Page 96 of The Princess and Her Grand King

He cast a sidelong glance at Ottai. “Ensure he does not go through with this. The poison will eat away at his organs, It's too dangerous. He's not fully recovered enough for this.”

With that, he led Aekeira out of the room.

Though ‘led’ was generous, he all but dragged her out while she protested, digging her heels in.

Silence settled over the room.

The grand king's green eyes pinned Ottai. “Do you believe you can stop me, Ottai?”

Chapter twenty-two

THE GREATER ALPHA.

Ottairolledhiseyes,a faint sigh escaping him. “As if anything I say will sway you. You’ve already made up your mind.” He shook his head. “Still, I’d like you to reconsider. Emeriel would not have wanted this.”

Daemonikai’s gaze drifted to Emeriel's still form. So peaceful, so achingly beautiful, even as she lay there, slipping away.

“Perhaps,” he conceded. “But she has to be alive to decide what she wants or doesn’t want. And I intend to make that happen.” The earlier ease drained from him, as he growled. “I will not lose her too. I’d rather die than let that happen.”

Ottai hid his surprise well. “I never thought I’d hear you speak words like that… for her,” he said genuinely.

Daemonikai managed a faint, wry smile. “Neither did I, Ottai. Neither did I.”

He settled on the bed beside her, his hand gently brushing through her hair.

“One never truly understands what they have until it’s almost lost, huh?” Ottai mumbled.

“No, that’s more fitting for Vladya and Aekeira.” He still looked at Emeriel, his eyes filled with a depth of feeling Ottai hadn’t seen in years. “More like… one doesn’t accept what they have until they’ve freed themselves from the burden of guilt, confronting the pain of their loss rather than hiding from it. One must open their heart, no matter how empty it is, to trulyfeelsomething again.”

His eyes lifted to meet Ottai’s. “The truth is, there’s still a void in my heart… Yet, I have never felt more alive. These past few years, I was just going through the motions of living, methodically. I have felt more whole these recent days than I have in so long."

Ottai was mesmerized. “Even without the bond?”

“Even without the bond,” Daemonikai reiterated with a slow nod. “What does that tell you, Ottai?”

“That you genuinely care for her.” Ottai was touched, and it made him so emotional. “I never thought I would see this day again. I’m… truly glad for you, Your Grace.”

Daemonikai looked down at Emeriel, the gentlest expression on his face. “I want to learn what it means to love again. If she’ll allow it, if she’ll give us another chance, I hope to fill this hollow place within me… with feelings for her.”

“Have you told her that?” Ottai asked.

Daemonikai shook his head. “I haven’t had the chance. So far, I haven't been very lucky with talking to her. I'm not good with words.”

His eyes drifted to the wound, shadowed and swollen. “But I want to relearn everything. Start from the beginning, just for her. I need her to live, Ottai. I cannot bear to lose her too.”

The grand king mumbled some sacred words under his breath, lowered his head, and pressed his lips to the wound, drawing the poison into it himself.

Ottai watched as a dark stain spread across his cheek. Dameonikai's face grew taut with pain, the poison seeping into him, his hand gripping the sheets so tightly his knuckles paled.

When he finally lifted his head, his face was white, a sheen of sweat dampening his brow.

“I… I got it all,” he rasped, his voice hoarse, eyes unfocused. “Now… now she only needs to heal from the wound itself.”

He rose, his body swaying.

Ottai was instantly at his side. “Are you alright?”

Daemonikai held up a hand, stopping him from offering support. “Just a little… unsteady. The poison… it needs time to settle within me.”

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