The Sleepy Princess Loves The Cold Duke

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Super Human

⚠️ TW: minor depictions if sexual assault. Read with care!⚠️

"Okay. I'm okay now." Poppy just quietly nodded. 'What a weird man.' "So I walked into the room."

"Angelica was on top of my father. I was already pretty mad just seeing that but then I realized that my dad was just skin and bones. He looked like she had pierced him with a pen and he was deflated like a balloon. And she just kept going. She was laughing maniacally while she killed my father. I don't know what caused her to do it. We had lived together for six years so I guess she couldn't take it?

"Everything after that was a blur. The maids told the court I was the last person in the room. That I told everyone my father was dead but wouldn't confess to who did it."

"Why didn't you say it was Angelica," Poppy wondered. Loki eerily sneered, "she enchanted me. I wasn't allowed to tell anyone about what she did. My guess is that she did the same thing to the maids." Poppy was even more confused. "But you're telling me now?" He nodded, "when I learned how to control my aura I was able to use it to break the enchantment. I can say what happened now but it's too late. It's been years. If I just randomly was like 'Angelica did it!' People would think I went mad.

"I can't prove she enchanted me. I can't prove anything. So it would be my word against her's. The person who can literally enchant people to do or think whatever she wants." Poppy frowned. She understood it, but didn't like it.

"After that I joined the war. I fought in the war for four years. Then I gained the Northern region. My family was no longer just a dukedom in title anymore. I had responsibilities. I had no time to think about anything else. And the second I thought I had a tight grip on the reigns here you come flying down from the sky like a brutally annoying angel." Poppy chuckled, "You're welcome. I made your life less boring."

He nodded, "a little too interesting. The second we got engaged we both faced two near death experiences." Poppy rolled her eyes, "you say it like it's my fault. I just happened to be in the car with you. They were aiming for you."

It was true. The Heat Waves were definitely not going to expect that Loki was going to get engaged. Especially not to a person who can fix the magic gates and make flying humans. It was because of Poppy that he was able to survive all those situations. "I'm glad you came into my life."

Poppy munched on her cone. "Right back at you."

Loki sighed, "Will I ever get a straight answer from you?" Poppy shrugged, "maybe." Loki rolled his eyes. "What about you? What's your life story? How will I ever trust you Princess Poppy if you aren't vulnerable with me," he teased her. Poppy dipped her pinky in her ice cream and rubbed it on his cheek.

"Oh you're so done." Loki hissed. Poppy slipped out a flying talisman from her pocket and zoomed away from him. Loki watched her golden hair fly away in a blur. 'You asked for it.'

He stood up and used his aura to envelope his legs. He positioned himself, then poof, he was gone leaving a fog of dust in his wake. Poppy screamed when Loki popped up beside her. "Just how fast are you!" She shrieked. "Faster than that silly magic of yours," he jokingly replied. He ran ahead of her and caught her.

"You aren't trying to dine and dash on me, now are you Princess Poppy?" Loki slyly prodded. Poppy was still shocked with how fast this super human man was. "N-no. Never," she playfully looked away from him. He carried her up the hill to the mansion. "Poppy Lullaby. Who are you deep inside."

Poppy sighed and held onto his neck. She could tell by his grip on her legs and waist that he wasn't going to put her down. "Um. Let's see."

"I was birthed by the queen and king. The twelfth daughter. I was cast aside in a palace no one goes to. I lived a boring life. The only time I used to see my siblings was during our classes. We were all tutored by this man Sir Evan Art. He never really payed much attention to me. He would just kiss up to my older siblings no matter how talented us younger ones were. At one point I just stopped going to the classes. Probably because I was bored with getting ignored and invalidated. So I studied on my own. I read every book I could get my hands on. When I discovered magic it was an immediate obsession.

"I don't know. I guess that's it. I lived a boring life. I love my bed and magic. I hate boring places and boring people." Loki looked down to Poppy. "Am I a boring person?" She grinned, "you are the least boring person I've ever met."

Loki smiled to himself at her words. "What about your brother? Do you two not get along?" Loki wondered. Poppy shrugged, "no. Not really. I actually find him really annoying. He will come and bother me whenever he gets the chance. It's like he has some weird inferiority complex. If he sees someone succeeding where he fails he gets all jealous and has to rub it in your face that he's better."

"Is he bad at magic?"

"Oh yeah! He can't even create a simple fireball! So when I started throwing fireballs left and right he got angry." Loki stopped walking. "You can cast magic? I don't think I've ever seen you use any other kind of magic than your talismans and potions." Poppy nodded, "I can. It's just that my body can't handle it and I get injured really easily when I cast attack magic." Lokis eyes widened, "is that why you were so beat up? Because you used attack magic?" Poppy nodded again.

The mood soured a bit at the mention of negative memories. "I'm truly sorry about that day," he whispered. Poppy leaned against him, "You are forgiven."