Lucian
Hell, I felt just as bad as if I’d just flopped and couldn’t perform in bed. I left Cai with a bitter taste in her mouth, my guardian angel under the impression that I didn’t want to be with her. How the hell did I let her switch my words around like that? It was a misunderstanding, and I’d done a terrible job at translating that to her. I botched my entire mission tonight of trying to talk to her, and instead of breaking the ice, I’d encapsulated her in it.
Good job, Lucian.
Going back to the way things were was out of the question. Cai didn’t say it, but she didn’t have to—she was radiating that hostile energy toward me. No, hostile wasn’t the right word, because if she were hostile, she wouldn’t have taken a seat by me at the dinner table.
I had followed Cai down after Cecil went fishing for us in our rooms. The lady insisted I took the head of the long refectory table, and I insisted I didn’t! This wasn’t even my house—I was just a guest. But of course, she hadn’t seen it that way. Regardless, I expressed my concern for taking that restricted seat, and after she noticed how humble I was about it, she sat herself there instead.
Because who was I but a lowly man trying to glue Ligera back together?
Again, that whole demi-god thing—I felt like I only embraced it when I needed an edge against someone. Someone like Isla.
We had a wholesome spread fit for a king. Various types of meats steaming from the dinner table, fresh fruit, veggies, potatoes and grain, just about anything you can think of, really. Fresh from that farm I noticed a few meters away from the estate. Once the maids finished dressing my plate with food, Lady Cecil opened the floor for conversation, starting with Cai and I’s relationship.
Couldn’t imagine where that curiosity came from, hmm, Cai?
“I have to assume you’ve been traveling for a while together, no?” Cecil asked us, the both of us seated to the right of her, with her daughter Isla seated right across. “Are you sure he isn’t your Dosha?”
‘Um, no, we haven’t. And he isn’t my Dosha,” Cai said while the maid poured her some champagne.
“Hey, are you sure you’re supposed to be drinking that, Cai?” I asked, my tongue slipping to mock her. “Because it looks like you’re barely seventeen.” It was a bold and raw shot, but I wanted to force her to talk to me. Because right now she was putting on a show, being all passive aggressive about us. I knew she had a grudge over her head. Cai was my partner, and I couldn’t let a stupid misunderstanding grow a bridge between us.
Fight pettiness with pettiness. It was out of character for me to stoop so low, but I was willing to for Cai. Regardless, I didn’t get the reaction I was looking for, everyone looking at me in awe. Until Isla broke out in laughter.
“Seventeen? Cai is over two-hundred years old!” Isla admitted.
And I spat out my bubbling gold elixir.
Two-hundred years old?! How?
“The longevity of our people is truly impressive, depending on how well you take care of yourself. But in Cai’s situation, she was blessed by the light with the ability to heal, and what seems like eternal youth,” Lady Cecil answered. “I’ll admit, it’s an envy I have of you, young light warrior.”
“There’s no need to be envious, Lady Cecil,” Cai said humbly.
Two-hundred YEARS?
“Pfft, spitting on the table already,” Isla scolded. “Pick yourself up, Lucian, and act like the man you say you are.”
“Relax, don’t get your tittes tied in a knot,” I spat back, Isla looking at me with her jaw on the floor while her mother tried containing her laughter behind that napkin.
“In what world did you think it wise to insult me like that?”
“Oh, I’m sorry, are you also over two-hundred?” I said sarcastically. “How old are you, Isla?”
“I am nineteen, old enough to be respected in my own house!”
“And I’m twenty, older than you by one year, but in terms of rank, I could come at you any way I like.”
“The nerve!” Isla retorted, that lovely shade of red on her face pressing me. I was having my fun with her, teasing her to my heart’s content. “I will not sit here and be bombarded by this wannabe alpha male!”
“Isla!” Lady Cecil cried, before turning to me embarrassed. “Please, excuse her! She doesn’t know what she’s saying!”
You are reading story The Light Prince of Ligera: An Isekai LitRPG Harem Series at novel35.com
“No mother, I believe I do,” she countered.
Then Cecil leaned into Isla’s shoulder and whispered, “Listen, Isla, if you don’t want to sleep with the Prince of Light, I will be more than willing to take your place...”
“Mother!”
Ha! Cecil wasn’t as discreet with that comment as she thought she was. Isla shot up on her seat at that note, while Cai right here acted comically unfazed, slurping at her hot curry soup. “I don’t have to stand here and respect this man and bind with him to appease the sun spirit!”
“Whoa! We are a little ahead of ourselves, aren’t we? Already thinking about me in bed. I mean, come on, Isla, your mother is right there,” I teased.
“You speak as if the only armor you wear and the only weapon you carry is that terribly ill-mannered tongue of yours!”
“A tongue you want to get better acquainted with, I’m sure,” I said with a wink.
“Oh my,” Cecil cooed, clearly moved by my vernacular. “Lucian, please, keep talking...”
Isla slammed her fist on the table, fuming. “That’s it! I refuse! Absolutely protest! Mother, I cannot mate with this man! This… this repulsive piece of filth!”
“Isla!” Cecil retorted.
“I deserve a man who is strong and powerful. A man who is worthy of impregnating me!”
“Oh boy…” I sighed.
“What kind of a demi-god pridefully waltzes into a baron’s home completely absent of light? Of poise? Of rationality?”
Wait, was that a Panic at the Disco reference?
She looked at me, hot off her sour mood, and then all of a sudden, that bratty look on her face tapered off into something shifty. Isla leaned into the table, opening herself to me, like she was ready to make or break me. “Tell you what? Let’s make a deal. We have a shadow elp infestation. Especially during the evening hours around the manor. Our guards have been swamped as you can imagine, making sure the perimeter is safe at all times. It’s been too much to handle, and the Rasani Manor could use a break. If you can come back powerful and clear my land, then I will… have your child.”
Those words piqued my interest! I cocked my brow up, reeling over the table with my hands folded and my elbows around my plate. “Isla, that’s a pretty enticing offer. I feel like you are only confident to put your body on the line because you don’t have much confidence in me. You say that like you don’t think I can do it.”
“I don’t,” she bluntly said with a witty grin. “So I have nothing to lose.”
“So do I.” I countered confidently. “Deal.”
“Oh, marvelous!” Cecil beamed. “Your help would be greatly appreciated, god of light!”
“Mother, stop stroking his ego,” Isla said as she took her seat. “He is barely a Ligerian let alone a god.”
“He is half god, and all of Lucian is generous enough to lend us a helping hand, taking a detour on his journey to help us! You should be appreciative, Isla!” Cecil retorted.
Of course, that little red-headed brat scoffed, then proceeded to wolf down her meal, biting cold stares at me.
Heh, what a hypocrite. What happened to those table manners, princess?
I kept my mouth shut, my eyes on her two, while the rest of our dinner table engaged in light banter. For the rest of the evening, I gauged that although Isla dressed like a lady, she wasn’t a stranger to wearing armor. The Baron’s daughter was out there on patrol on some nights, defending her turf. She was a brick, with a mind like one too.
Oh, I was looking forward to that angry sex later for sure…