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"This is my sister we're talking about. Of course, she's hiding something. But, if she thought you would punish her or the mother for having a child on the grounds, perhaps her unusual behavior as of late makes a little more sense."
Dominick's face softened, and he nodded. "I suppose that could be the case." He walked away from the fire and crossed to one of the windows overlooking the forest beyond, where Roland had found Rosalie and the child playing. It seemed strange that this child had been living in the palace without his knowledge. The fact that Rosalie had been engaging with him and never thought to tell Dominick anything certainly roused his suspicions. He knew he could not simply ignore the situation—he was king, after all, and he could not look past any deceit uncovered in his domain.
But this was Rosalie he was dealing with, and she played by an entirely different set of rules. For years, he'd lusted after her, seeking to bring back the steamy, sweat-filled nights from long ago, to hear her moan into his ear or chant his name like a prayer when she was on the edge of orgasm.
He wanted to see her body twist in the throes of pleasure again ... pleasure caused by him.
He wanted her to rely on him, to obsess over him, as he did about her.
And this discovery about the child ... maybe, just maybe, it could provide a road to bridge the gap between his current predicament and Rosalie's hatred for him and the memories he craved to recreate.
"Very good job, Roland," Dominick said. "Very good. Continue keeping an eye on her and see what else you can discover about her activities and the boy. I believe we're getting closer to understanding her, and soon, she will be under my thumb, where she belongs."
Roland left, leaving Dominick alone with his thoughts. He considered long and hard the possibilities of what he had just learned. If this child was indeed the son of one of his servants, perhaps he could use him as leverage to manipulate Rosalie into submission. After all, Rosalie obviously cared for the child deeply—otherwise, she wouldn't have kept his existence a secret and been so comfortable around him.
But how could he use that knowledge to get her back?
He would have to be careful and crafty if he wanted to succeed. He knew full well she would never willingly succumb to his will, so it was up to him to find a way around that wall of resistance she had firmly built between them.
Dominick could threaten to take away the boy or punish the mother if Rosalie did not comply with his wishes. He had no intention of doing so, but merely posing as a threat would be enough to make her wary and possibly even fearful of him.
But threats could also make her more resentful of him. What if by welcoming the child into their lives, he could bring Rosalie closer to him instead? Perhaps by showing off his own paternal nature and allowing them time together, they could bond more deeply than ever before. And if Dominick’s plan worked out, then perhaps she would come to love and trust him once more as she did in their glory days many moons ago.
It seemed imperative for him to learn more about the boy and his relationship with Rosalie if he wanted to succeed in using him as a piece of his plan. By understanding more about their connection, perhaps Dominick could use it as an avenue to gain her trust.
The possibilities seemed endless, and yet as intriguing as they were, Dominick still didn't know exactly how he was going to go about using this knowledge of the mystery boy against his beloved Rosalie. It would take time and patience, but until then all Dominick could do was ponder these ideas and wait for the right opportunity to present itself.
After a long while, the clock struck twelve, and his dinner party was supposed to begin at any moment. But Dominick was feeling far too restless for guests right now, so he informed the guards that he wouldn't be at dinner and that his guests were free to enjoy themselves without his presence.
And instead, it was Dominick's turn to take a stroll out into the woods. As he went, he couldn't help but mull over the potential methods of persuading Rosalie in his head, weighing each one carefully in terms of how effectively it might work on her and how far it could take him in achieving his desired outcome. There were many risks involved regardless of the path he took, but with persistence and care, he knew that eventually, something would stick, allowing him access back into her life so they could start anew.
His plan was still quite nebulous at this point, but the boy seemed like an unexpected and new key element that seemed promising enough for him to make a start on bringing them together into something concrete. He waded off into the night, letting the cool midnight air ruffle his cloak in the breeze. Gazing up at the moon, basking in the presence of the twinkling stars, he knew that Rosalie would be under his command once again—all thanks to the mysterious little boy from the woods.
