That Prince Is A Girl The Vicious King's Captive Slave Mate by Kiss Leilani

“Huh?”

High Lord Herodis was still smiling. How could he not? He had not heard that name in so long, he was not even certain he’d heard it correctly now.

“Process it,” the Grand King said mildly, folding his arms across his chest. “I will wait.”

“Process what? I do not understa-”

And then it struck him. He called me Gustazlion. Dragaxlov.

Herodis went pale. “I’m afraid I have no idea what you’re speaking of Your Grace.”

“Oh, you do.” King Daemonikai’s voice was quiet, but implacable. “The Oracle told me of a youngling who buried his heritage beneath another name. Who wore a new life simply to survive.”

Herod’s back went ramrod straight. “I do not go by that name. In fact, I have not been addressed by it in over two millennia. It does not exist to me.”

“Perhaps it’s time it starts meaning something to you again.” The Grand King walked to the nearest couch, lowering himself onto it. Crossing his legs, he added, “The Northern Throne needs its ruler.”

“With all due respect, my Grace, I must decline,” Herod said flatly.

he said it. No pain, no

resentments had faded long ago–lost somewhere a thousand years past, when he had stopped

the end, heal certain

much,” King Daemonikai said, nodding slowly. “You buried that part of your life so deep you never once tried to resurrect it. Not even when

once did it cross my mind,” Herod answered truthfully. “Were it not for the Oracle, it would have remained a faded past: One that feels as if

is a worthy one. I strove for millennia to ensure it stood on its own merit and all that effort was not wasted. After my mother died, after the long years and harder work, I finally found

as a reputable farmer, then became a crop overseer, then the village agriculturist, and finally the High Steward of Harvest. I rose, rank by rank, until I single–handedly became

for a long moment in silence. Then he inclined his head. “All I ask is that you consider it. That is the reason for my visit. If, in the end, you

respectful bow. “Thank you for

nearly reached the door when he

“Why did your mother leave the Citadel? Why would a good female like Naila abandon her bondmate–who fought on the frontlines for the good of the

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Chapter 356

lies, begun and spread by our own clan,” Herod stated in a cool voice. “She was pregnant with me when she fled in the middle of the night because her life was in danger. She was poisoned repeatedly, and had she not been skilled with herbs and plants, recognizing the scent of those poisons in her food,

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swallow, she was quick in finding an antidote. But after that narrow escape, she made the choice and ran to protect me.” He inhaled deeply. “With father away at war, he could

of memory. “But their bond… it severed. She never meant for that to happen. At first, it only went dormant, but through grief–and the way she fled, making certain never to be found–it eventually broke.” Sadness was clear in his voice. “I suppose my father must have been heartbroken. Felt betrayed. That’s likely why he never came for her, not even after