CHAPTER 141: THE ROYAL TONGUE

Raven turned to her in quiet surprise as she clamped her mouth shut. She didn’t want to be scolded again.

"But this is not Zexum," he spoke, and she nodded. She opened her mouth to speak, then quickly clamped it back together, not wanting to be scolded like earlier as she was not happy about him scolding her.

Raven noticed her hesitation. Running his hand through his hair, he finally spoke.

"Tell me, what do you want to say?"

But she shook her head, avoiding his gaze, before quietly replying,

"Nope. I won’t tell you. I don’t want you to scold me again."

Raven just stared at her in surprise.

"Scold you..?" he asked, still surprised. Then it hit him—earlier, he had told her to never say such a thing again about them sleeping together in such place as it might be misunderstood as something else.

He knew that other minds were not like hers; as some had thought, they must have assumed she meant sexual intercourse and wouldn’t have realized she meant literal sleep.

Now she was calling that a scolding. This lady was really something. He had even forgotten about it. No wonder her mood had been so low lately. Was that why? He couldn’t believe it.

"Tell me, are you supposed to say such thing?" he asked, his tone calm.

She raised her chin and glared at him. For some reason, he found that cute. She didn’t even look truly annoyed, but he knew she was. She pointed her finger at him, standing slightly on her tiptoes as if to reach his height.

She pursed her lips upward before speaking.

"But we slept together."

Raven’s eyes widened. The way she said it—so serious, like it meant something else..only if she knew what she was talking about.

"You can’t just say that," he muttered, massaging his temple. His eyes shifted back to her, only to see her annoyed look melt into sadness.

Pandora had no idea, but those words hurt her. She hadn’t expected him to say that.

"Is it that you don’t like sleeping with me?" she asked quietly.

Raven just stared at her with parted lips. Did this lady even realize what she was saying to a man?

And the fact that she meant it literally made him angry at himself—as he felt like a pervert.

"I... I like sleeping with you," he admitted as he did not want to sadden her he wanted to lit up her mood.

She nodded with a smile, and to his surprise, she held his hands with hers. Raven didn’t even know what to say. Why was he feeling this way? He was sure she only did it because she was happy, nothing more—but still...

Damn, he needed to focus. He cleared his throat and finally spoke.

"How is it that you could read this?" he asked. She opened her mouth to speak, but Raven cut her off.

"Wait."

He wrapped his hands more tightly around her as he walked quickly. Pandora wondered where he was taking her yet she followed him trying to keep up his pace—he looked to be in a haste.

Eyes followed them, some filled with surprise at how protective he was being with her. Little did they know, rumors were already flying around the palace.

They entered a particular room.

Once inside, Raven finally spoke, his eyes resting on her blue ones.

"Tell me now. I didn’t want others hearing our conversation," he said, and she nodded in understanding.

"About that... I was about to say that apart from Zexum, which is the mermaid language, there’s another language meant only for the royals."

Raven froze, speechless. She was a royal. No wonder he had always felt something about her—he had known she wasn’t an ordinary mermaid, and this confirmed it.

"Runez—the language only royals can understand. That is what’s written in that book," she explained calmly.

Raven raised the book and stared at its blank cover. He opened the pages and turned it toward her.

"So... you can read this?" he asked, and she nodded.

He studied her face as though trying to see if she was lying, but she wasn’t. Nodding slightly, he watched as she read the first line aloud.

"Doom... Chaos... the child..." she whispered, then stopped. That was the first line, but its meaning confused her.

Raven stared at her, stunned. Some books in the royal library had similar writing, and no one had ever been able to read them. She was really something—useful, even. He didn’t know what to say, until a slow smile crept to his lips.

Pandora’s eyes widened, her blue irises dilating as she stared at him. She had rarely seen him smile, and the sight shocked her to the fullest.

She just stared as Raven dropped the book on the table and cupped her cheeks, squeezing them lightly. His lips pressed together pointedly, almost as if teasing her through the gesture. She stared at him in surprise. Raven didn’t even know why he was doing it, but he couldn’t stop himself.

"Oh, I want to kiss you," he said suddenly. His body went rigid at his own words. He hadn’t expected that to slip out. Opening his mouth to search for an explanation, no words came.

"You can kiss me. I don’t mind," she said.

Raven turned speechless.

"Have you been kissed before?" he asked, surprised at himself and her words. He didn’t know how things had changed so suddenly. He knew he had started this, but he couldn’t help it.

"No, I haven’t. I want you to be the first. What if I don’t see you again—when I die?" she said, So innocently that his jaw ticked.

Raven just stared at her, wondering what was wrong with this lady and her casual way of speaking about death. The way she said it, like it was nothing more than talking about the weather, shocked him even more though he noticed a little sadness in her eyes.

He looked at her calmly, slowly pulling his hands away from her cheeks. He felt like he was a bad influence on her. To his surprise, she cupped his cheeks just as he had done to hers.

"Do you want me to kiss you?" she asked curiously.