Frost (Bxb)

Chapter Fourteen

Delkele and I were seated at one of the food houses, drinks in hand as he looked uncomfortable. He wouldn't look at me and it was weird witnessing the "big and bad barbarian" king, looking like someone spit in his cheerios. He kept fiddling with his hands, before he finally gripped his drink, sighing deeply. He then looked at me a frown on his lips.

"I don't really know how to say this, so I'm just going to go right in. I...value your presence greatly, even if you want to butcher me and lock me in a closet."

My mouth twitched, but being the great and wonderful adult I was, kept silent as I took a small sip of my fluffy drink, something, sadly, that Delkele had to pay for seeing as Joseph still had my cred card. "So, you value my presence? That's nice to know, seeing as you basically bullied me every time we were in each other's presence. Tell me, did you even acknowledge what I could possibly feel? I may be known as the ice king, but I still have feelings."

"And...I apologize, for that." Delkele admitted, looking sincere.

I frowned, confused as the redhead stared at me, a frown on his lips too. He actually apologized. This barbarian king...the same king who had bullied me for centuries, was apologizing...to me. I didn't know how to feel about it, and I could only sit there, tonguetied as he continued.

"I only acted the way I did, because of my reputation. I know that isn't the best excuse, and I wish I could actually prove to you how sorry I am, but I know you're pressed for time. As you know, I still have yet to take a consort, and I have...harbored feelings for you ever since we were children. I want to ask you, despite our mishaps in the past, I want to formally ask you to be my consort."

I could only stare at him in disbelief, my mind racing as fast as a spaceship. He...he actually was in love with me? Been in love with me since we were children? How did I not notice? And to ask me to be his consort of all things? Out of everything, this was the last thing I would have expected him to tell me. It was still all surreal that this...this barbarian king was in love with me. For goodness sake, he was asking for my hand in marriage! He wanted me to be his consort, and I had no idea what to say. I could see how hopeful he looked, how he nibbled his bottom lip nervously. I didn't want to tell him that I felt differently than him. And despite how he had treated me these past few centuries, I still felt bad that I had to turn him down.

Not to mention, embarrassingly enough, Joseph popped into my mind. What would he do in this situation? Would he tell him straight up that he wasn't interested? Or would he be nice about it and gently put him down? Well, knowing Joseph, he would put some creative insults in there as he rejected him. However, I didn't want to do that, not with Delkele looking so hopeful while he clutched his drink.

I sighed, glancing down at my own beverage before I closed my eyes, too afraid to see the dejection in his crimson eyes. And even though he had bullied me for so long, he had also been my very first friend. He was the only person who I had as a friend in my childhood years. I had no other person to call my childhood friend, and despite my current aversion to him, I couldn't help but feel bad for him. "I...I can't," I said softly, refusing to meet his eyes. "I'm sorry to let you down like this, but I'm not really ready for any kind of commitment. Besides, I don't think I'd be good for you, since I don't believe in love."

"I understand." I glanced up to see Delkele looking off to the side, his eyes sad as he stared at the fountain. "I kind of figured you would reject me. Afterall, I was such a jerk to you these past few centuries. Can we at least put our feuds aside, and become friends once more?"

I bit at my bottom lip, careful to not split the flesh as I nodded, glancing up at him. "I would like that."

Delkele smiled faintly at me, still looking dejected. He then glanced up, his brows pulling down in a glare as he stared at something behind me. Blinking curiously, I glanced behind me to see Joseph, who was sending Delkele a glare of his own. He held a small white bag in his hands, the other one holding the bag with his new boots. "The heck is the overgrown hedgehog doing here?"