Chapter 108: You are pissing me off

Lauren felt Alec patting the back of her head gently.

She was surprised when he suddenly pulled her to his chest but she didn’t push him away. She didn’t move. Perhaps it was because her body was freezing and the warmth she felt from him was too comforting to refuse.

"You did a good job, Lauren. You may have lost the chance to punish him but fate already did. You shouldn’t feel too bad. There’s a lot of work to do in hell. For sure the devil will spare him some generosity."

She moved away from him, finding their situation too intimate.

"You sound like you have gone to hell."

He did... Alec answered in his mind.

"Let’s have a warm bath. I don’t want to babysit you later on when you get sick," he said and walked to the bathroom.

Did he mean they were bathing together?

"Didn’t you say you prefer your bath cold?" Lauren’s voice slightly trembled along with her body.

Alec didn’t answer and just went to the bathroom.

She hissed and followed him inside. She couldn’t afford to let her pride get the better of her. She was freezing and she needed a warm bath to soothe her dying nerves.

When the tub had been filled with water, Alec stripped in front of Lauren without a warning as if he didn’t mind people watching his nakedness.

She swallowed hard. Well, what would a man with a perfect body be ashamed of anyway? He had several scars, yes, but it didn’t make him less attractive. In fact, the rough lines on his skin added to his sultry raggedness.

"What are you waiting for?" He asked when he was already settled on the tub.

He ran his fingers through his hair as he shamelessly watched her strip.

It wasn’t the first time she stripped in front of him but Lauren still felt awkward.

Still, she tried to maintain a straight face as she discarded her clothes as fast as she could. She wasn’t paid to give him a satisfying strip show after all.

She went to the other side of the tub and curled her legs in front of her. She felt her body slowly relax with the warm water.

"You will be a Queen tomorrow. Shouldn’t you be happy," he said in a playful tone.

Right. She was another step closer to her goal. She had taken care of her evil sisters and now the Queen was her only problem which she doubted would be hard to deal with. Instead of dwelling on the King’s unexpected death, she should be focused more on what she had control of.

"How did the ministers react? I’m sure some of them were not pleased by the news," she asked.

She knew that some of those court officials were stabbing the royal family in the back. They got away with their schemes because her father was easy to fool, but they knew Alec wasn’t a simpleton.

"I’m looking forward to catching who the traitors are. Perhaps one of them can lead us to that mysterious woman responsible for corrupting humans."

Talking about the mysterious woman, Lauren remembered that she didn’t tell Alec that the woman was making her presence known to her recently. Maybe she should tell him after his coronation. He had been dealing with a lot of things these days.

Lauren put her hand on the water and played with the bubbles of soap.

"Let’s make a little adjustment to our contract. I know I promised our agreement will end once I’m done my business with the royal family, but I want to eradicate the traitors in the court first," she said.

He stared blankly at her as she continued.

"Let me be your queen until we uncover who is the mastermind of the rebellion. After that, we can end the contract as we agreed. We’ll annul our marriage and you can choose a new queen."

She was staring at the water with bubbles on her palm as she said that. The unsettling feeling in her gut resurfaced again.

Their plans escalated a little too fast which made the time frame of their contract shorter than expected. But wasn’t it what she wanted? To finally get her revenge and leave the castle she was caged in for thirteen years?

"And what are your plans after?" He asked, his voice a little strained.

"I will leave the castle. Don’t worry, I will help you find a reliable noble lady who is qualified to be your queen-" She stopped when he smoothly moved forward until his legs were brushing on hers.

He moved closer and held the edge of the tub beside her shoulder. If not for her folded knees in front of her, he would have been too close.

"What a great idea you have there," he said with a humorless smirk. "How about you train the lady before you leave since that is what an employee does when she leaves an important job vacant?"

Lauren felt a lump in her throat. Alec sounded playful but the way his piercing eyes were staring at her darkly... she felt like one more wrong word from her and he would drag her to the red chamber.

"The etiquette master can teach her how to be a proper queen," she replied.

Now he looked really pissed.

"Well, if you want me to do it then perhaps I can do something but-"

"You are pissing me off, Lauren. Do you know that?" The threat in his tone made her stomach twist.

His viny hand gripping the edge of the tub went to her shoulder, his rough fingers tracing invisible lines on her skin as he punished her with his unforgiving eyes.

"You have yet to fulfill your duties as my wife and now you are talking about leaving me?" His thumb caressed the pulsating spot on her neck provocatively as if it was meant to ignite the desires buried deep inside her.

"Part your legs. I want to touch you."

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read