Stolen by the Rebel King-Chapter 490: A Perfect Match

Atticus was never planning on letting King Calarian find out. Besides, even if he did, what was King Calarian going to do? He was no longer a match for Atticus; not even his entire kingdom’s men banded together would be strong enough. Thus, Atticus had no care and merrily went ahead with using Calarian’s pride and joy as training grounds for Daphne.

Of course, not that Daphne knew Atticus’s true intentions. If she did, it would no doubt add yet another red to his ledger.

Thus, Atticus simply kept his lips tightly shut and made sure Jonah did so too. He didn’t need his right-hand man to go around blabbing his morally gray plans to people who didn’t need to hear it, not that he actually believed Jonah would.

King Calarian led them to the most heavily damaged part of town; it was the only place where they needed Atticus and Daphne’s help, as most of the buildings had been flattened. Without King Calarian’s magic, it was nearly impossible to rebuild all of this so quickly. It would take months, maybe even years to get the city to look the same again.

Yet, thankfully, Atticus owed this to them and Daphne was present to make sure he kept his promise.

"Let’s begin, then."

What would take King Calarian and his men years to rebuild took Daphne and Atticus only two weeks. They only worked certain hours of the day and the early hours of the evening when the sun wasn’t too hot. Otherwise, they spent most of their time either touring Xahan’s recovering capital or hiding from the heat in King Calarian’s palace.

Daphne had also insisted on helping out with the neighborhoods King Calarian hadn’t specifically pointed out, much to Atticus’s dismay. Ultimately, the couple worked on every inch of the capital, even making sure that some of the facilities and equipment were upgraded from their previous designs.

All throughout, Atticus slowly guided Daphne on how to use her telekinesis abilities. She finally understood why everything seemed effortless under Atticus’s palm. With her newfound abilities, moving things didn’t even feel taxing for her strength, no matter how ridiculously impossible it would’ve been if she had been without her new abilities. She could toss boulders the size of horses and stack bricks a hundred at a time in an endless factory line.

Even though she started out shaky, just like how Daphne eventually mastered her previous set of powers, she quickly got the hang of this too. She had even learned how to use her magic for flight, just like how Atticus could!

By the time Xahan’s capital city was restored to its former glory, Daphne had already honed her magic enough. It was nowhere as skilled as Atticus — who had years of experience under his belt — but it was definitely more than enough to best any kingdom’s royal cavalry.

To celebrate and give thanks for a work well done, King Calarian had thrown a feast for them.

"Do we have to go?" Atticus whined. He was already dressed to the nines, but he risked crumpling his clothes with how he was sprawled on the bed as he waited for Daphne to get ready.

She had refused the help of the palace staff, wishing to dress herself instead. Truthfully, there was a little bit of cautiousness she held for the people of Xahan. While she and Atticus had helped rebuild what they had indirectly — and directly — caused the destruction of, she wasn’t blind to miss the nasty side eyes that had been shot their way when they were around town.

"Of course," Daphne said. "Cordelia will be there. You will be asking about the pearl, yes?"

Atticus froze in bed. His limbs suddenly felt heavy as he stared up blankly at the ceiling.

Right. He had forgotten that he promised that to Daphne before he could even confirm whether or not this was a viable way to restore Nereus’s eye.

Unfortunately for him, he was out of time. The princess of Nedour will be present, and as Daphne’s best friend, she would definitely be hanging around his beloved wife like a fly buzzing around a pile of sweet fruits― annoying and persistent.

Daphne refused to ask, however, despite her good relationship with the Nedish princess. That was because she had insisted that it was Atticus’s job to right his wrongs― who had asked him to remove Nereus’s eye so cruelly? This was the price he had to pay for the goods he stole.

"Sunshine, I―"

One hot glare from Daphne was all that was needed to shut Atticus up. His lips snapped shut as he dutifully nodded.

"I won’t dream of forgetting it," he said instead.

