CHAPTER 178: VYAVAN DUKEDOM’S POTENTIAL [4]

The royal palace had changed a lot since Inara took over the place.

The courtyard that was once turned into a complete battlefield by her brother Lucien was now back to beautiful.

Flowers and small trees decorated the place as Akamir walked towards the main palace.

’This looks a lot better than it was before.’

Akamir remembered how Inara used to love the garden here.

He was sure she only made the place change because of it.

’Well, it does look better now.’

Apart from the garden, Inara had also changed the hanging pictures on the wall.

Most of those were pictures of previous King Aldirc, but now they were all gone.

Instead, now it was Inara’s painting hanging on the wall.

But...

"..."

What embarrassed Akamir was that all her paintings were with him.

There was not a single painting on the wall that was of her alone.

He was in all of them.

’What is this girl thinking?’

Akamir rubbed his temples in annoyance as he walked down the hallway.

Akamir sighed as he passed another large portrait of Inara.

This time with her arm around his shoulder like they were childhood sweethearts.

In the next one, she had him standing behind her throne, his expression completely indifferent while she smiled like she had just won a crown.

"Does she seriously have nothing better to do than commission fake memories?" he muttered to himself.

A few passing maids bowed respectfully, clearly used to his presence here.

One of them even gave him a soft smile, as if she knew exactly what he was thinking.

Akamir quickly turned his head and kept walking.

He finally reached the main hall where two guards stood at attention.

One of them opened the doors without a word, and Akamir stepped in.

The hall hadn’t changed much.

Still tall ceilings, still that same golden glow from the chandeliers.

But the giant crimson banner behind the throne now bore Inara’s emblem — a silver sun wrapped in thorny vines.

And sitting on the throne, like she’d been waiting for him, was Inara herself.

Her silver hair was tied neatly back, and she wore a fitted royal robe that looked a little too dramatic for a normal day.

She smiled the moment she saw him.

"You’re late," she said casually, resting her chin on her palm.

Akamir crossed his arms. "You filled the hallway with paintings of us."

Inara’s eyes sparkled. "Did you like them?"

"No."

"Liar," she grinned, tapping her nails on the armrest. "You stared at each one for at least two seconds. I counted."

"How did you do that—."

His question was answered immediately as he saw a screen flicker in front of Inara.

Akamir walked closer as he looked at it curiously.

"Is this... showing my live reaction?" Akamir mumbled, narrowing his eyes. "Is this a camera?"

"It’s called camera, huh?" Inara mumbled, putting the screen down. "So, they lied when they said it’s called imaging device?"

"Inara?" Akamir said, looking at her. "Where did you get this from?"

She smiled as she stood up from her throne.

"There were assassins that tried to kill me," Inara said, grabbing his hand. "I captured them and found this with them."

Akamir’s expression turned serious as he looked at her. "Who sent them?"

"The Aure Kingdom," Inara replied, dragging him towards the throne. "They tried to upsurge the kingdom and wage a war once I died."

Inara made Akamir sit on the throne before she sat down on his lap.

Akamir let out a sigh as he placed his hands around her waist, squeezing her closer.

"Inara," he said, trying to keep his voice level. "This is the royal throne."

She leaned her head back against his shoulder. "And you’re royalty too. Sit properly."

"I’m not—"

"You are now," she interrupted, nudging his jaw lightly. "You helped me take back the palace. You’re the only one I trust here."

Akamir sighed. "You’re being careless."

"No," she said calmly. "I’m being strategic."

"In what world does sitting on me qualify as strategy?"

"In my world." She replied, placing her hands over his shoulder. "Anyway, it seems Aure Kingdom is getting a lot of help from the other side of the world."

"...Yeah." Akamir mumbled, looking at the screen placed on the side. "It seems they are gaining a lot of good stuff."

Inara tilted her head, following Akamir’s gaze to the glowing screen beside the throne.

"Most of the weapons they carried weren’t even forged here," she said, tracing small circles on his chest with her fingertip.

"The designs... the magic infused inside them. It’s foreign."

Akamir reached over and picked up one of the captured weapons that had been leaning against the side of the throne.

It looked like a spear at first glance, but the moment he touched it, the surface changed, almost like liquid metal underneath.

"I’ve never seen this kind of craft before," he murmured. "It’s not made by human hands."

"I can see that much." Inara replied, dragging her body over him. "They had a lot of weapons like this."

