Stolen by the Rebel King-Chapter 530: Nedour’s Shores

"Stop babbling. Princess Cordelia hates babblers," Atticus said, and Nikun snapped his mouth shut so quickly he almost bit his own tongue. "And I’m not sacrificing a rowboat on you." The likelihood that he would get lost and end up at the bottom of the ocean was all too high, and high-quality rowboats were too valuable to waste on such a risky endeavor.

"Since you want to repay me, I have just the task for you," Atticus continued, making sure to sound as menacing and ruthless as the rumors claimed he was.

Nikun subconsciously leaned back at the ferocity in his voice.

"Win Princess Cordelia’s heart in her matchmaking tournament. There will be dire consequences if you don’t."

"I’ll do my best!" Nikun promised, his tongue wetting his lower lip in anxiety. "But there’s no guarantee the princess will take a liking to me. Matters of the heart cannot be forced, and I can only―"

"You will win Princess Cordelia’s heart in the tournament. This is not a request. It is an order," Atticus repeated gravely, and Nikun gulped. He wanted to argue that he wasn’t a citizen of Vramid and hence Atticus wasn’t his king, but he wanted to live to see another day.

This was the man who slayed a dragon. Nikun was infinitely more fragile, so he could only nod frantically in agreement. At least, now he will have added motivation to not fail in his task.

"Good," Atticus said, and the oppressive aura he exuded vanished in the blink of an eye, leaving Nikun "In the meantime, I will sponsor your food and clothing to put you in the best stead to catch her eye."

"How generous of you." The door slammed open to reveal Daphne, looking less than impressed at her husband’s offer.

Nikun jumped in surprise and bowed at the presence of his savior.

"Queen Daphne!"

"I am a generous man," Atticus retorted easily. "Besides, this man has nothing left to wear since his ship sank under the waves. Do you want him to appear naked for his showing? Or maybe that’s the point, that would definitely draw Cordelia’s attention."

He then turned.

"On second thought, I’m not giving you any clothes. You’ll be naked then." Atticus pointed to Nikun, whose mouth fell open in shock. "Work on your fitness for the next few days. Your muscles need to impress her."

"King Atticus, you cannot be serious!" Nikun’s eyes bulged out and he turned pleadingly in Daphne’s direction. "Naked?! I―"

"Of course he’s not going naked! He must have clothes on! Do you want him to be arrested for public indecency?" Daphne squawked, wanting to smack the smug grin from Atticus’s face.

"Have you seen what the people of Nedour wear? They have no concept of public indecency!" Atticus argued.

"That’s not the point!" Daphne replied. "And you’ve never been to Nedour either! Don’t make the people of Cordelia’s kingdom sound like debauched whores!"

"Should I leave the both of you alone?" Nikun interrupted meekly, his eyes flicking between Daphne and Atticus warily. The infirmary room wasn’t big to begin with, but now it felt awfully small.

Both of them turned to glare at him. Nikun sensed that he was a mouse trapped between two cats who were debating how best to eat him.

"No," they chorused in unison before they turned back to each other and continued where they left off, bickering without stopping.

Nikun nodded glumly, plastering himself against the wall, wishing he had the magical ability to turn himself invisible.

This royal couple had an awfully strange way of flirting with each other. The rumors that their relationship was collapsing must have been spread by jealous witnesses, and the rumor that King Atticus was secretly in love with another man must have been one created by vindictive naysayers.

"You do not love Cordelia," Queen Daphne declared, pointing at Nikun, who jolted at being directly addressed out of the blue.

"No? How could I? I’ve never met her," Nikun said, before hastily adding, "I hear she’s lovely though."

Daphne stared down at him before her lips quirked into a small smile. Cordelia definitely would not like a sweet-talker like him, despite his good looks.

"Good luck with wooing the Princess’s heart with my husband’s help," Daphne said sweetly. He was going to need it.

Atticus huffed. Daphne clearly thought she knew better, but Atticus believed his intuition was never wrong. With his expertise helping Nikun, Cordelia was sure to change her mind.

"Thank you, Queen Daphne," Nikun replied, bemused. "I will do my best."

Atticus repressed a fond, smug grin as he watched his wife flounce away with her nose in the air.

Cute.

***

After a few weeks, they arrived in Nedour. In those few short weeks, Atticus had spent the bulk of his time drilling Nikun about Nedour’s history so that he would not look like a fool in front of Princess Cordelia. Thankfully, Nikun seemed to have done his preparation; he wasn’t a complete novice about Nedour and its politics.

There was nothing he could do about this man’s ability to ramble and blabber though. Hopefully, Cordelia would find that endearing. ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm

When they sparred together, that man actually managed to last five minutes against Atticus, which made him better than most men. Unfortunately, he still paled in comparison to Jonah.

Now, it was the moment of truth.

Daphne watched in bated breath as their ship finally arrived at Nedour’s biggest port with huge fanfare. Cordelia had arranged for a huge welcoming party and to her utter delight, Cordelia was right in front, with Jonah standing behind her.

She shot Atticus a victorious grin.

"Guess she has already made her choice," Daphne said cheerily.

"Because she hasn’t met Nikun yet," Atticus countered smoothly.

The anchors were dropped, and the gangplank fell. Servants and sailors alike cheered at the conclusion of a successful sea journey. Daphne knew it was hard for the Vramidian servants that they had selected for this journey; they had never seen a body of water bigger than a bathtub. Sea travel was only a novelty for the first few days; most of the servants were ready to return to dry land after the first week.

Daphne could relate. If not for the thought of seeing Cordelia, she would have never bothered to make such a long journey. Uncaring of royal protocol, Daphne picked up her skirts and all but raced down the gangplank, into Cordelia’s waiting arms.

"It’s good to see you again," Cordelia said, squeezing her tightly. "It has been too long."

"Likewise," Daphne said, her voice muffled as she buried her face in Cordelia’s shoulder. "I’ve missed you."

"Yes. I noticed," Cordelia said dryly, but the back of her ears turned red at Daphne’s effusive affection.

"It’s nice to see you again, Daphne," Jonah said warmly, and Daphne reluctantly extricated herself from Cordelia to hug Jonah tightly. The time spent apart had given him a warm tan that highlighted his bright blonde hair and sky-blue eyes better than any silk brocade or suit of armor. "Now where’s that old friend of mine?"

"Right here," Atticus said, stomping down the gangplank with markedly less enthusiasm shown by his wife, Nikun walking cautiously behind him. "You’ve gotten skinnier. Do you not eat here?" Atticus complained.

Jonah rolled his eyes. "I eat just fine, thank you very much. I would be more concerned about you― you seem thicker around the belly. Have you not been exercising?"

"You―" Atticus spluttered, wanting to argue further, but Cordelia turned her gaze on the well-dressed stranger who was standing patiently to the side while they caught up with each other.

She raised an eyebrow at Daphne. "Did you adopt another magical creature while I was away?"