She smiled in satisfaction and turned away. Perhaps Daphne was starting to like this manner of apology after all. Atticus was much easier to talk to like this.

"There will be Xahan’s nobility present," Daphne said as she placed her earrings on. Now that she no longer needed to depend on her garnets for power, she could switch it up whenever she liked.

Tonight, she chose a set of lovely opal earrings. Its shimmery iridescence matched the silvery dress she had on, the sleek fabric catching and reflecting light as effortlessly as the moon. She was a vision, and in Atticus’s eyes, nothing short of a goddess. Just one look from her could send empires toppling― she didn’t need magic with charms like that.

All of a sudden, he found a whole other reason to not want to go to the ball King Calabrian had organized for them. For one thing, Atticus was not keen on sharing his wife with all the hungry eyes that would no doubt look over at Daphne as though she was a piece of meat on a silver platter.

Atticus swallowed, his eyes hungrily trailing down Daphne’s physique. Her dress for tonight was slim fitting, hugging her curves and accentuating her assets wonderfully. He had to shake those shameful thoughts away. Even though she was still his lawfully wedded wife, he wished to do things right.

Thinking this way of her when their relationship had yet to be repaired was everything but right. He had to be a gentleman.

Although, Atticus honestly had no clue how long this gentlemanly act could last.

"Your point is?" he asked.

"Some might pick a fight," Daphne breezily said. She tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, smiling at her own reflection, finally satisfied with the way she looked. For tonight, at least, Daphne was determined to dress to impress. "There could be unwanted flies."

A strange fire sparked in Atticus’s chest.

Flies?

How fitting. That was exactly what he expected those noblemen of Xahan to act when they finally set their eyes on Daphne. While Daphne was worried about the noble ladies who would no doubt be hovering around Atticus, the man in question was worried about the same for Daphne. The thought of Daphne harboring some sort of possessiveness over him made Atticus bean from ear to ear.

Praise the lords, there was hope after all. The light at the end of the tunnel felt warm like home. novelbuddy.cσ๓

"Are you worried about me, my dear wife?" Atticus asked, a little too gleeful to remember about the distance Daphne and him had entered a silent agreement on.

He jolted up from the bed, flitting over to Daphne in a blink of an eye. His finger found her chin, gently tilting her head up so that she could face him. When their eyes met, Atticus noticed a light dancing across her eyes in a way that only stirred the ravenous beast inside of him.

The sight of that felt like a soothing balm on his heart.

"Just because I’ve yet to entirely forgive and forget what you’ve done doesn’t mean that I enjoy seeing what’s mine stolen from right under my nose," Daphne said with a scowl.

However, it didn’t escape Atticus’s notice that Daphne hadn’t shifted away.

"What’s mine is still mine," she boldly declared. "And until I personally get rid of it, I don’t have plans on sharing with anyone else."

Curse his heart. Atticus felt it flutter like a maiden experiencing her first love.

"I’m yours," Atticus instantly swore, leaving no space for Daphne to regret her words. "Now and forever."

Gently, his hand trailed down to reach for her hand. Before Daphne could react, he slipped a ring onto her finger. She lowered her glance to look at what it was, but just as her gut feelings had predicted, a familiar obsidian ring came into view.

It was none other than the same ring she had chucked in Atticus’s face on the day he had performed the ritual.

While it was not the Symphony by any means, this ring seemed much more symbolic than its predecessor. The Symphony of a New Dawn was never Daphne’s to begin with, she realized. She had simply been safekeeping it for when it was required. Thus, Daphne couldn’t help but wonder if Atticus had some new tricks up his sleeves again.

Was this obsidian ring part of a bigger scheme as well?

As if reading her mind, Atticus raised his own hand. Daphne’s eyes widened when she noticed what sat snugly on his ring finger.

"A wedding ring comes in a pair, no?" he said. "Will you do the honor of matching with me?"