The Crown's Seduction
Chapter 132: Her Brother

Chapter 132: Her Brother

"I told you I’m just feeling a bit under the weather, Lai," Mineah murmured while avoiding his intense gaze. Her eyes going to the nearest window, she sighed, "A while ago, there was still the midnight sun and its rays were shining brightly. But now, it’s totally gone, replaced by the sudden coldness of the falling snow."

It just couldn’t be helped. She was contemplating whether or not to confront Nikolai about his suspicions regarding her brother, and she didn’t know if doing so would be the right thing at this moment in time.

A beat passed, and she felt Nikolai’s hand hold her chin, gently urging her to face him. Mineah ended up meeting his intense gaze as he hummed, "I don’t like us having any misunderstandings between us, Mine. So please, don’t hesitate to tell me what I did to make you act like this." He sincerely added, "You can’t fool me. I can see in your eyes that you’re mad at me for some reason that I’m not aware of."

Mineah bit her lip in deliberation... Fine. She would just tell him in a way that she wouldn’t compromise the truth about Ezekiel and Vulcan.

With her mind made up, she meaningfully murmured, "You do know how I can read minds, right? That doesn’t exclude the Werewolf King, apparently... I guess you’re the only exemption."

"You read Darius’s thoughts?" Nikolai burst out, blinking at her. "Was he..."

"Yes, I read him thinking about what you said about my brother and how you’re suspecting him and Vulcan," she explained. "You’re even hell-bent on eliminating Vulcan no matter what, not even considering if your hunch was right about my brother being Vulcan’s medium to exist. So tell me, Nikolai, will you really harm my innocent brother just to kill Vulcan if you happened to be correct in your guess?"

"I... it’s not even confirmed that your brother..." Nikolai trailed off.

"Yes, it’s not yet confirmed, but what if that’s the case? What if Vulcan’s soul really ended up in my brother’s body? What are you going to do then, huh?" she challenged.

"From what I read from King Darius’s thoughts, he’s currently in a predicament on what to do. He’s worried about my sister knowing that Ezekiel is her dear brother... What about you? Didn’t it cross your mind that I’d be upset while you were so firm in exacting your revenge against Vulcan?"

Taken aback, Nikolai let out a sigh. "I... I’m sorry, Mine," he genuinely whispered as he stared at her with a solemn look, gently pulling her in closer for a warm hug. "I’m sorry if I’m being insensitive about this matter. You’re right. I’m being too consumed with the thoughts of avenging my dear father against Vulcan, and... I..."

Shaking her head, Mineah pressed her lips together. "Please don’t make any sudden decisions if it’s proven that Vulcan is indeed in Ezekiel’s body. Promise me that you won’t harm my brother if it’s ever proven to be true," she all but pleaded.

"This is why I need to be there to help with the search for my brother... I need to protect him no matter what. If Vulcan’s soul is in his body, then we will do everything in our power to suppress it... Just give us more time..."

Seeing her resolve, Nikolai gently pushed her away and firmly stated, "I promise I won’t harm your brother if Vulcan is inside his body. So long as he will behave, of course. But... it would be a different case if Vulcan starts killing innocent lives, Mine."

He took in a breath as he continued, "I would no longer uphold my promise if that happens. Vulcan is a very dangerous and untamed dragon. I’m sure you know about that through history. He needs to be stopped and killed before he can destroy more innocent lives."

Once, again Mineah pressed her lips together in thought. She felt like she was walking across a thin line in this situation. She understood what Nikolai meant and where was he coming from, but she still couldn’t help but be biased by the emotions she had for her dear brother Ezekiel.

All her life, her big brother Ezekiel was someone who she highly respected and looked up to. She loved him dearly because he was someone who was always there for her, and she couldn’t help but want to return the favor.

Also, Ezekiel knew that she was cursed... She was forced to tell him everything that day when they helped her sister Xenia run away. Their brother was against sending her older sister away for marriage alliance as well, so he ended up helping her cover up Xenia’s tracks as she ran away.

That memory was clear to her even now, and Mineah closed her eyes as she fondly recalled that particular scene with her brother the night before her marriage.

....

....

"No! I will not have you as the replacement bride for Xenia. Are you crazy, Mineah?! We let Xenia run away exactly because of how absurd this situation is, and now you’re telling me that you’ll willingly substitute yourself for her?!" Ezekiel retorted. "There’s no way I’ll let you do that. Go and pack your most important things and I’ll hide you somewhere safe for the time being!"

"No, Seer Beirut already saw what will happen in his vision! This is bound to happen, Brother," Mineah quickly answered back. "Everything you heard about me being cursed is true... Only Seer Beirut knew about my curses... and I begged him not to tell you, Xenia, or our parents because I didn’t want any of you to worry. But seeing what’s happening now, I guess now’s the right time for you to find out just so you’ll let me handle things on my own..."

From there, she stared at her brother as she began telling him everything. By the end of it all, Ezekiel was left dumbfounded with his parted lips and eyes wide staring at her. As expected, he was speechless. He even tried to say some words, but none of them actually came out...

"You see... This is my fate, so let me embrace and maneuver it according to my own perspective and capabilities, Brother," Mineah sincerely stated as she did her best to convince him. "Please let me do things on my own now. I’m confident that I can handle myself well enough."

....

.....

She could still recall how her brother weakly slumped onto the floor and sobbed. He murmured things about how he wanted to become powerful enough so that he could save everyone he loved and prevent any misfortunes from coming to his family and their kingdom...

Slowly opening her eyes, she face Nikolai and weakly said, "Do what you must..."

Unfortunately, her husband still had a point. Vulcan had to be dealt with before he started harming innocent lives. She shouldn’t waste any more time and try to find a way to free her brother from Vulcan’s soul! Or perhaps, if it would be possible, then she must find a way for Ezekiel to overpower Vulcan himself!