After Prince Nigel left from Adeline’s private chamber, Adeline kept on thinking about how she was going to manage to pass the coming days without her favorite brother. She realized how much she relied on Nigel.

She relied on him to help her with her training. She relied on him when there was no one to talk to, not even Theodore. He was her confidante, her friend, and her brother. And thinking about not seeing Nigel for almost a month made her feel miserable.

With all the crazy events happening in her life lately, she had no idea how she was going to survive in this lonely Palace alone. Yes, she had her maids with her who loved her dearly. But they would not be able to fill the void of Nigel. It just wasn’t the same.

When it was dark outside, her maids brought her tasty and nutritious dinner. But she did not even taste the food and kept on brooding over the thought of her brother leaving tomorrow.

Like the clockwork, Theodore appeared in Adeline’s chamber. He thought that Adeline would have finished her dinner by now and would be lying on her bed but he furrowed his brows when he saw the untouched food on the table.

Then he looked at Adeline who was crouching down in one corner of her room. She was hugging her knees and resting her head on her knees while rocking back and forth. She had not even noticed yet that Theodore was in her room and was staring at her for a while, trying to analyze what had happened to her based on her facial expression.

After some time, he gave up and spoke in his alluring voice, “Did something happen little human? Why are you pouting and sitting there in the corner?”

Adeline took a quick glance of Theodore but rather than smiling or jumping up to hug him, she kept on crouching on the floor as if she was uninterested by Theodore’s presence in the room.

Theodore clicked his tongue and then spoke slowly, “Should I… leave you alone? Don’t you want to talk to me?”

Adeline immediately exclaimed, “No!”

Theodore squinted his eyes and questioned her, “No, you don’t want to talk to me, or no you don’t want me to leave?”

Adeline apologetically stared at Theodore for making him feel unwelcome and said, “No, I don’t want you to leave.” Nigel was already leaving for a month and she did not want to make Theodore leave her as well.

She sighed and softly whispered to herself, “I don’t want anyone to leave.”

But Theodore’s sharp ears caught those words and he asked her while inching closer to her, “Is someone leaving you?”

Adeline nodded and said, “Nigel.”

“Hmm… where’s that puppy going?” Theodore asked as he genuinely cared about his whereabouts. He knew how important Nigel was to Adeline and he knew that Nigel was the one person that he could fully trust in this Palace. With Nigel gone, he feared that Adeline would not be so safe anymore.

“He is going to Aberdeen. He won’t return before the test. I don’t want to feel lonely but without him I am bound to be lonely.” Adeline sighed again and rested her jaw on her knees.

Theodore stepped even closer to Adeline and instantly objected in his seductive voice, “How dare you say that you will be lonely when I keep on visiting you daily?”

And in another split-second, she could feel Theodore’s hands sliding behind her back as well as under her knees, softly brushing her thighs as she had not gathered her gown properly while she was sitting on the floor.

Adeline felt a tingling sensation in her heart and a soft moan left her lips. And before she could protest, Theodore was carrying her in his arms. One of his hands was under her gown, wrapping her bare thighs, while the other was supporting her back. Her navy blue gown had managed to slide up to her thighs and was flowing freely, trying to touch the floor.

Theodore gawked at the beauty in his arms. A sudden urge took over him, an urge to throw her down on the bed and tear off the clothes from her body to reveal her womanly curves. And he wanted to do everything to her that one could think of doing with a woman. But his thought was interrupted by Adeline.

Adeline hurriedly pushed down her gown to cover her pale thighs. Her cheeks and ears were flushing red because of this shameless act of Theodore. She demanded to know why he was lifting her up, “What are you doing Theo? Put me down!”

But Theodore jerked Adeline’s upper body upward and kept on holding her tightly. Their faces were only an inch apart from each other. Adeline could feel his hot breath brushing against her face, which almost felt magical. 

Theodore stared deep in her sapphire eyes and whispered in a hypnotizing voice, “Tell me Adeline, do you still feel lonely? While I am holding you so close to me, do you still feel lonely?”

Adeline was so attracted by his voice and beautiful face that she was unable to break her glance from Theodore. She felt as if something was pulling her and was not allowing her to move her face or even her eyes!

Her brain comprehended the meaning behind his sentences after about a while. And she managed to speak through her daze, “You are missing the point.”

Theodore slightly moved his head forward and closed that one inch gap between them. His lips softly brushed against hers when he asked, “What point?”

“I don’t know”, Adeline whispered while her gaze was fixated on Theodore’s seductive lips. Just a while ago she was drowning in sadness but right now, she remembered nothing. The only thing that she could see was Theodore and the only thing that she was feeling right now was longing, longing to taste the mouth of the Devil.

Theodore gave a devilish smirk when he heard her answer. His eyes started to trail from her face and down to her bosoms. The longer his eyes kept on hovering on her bosoms, the more he wanted her. The Devil inside of him wanted to break free from the cage of his saneness and wanted to have his way. His golden eyes were starting to turn into blood red.

He redirected his gaze towards Adeline’s lips and parted his lips slightly to get a taste of his woman. Adeline did not protest at all because even she wanted the same. She subconsciously clutched her gown as Theodore was approaching her lips.

However, right at that moment a loud knock was heard on Adeline’s door. “Princess, did you finish your dinner?” Hawisa shouted from behind the door and she proceeded to open the door without waiting for Adeline to give her permission to come in.

And in panic, Adeline forcefully jumped down from Theodore’s clutch. But she tripped on her own gown and then landed on the floor with a thud. “Aaahhhh! I think I broke something.” Adeline grunted and kept on lying on the floor.

Theodore wanted to pick her up from the floor but Hawisa was already inside the room. He glared at Hawisa and shouted at her internally, “I swear I am going to make you pay in hell for always coming in between me and Adeline. Or I should just conjure up a snake like last time and make her pay here and now.”

Hawisa saw that Adeline was lying on the floor and was wincing with pain. And she immediately ran to the Princess and started to panic. “Adeline, what happened? Are you hurt somewhere? Should I call the healer?”

Adeline shook her head and slowly spoke, “No, I just fell from the bed. I’m alright. No need to worry.”

“Oh, were you already asleep? Did I startle you and made you fall?” Hawisa felt sorry for Adeline and wanted to blame herself for Adeline’s pain.

“No. Don’t blame yourself Hawisa. It was me who was clumsy.” Adeline slowly lifted herself up from the floor and stretched her body. Falling down was common to her because she would be lifted and dropped down on the floor several times when she would practice fighting. She was already used to this kind of pain.

Hawisa let out a sigh of relief after seeing Adeline up and about. “Thank God you’re okay.” Then she turned around to take away the dinner plates but she saw that Adeline had not even touched her food. “Adeline, why didn’t you eat anything? Are you sure you are alright?”

Adeline puckered her lips and answered, “I didn’t feel like having anything today. You can clean it up.”

Hawisa was worried about the Princess not eating; she was never the one to throw away food. And for her to throw them away, she thought that something must have been seriously bothering her. But she did not dare to pester the Princess. “Do you want me to bring something else? Hot soup maybe?”

Adeline shook her head and then denied that, “No, I’m good. I will eat something tomorrow.”

Defeated to the Princess’s stubbornness, Hawisa bid goodnight to the Princess and then took everything away from the dinner table.

Theodore had been quietly standing at one side when Hawisa was inside the room. As soon as she left, he complained to Adeline, “Your maids seem to be very talented in interrupting our moment. I swear I will end up doing something bad to them someday.”

Adeline simply chuckled and said, “Cut them some slack; they are just taking care of me.”

Then she lightly bit her lower lip, not knowing that it was making Theodore want her even more.