NOVEL WEB "I had already passed the news around that you will be my queen so that we can keep away the Soulstar Kingdom from you since if you aren't a part of the royal family, then they can still take you away. But you will only be a queen in name. So everybody still knows the truth that you are just a maid who gets to be a queen officially. So don't expect me to help you out with any troubles just because you are my queen officially. It will be up to you to survive in the palace or outside since you need money to eat or buy the stuff you need," Yiman said with a smile, making Nadia give him a vengeful stare before storming out of his room.
There were maids waiting outside who had strange expressions when they saw Nadia, some with subtle hostility in their eyes. They were quite angry that someone with the same status as them got to be the queen, at least in name.
"Show me to my room!" Melina coldly ordered, feeling humiliated, angry, frustrated, and helpless.
She was tempted to vent her anger on these maids since they belonged to Yiman and his kingdom, after all. But she knew she would stand to gain nothing from it.
One of the maids gave her a subtle hostile glare before silently guiding her towards her room. Nadia realized that these servants wouldn't hesitate to be rude to her since they knew she was only a queen in name.
Just a few feet away from Yiman's room, Nadia reached hers, which was a grand one, more than she could ever afford.
However, she wasn't bothered about all this as she quickly rushed into the room and was relieved to see Lucas lying on the bed.
She immediately closed the door and rushed towards him to see if he was really alright, and to her relief, Lucas was perfectly fine and was just unconscious.
Still, seeing his cute innocent face, she couldn't help but feel a stabbing sensation in her heart, especially after knowing that things between her and Lucas can never be the same. Once he knows about what she will be going through from now on, he might not even look at her with the same loving eyes as before.
But she decided to keep whatever was going on between her and Yiman a secret so that Lucas wouldn't suffer any heartbreak. Even if she knew she was also doing this for selfish reasons like not wanting him to hate her, she couldn't bear to let go of him like that.
Even if one day he might learn the truth, she wanted to continue her relationship with him just like before as long as possible.
She decided to take a bath before sleeping so that she could wash off the humiliation of having to stand naked before the man she loathed the most.
After taking a bath, she got onto the bed gave a long soft kiss on Lucas' lips as tears rolled down her eyes. But she quickly wiped them before sleeping beside him, hugging him close to her body.
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It was soon the morning of the next day when Lucas woke up, only to be surprised and relieved to smell his mother's fresh fragrant scent and her soft body pressing against his body.
His face was planted right over her soft chest, allowing him to feel her breasts hidden behind her dress.
But then he came to his senses when he realized that the bed he was sleeping on didn't belong to either his or his mother's.
This made him feel confused as he bobbed his head around to look at his surroundings, only to be shocked to see a lavish bedroom which he thought wasn't possible to see even in his dreams.
'Oh no…how did we get here??' Lucas suddenly remembered what happened yesterday, and he remembered seeing his mother getting knocked out followed by him as well.
"Lucas? You woke up?" Nadia woke up as soon as Lucas woke up. She was barely able to sleep out of worry and despair. Her only motivation now was to make sure Lucas would have a bright future, even if it meant destroying hers.
"Mom! Are you okay??" Lucas asked in a worried tone as he scanned her from top to bottom for any injuries.
Nadia forced a smile as she grabbed his hands and said, "Relax, Lucas. I am really fine now, and we are out of danger, though we did get taken in by Yiman."
"Taken in? Do you mean like prisoners? Then how come we are imprisoned inside such a luxurious room?" Lucas felt as if something was off, though he was not surprised they were captured.
Nadia's expression became conflicted as she hesitated for a few moments before saying, "We are not really imprisoned…not you, at least. Yiman was going to hand us both over to the Soulstar kingdom for trying to trick him, but I…I agreed to his proposal to keep us both safe, especially you."
Lucas felt as if his heart got heavy as an iron block, "H-His proposal? You don't mean…about the one where you have to marry him?!"
Nadia's lips trembled a bit as she lowered her gaze and nodded, "I-I am sorry…Lucas…I really am…There was just no other choice…"
"NO! You cannot absolutely do that, mom!! I won't let you!!" Lucas said in a frenzied tone as he grabbed her arms.
"Lucas! If I don't do it, then you will die! And if that happens, then I don't want to live as well! Is that what you want? Trying to get yourself killed without having any consideration to how I might feel?" Nadia said as her tone became emotional, her eyes becoming a bit watery.
Lucas's chin quivered as he said in a teary voice, "Then…what about my feelings? If you marry him—"
"Don't worry, dear. I won't let him touch my body even if I am forced to marry him. My love and my body will always be yours only. I am doing this to protect us. Please wait for me till I find a way out of this."
Lucas felt as if he found a glimmer of hope as he asked, "H-How…How is that possible? Someone like Yiman who has been lusting after you surely wouldn't be able to resist himself from touching you."
Nadia felt her chest sinking in as she knew she was lying to the only person she loved, though she again forced herself to lie, "That is because…he can't function in bed…It is a secret which he had never told to anybody else and the only reason he even told me is because he was going to marry me. And the reason he wants to marry me is to show the world that he is capable of marrying the most powerful and beautiful woman in the kingdom…according to his words. Since he has been remaining unmarried for all this while, he didn't want people to get suspicious."
Lucas's expression became doubtful, though he felt as if this explanation did make some sense, especially since Yiman never married. If he was really a degenerate, who loves sleeping with women, how come he did not have a harem of women already?
Lucas then thought that Yiman probably never approached any other woman out of fear that she might find out about his 'weakness'.
"Is this…really true?" Lucas expectantly asked, wanting to make sure again so that he could put his heart at ease.
Nadia forced a soft smile as she nodded, "Of course, dear. I have and will always love only you. So there is no way I would let any other man enter my heart. And I also made Yiman promise that you are protected and get to study in the Royal Sect, where you will get the best training and resources. This is his favor towards me for letting him marry me. So…Lucas…can you please focus on building your future and wait for the day when we can finally leave all this behind? If you become powerful enough, then we don't have to fear anybody and go to any other place in the world we want to. We can then spend the rest of our lives together without anybody bothering us," Nadia gently said, voicing her own dreams even though she knew it was no longer possible.
However, she lied so that she could motivate Lucas to become powerful quickly and save himself.
"You trust me to protect you, right? At least, wait till I get strong enough or concoct a plan to get away from all this," She added as she lovingly caressed his cheeks.
Lucas was still feeling a burning sensation in his chest after somehow digesting the fact that his mother was going to marry some other man.
Still, after knowing the details, he felt that he could endure it till he got strong enough to free his mother and leave for some other place.
And so he said with a slight smile, "Of course…I will wait for you…I trust you…"