All Talk, No Action

Bit by bit, his face loomed closer to Daphne's.

Her hands clung to the edge of the wooden platform, and her fingernails dragged long marks across its surface as she tried to brace herself for the assault.

To think, she would lose her first night with a demon in a dungeon lying on a bed for torture.

A pair of soft lips landed on her cheeks, kissing away the tears that had been unknowingly streaming down her face. The light touches grazed her eyelids and then the nape of her neck.

"Princess, how much do you hate me?" She could see her own frightened expression mirrored in his eyes.

The corners of her mouth tremored as her smile threatened to crumble.

Taking in a deep breath, he let out a loud scoff.

"You're no fun at all, Princess. To think I had expectations for how you might serve me." He rolled off her, and it felt almost strange to not feel his body weight on her. Alas, it was like a heavy rock was lifted off her chest. "Next time, don't dampen my spirits when you sparked the fire in the first place. No man likes it when the woman they're trying to bed has tears all over her face."

He turned, not willing to spare her another glance. "You look horrible right now. The sight of you kills any appetite I might have."

His throbbing member protested, pounding against his pants as it commanded to be let free, mocking his false words. The warmth from her fingertips still lingered on his skin, and he could only take deep breaths from where she couldn't see his heaving chest.

A mixture of emotions welled in Daphne's chest. If he was willing to step into that trap, she had been willing to set down all of her pride to be the bait. Yet, she knew she would have never forgiven herself for selling her body.

The words "I won't next time" were stuck at her throat, and no matter how hard she tried to push them out, they refused to budge. The effects of the euphoric drug must have worn out on him as well. She knew that he would have never looked at her that way in his normal state of mind.

"Cheap girls like you give me no thrill." He continued. "I thought a princess would be different from those common prostitutes, but other than the lofty title, I guess you're all the same. Has Your Highness never heard the term of 'playing hard to get?'"

She was the Princess of Eversun, she reminded herself. She spent years taking lessons on etiquette and controlling her manners.

Yet, she had already bolted straight up.

She did not spend her entire life taking lessons only to have some man come and reduce her to a mere object.

She forcibly spun him around towards her.

Looking that evil man straight in the eyes, not flinching at all, she brought her foot straight to his crotch.

The Northern King crumbled to the floor, clutching the sensitive area that had just been violently assaulted. The added fact that the area had been previously more swollen than usual did not help, and he couldn't stop the pang of pain from being reflected on his usually controlled emotions.

As he lay on the ground in agony, Daphne raised her foot again.

"Princess--" He let out a small yelp. "If you do that again, you might regret it in the future."

She only tried to stomp even harder, and he barely rolled to the side in time to dodge her attack.

"So you can feel pain." She scoffed, closely following his tracks as she stepped again, narrowly missing once more. "Is this what you meant by 'hard to get?'"

Gritting his teeth, he tried to push himself off the ground, but a small foot pressed firmly against his chest.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty, if your body can recover a blow to the heart, it can surely regenerate that pitiful thing down there," Daphne grinned, regaining her usual composure. "Here, let me help you up."

"Daphne, you are more of a barbarian than any woman from the North. I've never seen a woman try to cripple her husband that way."

"That must be a compliment, so thank you. And you were right. Thank you for your reminder earlier. You're not worth losing my dignity over."

A soft exclamation sounded from the door, and the two of them turned to see a small soldier standing by the cell door, his fingers over his mouth as he tried to cover the shocked expression on his face.

"Your... Your Majesty! I... I didn't..." he stammered, falling to the ground. "Your Humble Servant...Servant didn't see anything!"

Daphne and Korbin exchanged a glance.

"I didn't see anything, so please spare my life!" The little soldier's voice shook. The horror stories of how other people's eyes were gauged out because they saw the Northern King bathe surfaced in his mind. This had to be a much worse situation to stumble upon. If only he didn't lose the bet with the other soldiers, he wouldn't be the one sent over to check on how His Majesty was doing.

"Leave." A crisp female voice excused him, and he dared to sneak another glance to make sure he didn't hear wrong. The Princess of Eversun dared to speak in place of their king, and their king didn't even open his mouth to retort!

Before the Northern King could change his mind, the soldier scampered away, thanking the new consort ten million times over in his head.

"Already bribing my people. My Princess, you really are meant for the courts."

Seeing the little soldier disappear down the hallway, Daphne pulled against Korbin's arm. If another person stumbled onto this sight, she didn't know if the Northern King's mood would suddenly change for the worst.

Completely accidentally, her grip slipped. Dropping his arm when he was halfway sitting up, she expected for his half-risen body to slam back to the ground. Instead, he maintained that position, his muscles helping propel himself back up.

"You won't find him again and kill him right?"

He didn't reply at first. "You really care more about a man you've never met before--"

"More than I would ever care for you."

"Remember your words today, Princess. Next time when you're begging for me in bed--"

"Are you sure that thing would still work?"

She pressed a finger to his lips to shush him. "Your Majesty, you're really all talk and no action."

He raised an eyebrow, hiding a small smile as he saw how his prideful princess had returned. This fiery ball of spirit was much better than the sobbing girl willing to sell her body.

Other than the way a certain part of his body still tingled, the thought of breaking her fierce spirit later was much more fun.

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Thanks to IzzyBella16 for the Inspiration Capsule! Also, we reached 5 Golden Tickets, so expect another update later today! I can't see the full list of people who casted Golden Tickets, so if you're one of them, thank you so much!