The Royal Deal

Chapter 257

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“Ah, it’s you.
The woman who can’t seem to find herself a man, so had to resort to taking a slave to quench her lust.
How about me? Am I not better than a slave?” The first man started making lewd gestures at Amethyst.

Alexcent’s eyes flared with anger.
Amethyst’s took hold of his arm, before he threw a punch.

“I don’t know.
From my perspective, he seems to be in better shape than you.
What’s the matter? Are you feeling inferior as a man since your life is worse off than this here slave?” Amethyst couldn’t help goading the men.

“What? How dare you speak to me like that!” The first man was on his feet.

“I’m sorry, are my words too big for you to understand?” Amethyst mocked.

“You b*tch!” The man lifted his hand to slap Amethyst across the face.
Amethyst’s training from her days at the Skad mansion kicked in and she planted a foot in the man’s crotch as hard as she could.
The man collapsed instantaneously to the floor, his face turning bright red as struggled to breathe properly.

As the other two men stood up, Amethyst pulled out two guns she had hidden in the front of her apron.
Normally, they sat behind the counter, in case of trouble, but she had pocketed them as soon as the men came in.

“I’ll shoot you if you don’t leave.
I’m quite the marksman,” Amethyst informed the men.

“You’re crazy!” the second man said, helping his friend from the floor.

“You think I’m crazy? I’m the craziest b*tch around here!” Amethyst clicked the safety off both pistols and aimed them at the men.
“Get out of here now and take that groaning dumbass with you.
If you come back again, I will call the village guards.
Understand? Leave, now.”

The two men held the injured one up between them and they struggled out the front door.
Amethyst lowered the guns and clicked the safeties back into place.

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Alexcent shouted angrily from behind her, “What did you think you were doing? There were three of them! How could you be so reckless? What if you had been hurt?”

“I would have shot them before they touched me,” Amethyst said meekly.

“What? Thank god they were only workers.
If they had been mercenaries or knights, those guns would have been on the floor before you had a chance to use them.”

“You were about to hit them with your bare hands,” Amethyst complained.
“And I have an obligation as an owner to protect my employee.”

“What?” Alexcent laughed.
“Still, don’t do that again!”

“Fine, as long as you stop nagging! And try to ignore what they said.”

“It didn’t bother me in the least.”

“Then everything is good.” Amethyst relaxed and sat down at the table.

“Sorry for causing a scene,” Alexcent said.

“It’s not your fault! Besides, I felt good after that!”

“You shouldn’t have to worry about people like that.
What are the guards doing?” Alexcent seemed angry at the situation.
“To think that they’re not taking care of the business owners.”

“Thank you for understanding.
I will make the tea today.”

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“You don’t have to do that.”

“No.
You had to deal with those rude customers insulting you.
It’s the least I can do.” Amethyst smiled and went back to the kitchen.
Alexcent glared out the window, upset at the entire situation.

***

That night, Amethyst showered longer than usual.
She needed to wash away the stress from the day.
When she came out of the bathroom, Alexcent was standing in front of her.

“Are you finished washing up?” he asked.

“Yes.
The bathroom is all yours.” As she was about to walk pass by him, Alexcent took hold of her wrist.
It seemed to Amethyst that it was an involuntary act.
She could see the tension in his face and knew he was holding back from going any further.

“Gray,” she said as kindly as she could

“Yes.”

“I’ll say it again.
Don’t do this.”

“Do what?” Alexcent asked, knowing full well what she referred to.

“I told you before.
I love someone else.”

“But you also said it could never happen,” Alexcent insisted.

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“Even if it can’t happen, that doesn’t mean I don’t love him.”

“Same for me.”

“What?” Amethyst’s heart was pounding.

“I….”

“Wait!” Amethyst quickly stopped him.
“Don’t say anything.
I won’t listen to you.”

“Why, are you scared?” Alexcent asked.

“No, if I hear what I think you are going to say, we no longer can be together.”

Alexcent looked pleadingly into her eyes desperate for some way around this situation.

“I don’t want anything from you and can’t give you anything.” Amethyst said.
“But if that’s not the same for you, how can I have you living here?”

“You always avoid situations like this.” Alexcent blurted out before he realized what he said.

“What are you…?”

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“Don’t worry.” Alexcent quickly changed the subject.
“If I can’t live here, without you, I won’t do anything reckless.” He let go of the wrist he had been gripping rather tightly.

“I appreciate that,” Amethyst said, pushing past him and heading to her room.

“Who is it?” He asked from behind her.

“Who?”

“The person you love but are not able to.
I’m curious what kind of person he is to have full ownership of your heart.
I would give up easily if I knew the person was real and not someone you made up just to get me to leave you alone.”

Tears welled up within Amethyst’s eyes.
Alexcent became very uncomfortable, seeing how he had made her sad.

“Alec,” she whispered quietly.

“Pardon?”

“Alexcent.” She had needed an excuse to say his name, to make his memory real once more.
She burst into a stream of crying as Alexcent stared at her with a face devoid of expression.

“Are you happy now?” Amethyst wailed as she ran into her room and slammed the door.

Alexcent gazed at her closed door.
He could hear nothing but the pounding of his heart.
A river of astonishment and happiness flowed through his body, threatening to drown him.
He wanted to break down the door and exclaim at the top of his lungs who he was, but he knew he was no longer the Alexcent she knew.
He was no longer the man she loved.
Yet, he couldn’t stop smiling.

He didn’t know whether he should be satisfied that she never let another man into her heart or be angry that she didn’t recognize him, regardless of the change of his features.
But he realized that was a ridiculous notion.
Looking into the mirror, even he didn’t recognize himself.
Still, one thing he knew was that she still loved him.

Amethyst threw herself onto her bed.
She shouldn’t have said his name.
She knew that, but Gray had just insisted so much.
She felt uneasy that the truth would get back to Alexcent’s ears.
There was no way that Gray knew him, right? She didn’t know Gray’s history, and that made her feel uneasy.