I Became a Barbarian's Bride - Chapter 15
“Rad, are you okay?”
As she approached, one of Kagan Xieman’s men, who had his foot on the knight’s knee, looked to Kagan for guidance.
“Get off him immediately.”
She commanded fiercely, unintimidated by their presence.
Kagan shrugged and nodded, prompting his men to reluctantly step away from Rad, scratching their necks.
“Princess, why did you come back…?”
“I heard through the grapevine that the King of Xieman is quite ruthless.”
She spoke quietly to Rad as she helped him up, then moved to the corner where the boy, Mesh, was curled up, trembling with his ears covered.
Kneeling on one knee in front of Mesh, Nisha spoke a few comforting words and carefully helped him to his feet.
Only after tending to them did she slowly turn to face Kagan Xieman.
“How disappointing. Am I the last in line?”
“…”
“If your business is concluded, you could at least have a conversation with me, Princess.”
“…”
Despite the incongruity of his polite language, Nisha remained silent.
Her hands and feet were growing cold and pale, but she tried hard not to show it.
Though she hadn’t learned much formally, she was still a princess of a nation.
Nisha instinctively knew that if she allowed herself to be ignored even once, her life would plunge into ruin.
Tensing her neck and standing as straight as possible, she waited, until Kagan broke the silence first.
“Princess, come here.”
Kagan Xieman gestured with his finger and placed a new cigarette in his mouth.
Sharhu struck a match and lit it for him.
Momentarily taken aback by his incredibly rude behavior, Nisha realized that the current situation was not in her favor and slowly approached him.
“Closer.”
With a dry voice, Kagan’s impatience showed, urging her to reduce the space between them from seven steps to five.
“More.”
His voice, annoyed by her slow and hesitant movements, pressed her again.
“…”
Biting her lip, she took another step closer to Kagan.
Still dissatisfied, he wordlessly nodded for her to come even closer.
“…”
After a few more rounds of this back-and-forth, Nisha finally stood so close that her knees nearly touched his, as he casually sat on a crate in the alley. Only then did he stop urging her.
Nisha’s throat bobbed nervously.
Kagan chuckled lightly and held out the end of his cigarette to her mouth.
“What are you doing…”
“You seem tense.”
Nisha kept her mouth shut at his seemingly considerate words, unsure if they were meant to be kind.
“I don’t… smoke.”
She answered slowly and quietly, still extremely tense.
“I see.”
Contrary to her expectations, he didn’t force the cigarette on her but instead took it back and placed it in his own mouth.
Nisha tried to keep her knee from touching his, but it was impossible to avoid the man so close in front of her.
Kagan leisurely took in her uncomfortable appearance.
Her pale skin, light-colored lips, and small frame far smaller than the average Xieman person, stood out.
Her water-colored hair swayed at her waist, appearing strangely seductive under the red moonlight, and her bitten lower lip was red and enticing.
Despite her plain clothes and the cheap, ill-fitting cape that smelled of animal fur, she had an inexplicable air of dignity.
Nisha felt his golden eyes appraising her like a piece of meat, filling her with discomfort, but she remained silent, aware of the sharp gazes of his guards behind her, ready to strike at any moment.
“Why did you come back, Princess? I thought you were running away because you didn’t want to marry me.”
He asked arrogantly, his eyes lazily half-closed as he took a drag on his cigarette, despite his use of formal language.
Even though he was sitting and looking up at her, Nisha felt as if he were looking down on her, and she opened her mouth to speak.
