Stolen by the Beastly Lycan King-Chapter 25: Call Me by My Name

The two men left promptly, following their king's order, and the princess was left alone with the king, surrounded by the refreshing evening serenity of the garden.

Without saying a single word, Rhaegar picked up his glass of red wine and returned to his meal, biting his sharp teeth into a rather large slice of dried meat. Silent as well, Lorelai looked away as if offended by the view of the king eating, and refused to look back at him even once which eventually annoyed Rhaegar.

Dropping both the meat and the glass onto the blanket, he furrowed his brows and finally asked, "So why can't you eat? You did not get your poison so you are trying to starve yourself to death instead?"

As the lycan king mentioned the word "poison"––Loelai's failed attempt at rebelling, the princess visibly flinched and shifted in her seat. She was so frustrated and ashamed that she remained speechless for quite a few moments, but then it finally sank in. Why should he care?

Letting out a long sigh, she answered in a serious tone, "I am getting married, I need to watch my figure."

Her words made the king frown and that single change in his expression made Lorelai flinch again. There was something utterly frightening in his face; that animalistic glare of his amber eyes sent a chilly shiver down her spine and she swallowed an invisible stone stuck in her dry throat.

That single frown of his made her think that every word she had spoken thus far was entirely wrong and offensive. That was the power his glowing amber eyes had on her now.

"What is wrong with your figure?" Rhaegar finally asked again. "Does your fiance not like skeletons? You are already one. If you starve yourself any further, one day you might disappear entirely."

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Those words were simply too much.

"Did you know who I was from the start?" The princess tried to defuse the tension by changing the subject of their conversation.

Rhaegar's face softened and he only shrugged his shoulders. Lorelai's eyes narrowed in anger.

"Did you approach me on purpose knowing who I was?"

The man's nonchalant expression did not change in the slightest.

"What if I did?"

His attitude, crude and bold, was greatly irritating. Now that he did not have to pretend anymore, Lorelai felt as if she was indeed facing the very same Gypsy man she met at an inn that night.

Watching the woman's face twitch in distress, Rhaegar released a mocking chuckle, "What if I knew who you were from the start? What if I approached you on purpose? What will you do?"

"It will all depend on whether you are going to use our night together against me in any way." His eyes twinkled as he listened to her words with great delight, finding everything that she said amusing.

As if completely ignoring everything she said, he gently tucked a lock of Lorelai's wavy blonde hair behind her ear and said, "Rhaegar."

The princess was dumbfounded. She offered him a perplexed look while the man continued, "Don't talk about me like they all do... Don't call me what they all call me. Call me by my name."

Lorelai felt her skin covered in a thin blanket of goosebumps. She instantly understood what he meant. Yes, the number of ways in which people referred to his people was great, yet none of them was flattering. Somehow, it pained her to realize that she was like that as well.

And somehow... She wanted all of that to change.

"...Rhaegar."

Lorelai said his name quietly as if it were a foreign word that she did not really know how to pronounce. Her heart started beating faster and her palms turned sweaty. Why was it so weird to say that man's name so casually like this?

"I think we should make things clear between us," she suddenly blurted out, "If you want me to treat you as a foreign royalty, then I will call you Your Majesty, King Rhaegar. But if you want me to call you just Rhaegar... Then I will treat you as a man I had a one-night stand with. A frivolous man of no morals!"

Rhaegar burst into laughter, his white teeth looked sharp as he bared them. He found Lorelai's attempt to be assertive adorable and the more she frowned, the cuter she looked.

"If I let you treat me like a man of no morals, will you ask me to sleep with you again?"

The princess' face turned red at his outrageous words; anger overcame her and at the same time, she felt frustrated that she couldn't come up with a proper and witty retort. Where did he even get the nerve to talk to her like that?

Seconds went by but Lorelai's head remained empty.

Finally, perhaps tired of waiting for her attempt at fighting back, Rhaegar leaned closer to the woman and sighed.

"Fine. When we are in public, we can treat each other accordingly. But when we are alone like this... I'd like you to feel comfortable around me. I am... not going to hurt you."

"What do you mean?"

"I like it when you act confident and a little prickly," he said leisurely as he played with the golden cigarette case in his big tanned hands. "It certainly suits you better than acting like a scared little mouse."

Lorelai froze again. Did he really see her like that? She knew she was usually quiet and timid around others because that was the attitude Althea wanted to see, but she could never imagine that a total stranger would be able to see through that mask so easily.

She was a little flattered but she had to make her point across regardless.

"In public... Make sure to respect the boundaries. Do not talk to me so freely and do not touch me so––"

Before she could finish speaking, Rhaegar suddenly grabbed her wrist and pulled her right hand closer to his lips as if to repeat what he had done on the day of his arrival. With a smug smile on his lips, he said,

"Like this? But we are alone here, so I guess it doesn't count."

Dear readers, the previous chapter had mixed content from another chapter. I am sorry and I am now republishing it with the proper text.