Herald of Steel

Shahel managed to at last pull himself back upon confirming Mikaya’s loyalty, his heart softening at the sight of the pitiful looking girl.

She appeared to be on the verge of tearing up, and those reddened eyes and the heated blush flowing over her face especially hit the man hard.

So confirming there was none of the dreaded slime, he quickly pulled his thick fingers out of the tight canal, his fierce eyes suddenly having lost all their heat, changing into a far more confused and shocked look.

Shahel looked like he was unable to believe what he had done himself.

“I… Mikaya.. That… Ummm…” This stammering, almost bumbling man was very different from the fierce beast he had appeared as just a few moments before, as he desperately caressed his hands over those long, beautiful legs, trying to soothe its owner.

He now had such a smooth naive facade that anyone watching from the side would have been amazed, the transformation so rapid that perhaps even feel hard pressed to equate this one to the venomous another.

This was in fact how Mikaya got into this mess in the first place.

Initially Shahel, despite his huge half giant like size appeared like a meek and timid boy, barely speaking a few words and content to only shyly send her finance sneaking looks.

And each time he looked at that stunning face, he would so innocently blush, like he could not believe his luck- something that the experienced Matrak princess found extremely cute and adorable.

He was also younger than her by several years and known to not have any experience with women. Apparently he had spent all his youth training, regularly leading his men against bandits and other troublesome forces in his land and once even joined Matrak in its fights against the northern barbarians.

Combining all this, and Mikaya thought it would be a cinch to wrap her fingers around the green boy, letting her run circles around him.

Who could have guessed Shahel was not exactly normal? He had a madly possessive heart. So the moment he chose to give Mikaya his heart, she inadvertently also became his prisoner, being stripped of all her power to object or even express any of her freedoms.

“…..” Thus in response Mikaya sent a bitter look at the man’s apology, still angry at her treatment.

She also cursed herself upon realizing her own mistake. Lastly, she was really glad that Alexander had advised her as such when he did.

Otherwise- if she had come as she originally intended to…

Mikaya subconsciously shivered at the thought. If she had really been caught…. there would have been a genuine possibility of her suffering mortally. Those huge muscular hands Shahel possessed were certainly not just for show.

In addition, as Alexander’s name came up, Mikaya soon began to find it almost laughable that she had almost had a fight with him regarding Shahel. She nearly cursed at how she could have been so blind to even consider the two men in the same breath.

Alexander would have never treated her like that. She knew that for a fact despite the short time they spent together. So quickly the Matrak princess found herself no longer willing to protect her future husband.

“It is okay Lord Shahel. I am just a bit tired.” Finally responding to the blundering giant with a sullen look, Mikaya forcefully separated herself, standing up to pull the entirely torn clothes towards herself.

However if she meant to cover herself using that, she utterly failed, as the clothes were literally split down to middle, thus began to unravel under their own weight, especially around the lower half.

“Lady Mikaya.. I…” Seeing this, Shahel quickly tried to help, but as soon as he touched those dainty shoulders, he found them to be visibly visibly.

“Lord Shahel… I don’t know what you heard from my brother, but those are all blatant lies. I would never….*Sigh*, Just… leave, please. This is not proper.”

Mikaya sent a very cold and thorny response to the caring gesture, and the words instantly stunned the young man like he had been struck by lightning.

“Your brother… What are you… no that.. He never… Umm….so all he said was…” Recovering, Shahel found himself stammering like he had lost control of his tongue, babbling without much coherence.

The reason for this shameful lack of control was because as already said earlier, Shahel was a great warrior but due to him focusing all his efforts there, he lacked almost any experience in administration. He was also generally not the sharpest tool in the shed and lastly, he could also be considered a bit too young.

He simply lacked the life experiences to contend with someone as shrewd and scheming as Mikaya- and that was before he fell head over heels over her.

Mix all this in and it was little wonder he fell for Mikaya’s bait hook, line and sinker like a blind bat.

While on the other side, Shahel did not see it because she was giving him her back, but Mikaya’s eyes flashed a very chilly light- this was basically the confirmation of Alexander’s hypothesis.

So taking a deep hidden breath, she chimed in a wounded, hurt voice,

“You do not have to apologize, my lord. My eldest brother is a pathological liar. He and father’s conflict is also nothing secret. And as my father’s most favored daughter it is only natural for him to target me.”

Shahel’s heart felt like it was shattering seeing the love of his life bitterly shake her head like that.

“My lady I…” And as his voice quivered, his knees visibly buckled as the huge man began to slowly lower his head until he nearly prostrated to his wife’s back.

This was an earth shattering event to happen in Adhania- such that no man would ever do this, even if his head was put on the line.

Because for a man to show such submissiveness to his wife- it would basically kill him socially forever.

And this would have been the consequence for merely a commoner.

If the heir to a Pasha were to do this, then… well, no one really knew the consequences because this unthinkable thing had never happened in its history.

Yet, the recipient of this never before seen respect, Mikaya appeared utterly unmoved.

“*Sigh*, please leave my lord.” She only coldly declared, not even bothering to give the young boy a second glance, “People are already talking enough about us as is. It would not help to see us meeting so late in this way. Ohh… Father help me, how I am going to appear with this belly during the wedding?”

“….” Shahel fiercely clenched his fists at the words, producing an almost manic look under his lowered head.

However at the end of the day, he did not argue, choosing to respect the wishes of the love of his life as well as feeling ashamed of all that he had thought and done.

Thus gritting his teeth, he conceded,

“As you wish my lady, goodnight. And once again, I apologize for my gross behavior. That is not who I am. Lastly, rest assured, I will be sure to have a very serious talk with Lord Mirzah regarding these filthy lies. Now that you are my wife, he must stop these slanders. Or else…”

The words were certainly very heroic and as Shahel reached for the door after making them, he turned around one last time, perhaps expecting at least Mikaya to turn around and give a nod of approval.

But there was nothing- the tall, voluptuous maiden simply stood giving him her back like a statue. Because the truth was, Mikaya could not turn to give him a nod even if she want to.

What Mirzah said were not lies, but cold hard truths.

And if Shahel ever confronted the man about it…. Mikaya feared her husband might not be as blindly trusting of her as her father when presented with the overwhelming proofs.

Thus when the clueless Shahel made that promise to clear her name, Mikaya’s eyes, instead of cooling down in relief, rather blazed with the determination of a thousand suns.

….

Creak… Bang,

Tajia bolted over to lock the door as soon as Shahel exited the premises like the speed of the wind, almost like she was caging the door to a ferocious beast.

Then finally securing it, both sisters turned to give their mistress a very relieved look.

The two had fearfully watched the entire exchange from the side, maintaining absolute silence for they were afraid and unsure of what to do.

They had of course wanted to protest and intervene, and stop Shahel from hurting Mikaya, but given how mad the man appeared as well as Shahel’s immense size, they cowered.

In their mind, one or three… the number would not have made any difference against that man.

In fact, haphazardly barging in might have even had the opposite effect, turning the man even more enraged. So they just tentatively watched from the side, ready to call the guards the instant things seemed to be going downhill.

Fortunately the worst case scenario had been avoided. This was certainly a cause to celebrate.

“I am sorry mistress…. we… I really could not stop him. He knocked on the door and then… simply barged through…” Tajia regretfully explained how the man got in in the first place.

“….” To which Mikaya simply stayed silent.

And Nafia was able to exactly guess why, “Mistress… what will happen if.. if ‘that’ gets out?”