Now, he was eager to see if Rosalie's story about searching for a way around the curse's barriers had any merit. It had struck him as intriguing that she said this to him only the other night, for her then to be found in the woods the next day, which was one of the places where the barrier cut through his territory.
Was she perhaps using the boy as cover for whatever else she was doing in the woods?
Dominick was admittedly relieved when Roland found that she was playing with a child in the woods instead of meeting a secret lover. For weeks now, he'd been afraid that she was fucking someone behind his back and this only made it all the more imperative for him to find out more about the boy and what his relationship was with Rosalie.
Dominick continued his journey, making sure to keep out of sight of any patrolling guards or nosy villagers so as not to draw suspicion. The dark forest loomed ahead, and he steeled himself and stepped forward, determined to find more answers to the questions haunting his head at night. His feet took him deeper into the depths of the woods, guided by a single-minded determination that seemed to have taken complete hold of his being. The branches and leaves whipped against him as he cut through them with unyielding focus, intent on finding what he sought—the cursed barrier that kept this place separated from the rest of their kingdom.
He finally saw what he was looking for in the distance: a wall of trees shrouded in an eerie fog that reached all the way up to their highest point. It felt unnaturally still here, like no living creature could possibly exist within these boundaries—a feeling that only made him press forward even harder in anticipation of what might be waiting at its end.
Closer to the barrier, energy radiated from beyond the veil of fog—an energy so powerful that it seemed almost alive. He stopped dead in his tracks when he noticed small patches of light appearing between some of the trees ahead, like ghostly, flickering images dancing along the barrier.
He was close to the barrier now, so close that when he reached out to touch it, he could feel the electricity emanating from it, an almost sentient force that seemed to hum with a life of its own. He slowly stepped forward, letting his hand brush against the barrier and feeling a powerful jolt of energy surge back through him. But no matter how hard he tried, he still couldn't pass through it.
For a moment, it seemed as though his persistence would be rewarded, but then a force like an invisible hand grasped his wrist and flung him back a few feet, tossing him through the grass. He grunted in surprise as he rolled. The pulse made strange crackling sounds all around him, and by the time he righted himself again, the barrier had returned to its smooth, unassuming foggy wisps.
Dominick climbed to his feet and stepped back to admire the sheer power of this barrier and its ability to keep any creatures inside it forever apart from the rest of their world. Unlike many of the kings who similarly suffered under the woes of a curse laid upon them by their greatest enemy, the king of the northern lands, Kel Eroch, Dominick did not suffer any physical ailments. He was fit as a fiddle, both mentally and physically, nor did his appearance twist his mind, as it had for King Castor.
Dominick's curse was entirely in being trapped here in his palace, confining him to one place when he would usually be a creature of adventure, schmoozing with nobles and royalty across the entirety of Elysium. The curse prevented him from leaving his castle grounds entirely, which meant all of Daihalsa went without his rule, except for what he could convey to his advisors operating on the other side of the cursed barrier. Seldom did he believe that anyone would truly usurp control from him—he could, after all, simply take back control as soon as he was freed from his prison—but the longer they stayed trapped here, the more his concerns began to mirror Rosalie's. Her empire was far more likely to go up in flames than his, but if the other kings ever suspected that Dominick was doomed and stuck here for good, they might sweep in and take his territories just because they could.
That would be a lot harder to resolve than a rogue noble or the simple collapse of order.
But with him being stuck on this side of the barrier ... his scope of problems had become much smaller. For years, he'd schemed how to get Rosalie back into his palace, and into his bed but had been far too occupied with other responsibilities to make a concentrated effort to do so. Especially when Rosalie had no interest in seeing him until her burning desire to re-evaluate the state of the slave trade in his kingdom brought her to his door.
He had intended to draw the meeting out for as long as possible to keep her here with him at his palace, but the curse had since thrown that conversation out altogether and kept her within reach for even longer. Except while this opportunity to woo him had been thrown into his lap, he'd spent weeks upon weeks trying to find ways to get back into her heart, and none of the methods that had worked the first time around had any effect on her now.
