Chapter 57: Befriending and allyship!

Selena found herself standing with an open mouth, unable to believe her very own eyes as Dominic walked towards her direction with his hand wrapped on Demetri’s shoulders. They looked chummy together as if they had been friends for ages. Selena blinked her eyes rapidly, unable to comprehend this weird situation that was unveiling right in front of her eyes.
Dominic upon seeing her, raised an eyebrow cockily at her and winked at her, and despite her reluctance, she found herself smiling back, being infested by his sly charms. But for the life of her, she still couldn’t figure out what exactly had happened between them.

Selena in turn raised an eyebrow at her best friend, Demetri who in turn shrugged at her nonchalantly and avoided her eye contact flimsily.
“See you later mate”, he addressed Dominic and went along his merry way, leaving the two of them alone.
Selena found herself frowning at Demetri’s retreating back and Dominic’s throaty chuckle made her eyes snap back to him.

“Oh! You are one sly bastard.”, Selena murmured dryly as soon as Demetri was out of earshot.
Dominic grinned at her and Selena asked him curiously, “Pray do tell me, however did you manage it?”

He shrugged nonchalantly and replied in an arrogant tone, “I have done enough research about you, your family and your friends to know about his history with the Vanhuesans. He belongs to the royal Syldavian family and his entire kingdom was burned into extinction by my father. You set me up to fail, but unfortunately for you, I am a Vanhuesan and a Vanhuesan always wins, no matter what. All I had to do was curse my father and say bad things about my family and Tada we are now the best of friends.”

Selena rolled her eyes at him bitterly. He was always well prepared, she had to give him that.
“I expect you will indeed keep your promise. After all, you are a royal princess so I doubt you will change your words as your words hold a weight, princess as it could very well mean the difference between life and death for someone. Being a royalty, I assume that you won’t sway away from your promise.”, he said smoothly before Selena could even attempt a diversion.

Selena narrowed her eyes at him and nodded at him reluctantly and murmured reluctantly, “Okay, fine, you win. What do you want?”
Dominic closed the distance between the two of them and murmured seductively into her ear, “Why, you of course, my dear.”

She jumped at the closeness between the two of them and hastily took several steps back in a bid to put certain distance between them but that still didn’t stop her from blushing furiously. Dominic eyed her intently, not taking his eyes off her as he found her blushing charming and endearing.

“Fine, you get one date”, she said reluctantly and Dominic whooped up in the air enthusiastically, making a fist of satisfaction that Selena found herself smiling unconsciously at his childish behavior which was so not what she was used to.
Dominic was nothing like the men she was used to. He couldn’t care less about the rules, but was still a perfect gentleman. He was free like the wind, and yet very grounded. The truth was, his presence both troubled her as well as fascinated her. She couldn’t help but be blown away by his rather devilish charms despite her best attempts not to.
Oh how the world had changed, now there was dates instead of the official courting and engagements.

“Tonight, be ready”, he said and Selena nodded at him.
Out of the corner of the eyes, she saw Caro approaching them and it felt awkward all of a sudden. After all, she had been engaged to the man, and now she was agreeing to go on a date with his own family member. But has anything felt so wrong and weird that it almost felt right to an extent?

Dominic shifted his weight from one leg to another uncomfortably as he saw his grand uncle approach.
He was still a little bit worried about their past relationship and whenever they appeared close and even of they were having a simple conversation, he found himself getting worried for no reason at all and was getting insecure by all the rumors about them going on in this palace. The citizens of Valyria hailed them as the perfect power couple and was contemplating whether or not they got back together, which further irked him out.
Both of them eyed each other warily and he couldn’t help but feel jealous of his grand uncle.
Upon seeing him beside Selena, he said dryly, “Dominic”
Dominic bowed his head respectfully but then Caro walked past him and addressed Selena directly, “May I have a private word with you?”

Selena eyed him warily, then arguing that he was an ally of Valyria before her ex lover, she nodded at him, considering the fact that he may have some important information which he wishes to say to her which was not at personal and her turning him down for even a small conversation would look pity and she still intended to keep Caro Silva as an ally.
Dominic knowing it was time for him to go, excused himself politely and walked away with a heavy heart, feeling a little queasy about wondering what it was that he had to talk about with Selena so privately.
“Selena, Dominic has the intention of bowing out. He never truly intended on conquering Valyria”, he said stoically and Selena nodded at him and replied, “Yes, he told me”
Caro eyed her warily and murmured, “But his bowing out could do you more harm than good. For if you don’t ascend the throne of Valyria through the duel of kings, the royal concubine can still find some ways to uproot you or rebel against you. For none of this to happen, you have to undergo the duel. If you have really allied yourself with Dominic Vanhuesan, you didn’t need to worry about the outcome as when you enter the Labyrinth, none of the bystanders standing outside will no what’s going on in there and none of us would ever be brave enough to enter the Labyrinth of the death and watch front row ow the fight was faring between the two of you. You can merely spend a few minutes inside and still emerge victorious without raising the council’s suspicions.”
She nodded at him, agreeing with his wise words and said more to herself than to him, “So, whatever may, the duel of the Kings should take place for me to secure the throne of Valyria.”