Sold To The Cruel Prince-Chapter 27: The Snake On The Bed

Aveline slept better that night than she had in years.

For the first time in a decade, no nightmares came for her, no shadows clawed at her mind, and no memories dragged her back into the dark.

Instead, her dreams were light.

She wandered across soft, floating clouds, laughing as they dipped beneath her feet. A stubborn little butterfly kept landing on her lips as if it had chosen her as its favorite resting place, and she kept trying to shoo it away, half-annoyed, half-amused. Somewhere along the way, a small black fox darted past her, quick and playful, and she chased after it with a grin, never quite catching it.

There were carrots, and... candies. More than she could ever eat, and yet somehow, she kept reaching for more, delighted like a child who had never known hunger.

And through it all, there was warmth.

A deep, comforting warmth that wrapped around her, steady and familiar, like being held close against her mother’s chest.

It was perfect.

Almost.

Because every now and then, something poked at her, lightly and insistently, but even that felt distant and unimportant. The warmth outweighed everything else, and she sank deeper into it without resistance.

Meanwhile, beside her... Theron could not sleep at all.

It didn’t make sense.

For the past week, when she had been restless, when she thrashed in her sleep, when her breath turned uneven, and when quiet cries slipped past her lips... those had been the nights he slept the easiest. When she needed him, when he had to steady her, calm her, keep her grounded... those were the moments that brought him a strange kind of peace.

But tonight... Tonight was different.

She was completely still. Her breathing was soft, even. At times, she even smiled in her sleep, as if whatever world she had gone to was far kinder than this one.

And for the first time... She didn’t need him.

The thought settled heavily in his chest.

He didn’t understand why it bothered him so much. But it did.

So he did the only thing that quieted that unease, even if just a little... He moved closer. Closer, until there was no space left between them, as if afraid that if he let go, even for a moment, she might disappear by morning.

Sleep eventually came to him, but not gently.

His dreams were restless, fragmented. In them, she stood in front of him, smiling the way she used to: soft, warm, and familiar.

And then, without warning, she turned away and vanished into darkness.

He tried to chase her, but dark hands clamped him to where he was. Witchy cackles echoed in that barren land where even the sun burned red-hot.

"Don’t leave me, Aveline..." he murmured, his voice barely audible as he pressed his forehead lightly against her.

The night stretched on slowly and heavily.

And only when it had deepened into its quietest hours, when even the world outside seemed to hold its breath, did something shift.

Aveline moved.

Still half-asleep, she turned slightly and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him closer without thought, as if he were simply part of the warmth she had been dreaming of.

"...fox..." she mumbled faintly.

That was when it happened.

The tension in his body eased. His breathing slowed. And finally... Theron fell asleep.

-----

Morning came slowly.

Aveline stirred.

Usually, she woke to an empty space beside her. Sometimes, if he was feeling particularly... attentive, Theron would already be awake, waiting with breakfast like some overbearing shadow she could never quite shake off.

But today... He was still there. Not just there. He was close. Far too close.

Her eyes blinked open, adjusting to the soft gold of the morning sun, and then widened.

Theron was lying against her, his head resting comfortably on her chest as if it belonged there, one arm wrapped firmly around her waist, holding her in place.

She blinked again.

What happened to his pillow?

Her gaze shifted sideways. It was gone.

Suspicious.

Carefully...very carefully... she tried to move, reaching to find it for him so she could escape without waking the beast.

The moment she shifted, his arm tightened.

She froze.

...Alright.

She tried again.

His arms got tighter.

"...Are you serious?" she whispered under her breath.

After a few failed attempts, she gave up entirely and dropped back onto the bed with an exaggerated sigh.

Theron only adjusted himself more comfortably against her. Of course, he did.

Her gaze drifted downward.

And then... She frowned.

...Wait.

Something felt different. Slowly, cautiously, she lifted her hands to her chest. She paused, and then slowly... she pressed.

Her eyes widened.

No way!

She pushed Theron’s face aside, because, frankly, he was in the way of an important discovery, and checked again, more thoroughly this time.

It was real.

Actually real.

