Dragon King's Harem Chapter 59. Are You Afraid of Me?
I chuckled at her words. While Jyne bit down her lip awkwardly since she realized I heard what she said.
"So you admit that you want to be my wife because you are afraid of me?" I asked in a teasing tone. I admitted her plan to escape her arranged marriage using me as an excuse was brilliant. But a woman who entered my harem and only ended up in another man's arms was tantamount to demeaning my reputation as a king. But there was one thing that made me curious.
Jyne raised her head and gave me a pleading look.
"I-I'm not, Your Majesty. I mean ---- I am afraid of you, but I want to be your wife not because of that reason," she said in a panic. This was something difficult to explain after what she had said in Warmbell Town.
"Then what?" I asked in the same teasing tone.
Jyne's face turned red. Her heart was pounding and a strange feeling was rising in her chest. That feeling made her swallow her embarrassment despite all that she had said to Argod. She knew there was only one way to clear this misunderstanding, she had to confess her feelings to Argod. But this was her first love and her first experience, of course, this was not easy for her. But she knew she had no other way but to admit it. She opened her mouth trying to speak her heart out, but she couldn't. It felt like something was blocking her words.
"Speak up," I demanded in a firm tone. From her reaction, it was clear that she was reluctant to say it, but I had to confirm it.
Again, she lowered her head. She swallowed her nervousness and embarrassment.
"I-It's because I love you ..." she said in a barely audible voice. Even her voice was lower than her previous mutter.
"What did you say?" I asked her to repeat it. I heard her, but her voice was so faint and unclear. I could catch her saying she loves me but it was just unclear pieces of words.
She lifted her head and gave me a pleading look once again.
"I-I love you, Your Majesty," she admitted bluntly in a stammering voice. Her face flushed either in embarrassment because I asked her to say it or because of her guilt.
I had been expecting this since we arrived at Dragon Cross City especially after she kept trying to buy time to go to this Palace and chose to spend more time with me. Plus her request to shared a Yegaun with me. A princess like her should have avoided such kind of actions with the man she just met, but she insisted on doing it. At first, I thought she just wanted to get more protection from me, but her request to spend the night at my place clarified it.
"Love me? Didn't we just meet?" I wanted to find out since when she had that feeling for me.
"I-I know. But since I saw your face on that alley there was a strange feeling in my heart," she replied with the same stammering voice.
I chuckled once again.
"So you fell in love with me because of my looks?" I said straight to the point.
"Of course not," she retorted quickly. But then she pressed her lips and looked hesitant.
"I think..." she said in a lower voice. Even though her family forbade her to befriend with foreign men, that didn't mean she had never seen handsome men. Her Palace often held opera shows by inviting various professional artists and usually the actors were handsome. But she never fell in love with one of them, in contrast to when she saw Argod.
Since she looked unsure, I decided to find it out with my way. I leaned my back to my throne and smirked.
"Come here." My index finger that was pointing at her moved towards me repeatedly.
"P-Pardon?" she said in disbelief since only certain people were permitted to approach the king on the throne.
"I said come here," I repeated.
Even though she was confused, she finally moved her feet towards him in doubt. Her heart was pounding, her head filled with wild guesses about why Argod asked her to approach him.
Her steps stopped near me without daring to look at me.
"Closer," I asked.
She took one more step to approach me in hesitation.
"Closer," I asked once again.
She took a wider step to approach me in the same hesitation.
Then I extended my hand to her. She stared at my hand in confusion for a moment before looking at me.
"What are you waiting for? Take it," I said in a casual tone.
She took my hand in confusion.
As her palm met mine, I grabbed her hand and pulled her body closer. She fell in my arms and sat in my lap. My other hand grabbed her chin, turned her face to me and my eyes met hers.
"Look at me. What if I'm not handsome anymore? Will you still love me?" I asked.
She looked at the dragon king in front of her in a daze. Her heart was beating wildly. Their faces were so close, allowing her to see all the features on his face. His majestic horns, his handsome yet cold face. His eyes glinted in blue like the finest sapphire. His sharp gaze, as if he could read all of her thoughts. His elegant yet fearsome majestic aura.
"Yes ..." she said as she could make her voice. Her mind was blank and her eyes were fixed on him.
I narrowed my eyes and smirked.
"Really?"
She just opened her mouth, but I used my skill.
'Dragon Form 5%.'
[You have activated your Dragon Form by 5%.]
My head changed to my original form, the head of a black dragon. Black hard skin covered my face. The tip of my long tongue split in half as if it belonged to a snake. Sharp teeth replaced my neat teeth. Dreadful spikes replaced my hair. But what changed was only my head, not the rest of my body. My size also didn't change.
"What about now?" My voice sounded like a lion's roar since my mouth's anatomy changed. I did this because I had to remind her that my true form was not my human form, but my dragon form. Even though she saw me as a handsome man, it was the huge, terrifying black dragon who would become her husband. And I had no interest in taking on a wife who had no feelings for me or ran away after she saw my true form.
Jyne startled. Her body trembled in shock and fear after seeing that drastic change. A handsome man who turned into a beast in the blink of an eye. Although her tribe also had an original form, their form was not much different from their current form. Even their faces and heads didn't change, in contrast to Argod's drastic changes. Yet she refused to let him go. She just stared at him without being able to take her eyes off him.
I grinned, showing rows of my sharp teeth that were able to rip her neck in just one bite. My eyes looked at her pale face and I could feel her body was shaking.
"Are you afraid of me?" Again instead of my usual voice, my voice more like a roar.
But she didn't answer me.
"So you like me just because of my good looks?" I asked in disappointment.
Still, she didn't answer me.
Since she didn't answer me and just stiffened in silence, I decided to shock her so she would return to her sense. I stuck out my tongue. My tongue slithered like a snake, approaching her face. But by my surprise, she stuck out her tongue and made the tip of our tongue meet. I pulled my tongue and tilted my head. My eyes looked at her as if I asked for an explanation of what she just did to me.
"I-I still love you whatever your appearance, Your Majesty," she said in a stammering voice as soon as she could get her voice out.
I grinned once again.
"Prove it." I decided to continue my test on her.