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~ Chapter 5 A Jealous Wife ~

Livi was walking down the hallway with light, swift steps. He was clearly in a happy mood for he was smiling and humming a lighthearted tune to himself. If this was a year ago, before Nike's arrival at this castle, he wouldn't be like this. He was nothing but cold, harsh and hostile then.

But now, it was different. He has changed a lot for the better, even the people working in the castle for years would agree to this. He has become kinder and happier. And of course, this also resulted the atmosphere in the castle to change as well.

Everyone knew that if he was smiling, surely the reason has got to do with his wife.

"Psst... Your Majesty!"

His head swivelled in the direction of the female voice. He noticed Mira hiding behind a wall and waving at him excitedly to get his attention.

"Why are you hiding over there-"

"Just come here!" She cut in and waved at him to come over quickly. Her eyes flitted left and right to check if there was anyone else around. Livi threw her a frowning look and stepped closer to the peppy lady.

"What do you want? I thought you went off to explore the castle or head into the town."

She smiled and shook her head. "Yeah, I was going to do that, but that must wait. I've something important to do first." Her eyes were bright with excitement and she waited for him eagerly to say something.

Livi raised his eyebrows in response. "And what's that? Is your old hag-" He coughed when he remembered that he must at least try to show some respect for Nike's grandmother in front of her family, despite what she had done to him before. "I mean, granny," he corrected himself. "Is she planning something in mind for me again?"

She laughed while shaking her head. "Nope, she isn't. Although she did mention for me to check whether if you and Nike are facing a bad turn in your relationship and perhaps you both might consider a separation."

He folded his arms and smirked at her. "Well, I guess you have to tell her for me that she's going to be terribly disappointed because whatever that she's hoping for isn't going to happen."

"All thanks to me," Mira added in. "I created a perfect chance for you." Her chest were puffed out as she looked proud of herself.

"Yep, all thanks to you," he agreed. "I'll prepare a gift for you to express my gratitude, so ask me for anything."

She flashed a grin. "Alright, I guess I won't turn down that gift. Give me some time to think of what I want. Oh yes!" She clapped her hands once when she remembered that she has something to say to him and ended up sidetracking instead.

"I have to tell you something! It's really important and it's regarding Nike!"

Surprised by her sudden outburst, he urged her to continue. Honestly, he was very curious about it now, since it actually involved his wife.

"Sure, go ahead. I'm listening."

"Well, it's actually-" She started to speak but stopped herself abruptly when she recognized an approaching figure behind them. Alarmed, she grabbed Livi's arm hurriedly and pulled him into one of the rooms quickly. She hushed him to be quiet when he started to resist and complain about her actions.

Shutting the door of an empty room, she turned around and pressed her ear against it. Livi just stared at the lady bewilderedly while she listened hard and waited for the footsteps to pass.

~ oOo ~

Bang! Neil dropped a stack of books on the table right in front of the princess's face loudly. Nike sweatdropped immediately at the sight of them.

"Nike-sama," he addressed her firmly. He pushed his glasses up his nose, giving him a very professional look. "Please finish all these books by today."

WHAT!? She has to finish ALL OF THEM?

The mountain of books blocked her from seeing Neil and she stretched her neck to look over it. She attempted to make her escape again, despite failing for the past several months. Her fingers were crossed in hope.

"Neil, p-please... Don't y-you think that this is way too much for me?"

A fierce glint in his eyes made her shut her mouth and gulp down her unspoken words. If she didn't listen to him any further, she was wholly sure that he would definitely add more books on the table for her to do more reading. She sat back down on her chair, dejected, as she surrendered herself to her cruel fate with the books.

"Well then, Nike-sama, I'll be back with more books." Neil bowed deeply before leaving the room. After he left, Nike randomly took a book from the stack and flipped open to the first page. She sighed loudly to herself after inspecting the thicknes of the book.

She was convinced that she would be a walking dead after all this madness was over. She really wonder how Livi actually survived through this everyday. He was definitely not an ordinary human.

Grrr...

Her stomach growled hungrily. Yikes, she was already feeling famished after all that dancing (and falling). Even her throat felt dry. She needed to get some food and water into her stomach to get her energy back. If she didn't, she felt sure that she wouldn't get pass the first page of the book by the end of today.

Since Neil wasn't around, she could sneak out to the kitchen and get back before he did... Besides, she couldn't let the top designer of the Sun Kingdom find out that she has been eating more than she should be.

She stood up quickly and went to the doors, opening them as quietly as she could. Her head popped through the small opening and she looked left and right for any sign of Neil. When there was none, she slipped out and closed the doors behind her. She hurriedly made her way down the corridors while casting quick glances behind her frequently. She ensured that her footsteps were noiseless so as not to alert anybody else.

Gosh, why was she walking like this? She was acting like a thief in her own castle.

