“It still feels weird.” She wheezed rather pitifully as she struggled to speak, her sounding constricted. “The air is getting,” she gasped, “heavier.”

Kasser, who was still holding onto her, soothed her by saying, “That’s just normal. You’re doing well.” he whispered, his fingers running through her locks of hair, soothing her with every stroke.

“You’ll get used to it soon enough, then you won’t have to worry any longer.” he continued, “Think of controlling this energy as similar to riding a horse.” she looked at him, prompting for more, “With practice, you will learn, and when you do, it will forever stay with you.”

As the king spoke so confidently, Eugene can’t help but only gawk at him in response. She felt shivers running up and down her spine just by listening to him speak, especially in that old-fashioned way, which she only heard being spoken in historical dramas.

And in her entranced state, she couldn’t help but blurt out…

“The way you speak is so different…” she muttered back softly, and Kasser’s brows furrowed in confusion.

‘Different? I have always talked like this.’ he thought to himself before he shook his head in amusement. Eugene could feel the rumbles from his chest as he chuckled quietly at her…

“Now I believe. You’ve really lost your memory.” He then looked at Eugene in silent contemplation and his gaze roamed around her face, watching every crease and every smooth line on her face…

The latter also kept eye contact with him. And as time went on with her pain gradually fading, she began to take note about their current positioning; her laid head against his chest, with his big and warm arms supporting her back, spreading its warmth through the thin fabric of her clothes, which was the only thing separating their skin from each other.

She knew that the king had only intended to help her calm down, and it filled her with a sudden rush of fondness for what he did for her, but she was no longer under any pain. She was beginning to come back to her senses, and slowly, yet carefully, she began to untangle herself from his arms, placing as much respectful distance between them as possible.

We have never been this close before. Even if she indeed lost her memory, is it possible for a person to change entirely? Kasser thought to himself.

Determined with putting as much distance as possible between them, Eugene naturally pushed him gently away and twisted herself out of his grasp. But suddenly, while she focused intently on withdrawing from the embrace, his hand on the small of her back drew her back close to him.

Eugene let out a startled gasp; her eyes quickly snapping back to his sharp, blue orbs. She then began to blink towards him in confusion…

“In another circumstance, I would certainly think of you as someone else.” he began to tell her, and she couldn’t help but suck in a breath…

Haha. He’s sharp. But, if I were to claim to be someone else, he will think that I’m crazy. She mused dryly.

“But I’m afraid to state that I still believe that the reason why you sneaked out of the castle, was because you planned to not keep your word with me.” he finished, eyeing her the same way as he did before. Even upon the mention of the possible betrayal, his voice didn’t fail one bit. Kasser knew the nature of the queen. But what he didn’t understand was why she chose to roam the desert.

As vile as Jin Anika was, she was undoubtedly wiser than she was more wicked.

“Well, maybe.” Eugene shrugged her shoulders, hoping that half-heartedly agreeing would prompt him to let her go.

Still, she made the character herself, she knew just how cunning Jin Anika could be. Anika would not hesitate in a heartbeat to throw away any degree of honor just to achieve her purpose or goal in mind.

As she began nodding unconsciously to herself, in response to her musings, she began to feel rather disheartened. But when Kasser’s expression morphed into something akin to suspicion, she quickly retracted back her words.

“I don’t mean yes, but rather, it’s a reasonable doubt.” she defended and still he eyed her with narrowed gaze.

“Does that mean that you admit it?” he asks her.

“Admit what?” Eugene asked back, feigning ignorance, and he narrowed his gaze even further. There was an unspoken warning in his eyes.

“Were you thinking of getting away?

“I said I don’t remember.”

“Then I can’t help it,” said the king in resignation. As he said it, his hold to her waist loosened up and Eugene slightly stumbled backwards.

“You never allowed me to touch you before. I have always wondered why you chose to subject such a condition in our contract. But now that you claim to have lost your memory, it seems that I would never find out.”

Tired of it all, Eugene snapped in frustration. “I myself don’t know the nature of my agenda.” She then smiled mischievously, “Maybe because His Highness doesn’t know how to make a baby?”

Instantly, Kasser’s possessed a gloomier face, if that was even possible.

This remarks of hers appeared as a shallow provocation to him. But still, he was secretly upset hearing it.

He had never been swayed by the queen’s charm. Objectively, he knew that her beauty was undeniably remarkable, yet, she was as untouchable and as insensitive as a jewel displayed in a glass box. He felt fundamentally out of sync with her.

But every time he sees the queen, who had lost her memory, he feels strange. She perked his interest the very moment she made an expression that was not like her at all. It was the first time he knew that her voice, which had no trace of the usual nasality, was pleasing to the ears.

He managed to calm down the part of his body that responded while holding and soothing her awhile ago, but as they continued to converse now, his body started reacting to her once more.

Therefore explaining his lower half being painfully rigid…

His fire had already been half-stuck and would burst into a huge untamable flame if further fueled. This desire of him, which was against his will, irked him to no ends.

He narrowed his eyes, brows knitting together and lips curling in frustration.

“You doubt my ability. That’s a very dangerous remark, Anika.”