"...Hmm." Akamir kept on staring at the spear-like thing. "I guess, we should also try and contact that side of the world."

"It’s not possible." Inara replied, shaking her head. "Like it or not... we have no way to reach them when there is a monster in the ocean."

Akamir nodded his head as he stared at the weapon.

He remembered how it’s almost impossible to get to the other continent and only Aure Kingdom has a route to reach them.

"Well, who said we need to make our own route?" Akamir replied, smiling at her. "We can borrow theirs, can’t we?"

Inara squinted her eyes. "What are you planning, Royal Consort?"

"We will talk about that later." He replied, placing the weapon down. "Mind explaining what you did with my dukedom?"

She blinked softly. "What did I do?"

"Don’t play dumb." Akamir replied, flicking her forehead. "You tried to seize the dungeon we found for yourself."

Inara flinched, rubbing her forehead where he flicked her. "Ow. Rude."

Akamir just raised an eyebrow.

She sighed dramatically. "Fine. Yes, I may have... slightly redirected the dungeon’s management rights to the royal treasury."

"Slightly?" Akamir asked, unimpressed.

She avoided his eyes, twisting a strand of her silver hair around her finger.

"I thought you weren’t going to be around for a while, so I figured—why not let it be used properly? For the good of the kingdom."

Akamir narrowed his eyes. "The good of the kingdom, or your personal vault?"

"Same thing," she said without missing a beat.

Akamir pinched the bridge of his nose. "Inara..."

"I gave your name full credit, though!" she added quickly. "The official records say it was discovered by Duke Akamir himself. I just... manage the flow of resources."

"You mean you’re skimming off the top."

"Details," she shrugged.

He sighed again and looked at her. "You could’ve just asked."

"I could?" she asked, poking his chest. "Would you give me if I asked?"

"No."

She glared at him at his direct refusal.

"I could use it far more efficiently than you." Akamir replied, pinching her nose. "It would be better if I have it."

"...Yeah, whatever." She replied, before smiling. "We are doing fifty-fifty."

"No—."

"How was your time in the Elven Kingdom?" Inara asked, changing the topic. "Did you have fun?"

"..."

The things that happened in the Elven continent flashed past his eyes.

Akamir chuckled softly. "....It was great."

Inara felt the strangeness in his voice but didn’t ask about it.

Instead, she asked, "Did you meet with Lady Sephrina?"

Akamir remained silent for a while, debating if he should tell her about it.

Finally, he sighed. "Yes, I did."

Inara’s eyes sparkled with happiness as she quickly got excited.

"Really?!" she beamed. "How was she?"

"Good."

"Was she beautiful?"

"I didn’t see her."

"Was she cool?"

"....I guess so."

"How did you even meet?"

Akamir paused at that question as he cleared his throat.

"Well..." Akamir mumbled. "I kind of barged in when she was bathing."

Inara froze.

The excitement on her face turned to stone, her eyes narrowing as she leaned back just enough to glare at him properly.

"You what?"

Akamir coughed into his fist. "It wasn’t intentional."

"You barged in on the most famous woman in the Elven continent while she was bathing," Inara repeated slowly, like she was trying to make sense of it. "And you’re just saying it casually like you tripped over a rock?"

"I didn’t know she was bathing!" he defended, raising his hands. "I just—."

Akamir blinked in surprise as Inara’s lips pressed against his.

There was no hesitation, no warning—just the soft pressure of her mouth on his.

Her fingers gripping the front of his shirt like she was trying to claim him on the spot.

It lasted only a few seconds, but when she pulled back, her eyes were slightly narrowed and her voice was low.

"That’s your punishment," she said, crossing her arms and turning her face away, though her cheeks were a little pink.

"For what, exactly?" Akamir asked, raising a brow.

"For accidentally seeing Lady Sephrina naked," she snapped, clearly not over it.

Akamir sighed. "I didn’t see anything."

’There was nothing to see anyway.’

"Still happened."

"You’re being unreasonable."

Inara shrugged with a smirk. "I’m queen. I can afford to be."

He couldn’t argue with that.

Instead, he rested his head back against the throne and looked at her again, calmer now.

"You’re acting a little possessive."

She glanced at him sideways. "You don’t like it?"

She leaned in for another kiss as her hand sneaked towards his pants.

Akamir didn’t stop her as he pulled her closer.

But—.

"You have a guest, Your Majesty."

The voice of the guard made them stop.