Cassiopeia | General Kirigan x OC

Chapter 23

"You have cake all over your face," Aleksander stated the obvious the moment he walked into their room, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

"Can you blame me?"

Amina paid him no mind, not bothering neither to stand up from the top of his desk nor to stop chewing. She took another bite from the piece in her hands, eyes turning to meet his.

"There was barely any food in the damned fete. I'm starving." Her husband complained.

"I will never love any man more than food," Amina groaned out, picking more food.

"I shouldn't even have the audacity to speak to one, this food needs all my attention."

The Darkling sighed, long fingers moving to undo the buttons of his kefta slowly, one by one. He decided to ignore the fact that he was compared to some flour and sugar.

It was truly exhausting, the king and his constant whims were getting on his nerves. He could understand her for leaving early, slipping into their chambers before the end of the party.

"You left me there with all of them. The only educated person was Nikolai." If it was not the king, it was the noblemen. It was ridiculous, how all of them were lining up to talk to him every time, trying to explain to him the art of war, commenting on his tactics, as if to prove they were more capable of leading the Second Army than him. She snorted.

"Can you blame me for that either?"

A disgusted frown was making its way to her face and not even a bite of the cake could get rid of it.

"The queen was especially annoying tonight. She kept asking me all those stupid questions, trying to tell me to instill some appealing qualities in our daughter so she can find a suitable husband in the future."

She grabbed a napkin to wipe some frosting off her mouth before resuming eating.

"It's ridiculous. Why does everyone assume we're dotting on her because we think she's the best Grisha?"

"But we are dotting on her."

"Yeah, but not because we think she's the best Grisha!"

He chuckled at that.

"True."

He took the already undone kefta off his shoulders, folding it in two and putting it on the back of the chair. Making his way to the woman, he tilted his head, reaching out to wipe a smudge of frosting from the corner of her mouth with the pad of his thumb that she missed.

"Don't take it personally. She just wants a scandal, something to gossip about in her free time."

"You're right. Maybe the next one is going to be a little better."

"The next party?"

"The next queen."

It was his turn to snort then. "You are putting a little bit too much faith in them, love. Aristocrats always have loved spreading rumors. Always will."

"Usually, but not if I set Zoya up with Nikolai," she told him and it was her turn to tilt her head, her eyebrows knitting together, but the challenging gleam in her eyes gave away the raw determination.

"You know, normally you're the matchmaker there but this time I have a plan for them."

Her eyebrows rose in surprise as she motioned for him to explain. But he simply gave her a peck on the cheek and winked, walking out of the room.

She didn't like not knowing the plan but she trusted her husband so she just shrugged and went back to eating her cake.