When she reached a corner, she slowed down and stopped. She peeked out to check, and continued to move on when it was clear. Heading down the hallway quickly, she remained high on alert to avoid being caught.

Sudden voices and shuffling of footsteps reached her ears and she stopped abruptly. She heard it coming from the direction in front of her and she approached it silently. Surely it wasn't her maids, or Neil... Or worse still, the top designer.

The footsteps retreated backwards and she knew that there were two of them. They vanished behind a wall quickly, but not in time to avoid letting Nike caught a glimpse of a tall man with raven hair and a female with chestnut brown hair.

"Huh? Livi and Mira onee-chan..." Her voice faltered and trailed off when she recognized the two figures. A constricted feeling in her chest started to make her breathe difficultly. Any other feelings of hunger and thirst disappeared. Her eyes were concentrated on the spot where she had last seen the both of them standing.

Why on earth were they together?

~ oOo ~

"Nike!"

Livi burst through the door with a bright smile of his face. He seemed to be really excited as he reached the table quickly, where Nike was busy reading from a book. The princess glanced up and gave him a puzzled look.

He leaned in closer to her. "Nike," he said her name again. "Guess what I've brought for you?"

His hands were behind his back and she couldn't see whatever that he was holding. She thought hard for a while.

"Hmmm..." she mused. "I don't know. More books?" She almost grimaced.

"This," he brought his hands out delightedly and offered her his gift, "is for you."

"Oh!" His fingers were holding out a gorgeous red rose that gave off a sweet scent. Surprised by his sudden affection, she smiled and accepted it.

"Thank you, Livi. This is wonderful."

He responded to her by beaming at her radiantly. He watched her happily as she brought the rose closer to her nose and took a sniff. However, he found that there was something amiss in this moment.

Normally, she would have grinned at him and teased him lightly whenever he gave her flowers. This time, she just smiled. It was definitely a lack of response from her. Moreover, her smile didn't seem to reach her eyes. Instead, there was a hard look in them. His gut feelings told him that she wasn't being herself. Something was clearly wrong.

"What's wrong, Nike?" he asked her. She looked towards him and jerked her head away a second later. Her eyes went back to staring at the rose in her fingers.

"Nothing."

He straightened up and walked around the table. He leaned down and gripped the armrests on her chair, trapping her in. He brought his face close to hers. She froze and leaned back in her seat away from him when he drew closer to her. Their noses were almost touching.

"Obviously, there's something wrong." His warm breath tickled her cheeks. "Now, tell me."

She avoided looking at his alluring eyes. "There's really nothing wrong. You're imagining it." Her seemingly forceful words made him annoyed and his eyebrows twitched in irritation. Why didn't she want to tell him?

He grabbed her wrists and pulled her up from her chair. She yelped in surprise, but coudn't resist when he dragged her across the room over to a sofa. He pushed her back onto it until she was lying down and he was loaming above her.

Nike's cheeks reddened immediately by his closeness. She squirmed and tried to escape but Livi's arms were placed on both sides of her, creating no possible escape routes. His intense, attractive eyes were fixed on hers and she couldn't seem to look away.

This is bad, really bad! Her mind was getting frantic at this moment.

He bent down his head and whispered into her ear. "Aren't you gonna tell me? Please?" His silky voice ran shivers down her body and his breath tickled her ear. She shivered beneath him involuntarily, but couldn't manage to speak a single word out. She couldn't seem to find her voice.

When she didn't reply him, he frowned deeply at her. "What do you want me to do before you will answer me?" He let out a soft sigh, staring down at her. But his lips soon curled into a playful smile.

Shit.

Smiling devilishly at her, he leaned down and kissed her jaw gently. She trembled uncontrollably. Her heart hammered against her chest and she was certain that it was audible enough that he could hear it.

"L-Livi, p-please stop!"

Her voice shook and she gripped his shoulders tightly. The rose dropped from her fingers to the floor. She stared up at him with a pleading look. If he continued on, she was sure that she was going to melt from all his kisses. Her skin was already burning hot and a part of her was already succumbing to her inner desires.

"Aren't you going to tell me what's bothering you? I'm your husband after all." His lips hovered near her jawline as he questioned her with a mischievious grin.

"T-there's r-r-really nothing wrong!" she stuttered back, trying her best to sound as convincing as she could. However, Livi didn't fall for it as he shook his head at her disapprovingly.

"You stubborn girl."

His lips met her collarbone and slowly began trailing up her neck. His kisses sent shivers of pleasures through her and her skin grew even hotter. Her heart seemed to stop beating at every kiss he placed on her body. She couldn't resist him and the only thing she could do was to scream 'NOOOOOO' in her head while another traitor inner voice screamed 'YESSSSSS'.

