Mated To The Cruel Prince
Chapter 173: The Study Partner

Chapter 173: The Study Partner

"Ugh...." Islinda mumbled, groggily stirring from her sleep. But she winced the instant she opened her eyes, noticing the sunlight in her room was too strong for her liking.

She groaned while stretching her body. Her head was pounding while her throat was parched. In one word, she felt miserable.

"Water...." She whimpered, slowly opening her eyes to adjust to the sunlight.

"Here," Someone said, bringing the glass to her lips and she had to lift her head a bit to drink the water without even looking at her helper. It was probably Aurelia, the Fae pampered her a lot.

"Thank you," Islinda said once she had her full, turning the other way and embracing her pillow because she wanted to sleep more. She was so tired and her body hurt all over.

"You’re welcome, darling." The voice answered and Islinda would have ignored that except that didn’t sound like Aurelia and there was only one person who had this teasing tone.

Islinda jolted upright only to come face to face with Aldric who grinned at her,

"Good morning darling."

"Ahh!!!!" Islinda screamed at his face before scrambling out of the bed as if a monster was after her. Except there was really a monster in her bed! This has got to be a dream! But the throbbing headache was a valid reminder this was reality.

Unfortunately, Islinda moved so quickly that dizziness washed over her and she was falling, only for Aldric to catch her.

She looked up at him from their position and he gave her a goofy smile, "This is novel and an exciting scene," He referred to their intimate position.

Aware of their proximity to each other, Islinda tried to break free but the dark Fae would not make a move.

"Let me go," Islinda said sternly knowing she couldn’t show a trace of weakness else Aldric would assume she was encouraging him. The Fae doesn’t really know when to stop.

"Why so impatient? Do you know if I lean any closer, we would come so close to kissing and that is an exciting experience for many people..." He proved his words by coming so close their noses were touching and they breathed each other’s air.

Islinda was not going to lie, the move did make her heart skip a beat, but that was only her bodily reaction and not because she wanted it. Her expression remained impassive and Aldric realized it was no longer fun.

"Fine," He said in disappointment and let her go, but did not give her the space she needed. They stood so close to each other that their bodies were touching, but Islinda did not speak about it. She was already used to Aldric’s games and his dalliance was the least of the problems on her mind.

"What happened? Why are you - ugh - here?" Islinda groaned as the headache grew, and she rubbed at the spot with her eyes closed, stumbling a bit.

"You’re hungover." Aldric noticed, his hand on his waist to steady her.

Islinda lifted her eyes to him, confused, "I am hungover?"

Aldric lifted a brow, "You don’t remember?" He asked, with a strange hopeful glint in his eyes that made Islinda begin to feel she was missing out on something. Aldric’s every intention was always questionable in the first place, and now? He was hiding something.

She narrowed her gaze at him, looking at him suspiciously, "What are you not telling me, Aldric? Why did I drink? Although I wanted a girl’s night...." Islinda trailed off as the vivid memories from last night returned.

Islinda recalled Maxi helping her sneak out of the castle, and filtered through the excess memory until she arrived at the vital one, the bite scene. She let out a startled gasp, unconsciously reaching for her neck and tracing the mark there. But that wasn’t enough for Islinda because she walked over to the mirror and checked it. Sure enough, the mark glared back at her and she shuddered as she recalled how it came about.

Islinda pointed at Aldric, still feeling the mark on her neck. The wound felt fresh as if it just happened yesterday and she was aggrieved.

"How could you do this to me, you animal?!"

Aldric looked guilty but she refused to be deceived by appearance and to make it worse, the dark Prince answered, "You put it correctly, animals do bite. "

"You!" Islinda almost spat out blood at his shameless attitude. He did not feel remorseful at all for what he did to her.

"By chance, are you a bloodsucker? Is it another secret you’re hiding or is that part of being a dark Fae?" Islinda asked, extremely cautious of his presence. It was the two of them in the room and there would be no one to save her if he wanted to take her blood again. Islinda could not get over the freaky behavior.

Aldric said to her, "None of the above. I am not a vampire if that’s what you’re implying, nor do dark Fae suck blood. I was merely returning the favor, or have you forgotten, naive one? You bite me first." He emphasized on his last sentence.

Islinda looked away guiltily knowing that he was right. But it was hard to take her eyes off Aldric especially when she has no idea what he wants now. Does he want her to apologize first? Not that she could imagine Aldric apologizing to her, it was simply not his nature.

Although she recalled that particular scene and said with a flush on her face, "You did something to me, " Islinda swallowed, "I would never do those things ....." She could not finish the rest of her words because it was embarrassing.

"Oh, you mean your sexual attraction to me?"

"I am not sexually attracted to you! That is utterly ridiculous!" Islinda laughed scornfully at him. He must have lost his mind to throw such accusations at her.

Aldric didn’t answer back, instead, he began to act funny which left Islinda confused until he tugged at his collar and moaned, that was when it hit her that he was imitating what she did last night.

"By the gods ...." Islinda felt her headache return with full force. Aldric would be the death of her!

"Get out!" Islinda ordered him out of her room. She simply can’t deal with him anymore.

"Don’t be like that, it’s not your fault anyway, "Aldric attempted to coax her but she did not care anymore. She wanted her peace of mind and with Aldric here, her blood pressure was going to rise.

"It is my fault!" Aldric said to her surprise. Was he admitting his fault? Islinda was stunned.

"While your bite did nothing to me, the same can’t be said for mine. You see, when two Fae mate, especially for true mates, they seal their union by marking each other and that is done by biting and exchanging their blood. Then a bond is established and they become one. "

Silence stretched between them until Islinda asked tensely, "What did you mean by we would become one?"

"We would be as good as married, I guess?" Aldric sort of questioned instead of answering her question.

Islinda’s expression darkened with rage and the veins on her neck and face bulged, as she swore, "Come here! I am going to kill you today!"

Just a slight mistake and she would have gotten married to Aldric?! Islinda could not even fathom the thought of it. No, it was scary. What made it worse was the fact it would have happened without her consent. Imagine waking up this morning only to be told by Aurelia that she was married to Prince Aldric, the dark Prince!

No!

She couldn’t imagine it.

That would mean she was stuck in the Fae realm forever. She would not even get a second chance with Valerie anymore! It was true Valerie left and abandoned her but her heart still wanted him and Islinda imagined once or twice about the summer prince realizing the mistake he has done by rejecting her and wanting her back. Then he would release her from Aldric’s bondage and they would live forever. It was silly but a girl got to hope, right?

Although Aldric knew Islinda could do nothing to him, guilt gnawed at his chest and left him powerless. Moreover, Islinda looked scary when she was mad.

"Wait!" Aldric said and she halted momentarily, waiting to hear what he has to offer. If it wasn’t worth it, she would go after him.

"What?!"

"I’m here to make it up to you? Aldric said.

"How?"

"What do you want? Tell me and I’ll do it and we’d be even?"

At first, Islinda wanted to retort that she needed nothing, after all, this was a serious offense, until she remembered that she indeed needed a favor from him.

"Give me access to the Fae books"

"Fine, I’ll do it." Aldric agreed to her Surprise. She did not expect him to give in so easily, especially when he made a big deal about it in the first Place.

"But on one condition." He added and her heart sank. She should have known, he wouldn’t give in so easily.

"What is it?" She decided to hear him nonetheless.

"I’ll be your study partner."