The Crown's Entrapment

The sun was already about to set when Xenia and others reached Valcrez Castle. If Cordon Castle was covered with high stone and sturdy walls all over and stood on the hilltop of a mountain, Valcrez was the opposite. Water surrounded the whole castle, with the entire structure being situated above a waterfall.

The exterior design was extraordinary, and it was something that Xenia didn’t expect for its location. The only thing that connected the castle to land were the bridges extending out in almost all directions around it. It also had dark black stones lining its walls, with the only thing bright on it being the gold carving designs and sculptures decorating its surroundings.

Up in the sky, vultures and ravens flew all around the castle, and they made a few eerie sounds as if welcoming their King’s arrival. She smiled. She couldn’t help but adore each castle that she visited along with their different designs.

Cordon, although it lacked color, its stonewall carvings were enough to admire its unique craftsmanship. Ebodia Castle meanwhile, had more of a human touch to it because of how lively it was with all of the beautiful gardens and colorful paint decorating it. Comparing it to the others, Ebodia was more like a garden castle out on the plains.

“Do you often visit Valcrez Castle?” Xenia curiously asked Darius as they rode on the beautiful bridge towards the main castle gates.

“Hmm, I was invited often since Valcrez and Cordon had some talks about having a marriage alliance once…” Darius informed.

“With you and a Valcrez royal?” Xenia murmured with a frown.

Nikolai had many siblings from different fathers, but she didn’t bother to check on them. She simply knew Ezme since she had met the latter personally. Besides, the princess was the only sibling Nikolai had that wasn’t a half-sibling.

Darius chuckled, “Yes… Between me and Ezme. But the Elders, the council of Valcrez, had their doubts on the union, including the council in my kingdom.”

Xenia’s face soured. No wonder Ezme and her didn’t get along. The other princess probably thought that she snatched Darius away from her.

“Ezme seems to like you,” she pointed out, making Darius chuckle.

“Are you jealous, my love?” Darius teased. “Are you somehow thinking of getting revenge on me right now?”

“I’m not jealous. I’m just saying that you and Ezme seem pretty close,” Xenia explained. “Besides, it’s way too obvious that Ezme likes you. I remember how she even threatened me before about you,” she murmured with a twitch in her mouth.

“She’s simply infatuated. Ezme likes to prey on men mostly because of their blood,” Darius explained.

“If Nikolai doesn’t casually take human blood, then Ezme is his opposite. She loves to sip on the blood of werewolves and humans. She also had a habit of biting werewolves more often than not, since she has this tendency of turning humans into vampires whenever she would bite them. Knowing that, she then thought that werewolves are the safest prey for her since we obviously don’t turn no matter how much a vampire bites us.”

“Why not just slice off a piece of human skin and the blood from that?” Xenia scoffed. A vampire’s venom came from their fangs, so they would automatically turn any human they might bite. Although, some try other methods of feeding if they didn’t want to spread their venom onto humans.

“Let’s just say she prefers to bite…” Darius vaguely dismissed. “Anyway, enough about Ezme. In history, most often than not, a hybrid produced by the union between a vampire and a werewolf ended up becoming too wild and unable to be tamed. In the end, they would end up as monsters that had to be eradicated.”

He rambled on, “Truly, humans are still the best when it comes to being compatible and safe with all kinds of creatures as a breeder. Both Councils from our kingdoms didn’t want a repeat of those cycles, so we simply decided to form an alliance with corresponding conditions and bargains to be met between our kingdoms. It wasn’t even that hard, with Nikolai and I already being good friends anyway.”

Xenia’s frowned as she thought about how humans were always at a disadvantage when against all the creatures living in their world. She was well aware that humans were the only species that was compatible with all living creatures as the safest breeder. It was kind of messed up. Just the thought of forcibly making humans a breeder to all kinds of species made her stomach ache enough that she wanted to vomit.

“I hope that female humans won’t be forced to become breeders because of this fact,” Xenia grunted with a dim expression.

Darius probably felt the heavy emotions that corresponded with her words, as Xenia felt his comforting kiss landing on her shoulder.

“Hmm, Valcrez and Cordon have a law against such a thing, my love, and it’s punishable by death,” Darius reassured her. “No human in both kingdoms will be forced against their will to do such a thing. And if there would be any, then we shall see to it that those who didn’t abide by the law would meet their swift death…”

Xenia didn’t comment on his words, but deep inside, she vowed that she would personally be strict on the matter once she became the Queen of Cordon. She would make sure that humans wouldn’t be forced to become a breeder against their will…

Well, she had to become Queen first…

“What are you thinking, love?” Darius asked. “Did I say something to displease you?”

“It’s nothing,” she murmured out with a faint smile. “It’s just that I hope to become a good and just Queen someday that could help you rule productively…”

“I’m sure, you’ll be a wonderful one, my love,” Darius encouraged her. He then mischievously added, “How about thinking of becoming a mother too while ruling the kingdom beside me?”

Xenia’s face reddened. “How many children do you have in mind?” she carefully asked.

She had never thought of it yet, but that didn’t mean that she wouldn’t welcome the idea. She would gladly give her mate the pups he wanted. So long as she was able, of course.

“You call them pups, right? Babies?” Xenia naively asked.

Darius laughed, peppering her neck with kisses. “I want a big family, Xen,” he smirked. “So expect me to work hard on making you pregnant often.”

“Fine… As long as my body can endure it, then why not?” Xenia chuckled. “Let’s create a big family like you want, my king.”

‘So many plans ahead…’ Xenia excitedly thought, and she was actually anticipating the notion of accomplishing a lot of these things in the future.