The Duke's Passion

Chapter 79 - The Actual Face Behind The Mask.

It was a long night, indeed. Sam and I quarreled. We made up. Then we made love.

But the night hadn't ended yet. I moved and rested the side of my head on his chest.

"You're not tired?" He asked, caressing my spine with the tip of his fingers.

I shuddered slightly, but ignored it. "No. You forced me to sleep hours before my bedtime."

Again, silence ensued. Not the suffocating kind of silence. The serene silence.

"What are you thinking?" I asked under my breath, looking up at him.

Sam pressed his lips together, smacking his lips. "You."

"What about me?" I blinked, curious. Using my elbow to assist me up to look at him in a better position.

Slowly, Sam moved his gaze towards me. His hand tucked the stray hair behind my ear.

"That I love you more than I loved you one second ago. That I love you more every passing second, it's dangerous."

His tone was low but firm. His eyes studied my facial structure, as if etching every little detail in his mind.

I could not help but smile, flattered at his words. Who wouldn't? I felt like I'm the prettiest whenever he looked at me this way.

"Why is it dangerous, though?" I asked, raising my brows.

"I don't know." Sam shrugged. His eyelashes fluttered ever so slowly.

He's breathtaking even without trying.

"Fabian is taking too much of your time and tells you whatever he wants. So I don't know which one you already know about me." Sam sighed as he clicked his tongue faintly.

"Why don't you just tell me whatever you want as well?" I titled my head to the side before dragging myself up. "I'm all ears. Even if you repeat everything Mister Fabian said, I like your version more."

Sam chuckled, pinching my cheek lightly. He then moved up, half of his back on the headboard.

After a moment, Sam pondered on how he wanted to start his story. When he did, my brow uncontrollably twitched.

"The king wants me dead."

What a way to start it. Yet, although Fabian never worded it this way, part of me had this conclusion at the back of my head.

"I felt like we haven't had a decent talk of what you have to expect in the Capital. To be honest, I didn't want to take you with me." Sam sighed as I stayed silent, listening.

"But I'd rather take you to a dangerous place where I am so I can protect you. Instead of leaving you behind far away from me."

"Do you think the King will cause trouble for Grimsbanne again?" I asked.

Sam arched his brow. "Again? Did Fabian tell you that?"

I cleared my throat. Right. Fabian said it was the Bloodfang's doing, not the king. Silly me.

"No." I chuckled subtly. "But do you think he will cause trouble for Grimsbanne again?"

Sam remained silent for a while. I held my breath as my heart thumped loudly.

"Maybe." He shrugged. "Maybe not."

"Huh?"

"Before I went to my slumber, I had an agreement with him." Sam explained, which piqued my curiosity even more.

"An agreement? With the king?"

"Fabian told you about what happened to Grimsbanne, I presumed?" Sam raised a brow, and I nodded as a response. "That war from the Bloodfang…"

Sam trailed off as he pondered on which detail to tell me. I waited for him patiently until his lips parted once again.

"After the former crown prince, my older brother, I was next in line." Sam cast me a look. "If anything happened to my older brother, I'd be the one who should sit on the throne. I didn't like the idea, mainly because I didn't like the idea itself. Also, sitting on the throne means the only brother I respected is dead."

"Oh…" I nodded in understanding, but not surprised. Sam was like that.

"So, instead of taking the throne just like what the Bloodfang wanted, I passed it to the current King."

Huh? I blinked my eyes in surprise. Did I hear what I just heard?

"Isn't the king already king when you came back?" I blurted out as that what's how I understood Fabian's words.

"No." Sam shook his head. "He's merely there to protect the throne until my return."

"What?"

"The royal protocol is more complicated and complex than you think. That's why I didn't like it. But to put it simply, when I returned, I refused the title and recklessly passed it to the second prince." Sam explained in one go.

This was a version that only the people involved knew. It was the truth, and not just what it seemed from the surface.

The actual face behind the mask.

Fabian didn't know this, and it was quite surprising. But what was surprising was not the fact that Fabian's truth was far from the actual story.

It was something else.

"If you are the third prince, and the current king is the second prince, why are you second in line for the throne and not third?" I asked, tilting my head to the side.

I thought that was how it works. But it was, indeed, more complicated than that. I'm not an expert in politics, but it made little sense.

"Because the current King is…" Sam paused, choosing a correct word to speak. "He excels in everything but lacks in one area."

"What is it?"

"Empathy." Sam stroked my hair lovingly. "We're pretty much alike, to be honest."

"Mister Fabian told me the Bloodfang didn't want you to take the throne. But you're telling me they want you to take the throne instead of the current king?"

I felt like going back into scratch about it. It was confusing even more now.

"Fabian is right. I'm not saying what Fabian told you is not the truth, but it was part of the truth. What he knew was what the mask looks like, not the face behind it. They don't like me, but if they have to choose between me and the current king, they'd prefer having to serve me." Sam shrugged.

Usually, Sam would say it in a boastful manner. But now his tone was... indifferent.

"But why did you fight against the Bloodfang in the war?" I asked with a furrowed brow.

"The Bloodfang asked me to."

"Huh?"

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