"I have—"

She slapped a hand over her mouth before the words could escape.

Her eyes sparkled.

I have boobs.

Finally.

After years of looking like a walking bundle of bones and bad decisions, there was progress; actual, visible, undeniable progress.

The medicines... those demonic things Theron forced on her... They worked.

For a brief, shining moment, she wanted to leap off the bed and announce it to the entire kingdom.

But... Her excitement dimmed slightly as she looked down. Theron was still there, asleep. And... he looked tired.

So, reluctantly, she stayed.

The rising sun painted his face in warm gold, softening the sharpness that had replaced the boyish fullness she remembered.

"...You changed," she murmured.

Her fingers moved before she could stop them.

First, his cheek. She blinked. It was rough.

"...What is this?" she whispered, rubbing it again, fascinated. "Pumice stone?"

Not only that, his nose was sharper, his jaw was firmer. Her fingers traced slowly, curiously, as if mapping unfamiliar territory.

His eyelashes made her pause.

"...Unfair."

Then... eyes landed on his lips. She hesitated only for a second before touching them. They were soft; unexpectedly so. A strange contrast to everything else about him.

Her curiosity only deepened. She let her fingers wander lower, to his throat, to the distinct rise of his Adam’s apple.

"...Were you always like this?" she muttered, frowning slightly.

He used to be soft and round.

Now... He was firm, solid... strong enough to carry her so easily.

What exactly happened to him while she was busy surviving?

Her exploration continued, slow and absentminded...Until...

She froze.

Something shifted against her leg. Something...Hard...Warm...Moving...Alive.

Her entire body went rigid. "...What is that?"

A second passed.

Two.

Then...

"SNAKE!"

She bolted upright, nearly throwing him off in the process, scrambling backward on the bed as she shook out her nightgown in panic.

"Snake! Theron, get up! There’s a snake on the bed... I felt it...it-it was moving... it felt abhorrent..."

Theron sat up slowly, one hand pressing against his forehead. While she screamed, he was silent. He clutched the sheets so hard his knuckles went white.

He got a little too excited by her touches and now... His gaze dropped and then lifted to her, slowly.

"...A snake," he repeated flatly.

Aveline, still fully committed to survival, grabbed his arm, trying to drag him off the bed. "Don’t just sit there! It’s dangerous—"

Before she could continue, he moved fast. She was pushed back onto the bed in one smooth motion. Her breath hitched.

Theron hovered over her, one hand braced beside her head, the other pinning her wrist down. The panic in her eyes faltered because his expression was something darker.

Something... heated.

Her voice died in her throat. "...Theron?"

His gaze held hers, steady and unblinking, with an intensity that made it impossible for her to look away even if she wanted to. There was something in his eyes that hadn’t been there a moment ago, something heavier, darker, and far too focused on her.

"Say that again," he said quietly, his voice low in a way that made her heart stumble.

She blinked, still caught off guard by the sudden shift. "What?"

His grip tightened around her wrist, not enough to hurt, but enough to remind her that she wasn’t going anywhere... not until he was done. The subtle pressure sent a strange awareness through her, one she didn’t quite know how to process.

"That it was abhorrent."

For a second, she only stared at him, confusion written plainly across her face. There had been a snake, she was certain of it, and yet here he was, looking at her as if she had done something unforgivable.

What is wrong with him?

Before she could question him further, he shifted. Lowered.

The movement was deliberate, leaving no space between them, and suddenly she felt it again... that same unfamiliar, unsettling presence pressing against her.

Warm.

Firm.

Unmistakably there.

Her body went still.

Oh.

Her thoughts caught up all at once, and with them came a sharp, burning realization that spread from her chest to the tips of her ears.

Oh no!

Her eyes widened, her breath catching somewhere between panic and something she refused to name. "...I—"

The word barely left her lips before it died there, swallowed by the thickening air between them.

Because something had changed.

What had begun as playful irritation, as harmless teasing in the soft light of morning, had shifted into something far more dangerous, something that coiled tightly between them, unspoken but impossible to ignore.

And Aveline, for once, had no idea how to talk her way out of it.

Aveline swallowed hard as she met his eyes.