The Crown's Seduction-Chapter 420: Committed

Surprised, Dani turned her head to him. In response, he simply winked at him, making her blush. Why would he wink at her in front of her parents? Was he going crazy?!

She glared at him, but that quickly disappeared when her mother coughed to grab their attention.

"It’s a good thing that you can eat normal food. Still, that’s enough talk for now. We should all start eating," Donna insisted, trying to calm the mood on the table. "I apologize for George if he’s being a bit tactless tonight. You see, Dani is our only daughter, and I hope you can understand how overprotective we can be. You’re only fortunate that her brother Atlas isn’t here right now..."

"Atlas will kill him," George muttered.

"George!" Donna scolded her father with pursed lips.

Shaking his head, the duke sighed deeply. "Alright, you should eat now, Dani. You can go straight to your bedchamber to rest after," he firmly stated. "I will need to talk to the Chancellor alone."

The rest of the dinner went on rather quietly. Then, once everyone was finished, Dani’s mother quickly pulled her away from Abel.

"Will they be alright?" Dani worriedly muttered as she and her mother walked through the hallways. It had been a while since she was home, and she missed the familiarity and comfort of being in her own abode.

"You brought him here despite knowing our prejudice about their kind, Dani," Donna remarked with a wink. "I’m sure he’s powerful enough to dodge your father’s spell if it came down to it."

"Seriously, Mother?" Dani frowned as she halted in her steps. "I thought we shouldn’t be rude to guests regardless of their kind?"

"He is not a guest, Dani. He’s your future husband, and there’s nothing you can do with how we should act around him," Donna stated with a serious tone. "You didn’t even bother informing us about this in advance. Did you think that bringing him to us like this unannounced will catch us off guard enough to spare you two?"

Dani pressed her lips and mumbled, "At least I thought you’d be lenient with us. He’s a great man, Mother."

"A great man, you say? Do you know how many his kind have been killed?" her mother questioned.

"Well, I’m sure he only killed bad men, Mother," Dani defended with furrowed brows. "Abel won’t hurt innocent lives. I can bet my life on that."

Her mother didn’t respond, but Dani gulped when she started inspecting her neck and wrists. "Is he feeding on you?" she questioned, looking straight into her eyes.

"I thought Abel made himself clear already a while ago?" she answered with a pout. "He said he would protect me and not make me his meal."

Dani couldn’t help but frown at the reaction she was getting. She knew her family was truly supportive of her in everything, but having a vampire husband wasn’t counted as the same case.

"Will he turn you into a vampire?" Donna asked further.

"No, he won’t do anything against my will, so stop worrying about me, Mother," Dani replied, followed by a deep sigh.

There was a terse silence between them, and Dani only felt her mother’s intense gaze at her intensify as if she was also trying to look through her soul.

"Mother, stop that," she complained with a pout.

"Do you love him?"

Dani’s face reddened. She was unable to answer her mother that instant, which probably wouldn’t help her case.

"I guess your silence means yes. You wouldn’t bring him here if you didn’t love him, no?" Donna sighed. "Anyway, let’s go and have you settled back to your chamber. I’m sure you’re tired. Thankfully, I always have your bedchamber cleaned..."

With a soft nod, Dani simply followed her mother, her brows furrowed as she fell into a deep thought.

’Do I love him already?’

She couldn’t help but ask herself the same question. She liked Abel, but she wasn’t sure if it was already love that she was feeling.

By the time they arrived in her room, some servants were already inside waiting for them.

"The bath is ready, milady," one of the servants informed her mother.

"Alright, everything you need is here already," her mother informed her. "I’ll be going now to check on your father and the Chancellor."

Nodding once more, Dani simply got herself settled in before quickly stripping out of her clothes. She was alone now, and all she wanted was a bath to ease the tension in her body.

"This feels nice..." she hummed as she closed her eyes, her body sinking into the waters. Then, after a few moments, she opened her eyes and subconsciously touched her lips. "Damn, that’s embarrassing..."

She hummed to herself as she recalled everything that had happened that night when she got drunk. Despite everything, she wasn’t sure if it all even happened or if it was nothing but a dream or her hallucinations.

"I’m sure it wasn’t exactly that," she justified herself, denying the idea of her kissing Abel back and saying the words he claimed she said. She couldn’t remember it clearly anyway, so she would simply erase everything in her mind and just avoid teasing him like she used to.

After a while, she then cleaned herself up before promptly getting dressed and jumping onto her bed. It wasn’t like her father would kill Abel. And besides, he was a grown man now anyway.

"I’m so tired," she yawned as she comfortably closed her eyes. Whatever happened, she would just deal with it later. Right now, she could barely keep her heavy eyelids open.

*******

Abel could only watch as Dani’s father poured him some kind of drink. They were currently in the living area where he saw a large painting of their family. It was obviously an updated painting seeing as Dani had the same look on it as she had right now.

"Do you drink wine, Abel?" George asked him.

"Yes, milord," Abel answered politely.

Nodding, George handed him a cup of wine before he sat down in front of him. Soon, Dani’s mother arrived with a platter of snacks. She put it on the table before joining her husband on the seat beside him.

’I can’t believe she left me to fend on my own," Abel inwardly complained, seeing how Dani hadn’t come along with her mother.

As if reading his mind, Donna spoke. "Dani is a human, after all, so her body will easily get tired, unlike your kind. As such, I urged her to rest and sleep for the night. I hope you don’t mind staying up a bit late with us, Chancellor. I’m sure you’ll understand that we’ll want to know more about the man our daughter brought here to our house."

"I fully understand, Duchess," Abel replied with a reassuring smile.

"How old are you now, Chancellor?" George asked. "We can get some details about you on our own, but isn’t it better to get answers directly from you?"

Abel did his best to remain calm. This had never happened before in his entire life... The feeling of being on the hot seat like this where two people in front of him seemed ready to grill him alive was a novel experience.

"I am turning three hundred years old this spring," Abel informed them.

"How many wives did you have before?" Dani’s mother asked with a frown.

Abel gulped. It looked like it would be a long night for all of them with how badly Dani’s parents thought of him. To win them over, it would be better for him to be honest and tell them everything. After all, if he was in their shoes, he would want a man who was very sincere and honest about himself.

Letting out a long deep sigh, he began his story. "I only had one wife, and that was when I was still a human. I’m not sure if you’ll be interested in hearing my story though since it might be a long one," he shrugged. "Regardless, I’m willing to tell you everything you want to know about myself to put you at ease. It’s all in the past, but it’s a part of me and how I became who I am right now was because of my experiences."

Dani’s parents keenly stared in response, and Abel could tell that they were willing to listen. As such, he didn’t keep them waiting and promptly told them the story of his life up to how he met Dani and how the two of them ended up in a relationship. All the while, he saw various emotions dance in Dani’s parents’ faces. They opened and closed their mouths, but no words came out after his revelation.

"So you two are going to be married because of that incident?!" Dani’s father finally managed to question.

"It may seem like it, but do you really think your daughter will agree to that kind of marriage if she doesn’t have an ounce of liking for me?" Abel firmly replied. "The same goes for me, Duke. No one can force me to marry and spend my lifetime with any woman I don’t like."

He then took a breath and continued, "I like Dani very much, and she’s someone who has a talent for knocking some sense into me. One thing I can assure and promise you two is that I will make her happy to the utmost of my capacity. I’m the type of man who values commitment the most. After all, being committed to a person is a hard choice for all of us, and I chose to commit myself to Dani in my lifetime. I will cherish and protect her with my life."