The Crown's Seduction
Chapter 327: Play Your Game

Chapter 327: Play Your Game

Mineah creased her forehead as she entered the great hall. There was only darkness around her, and she squinted as she did her best to try and see what exactly was happening.

’What are you planning?’ she thought as she waded through the darkness.

The sound of her footsteps were the only thing she heard as she went deeper into the great hall. Despite doing her best to try and see what was happening, all she got was the darkness obscuring everything around her. It was almost as if any and all light was extinguished, replaced with a blackness that almost seemed unnatural around her.

That was until something happened.

"What the..."

In the blink of an eye, what was once the darkness surrounding her suddenly became full of vibrant color as the entire great hall came to life. Lights of various colors shone down from above as music began playing from what looked to be a live band by the center stage. Around her, everyone seemed to be wearing a mask of various designs. Some looked like animals, while others looked completely unassuming as they all danced around her like she didn’t even exist.

[So this is what you had planned,] Mineah chuckled through the bond as she observed her surroundings. [How in the world did you manage to sneak past me?]

[With a lot of patience and a bit of magic,] Nikolai replied with a teasing smirk. [Now, how about a dance?]

Mineah quickly turned around at the offer, expecting her husband to be right there with her as she felt a presence standing behind her. Instead, what she got was a masked man offering his hand to her, his features utterly hidden from her despite everything that she did.

Obviously, this man wasn’t her husband.

[This isn’t you, Lai,] she pointed out with a pout.

[Indeed, he is not,] Nikolai replied in amusement. [No, I want you to find me in the crowd.]

Mineah blinked, a nerve in her popping as a hint of annoyance seeped into her tone. [Seriously? Haven’t you done enough for me already?] she pouted. [Why all this effort? I just want to see you now.]

[But where would be the fun in that?] Nikolai lovingly chuckled. [Also, in my opinion, nothing would ever be enough for you, Mine.]

[I’m more than content with what you’ve given me already though,] Mineah pointed out yet again.

[But it would never be enough to show how much I really love you.]

She couldn’t help but blush at those words. Her annoyance at him was still there, but it wasn’t too great that she couldn’t see how sweet her husband was being to her right now to even arrange all of this for her birthday.

Shaking her head, Mineah narrowed her eyes at the random man in front of her. Eventually, however, she let out a sigh as she went ahead and accepted the hand offered to her.

[Fine, I’ll play your game then,] she chuckled. [But it better be worth it.]

[I assure you, Mine. It will be.]

Rolling her eyes at her husband’s antics, Mineah let the man in front of her lead her along as they began to dance to the tune of the music playing in the background. With each step, the more she began to have fun as she just let herself sway to the catchy music.

Still, that didn’t mean that she forgot what she had to do. Her husband had decided to play a game on her, and she was at least determined to not let her win.

’So apparently, Lai is hiding among the crowd this time,’ she thought to herself. ’He shouldn’t be that hard to spot then.’

Stepping up to the challenge, Mineah began to scan the crowds of men around her, doing her best to try and pick out Nikolai’s form from the faceless crowd. It should’ve been easy, especially since she knew exactly what her husband’s body looked like even if he ever dressed himself in baggy clothes to hide his figure.

It would seem, however, that it was a task easier said than done.

"Where in the world are you..."

Mineah muttered to herself as she began to glide across the great hall, switching from partner to partner in an attempt to find her missing husband. Despite her best attempts of listening in to the people around her, it almost sounded like all of them were Nikolai despite that not clearly being the case.

[Did you seriously cast an illusion on the whole great hall just to mess with me?]

[Again, what would be the fun of making things easy for you?] Nikolai teased her. [I also did my best to make it hard for you to use your power to cheat.]

[That’s just rude,] she pouted. [Don’t think that will stop me though.]

Shaking her head, Mineah scoffed at her husband’s attempts to try and stop her from finding him. So instead, she tried to call his bluff and tried to cheat using her mind reading powers... only, it didn’t work since everyone had masks on with their eyes also a bit hidden with some kind of black net.

[You just tried to read your partner’s mind, didn’t you,] Nikolai chuckled.

[Now you’re just taunting me,] she groaned at him in mirth. [You’re probably watching me right now.]

[Of course, I am,] he amusedly stated. [In fact, I’m quite closer than you think.]

Mineah blinked at that obvious hint. Was she actually that close? Or maybe he was just taunting her again by making her think that she was getting close...

’I’m not going to let you win this, Lai...’

Narrowing her eyes, Mineah decided to try something different and look at the tables around her. Sure, the illusion still made all the men sitting around look the same, but somehow, there was something off about the mirage that it almost looked unnatural.

Raising a brow, she pulled her partner along with her for once, allowing her to get closer to the edge as she squinted at some of the other tables. Sure enough, there was this one particular area that looked far more unnatural than the others.

It was a hint. And somehow, a fake one at the same time... She eyed her partner, noting the same distortion on his mask as he danced with her.

She had her answer.

[Do you need another hint, Mine?] Nikolai teasingly offered.

[No, I don’t think I need it,] Mineah smugly smirked. [I think I have you right where I want you.]