Stolen by the Rebel King-Chapter 551: Bolder Than Nedour Fashion

Daphne paid for her purchases and Francine handed the seemingly endless bags of clothing to Atticus, who was sulking and gawking as Daphne casually walked out of the store with her head held high, after giving her thanks to the helpful shopkeeper. Atticus followed after her like an overprotective hound, half-expecting to beat men off with a stick for leering at his wife.

The Nedour afternoon sun was relentlessly hot, and even with her breezy new outfit, Daphne badly needed a drink, especially after her short argument with Atticus.

They found a quaint little cafe by the seaside to have a late lunch. Atticus wanted nothing more than to wrap his wife up in a thick cloak, but Daphne was still giving him the stink eye, so he reluctantly settled for sitting down and glaring at whoever dared to give Daphne more than a passing glance.

To his surprise, most people seemed not to care for their presence in this part of town, as Daphne’s way of dressing meant that she did not stand out from most women in Nedour.

That also pissed Atticus off. How could these fools not realize Daphne was the most beautiful in every kingdom and not want to gaze at her?

Meanwhile, Daphne was looking at the menu, resolving to put whatever unpleasantness in the store behind her. Atticus would simply have to adapt. It was good for him to be exposed to other types of fashion. Perhaps she would get some outfits for him too. Some of the men seemed to like exposing their knees and lower legs.

Just as they were about to dig into their meal, the piece of sodalite tucked in Atticus’s pocket began to burn. Atticus ignored it, since the only two people who could contact him were Jonah and Sirona, and he highly doubted anything could be as important as a date with his wife. They would get the hint eventually.

He had to attempt to cajole Daphne back into a good mood, or he could say goodbye to his chances of seeing her in her other dresses.

"Sunshine, how’s your meal?" Atticus asked. His mouth opened like a baby bird, hoping to tempt Daphne into feeding him some of her fish sticks.

"It’s delicious," Daphne said evenly, dipping her fish sticks into the onion sauce that came with it. "You can get a portion for yourself if you like."

Atticus’s face fell. His jaw still hung open but with a lot less life than before.

The sodalite seemed to stop burning, but then it began with renewed urgency. Atticus gritted his teeth― surely there couldn’t be anything so important? Did Vramid burn down in his absence? If it did, it must have been the damn chicken’s fault.

Zephyr, back in Vramid, sneezed.

Daphne’s nose wrinkled as she smelled the faintest scent of smoke. There wasn’t any grilled food nearby, but then her eyes caught sight of the slightest wisp of smoke.

Strangely enough, it seemed to come from her husband’s pants.

Atticus’s heart raced as he caught sight of where his wife was looking at. Maybe there could be time for fun bedroom activities tonight if he played his cards right. He leaned closer and propped his elbow on the table, staring lovingly at Daphne.

"See something you like, sunshine?"

"Atticus," his darling wife said, raising an eyebrow worriedly as she eyed his pants. The fabric seemed awfully thin all of a sudden. "You’re smoking."

"I know," he said with a proud smirk, "I get that a lot."

Resisting a roll of her eyes, Daphne pointed to Atticus’s pants, making sure her fingers were not pointing anywhere near his manhood.

"I meant your pants," she said. "I understand your sudden fervent love to try Nedour’s fashion, but this isn’t the right way to do things. A hole near your crotch might even be too much for their less-than-delicate sensibilities. Think of the poor maidens!"

"So... are you jealous?" Atticus said hopefully.

Daphne gave up; she rolled her eyes and jabbed her fish finger into the sauce, before taking a huge bite out of it. "Atticus, just answer the sodalite. You know Jonah and Sirona wouldn’t call you if it wasn’t an emergency."

Atticus groaned. "We have very different definitions of what constitutes an emergency. I’m sure it’s nothing. They’ll give up soon."

Besides, Jonah and Sirona weren’t incompetent fools who needed constant supervision. They could survive without him.

"Your sodalite is about to burn a hole right through your pants," Daphne said dryly. "If your manhood goes up in flames, I’m getting a divorce."

Atticus immediately took out the piece of sodalite in his pocket and barked into it. "What’s the matter?"

Jonah’s answering voice came not a second later. "What took you so long?"

"I was on a date with Daphne," Atticus seethed. He missed Jonah while he was out canoodling with Cordelia, but right now, he wanted more than to boot him to the other side of the continent. "Why did you call? Weren’t you out on a fun date with Princess Cordelia?"

Daphne could feel Jonah rolling his eyes from the other end of the sodalite. "We were out on business. And I’m informing you that we’ve found something in our investigations. Do you have time to meet us in the palace?"

"We just started eating, surely it can wait," Atticus grumbled.

"Sorry for disturbing you then." This time, it was the dulcet sound of Cordelia’s voice speaking into the sodalite. Atticus nearly dropped it in shock. "Enjoy your date. Jonah and I will figure this mystery out... together. Alone. Undisturbed."

"You will not!" Atticus nearly shrieked into the stone, attracting curious glances from other patrons.

Daphne sedately ate another fish finger, making sure to scrape the last of the sauce from the platter. This was a nice meal, and the fish was the freshest she had ever tasted in her life. Perhaps she would make another visit.

"Let’s go then," Daphne said, easily prying the sodalite from Atticus’s weakening grip. "Cordelia, I’ll see you soon. I can’t wait to show you my new outfits too!"

"Excellent!" Daphne could hear Cordelia’s smile, while Atticus shot her a vaguely betrayed look. Cordelia was going to get to see Daphne in all those revealing dresses before he was?

The heavens were unfair. Life was unjust, a travesty, and deserved to be smote into smithereens.