Demon Prince's Forsaken Bride-Chapter 72: I decide for myself! (2)

He fell silent.

’’You certainly have the authority to decide for me here and when you do so, I would be left with no choice but to accept your decisions. However, if you are doing so, you must keep me well informed about it,’’ Lareina raised a finger, ’’So that when asked for an explanation about why I was idling in comfort when I was sent as a part of mission, I can blame it on you without having you hold me responsible.’’

’’You...’’

Lareina added another finger, ’’You might want me to stay here because you find me to be hassle but...’’

’’Are you mad?" Azrael’s palm covered her raised fingers as he grabbed her hand and pulled her close, ’’You’d die there. I want you safe, Lareina. Why can’t you be obedient and listen to me for once?"

’’Your Highness, you would have gotten permanent obedience if you married a doll,’’ Lareina whispered, her eyelashes fluttering as she spoke softly, ’’Unfortunately for the both of us, I am a human. I cannot help but question, demand and desire out of pure instinct.’’

"That is not what I mean,’’ Azrael released her wrist and raked his finger through his hair, reining his urge to rip some off from the very roots to soothe this burning annoyance.

Did she think he wanted her to be docile? That he wanted her to cut those claws that she extended at him the moment they were alone? Like hell!

All he wanted was that she listened to him for once so he could protect her with everything he had.

’’Your Highness, I am unsure if you are seeking my safety or my demise...’’

The woman started speaking and Azrael’s forehead throbbed with a strong headache.

But Lareina was unfazed by what he thought and what he felt. Since he could drop his decision on her and leave as if her opinion did not matter, she did not specifically have to stop and reflect on how her words affected him.

’’The Lord must have had his intentions on sending me here. The war is over and he probably finds me an eyesore by now. Either he wants to see me tormented, or he wants to see my dragging you down. The third prince is accompanied by many guards and even if the third prince himself does not report every detail back to the lord, at least one of those guards will,’’ It was impossible for a paranoid man like the demon lord to completely put his trust in one person.

’’If I don’t venture anywhere close to my grave while we are here then when we go back, I don’t know what awaits me, or you for that matter,’’ Her defiance has been met with brutality everytime. The torment of the prisoners of war was still as vivid a nightmare in her heart.

And Lareina refused to put herself in that position knowingly again for a moment of comfort, ’’I would probably tormented in some new way. And you... If they know that you kept me in the comfort of an inn, under the protection of your competent guard, then they would be suspicious of you too...’’

They were bound by marriage and there were a lot of differences between them. Both of them knew it. Outsiders also saw it and they relished in it. This marriage was just meant to make Lareina a sacrificial pawn and to tie Azrael down.

She would be mocked and trampled as a living marker of the entire human race while he would be humiliated constantly as well. A general who fought against humans was married to a human. How laughable. And that is how the demon lord would prefer it. He would want his war hero son to be forever crushed beneath the burden of these affairs so he could never find the leisure or the strength to rise from the mud.

If they thought that Azrael tried to protect Lareina, it would only be another disaster in the making. For both of them.

And Azrael was aware of it. He had thought of the worst possibilities before she even brought them up to him but he was unwilling to make her risk her life now over the fears of future danger.

He would protect her then too. He wanted to tell her.

But she looked at him with determination, ’’I would not hinder you, Your Highness,’’ She was scared of death but there were things worse than death, ’’Even if not as husband and wife, we can just help each other as partners. Forbidding me from joining you would only cultivate unwanted risks for the both of us.’’

...

"Ahh... I feel very unwell here... This place...’’ Moira held her forehead, leaning back on the carriage as she panted like she was one step away from drifting off to her dead father, ’’Your Highness, I am really afraid of being a hindrance with such poor health of mine. Why don’t I go back to the inn and rest?"

Lareina looked out of the small window. They were on the premises of a small village that was separated from them by a river.

’’Lady Moira, what are you saying?" Astra mimicked Moira’s ’I am about to die’ tone as she spoke, ’’Even Her Highness who has no powers is here with us on this mission. His Highness has invited countless healers and found one rare herb after another for your old injuries. After you came to the camp, you got to train with the best of us and you even managed to learn some spells from experts. Now that it’s time to repay this favor, you want to hide in the comfort of your room?"

Lareina noticed that whenever Moira was around, Astra treated her even more like Azrael’s legitimate princess than she actually was hence she did not mind the change in titles, not knowing that Astra was sweating buckets trying to please the second prince who had been sulking the entire way.

Azrael eventually gave in to Lareina but that did not prevent his terrible mood. Lareina liked to believe that the reason behind that was because she had threatened him into reconsidering his decisions.

But like the true subordinates they were, Astra and Rune quietly understood the reason behind their Prince’s displeasure. He was...