Unfortunately, the door to the room opened loudly and interrupted their sweet moment. Neil walked in with another pile of books in his hands. When his eyes landed on the making out scene in front of him, he dropped his books and it hit the ground with a loud bam.

"I-I thought I said no flirting during lessons," he scolded. He was embarrassed for intruding them at the wrong moment, but at the same time, they were kissing in an unappropraite timing and place. It was lesson time, not kissing time!

A loud cough from him made Livi break away from Nike. The Sun King looked ticked off by Neil for interrupting them for the third time that day. He stood up from the sofa and threw a death glare at Neil's back as the butler picked up the books.

Nike sat up quickly and adjusted her hair and clothes properly. She was mortified that somebody else actually witnessed their making out scene. Her cheeks remained hot and she fanned herself with her hands to cool them down. It wasn't helping though.

Neil placed the books on the table and spoke to her normally, trying to pretend that nothing had happened a few seconds ago. She walked back to her chair behind the table and sat down, trying her best to act normal too. As Neil continued speaking to her, Livi mouthed a few words to her behind his back.

"We'll continue this later." He didn't forget to add a wink.

She blushed and looked down, picking up a book. She opened it quickly and hid her face behind the book while pretending to listen to every word that Neil was saying. The lessons proceeded on peacefully, but deep down in her heart, she knew that something bad awaited her that night.

~ oOo ~

After dinner, Livi skipped to Nike's bedchamber happily. He could finally spend some alone time with her tonight without getting interrupted by others. He was really looking forward to seeing her and couldn't wait. His legs seemed to agree with him and they were walking insanely fast.

When he arrived outside her room, his hands reached for the doorknobs. He twisted them and pushed open, but the doors didn't budge. He scowled at the doors and knocked loudly.

"Nike? Did you lock the doors?" he called out.

But there was no reply.

He turned around and asked one of the maids who was walking past. "Did Nike lock her doors?" The maid smiled and shook her head politely, saying that the princess didn't even ask for the keys to lock the doors. He dismissed her and went back to calling Nike's name again.

"Nike," he called loudly. "I know that you're in there! Open up!" He knocked again.

Finally, a booming reply from the other side of the doors was heard. Just like he thought, Nike was in there.

"NO!"

Frowning hard, he asked back curiously. "Why not?"

"Because you'll molest me again!"

What!? Molest!? Her words threw him off guard and laughter spilled out from his mouth. So she wasn't going to let him enter because of what happened this afternoon? He doubled over in laughter.

Geez, Nike is such an adorable wife.

"It's not called molestation when a loving husband tries to kiss his wife." He laughed lightly again at her. Although it was soft, he heard someone snorted in the room loudly and yelled back that he was wrong.

"It's molestation!" she argued back.

"Pretty please, Nike? Let me in?" He tried to convince her, but was ignored this time. Okay... Smiling to himself, he walked away from the room.

If she thought that he was going to go away quietly like this, hah, she was so wrong.

He grabbed ropes from the kitchen and climbed up the stairs. He entered a room and headed straight for the windows. Tying the ropes to his waist and the window panes, he climbed out and descended carefully down a storey. When his feet reached the balcony below, he cut the ropes and tossed them aside.

He has successfully invaded Nike's room.

Opening the balcony doors quietly, he entered and shut the doors behind him. It was really dark in the room with no candles lit up. The moonlight was the only source of light to guide him around. He noticed that Nike has blocked the doors with a table and chairs. No wonder he couldn't enter just now.

From wherever he was, he approached the bed as noiselessly as he could, intending to surprise her.

"Boo! Nike-" He began to speak, but stopped short when his eyes landed on an already sleeping Nike. She was sprawled on the bed and still in her day clothes. Her sleeping face was child-like and exhausted.

"Geez, you could have changed into your nightgrown first before you sleep," he muttered under his breath. He sat down on the bed and brushed her hair off her face. As much as he wanted to call her, he couldn't bring himself to wake her up when she looked so dead beat.

He lay down beside her and gazed at her. His fingers brushed across her eyeslids, cheeks, nose and lips. She was looking extremely vulnerable now and he was glad that no other man would be able to see her like this. It was a pity that he couldn't have his fun with her right now since she was asleep.

Oh well, he thought, she will have her punishment for locking me out of the room tomorrow.

The first day after Livi turned into a man is over! Haha I know that there were a lot of time skips for this chapter, I didn't want to write rubbish in between. So, ta-da! What excitement awaits us on the second day? :3

Me: 5 person to review and I'll unlock the next chapter!

Livi: *looks into the camera* You heard the lady, you'll review right? *smiles devilishly*

Nike: Please review! Although Lolli really killed me in this chapter with all that blushing and jealousy she made me do... *pulls a face*

Livi: Well, it was cute. *pats her head*

Me: Hey! Gimme a pat on my head too! *whines*

Livi: Geez, fine. *pats my head*