Chapter 74 How Dare You?

• The days flew by with Alaric spending every time he could with Mariah. He openly visits her quarters by day, and they will go over the paintings of him as a child and the ones he took with his mother, and they would spend their day casually strolling in the palace or even visiting the market. And at night, they would cuddle up to each other in bed after endless shows of passion. Every time Alaric mentions confronting his dad about choosing the date for their mating ceremony, Mariah would try to talk him out of it, claiming that there was no need to rush. She didn’t tell anyone about Vasilios' visit to her that faithful morning, and the man had left just before Elena could return.
• Asher had noticed her actions and had confronted her. She ended up telling him about Vasilios' request and how she felt she needed to do that for him, after all, he was not rejecting their union, he just wanted a united kingdom by the time they fight the gods. And if putting off their ceremony until after the fight is the guarantee needed for that, she didn’t mind, after all, she wants Alaric to walk out of that fight unscathed.
• Asher had seen her reason and decided to keep quiet as well, after all, it was not like she was being maltreated. The rumor going on in the palace was that she was Alaric’s new lover, and it became a thing when Alaric openly told Iris that her services weren’t needed anymore. It turned out that even though the dragons were dissatisfied, they were okay with Mariah being a lover since she would be told off as soon as Alaric found his mate. Although some were still uncomfortable having her with their king, especially the purple dragons, but there was nothing they could do. Asher was fine with it, whether Mariah was called Alaric’s lover or his mate, it didn’t change the fact that he was treating her good and she was respected. So, if Vasilios wants the ceremony to be held after the war, he could do that. All he cared about was how Mariah was treated.