Chapter 4
Chapter
Four
Elias studied Colette. Her brows lowered, as if weighed down by his heavy words. “But … what about when you meet your betrothed? You can trust your betrothed, right?”
He held in a sigh and shook his head. “We were just at war with the dragons. They killed our people. We killed theirs. Too much blood has been spilt on both sides. A marriage contract does not erase the past or the pain.”
“So you’re not hoping for love?” she asked, voice almost a whisper.
He held in a huff. There would be no love in his marriage. He did not expect it or hope for it. And even if some softer feelings arose between him and his spouse from time to time, he’d learnt a long time ago that softer feelings could not be relied upon.
Elias would not let down his guard. Not even if he ended up marrying some handsome, charming dragon with a pretty smile and a magic dick.
Colette would learn in time how jagged and sharp the edges of the world could be. He just hated to be the one to reveal that to her. But at this peace assembly, she needed to have her defences up. Elias could not watch her constantly.
“It is an arranged marriage for an alliance,” Elias said.
“There may be courtship, balls, banquets, vows of forever, and what not. But there will be no sweet and gentle kisses or softly spoken words. There will be no love for me in my marriage. It is not like we are expected to share a bed every night. Or even see each other regularly.”
Elias would need to fuck his spouse once to seal the marriage. He didn’t know which pervert had decided to put that in the marriage contract.
Luckily you could tolerate fucking most people once. As long as they weren’t too repulsive. And if they were, he’d just have to utilise the darkness. Of course, if the person smelled, that would be a problem. He supposed they could fuck in a bathtub if that were the case.
Did they have bathtubs big enough for two people here? Perhaps they could fuck in the ocean. Maybe then the tide would sweep his spouse away afterwards. He’d wave them off and then he’d be free, having done his duty for Voltaria.
“Still, I won’t complain if I’m married to a big, strapping dragon. It would help me tolerate the wedding night.” And if he did find his spouse appealing, then perhaps he would share their bed every now and then. For the sake of peace.
He was glad he’d kept those last parts to himself when Colette began to giggle and her cheeks turned bright red. She really was far too innocent.
But then, after several moments, she frowned. “I thought you had to live with your spouse. That’s part of the marriage contract too, right?”
“True.” Elias examined his perfectly lacquered silver nails. “But you can live together whilst keeping far apart. Castles and palaces are thankfully known for being large.”
After all, he had lived with his father, stepmother, and half-siblings. For years, they’d gone back and forth between the Tower of the Winds in Zephyrias and the Lightning Palace in Voltaria. He’d managed to barely see them.
And now the rest of his family primarily resided in the Tower of the Winds, where the council, the emperor, and the empress made all the important decisions for their kingdoms. Meanwhile, he lived in the Lightning Palace in Voltaria for the most part. At least when he wasn’t travelling about.
“We can marry and then get along happily with our own lives, knowing we have done our part and brought peace to our great nations. We’ll make nice in public and show a happy, strong, and united front, of course.
It will be a lie. But we’ll be lying to the world for the greater good.
” And Elias never found lying challenging.
Colette frowned. “It just … it just sounds so sad.” She swallowed. “Maybe if you marry a brave and noble dragon. Then you can—”
“You can’t trust anyone, Colette.” Elias pinned her with his gaze. “Ever. That way leads to your downfall,” he said, hoping if he kept repeating the same thing over and over, it might sink into her pretty little head.
“I trust you,” she countered.
Blast! She was so fucking sweet. So fucking sweet and naive and foolish. He patted her hand. “I’m glad you trust me. And I won’t betray that trust.”
Still, she shouldn’t trust him. She could. But she shouldn’t. She had not known him long enough nor did she know him well enough to trust him. And if she did know him well enough, she would know he was not particularly trustworthy.
Elias knew how fickle people could be. Those who were once there for you could suddenly not be. The only way to protect yourself was to not trust anyone. You could only ever rely on yourself. That was how you protected yourself.
Still, he would do his best by her. He just wished she wasn’t being thrown into the deep end at this peace assembly. He wished he had more time away from all this.
The carriage pulled to its final stop.
Elias exhaled. He cast one last glance over his outfit, smoothing the blue fabric. He smiled, a radiant and very fake smile. “How do I look?”
“You look beautiful,” she gushed. “As always.”
He smirked. “Well, of course I do.”
She giggled.
“Now come, let’s go see if Empress Emmeline thinks I look beautiful too.”