[Bonus chapter]The warrior king's secrets (final)

"I... You..." Adela was rendered speechless, her voice lost in a mire of emotions.

"What I am proposing is that I take you as my second wife,"

Their gazes locked, hers filled with horrified disbelief, and his with a knowing smirk.

"I thought as much," he commented, a self-assured tone coloring his words. "Consider it an open offer, one that will never expire."

"...I will never entertain such an idea,"

For a fleeting moment, she caught a glimpse of hurt flickering in his eyes, intensifying her own sense of horror.

"Sit down," he snapped, annoyance seeping into his voice. "Only a deranged individual would dare harm a Healer, let alone a woman whom I hold in respect and admiration... Don't look at me like that! I had to jolt you out of your complacency, parading around like a basket of ripe apples in a land of perpetual fasting."