The Crown’s Entrapment

“Who is it?!” Nasser hissed at his man who seemed to be standing frozen on his spot. He turned, following the man’s dumbfounded gaze only to be surprised at what he saw.

“Gilas?!” he exclaimed with a frown.

Gilas moved quickly, releasing Clara’s lips before turning to his father.

“What is this?!” Nasser questioned.

“Kissing Clara,” Gilas had a rogue smile on his face as he answered. “What else, Father?”

An awkward silence reigned over them as the tension in the atmosphere seemed to settle in at a moment’s notice. After a beat, his father relented, quickly signaling for his men to disappear.

[Stop asking questions and making things more awkward for Clara! Isn’t this what you wanted anyway?] Gilas quickly chided, telepathically talking to his father as he stood his ground.

[I’m making a bold move here upon seeing an opportunity I can take, but you’re interrupting us with your meddling. As you can see, I’m working harder than ever to get her on our side by any means. It isn’t easy, so don’t make things harder than it already is.]

[This floor is a forbidden area,] Nasser exclaimed. [There’s no reason for you to mess around in here like this!]

[Clara wanted a tour around the manor only for her to suddenly go down here,] Gilas promptly explained. [It’ll be highly suspicious if we avoided this area in the first place! Don’t worry though. This won’t happen again.]

Nasser raised an eyebrow at what he just heard, but all that changed when his aura suddenly shifted, a smile stretched across his lips as he addressed them.

“Lady Clara. It’s nice to see you being in our home this often…” Nasser greeted Clara, whose face was still red as she gave him a curt bow.

Gilas moved quickly, holding Clara’s hand as he said, “We’ll be going back up to look for Mother then, Father. If you’ll excuse us…”

Nasser simply nodded to him, Gilas nodding back before he immediately pulled Clara along to get out of the floor along with him.

[Go check on your Mother and see what’s going on while you’re at it,] Nasser telepathically commented. [I can feel her fear… In the meanwhile, I need to leave this instant and see Pinra.]

Gilas could only shake his head as he led the way back up. His Mother probably didn’t expect his father to come home this early, leading her to let her guard down and bringing Clara down to the forbidden area to show off some of her wood carvings and pottery works. Her private chamber for it was located underground, seeing as his father preferred his mother to stay close to him when she did her carvings.

It was only a good thing that he was quick in seeing her Mother nervously coming back up from the stairs. From there, he quickly understood the situation and acted accordingly.

Meanwhile, Clara felt relieved at finally being able to escape the sticky situation she was in. She followed behind Gilas, her eyes subconsciously landing on the hand that was holding onto hers. She honestly felt so weird… It was as if she was being captivated by something.

[Weird? It’s your body reacting towards him,] Sheba voiced out. [And don’t you dare ignore it too. I felt it too! The desire! We liked the kiss he just gave us!]

[Don’t start with me, Sheba! I can still feel my heart beating off rhythm, and the least you can do is to let me calm down first!] Clara inwardly chided.

[What happened back there was too dangerous. If Nasser had caught us, he would’ve surely forbidden me from coming back to his manor again. I mean, he’ll also probably become suspicious of Gilas too, probably even stopping him from seeing his mother again. If we want Gilas to keep being able to see his Mother, then we have no just but to follow all Nasser’s orders!]

Clara wasn’t naive enough to not notice the major situation between Gilas, his Mother, and his father Nasser. She knew how much of a tight position Gilas was in because of his Mother. He was like a puppet to Nasser, even from back when he growing up, all the way to now with Lady Shila acting as a bargaining chip.

[Why do you sound angry at me?] Sheba scoffed. [Are you being concerned for Gilas right now?]

[It’s not that, but I feel pity for both him and Lady Shila,] Clara clarified, her annoyance coming to a head as she explained. [Things are so messed up because of Nasser. I mean… I feel bad for how he needs to use me as his bargaining chip to even get a chance to meet his Mother. Isn’t that the worst? Why can’t he just exercise his right as a Son to a Mother? Nasser is a truly an awful man for this!]

Again, she looked again at the hand Gilas was using to hold firmly onto hers. She couldn’t deny the fact that what Sheba said about her body was true. That she was surprisingly reacting to him for some reason. Still, it could simply be nothing more than basic lust, right?

“What’s going on?” she broke the awkward silence. “I was with Lady Shila when she suddenly ran away.”

She wanted to know more about what exactly was going on. She liked to think she had a right to it, seeing as she had put up with all of the trouble it had caused her. They continued to walk as she waited for Gilas to answer her. She didn’t expect much, but she hoped she was going to get some answers.

[Mother is scared,] Gilas explained telepathically, much to her surprise. [Please don’t ask her about it later once you see her. Just act like how you normally do around her even if you might find it weird. Likewise, Mother will act the same.]

[And to answer your question, that area is a forbidden area to linger around in, especially whenever Father has a visitor,] Gilas continued on with his explanation.

[She probably thought Father would arrive late as usual, leading her to bring you down there to show you her works. With how things are, she simply got scared of being locked down there by Father. If she was ever caught bringing someone like you down there, that’s what usually happened.]

Clara sighed deeply, feeling great pity for both mother and son for the horrendous situation they were in. It seemed that being connected with someone like Nasser was bad news, as was obvious just from the Elder’s constant thwarting of Darius’s plans.

[Your father is the worst person I ever came to know…] she telepathically replied.

Gilas no longer answered her, and she quickly pulled her hand away from him to walk ahead of him. By the time they reached the hallway she was already familiar with, she was pretty much walking on her own.

[I think you’re developing feelings for him already…] Sheba interrupted her thoughts with a slight tease.

[I’m not!] Clara quickly denied. [Stop it with your nonsense. The only feelings I have for him are purely pity!]

[And probably lust too!] she added annoyingly.