A Steaming Bowl of Porridge

For a moment, neither of them spoke to the other. Standing behind her, the Northern King lightly rested his head on her shoulders, careful not to let the entirety of his weight fall on her.

Although his body was as cold as usual, there was a slight flame that sparked the moment his hands found hers.

She stifled back a choked sob, briefly allowing herself to imagine that he had been someone else. As long as she didn't turn around, she didn't have to be slapped back to reality. She would be free to imagine her husband as a man of manners, a man who had respected and loved her.

However, his movements were gentle, his cool breath tickling the back of her ears.

If she had not known any better, she would have thought the man to be a loving husband. But even so, she couldn't muster the strength to shake him off.

"Princess, you're awake." The Northern King's voice was hoarse, and Daphne could recognize it as the one that had called to her during her deep slumber.

"Sorry to disappoint you." She broke free from his grasp, her legs shaking as she fell to the side.

In her clear eyes, he could easily see that she had wanted to see someone else instead.

He smiled, unable to curb the bitterness from spreading to his expression.

"It's about time that you awoke," he forced himself back to his normal composure, not sure what had slipped from his carefully crafted mask. "I was beginning to think that I would massacre a village for every day that you remained asleep."

Daphne slapped him across the face, but it came across as a mere playful flick.

"Don't you dare lay your hands on my people." She scowled, her expression more serious than usual due to her sickly complexion. "If you do, I'll come and haunt you once I become an angry ghost."

"All the better then." He forcibly carried her back into bed. "Princess, are you sure you're not encouraging for me to do so?"

"What?"

"That way, you'll be bound to my side for all of eternity. We can be sentenced to the worst vaults of hell together."

Grimacing, Daphne stifled his roaming hands.

"How long was I asleep for?"

"Enough for a dozen of villages to be burned to the ground."

From his side, he produced a steaming bowl of white rice porridge.

Daphne watched as he took a spoonful, and just as she wondered how she could protest this forced feeding, he brought it toward the direction of his own mouth.

Her mouth slightly gaped open, more shocked by the blatant disrespect. She hated white porridge the most out of all foods in the world, but that did not mean that he could take her portion! It was the most ungentlemanly thing to do, and she didn't even know why she was shocked at his barbaric gestures. He was but a barbarian after all.

She turned her head.

Little did she know, all the Northern King did was to bring the spoon before his mouth, lightly blowing to cool the piping hot porridge before serving the food to Daphne.

He nudged the silver spoon towards her mouth, but she did not respond, instead pursing her lips and slightly puffing her cheeks.

He forced his own small smile to disappear before he faced her. She looked like an angry rabbit, and he couldn't stop himself from reaching out for her head.

Lightly patting her head, even he was surprised at the softness in his voice. "Open wide. It's not hot."

There was only a confused look in Daphne's eyes as she wondered which demon had possessed him now. She kept her mouth shut.

The spoon only waited by her mouth, not budging.

"I don't like porridge." She finally relented, unable to stand its trademark bland smell. She scooted back.

Instead of responding, he only nudged the spoon closer and closer until she was forced to the bed's backboard.

"Don't test my patience." The warmness in his voice had dissipated. "Or for every grain of rice you leave behind in this bowl, I will kill a person from the Kingdom of Eversun."

Unwillingly, Daphne opened her mouth.

Much to her surprise, this porridge tasted much different from what she had anticipated.

Not only was there not the boring starchy taste of mushed white rice, but there was also a certain sweetness that hit her senses with a joyous clamor. From underneath her tongue, she discovered a small mung bean that was cooked to perfection. It was not too firm, but it was also not too soft that it immediately dissolved into her mouth. As she bit into it, a little pocket of juice exploded. The bowl was also infused with the finest cane sugar, the combined effect masking out the smell and texture she despised so much.

He fed her spoonful after spoonful, making sure to blow on each bit evenly so that the porridge was cool enough not to scathe her mouth but not entirely cold.

And unknowingly, Daphne had finished the entire bowl. She shook her head, surprised at how easy the task had been.

Licking her lips, she feigned a cough as she reached for a napkin instead when she felt his eyes on her face.

"For every grain of rice you leave behind in this bowl, I will kill a person from the Kingdom of Eversun," his cold voice suddenly echoed in her mind, reminding her not to be deceived by the temporarily kindness. She grabbed the bowl, making sure that he scraped away even the last of the pieces of rice.

"Did you enjoy it?"

He asked lazily, but she could catch the expectant gleam in his eyes.

"It was alright." Blotting out the remnants from the corners of her mouth, Daphne could feel the warmth from the porridge seeping to every last corner of her body.

Just then, the pain returned, a sharp jab from inside her gut.