He isn’t able to walk by himself anymore, and it pains me to see him needing so much help every day. When we are all standing, he faces me.

‘’I have to say, you did pick quite an interesting girl. This dinner surely was pretty unusual, in a good way. But you'd better treat her right. Forcing women is not what a gentleman would do.’’

‘’Don’t you worry. I will treat her right. She is just too stubborn for her own good sometimes. But that’s nothing I couldn’t handle.’’

He turns toward her, smiling.

‘’It was a pleasure meeting you, Lady Lorelia. If my son ever gets too annoying, feel free to smack him. I’m too soft to do that. But I have a hunch you have enough attitude to do just that. And he surely could use some scolding.’’

My pretty flower bows gracefully.

‘’Pleasure was all mine, Your Majesty. But I seriously doubt my scolding would have any effect on him. But I try my best.’’

My father chuckles warmly, looking pretty happy. I don’t think I have seen him this happy for a long time. Not since he fell sick.

We watch as he is escorted out, and while her focus is on him, I go stand behind her and lean to whisper against her ear.

‘’So you really think I’m charming?’’

He spins around, startled.

‘’If you keep being a creep like that, I will most definitely change my opinion about it.’’

I wrap my hands around her waist and pull her closer.

‘’Thanks Lo.’’

‘’For what?’’

‘’For not taking up my father’s offer about you leaving.’’

Her mind gets embarrassed, and she speaks shyly.

‘’I just had a hunch that even if I left, you would just keep pestering me.’’

I laugh at her. ‘’You really are a smart one. I would have most definitely done that.’’

I kiss her. And she immediately molds herself against me. Like she belongs there. And she does.

I can’t believe that she really is mine now.