217: Instinct Of Mating

Instinct Of Mating

Imbert, who was by the door, caught the faint scent of blood by the door as well and decided to step in. He also noticed the blood stains on the floor and looked at Arlan who was holding Oriana.  0

"Your Highness, is everything alright?"

Arlan carried Oriana in his arms as he knew what was going on. "I am going to the Megaris guest mansion."

Imbert also understood and spoke, "I will take care of things here, Your Highness." He watched his master vanish into thin air along with Oriana. 

Arlan knew Oriana needed to be handled by other women in this situation and given her hidden identity of a woman, Arlan could only trust Seren's servants. All he had with him the knights and few male male servants from palace of thistle. There was no way he could let any male servant touch her and let her identify be revealed and using Othinian female servants was not an option at all.

The pair of mates appeared inside Drayce's study. Although it was empty, Arlan didn't have to call for a servant to summon their king as he was sure Drayce would sense his presence. 

As expected, Drayce entered his study through the door. "What brought you here at this hour—" 

Drayce clamped his mouth shut when he saw the unconscious Oriana in Arlan's arms. His nose caught the whiff of blood coming off her, a blood which was not result of her being hurt anywhere.

"Bring her with me," Drayce said and led Arlans way towards an unused guest room on the same floor. 

Arlan put Oriana on the bed and stepped aside, his own clothes damp from carrying her body and there were blood stains on them. 

Even though hours had passed, since Oriana wore layers of clothes, her clothes were yet to completely dry. Not to mention, because her body was originally dripping wet, when she passed out, a puddle of water mixed with her blood had formed on the marble floor. It caused the lower part of her uniform to be stained with blood.

"Wait inside my study," the young king instructed his friend. "Seren's servants will take care of her."

Though Arlan was worried about Oriana, he agreed. He could not stand that strong scent of blood, and he was at his limits of holding himself back, a limit of holding his carnal desires. Without delay, he stepped out of the room with Drayce.

Drayce ordered a nearby knight to summon the Queen's servants to care for Oriana. 

As Oriana's gender was hidden, not any servant could be appointed to take care of her. Minutes later, Martha along with Marie heeded his summons. Only after they assure him that Oriana would be fine did Drayce return to his study. 

An agitated Arlan looked at him as soon as Drayce entered the study. "Is she alright?"

"You should know she is a woman so there is nothing to worry about," Drayce replied and tossed a fresh pair of clothes to him. "I am sure you want to get rid of those blood-stained clothes. You must feel like going crazy due to the scent of her blood.

Arlan caught the clothes and changed into them quickly. However, the  scent of her blood continued to linger in the air and Arlan remained agitated.

Drayce could see his struggle. 

"Let's go out."

The next moment, both of them disappeared from the study, appearing atop the steeple of a building within the royal palace, somewhere both near yet far from the guest mansion of Megaris. The high vantage point allowed them to see the first rays of the sun rising from the horizon.

Arlan took a deep breath before speaking. 

"Why was she unconscious? It shouldn't be like that, right? I mean other women…" He didn't know how to put his worry into words.

"Different women, different bodies, different conditions," Drayce spoke. "But from what I know, women generally avoid anything cold during their monthly cycle."

Arlan's knuckles turned white.

Drayce continued, "Let us wait for what Martha says. Yorian should be around as well."

Arlan clearly looked displeased. "He is a man."

"He is the closest thing we have to a physician, if we remove your attendant to the equation," Drayce replied. "Do not be jealous of an elf who's at least a thousand years old. He is not even a grandfather—he is basically like an ancestor to us."

Arlan scoffed. "Say that again when his appearance isn't that of a twenty-something-year-old man. He surely doesn't look close to the word 'Old'."

Drayce only raised an incredulous brow at him "If you stop feeling jealous, talk about something important that you need to. 

"Fine." Arlan raised his hand in defeat and asked. "But why were you so calm? That scent of blood, didn't it affect you?"

Drayce just smiled in response. "Should I be affected?"

"Shouldn't you?" Arlan asked, "I never felt this way before. Blood from the battlefield doesn't faze me, and of course, I have my mother and my sister, but my reaction this time…" His words trailed off in realization. "Is it because she is the chosen mate of that creature? Is that the reason why I am being affected  like this?"

Drayce nodded and began to explain.

"Until now you have been successfully suppressing your beast side, but now her presence is making the beast inside you more dominant as he sees nothing but his mate. In the past, from what we learned about the divine beasts, you should remember that beasts are primarily beings dominated by instincts. And for a beast, their most primal instinct other than to survive is to mate.

"That beast doesn't understand that the human female's monthly cycle is different from the estrous cycle of the beast female. The stench of blood seems similar in both cases. It is exciting him, indicating him that his female is ready to mate."

The prince let out a series of curses unbefitting his status. When he stopped, he inhaled to calm himself and spoke. 

"I don't think I can be around her for the time being or I might end up hurting her."

Mating? He sure knew what he would end up doing with her.

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