That Prince Is A Girl: The Vicious King’s Slave Mate Novel

Chapter 454: No. No, I'm not, Emeriel.

She was stronger than he'd ever given her credit for. Far stronger than her delicate frame suggested. Not just physically, but in every other way.

She had walked through fire, and it had changed her. Hardened her. It was evident in every aspect of her being-the way she moved, spoke, and looked. The guarded expression in her eyes.

Will she ever forgive me? Will she ever give us a chance? Daemonikai let the bow and arrow slip from his grasp, clattering to the ground. In one fast move, he seized her shoulders and spun her around.

Moving with lightning speed, he pressed her against the rough bark of a nearby tree.

"What are you doing?!" Emeriel gasped, startled.

"I need you to listen to me, Emeriel," Daemonikai said quietly.

"No, don't." Fire blazed in her eyes, and her fists clenched against his hold. "Do not!"

"I need to-"

"Let me go! I do not want to hear it." Desperation seeped into her voice, her tone rising… frantic. "I don't want to hear it!"

"But I have to."

She began to struggle, fighting him with a fierceness that surprised him. Twisting away, pushing him, snarling at him, scratching anywhere she could get her hands on.

Daemonikai hadn't expected that physical strength-or how angrily she would fight back.

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But he easily subdued her, pinning her hands to her sides, his body pressed firmly against hers, caging her in.

"Let me go," she whispered, her head tilted back against the tree trunk, resignation replacing her struggle. Her eyes were squeezed shut, as if trying to block him out. "Just let me go."

"I'm so sorry, Emeriel," Daemonikai said, the words tumbling out with raw emotion. "From the depths of my heart and the bottom of my soul, I am so sorry. I should have never sent you away. I should have handled it all better."

Only the sounds of birdsong and rustling leaves answered him.

"I broke your heart, and it haunts me," he continued, his voice apologetic. "I regret sending you away. Words are feeble, and I'm not good with them. I wish you could look into my heart and see how I truly feel."

"I guess I should have expected that," she whispered. "I told you I never had a choice in anything, and you sought to give me one. I guess I should have seen it coming. After all, we had already agreed there was no future for us, that our bond wouldn't be allowed to flourish."

It was his turn to squeeze his eyes shut. Her words echoed his own, and there was more where those came from.

"You told me plainly there was nothing left to give me," she said. "That your late bondmate owned your heart and soul as long as you drew breath. So yes, I should have expected it. I should have seen it coming."

Her tightly shut eyes relaxed and slowly opened, staring blankly somewhere beyond Daemonikai's face. "But if you were going to tear my heart out, crush it to pieces, and hand the remains over to me, the least you could have done was tell me." She paused, as if the weight of her words was sinking in.

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