~{DEBORAH'S POV}~
*
Now I got her!
I could read her eyes.
First she was playing with me, acting coy and smart when I could see through her act.
She thought I was easy until I tactfully said that about her ring. How foolish of her to think she can take my place.
I may hate the king but I don't despise my position.
Even if I get divorced, I will make sure to leave a lasting impression in everyone's mind, mostly hers.
I will be cruel to those I feel needs to be put in place but also be hard on everyone because in my past, almost everyone took me for granted because I was too soft.
Initially, I knew that telling the housekeeper to tell Peculiar to join me for breakfast wouldn't go well because she wouldn't want to see me and Lauren will get a whiff of it so I decided to use him as bait and look what happened, she came immediately, like a mouse coming out of its hiding place to get some cheese.
As I took a big bite of my cake in a polished manner, I took a peek at her and found her deep in thought.
Smiling, I looked back at my half bitten cake as I gingerly threw another intimidating statement.
"Your mother passed down that ring to you isn't that right? And you used it to get your way to the king, isn't it?"
Her reaction was instant. Her lips parted as her eyes widened in pure shock.
Maybe this is enough for today, I thought to myself. A blow everyday until she gets the message and fears me completely.
I will trample over her bit by bit until she is suffocated by my very shadow.
That…. Is my mission.
"DEBORAH!"
At the harsh call of my name, I groaned and took another bite without bothering to look in the direction he was coming from.
Is it even necessary for him to shout my name?
I was already tired of raising my voice and here he was, with a lot of energy to shout. Isn't his vocal cord exhausted from the pressure it received? Because I am sure he gave a great deal of shouts on the battlefield.
When he finally approached us, Peculiar stood up in respect and innocence, mixed with feigned fear as she inched closer to him like he would save her from me.
"What is the meaning of this!" He yelled down at me since he was towering over me.
"Oh your majesty, you're here!" I exclaimed in faked surprise as I looked up at him and saw how he watched me in irritation.
"You made a good point about me not treating your guest well so here I am, having a warm and welcoming breakfast with the foreigner you brought into our home." I bluntly said and watched how he clenched his jaw, restricting himself.
"Can you hear yourself right now? Is that being welcoming?" He asked and I faked a frown of confusion.
"It is, your majest-"
"What's with the sudden change in the way you address me? I thought you preferred to call me by my name." He suspiciously inquired with narrowed eyes.
"I fear that you will get used to it and begin to look forward to being called that when I won't be around for long." I said with a nonchalant shrug and saw the immediate shift in his reaction.
"Everyone, leave us. Thomas, take Lady Peculiar back to her room."
At his order, everyone obliged and I noticed how Peculiar wanted to refuse but he didn't glance at her, rather his eyes were firmly fixated on me but I refused to look at him.
When everyone left us alone, I gestured for him to sit but he bent over me with one hand resting on the table while the other behind my chair, causing our faces to come dangerously close.
Instead of being affected, I looked him straight in the eye and said, "I must say that you really have good eyes to find such a woman endowed with angelic looks." I purposely praised him and saw how it caught him off guard but he tried not to show it.
But I wasn't done talking.
"Yet, with that angelic look, she is a devil on the inside. All rotten and-"
"I dare you to keep going." He interrupted me with his frightening eyes but I wasn't going to back down now.
"I was already going until you stopped me, Lauren."
And that was all it took for him to harshly gripped me by my chin again but this time around I forcefully pulled my chin from his firm hold and pushed my chair backwards, distancing us and it did something to him.
"I dare you to do that again," I angrily ran my silly mouth, challenging him.
For a moment he stared, like I had done something abominable. He looked down at the hand he had used to grip my chin and chuckled darkly before looking back at me with a dangerous look.
"Do you know what you just did, Deborah? It would have been better if you sat still and said nothing." He dangerously said what I already knew.
My heart was pounding hard because I knew I had landed myself in deep trouble but I was still on guard because if I don't show him that I am also an equal, he will keep looking down on me.
When he moved, I swiftly got up from the chair and as he approached me with the motive of repeating what he did or doing something more forceful and ungentlemanly, I did something completely unlike me and out of reflex.
I punched him.
Even after doing it, I stood in bewilderment and fear as I looked down at my right hand which was clenched in a tight fist in disbelief before looking at him as he covered his right eye while staring at me with the other eye in genuine shock.
This was the first time I saw him terribly caught off guard and completely dazed.