The Crown's Seduction-Chapter 445: Blackmailed

Abel didn’t bother forcing Dani to give him her answer knowing that she was caught off guard by his sudden suggestion of making things real between them. Instead, he just kept on pressing on, determined to take advantage of his current position.

"You don’t need to answer me now. Tell me your thoughts about it once you’re ready, Dani," he said with a smile before grabbing her hand. Pulling her with him, he said, "Come and let’s roam around some more."

"I don’t think so. We should head back to the manor now, Abel," Dani retorted. "We just bought a lot of things, and we can continue roaming around tomorrow after attending Krisha’s wedding."

Right... Tomorrow was Taro and Krisha’s wedding, then their wedding would soon follow the next day. To be honest, Abel was still in awe of how things turned out. Still, he was glad things worked out for Taro after Dani turned him down.

Also, he admired how fast Taro moved to mark Krisha in a flash. Abel could only guess that he had learned his lesson of acting fast after he managed to snatch Dani away from him. After all, he knew how she and Taro had become closely acquainted right from the start.

"Alright, let’s do that then," Abel muttered before pulling Dani by the waist. "Hold onto me tightly."

She instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck, and a satisfied smile formed on his lips before he shifted into his mist form. One thing came to the next, and they arrived at Wright Manor by the time it was late afternoon.

"Oh, you two finally arrived." Duchess Donna excitedly greeted them with Duke George. Abel gave them a curt bow, then she turned to him and said, "Can I borrow Dani for a while? I want her to try out her wedding gown to see if it needs more adjustments."

"Of course, Duchess," Abel nodded with a smile.

With the women leaving, the Duke was the one who accompanied Abel inside.

"You two arrived earlier than expected," the Duke casually remarked as he gestured for Abel to sit on the chair by the balcony. "I thought Dani would use the fleet."

The Duke then asked some of the servants to serve them some snacks and a drink for him. Once they returned, Abel was surprised to get a whiff of fresh animal blood. The servant handed him a glass of it, and he unknowingly turned to Dani’s father.

"We can’t change who you are, but that doesn’t mean we cannot embrace you as part of the family now," the Duke stated. "Although, we still cannot offer you fresh human blood, so I do hope that animal blood will suffice."

Abel raised a brow. He was touched by that small gesture. "Thank you so much, Duke," he nodded with his warmest smile. "I appreciate it dearly."

The fact that he was still a vampire remained. Blood was what sustained him, and to be honest, he was having a bit of indigestion with how often he was eating human food lately. Just a while ago, his stomach didn’t feel good, but he still wanted to eat everything Dani offered him to cater to her, especially once he noticed how much it was making her smile.

Back to the scene in front of him, Duke George looked straight into his eyes and said, "You and my daughter will officially become husband and wife soon. You’ve lived long enough, so I’m assuming you already know what you’re entering."

He took a sip of his drink before he continued, "I know for a fact that there is no perfect marriage since it’s inevitable for it to have ups and downs. But one thing permanent in marriage is the commitment you hold to each other. Face those ups and downs together. And you have to keep your promise that you will protect my daughter by any means, Abel."

"I understand what you mean, Duke," Abel firmly nodded with heavy conviction. "Like I said before, I will do it."

Duke George nodded. "If that’s the case, then you should get used to calling us Father and Mother like how Dani would address us," he joked with a grin. "While you’re way older than us, we look older, and that is the tradition here."

Abel chuckled at that as well. He would’ve loved to do that now, but it might sound awkward for both parties involved. Still, if Dani’s parents preferred it that way, then why not?

"There’s no problem with me, Father," Abel said with a grin. "Also, I’ll have some of my servants arriving later to help out with the preparations for our wedding ceremony."

Dani’s father simply nodded. "I’ll remind Donna about it then," he said. "You see, she’s been very excited and busy with taking care of things. By the way, have you met my son in the encampment?"

"I have," Abel nodded. "Lord Atlas still doesn’t approve of me, but I’ll do my best for him to see me in a different light."

"Well, I’m sure you’re aware of it already, but we recently received an arranged marriage proposal for him and Princess Ezme of your kingdom," Duke George informed him. "I was honestly surprised this morning when I heard that Atlas agreed to that marriage."

Abel hid his surprise with a faint nod. He was traveling at the time, so that piece of news hadn’t reached him until now. The King was probably too busy to bother telling it to him. Well, he already expected this outcome knowing how Ezme was. That woman would do anything by any means to get Atlas for sure. However, he must admit that he was curious about how Ezme managed to get her way.

"That’s indeed surprising seeing how much he utterly hated our kind based on the last time we met," he naively commented.

Duke George simply shrugged. "In my son’s letter, he mentioned that he will take responsibility for what he did to the Princess," he explained. "I believe something happened, but I trust Atlas to know how to handle his own situation."

Abel no longer commented on the news, but in the back of his head, he thought, ’Ezme probably blackmailed him.’