SPELLBOUND

When Evie opened her eyes, she was hungry. She called for supper and dug into it with gusto. After polishing off all of her supper – which was surprising – she immediately looked for Gavriel. When Luc and Levy informed her that he was with Zolan and was currently dealing with the emperor's interrogation, Evie asked the men to bring her to Leon instead. She wanted to visit the man who had protected her with his own life.

To her relief, Leon was doing amazingly well. He was already fully healed and was now back to his maximum vigour. She found that though he was of a big built, tall, and definitely strong, he still gave her the feeling of being adorable and a comfortable person to be around.

"I'm so glad you're alright, Leon." Evie told him, smiling happily. "If you weren't there for me all those times when we were facing the opposition, I don't know if…" Evie trailed off and looked up to the sky.

"You did extremely well in protecting yourself too, Princess. I had never expected that you would actually work up the guts to slash at the emperor's face." Leon chuckled mirthfully and sounded as if he were proud of her, and Evie chuckled along with him as well. Recalling that moment when Lorcan had launched himself at her, Evie was already gripping her dagger tightly within her sleeves. It was only because Lorcan was too focused on nothing else but her neck that he failed to notice her obvious stance and suspicious behaviour. Perhaps, he was too hungry or perhaps, he noticed but he did not expect that this frail and little human being would be able to ever come close enough to harm him nor did he suspect her dagger was poisoned.

But what happened in that moment made Evie realized how helpless she was. If she was unlucky and Leon was not there, there would be no way on earth that she could have escaped Lorcan's grasp. The thought scared her and still brought shivers running up and down her skin. And out of the blue…

"Leon, do you know a way for a human like me to become stronger?" she asked. Leon blinked and looked at her with surprise.

"You are already strong, Princess –" Leon replied slowly, apprehensive, and not quite knowing where she was headed with this.

"I'm not." She cut him off. "I want to be strong enough to at least save myself. I hate always being the damsel in distress." Evie explained while she stared at the floor, feeling a little upset at her helplessness.

"But I don't mind you being a damsel in distress my love." Gavriel's voice suddenly echoed, and Evie's head snapped behind her. "My damsel in distress." And he playfully winked at Evie, hoping to dispel the negative emotions he spied lurking in the depths of her eyes.

Gavriel was leaning against a wall in a cool and casual manner. After she looked at him, he pushed himself from the wall and approached her.

Smiling, Gavriel bent forward and tucked her hair behind her ear. "You know why?" he continued as his gaze gleamed with so much love as he stared into her amber eyes. "Because I love being your knight in shining armour." His irresistible mouth curved up and Evie blushed hard.

How could this husband of hers be so good in every single thing? He is just too good in everything he does, even in bed and now with his words too. How could she even stand her ground before such a man? She sometimes wondered if she was worthy to stand beside such a magnificent specimen of the male species.

"I understand your wish to become stronger… but," the mischief in his eyes slowly faded and his gaze became serious yet gentle, "please know that you are already strong enough, my love. You're a strong woman, Evie… you are stronger than what you give yourself credit for."

Speechless, Evie could only stare at him. His words were like a magic spell chanted, entering into the deepest chambers of her mind, heart, and soul.

After a long silence, Gavriel smiled again and he suddenly pinched her cheek, surprising Evie. "Besides, wife," he started, now mischievously, "If you grow even stronger to the point that you don't even need any rescuing anymore, what will happen to this little poor knight in shining armour?"

Evie raised her brows this time and looked up at him confidently. "You don't need to worry about my knight in shining armour because he is destined to become king. He'll become the most powerful and absolute king."

While the words that left Evie's mouth rendered Gavriel speechless as he stood still before his wife, the men who were already gathered around them were glancing at each other for a while now.

They had followed Gavriel to discuss about something pertaining to the war, yet here they were… did the prince just called them over so he could turn them into his personal audience to watch his romantic play with his wife? Good lord… they couldnt believe he was romancing his wife and flaunting it in front of their eyes? They did not know if they should laugh or cry. My dear prince… please would you be so kind to consider us single males who are very much healthy and normal and would also long for female companionship? Was their prince trying to kill them with frustration?

"I think we should leave now," Levy said through their secret conversation, rolling his eyes at the rest.

"Agree." Reed replied dryly, "I am absolutely not going to just stand here and watch this drama. I'm already dying with envy right now. Can I go to the brothel for a while, Zolan?"

"You can't, idiot." Samuel glared at Reed. "I know for sure that your 'a while' is equivalent to half a night. We are not in the position to indulge ourselves in fleshly pleasures right now."

"Yes boss, apologies." Reed could only sigh, not wanting to anger their big and brute leader. "That was just a joke. And just for the record, this is His Highness' fault you know? Come on… aren't you guys feeling any envy at all while watching this scene? Don't you guys also wish to have someone to be intimate with so romantically like this? Look…" Reed's voice slowly died down because of the deadpan expression of his comrades.

"Bloody hell," he sighed as his shoulders drooped, "I honestly pity all of you for not appreciating romance because you guys have been single for the rest of your lives… tsk… tsk…"