The Crown's Seduction-Chapter 49: A Cold Embrace

'I can't believe he really liked it,' Mineah happily mused. She was almost sure that what she cooked was going to be inedible. But surprisingly, Nikolai seemed to enjoy it. In fact, he looked so into it that she wanted to have a taste as well.

"How about me?" she murmured with a pout.

Nikolai coughed. "Oh, I'll cook a few skewers for you then."

Mineah blinked as she then watched Nikolai grab a portion of the meat and began roasting it over the fire. Silently, she simply observed him as he went through the motions.

"This was my first time doing this," Mineah honestly admitted. Usually, it was Krisha who would prepare their meals whenever they went outside the wilderness to gather materials for her experiments and potions.

Unfortunately, cooking wasn't really a part of what she learned as a princess of Ebodia. After all, they had servants to do it for her. Instead, she was mostly taught other crafts more suited for someone of her stature.

And even then, she wasn't fond of cooking as much as she was with eating…

"There's always a first time for everything," Nikolai murmured. "It was a good attempt."

"Thanks," she smiled. "I'm glad it didn't turn out too badly for my first attempt. Right… From now on, I'll study how to cook more, and I'll have you eat them."

Her eyes sparkled at the idea. She did remember the overused saying of 'a way to a man's heart was through his stomach', and this might be yet another way for her to get Nikolai to love her.

"T-There's no need for that, Mine," Nikolai coughed. "You must have forgotten that I'm a vampire, and my kind prefers drinking fresh blood."

"But I heard vampires like to eat human food as well," she quickly retorted with a frown. "I mean, your kind also appreciates human food, right? Especially royals like you. And the Exordiums and Melds as well."

Blinking, Nikolai dodged the question by suddenly handing Mineah a skewer. "Here, eat this," he swiftly stated.

Thankfully, Mineah quickly dropped what she was saying as she grabbed the skewer. Looking at her portion of meat, she noticed that it looked paler than the one she prepared earlier. "Is this cooked enough?"

"It is," Nikolai nodded. "Now try it… I'm sure you're hungry."

Hesitantly, Mineah nodded before taking a bite from her food. Almost immediately, her eyes widened.

"Oh, this tastes good!" she exclaimed as she heartily ate her meal.

She could taste some spices, and she couldn't help but wonder how exactly Nikolai did it. She couldn't even compare hers to his since he ate all the ones she made before she could try them.

Humming, she was happily chewing on her meal when she noticed Nikolai staring at her. "What?"

"Tasty right?" he chuckled.

She could only nod, her mouth still busy munching on her delicious meat.

"That's the right way of roasting meat, Mine," he explained. "Not raw and burnt."

Her eyes widened as she asked, "Was mine burnt?"

She already had a hunch earlier, but seeing how Nikolai ate them all, she couldn't help but doubt her own thoughts. After all, even she noticed that the roast she did was darker compared to what Krisha would usually feed her.

There was silence, and Mineah could tell how Nikolai was trying to suppress his laughter. "So it was burnt!" she snapped. "Why did you eat it then?!"

"Because you put a lot of effort into it, Mine," he grinned. "It's always the thought that counts for me, not the taste…"

Mineah's shoulders dropped at the truth, but it didn't take her too long to recover as she determinedly said, "Fine. I promise I'll make it up to you during our three-day stay here!"

"It's really fine, Mine," Nikolai simply murmured as he roasted more meat over the fire. "I can cook for the both of us."

"But I have to redeem myself somehow," she murmured with a sigh. "Or maybe it's actually not a good idea. After all, I have no books here to use as reference or anyone who can teach me how to cook properly."

Munching on her food in silence, she had almost given up when an idea popped into her head. Turning and staring at Nikolai, she had a gleam in her eyes as she asked, "How about you teach me, Lai? I bet you know how to cook."

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Nikolai chuckled and said, "Alright then. I suppose it's a good thing I learned how to do it on Mount Sorel."

"Speaking of Mount Sorel, Marlo mentioned you went there while you were away. Why?" Mineah directly asked, changing the topic out of her curiosity. She couldn't help but wonder if it was something related to the incident of him craving her blood.

"I had to seek Master Magnus's help with my withdrawal symptoms," Nikolai explained. "It was the first time I encountered something like that. I thought I'll be able to control myself, but I was losing too much energy in the process."

Mineah stared at him in thought. She had heard about the independent group based on Mount Sorel and their Academy. Most of the pupils going there were from Valcrez and Cordon since the mountain itself was situated on the boundary between the southeastern part of Valcrez and the northwestern part of Cordon.

"I trust that he succeeded in helping you out then? After all, you're here with me safe and sound right now," she chuckled.

"So tell me, when do we start? How can I help you so that you're able to control yourself in case I spill my blood in front of you?" She truly wanted to help him with it. And hopefully, doing so would also permanently take Rosela out of the picture.

"We still have three days left, Mine. Let's take things slowly," Nikolai calmly told her as he handed her another skewer of meat. "For now, here. Eat some more."

Helping herself, Mineah grabbed it and started munching on it. She was really enjoying her meal under the cold humid weather inside the forest. There was no sun, and she loved how the cold and refreshing breeze was blowing on her skin.

"Aren't you cold?" Nikolai asked when she started rubbing her arm.

"I'm not. I love it," she answered with a smile while munching on yet another skewer of meat.

"But you're rubbing your arms," he pointed out as he started removing his coat.

"No, I'm fine, really. My body can withstand the cold rather well," she insisted. "Yes, I feel cold, but I like feeling that way."

Unfortunately, as she expected, the lines on his forehead only deepened despite her explanation. Everyone who usually heard her would always bear the same reaction. They were confused about how she was cold but loved it all the same.

Chuckling, she further stated, "It's hard to explain, but I really love the cold. I prefer winter out of all the seasons, and I enjoy everything that involves cold weather." She shrugged, "Strangely, my body is weak, but not when it comes to the cold."

"No wonder you enjoy my embrace then…" Nikolai roguishly teased.

"I do," Mineah genuinely said with a blush on her face. "To others, it probably felt like a cold embrace, but your arms honestly feel warm whenever they're around me…"

Gathering enough courage, Mineah moved closer to Nikolai and added, "So knowing that, you can just go ahead and give me a hug instead of giving me your cloak."