The Crown’s Entrapment

Happily, Freya hummed her way to the stables as she went to check up on her horse, Speedy. It had been a while since they saw each other, and she would just love to start spending time with him, riding and playing with him once she had some free time. Arriving at the stables, she stopped when she saw Gideon already grooming Speedy.

“She’s here now, so I guess this will be our last day together, huh?” Gideon murmured to the horse, gently patting him as it whinnied and moved its head in protest. He then turned to face her with his usual charming smile as he greeted, “Good morning, milady.”

If Freya had to say, she could admit that Gideon had the most pleasing aura she had honestly felt ever since she returned. In fact, she had almost forgotten how he would often tease her before with how he showed her nothing but politeness and candid flattery ever since she came back.

‘He definitely sees me now as a woman. He’s not even treating like a kid anymore,” she mused. She was twenty now, but she would soon turn twenty-one this year. She was indeed at the right age to marry, with Princess Xenia only being a year older than her, and it was quite novel to think that the latter was about to marry her brother in just a few more days.

Unknowingly, Freya stared at Gideon, checking to see if she was even ready to get married to the man she was looking at. Hell, she didn’t even think she was ready to have a relationship, so scratch that marriage part! And just as quickly as they came, she subconsciously shook her head, forcibly erasing the sudden thoughts that came inside her head.

“Milady…” Gideon called out, waving his hands at her and making her smile. “Are you alright? You seem to be in deep thought.”

“Indeed,” Freya tersely commented. “Anyway. I’m here to take Speedy with me for a ride.”

“Would you like me to accompany you?” Gideon offered.

“Alright…” Freya agreed. She didn’t see any reason not to allow Lord Gideon to accompany her. Besides, he smelled good, and she wanted to know more about him anyway.

Citing her intentions, the servants readied their horses while she and Lord Gideon waited outside.

“Winter is coming early, it seems,” Gideon commented. “Snow is nice, but I guess it’s still the most difficult weather for everyone.”

“Hmm… Right, we’ll be having a wedding and a birthday celebration at the same time,” Freya nonchalantly replied in kind. “It would seem that Princess Xenia will be getting married on the same day that she’ll turn twenty-two, so her mother wanted to make the celebrations on that day to be extra special. Thinking about it, we’re actually pretty busy with the preparations. I should really be helping, but I just want to spend time with Speedy at least thrice a week like this.”

“I see,” Gideon hummed. He then politely asked, “Is it alright if I will accompany you during those free times then, milady?”

Freya fought the urge to flinch at the constant politeness. She was honestly feeling weird with how formal Lord Gideon was to her ever since she returned. It was very opposite to how playful and annoying he was back when she was a kid.

“Is there something wrong?” he asked, probably noticing how she was looking at him discerningly.

“Nothing,” Freya directly denied. “It’s just that you seem like a different person since the last time I saw you. I mean, you’ve always found ways to vex me before.”

“Oh, that…” Gideon murmured, his face turning red while he scratched his head. “I didn’t mean to do that. I mean, I was just annoyed whenever you hung around Gilas, so I often tried to snatch your attention away from him somehow.”

He chuckled as he explained, “It would’ve been creepy if I did it differently since I already recognized you as my mate, so I… I ended up, hmm… In the end, I just decided on teasing you and making you annoyed instead. I also didn’t want Gilas to find that out about me, so I was being careful during those times.”

Freya was spared having to comment on his words as the servants promptly arrived with their horses. Moving to mount Speedy, her eyes widened as her horse unexpectedly moved, not letting her mount him to the point she lost her balance. On instinct, she braced herself to fall to the ground, but to her surprise, she felt herself floating on firm arms holding her by the waist.

Immediately, she knew it was Gideon just from his scent alone. Opening her eyes, she quickly held her breath at the compromising position she was in. One wrong mood from her and her lips would touch his face, and she didn’t want any misunderstanding happening on her watch.

“Careful. It’s been a while since Speedy last saw you, so you should talk to him first and let him be familiarised with your presence again before mounting,” Gideon reminded her. “You know how choosy Speedy is. He’s a kicker.”

Freya almost hissed at her forgetfulness. Right, she should caress Speedy’s head first to get him more comfortable around her. They should’ve really walked together first.

“Alright. I forgot,” she gasped, still not moving at all. Her heart was pumping so hard that she bet Gideon could hear it hammering inside her chest. After all, she could hear his as well. The Pull was so strong between them at that moment that Freya even wondered how long she could control herself and not succumb to it so easily.

“How do you manage to suppress the Pull? How can you hold it in and act like you don’t feel it at all?” Gideon asked, catching her off-guard with the sudden question.

Staring at his face, Freya felt like she would lose her breath at how intense Gideon’s eyes were currently on her. It was like he was searching deep within her soul as he waited for her to answer.

Intrepidly, Freya parted her lips and murmured, “I…”

She trailed off, however, her heart hammering against her chest so hard that her mind became mush and incapable of answering the question.

“…Please put me down,” she finally managed to utter.

Heeding her words, Gideon moved to gently put her down, releasing her from his hold as she barely managed to compose herself. Letting out a sigh of relief, she reached for Speedy and comforted herself by rubbing on his mane, saying, “You… How dare you act like this to your owner… Don’t you recognize me at all? Hmph…”

She then turned to Gideon, the man still staring at her as he straightforwardly replied, “The Mate Pull is strong indeed, but I guess I’m just able to hold it in since I want my heart to be the one to choose my life partner.”

“Do you love Gilas then?” Gideon asked in reply.

Freya didn’t see that coming at all. “I… can’t love him. And I’m sure you already know why,” she murmured.

“He could still be innocent,” Gideon murmured. At that, Freya noticed how his shoulders had dropped and his expression fell. He then looked at her and said, “I… I love you Freya, but I’m not sure if I can allow you to look at another man.”

Freya raised an eyebrow as she murmured, “Then make sure that I see no other man but you then, Lord Gideon.”