The Crown's Entrapment

Meanwhile, inside a carriage rolling on the roads of the Capital City, Bella and Osman decided to start their journey together just on the break of dawn. Usually, it would only take half a day of travel to reach the Hindman Manor from the Capital City if one were to travel in

their wolf form. But since Bella took Osman's suggestion to opt for a long journey, they would reach Hindman Manor in the evening at the earliest.

Throughout their journey, Osman had kept his promise as he entertained Bella by recounting his experiences out at sea. And when he told her that he would be going through one story at a time, he definitely meant it as he began his recollections telling her his experiences starting from when he was but a seven year old boy.

'Hah! Good thing I have so many interesting experiences every year,' Osman inwardly chuckled to himself. 'I can definitely keep Bella entertained today. I can always just start from back when I was just seven years old...'

"So that was when you officially became a pirate? Gosh, I can't believe you could do all that hard work and still let those ship crews bully you," Bella scoffed with annoyance, her irritation growing the more she listened to his words.

"You were literally a seven year old boy at the time. I would've thought that Captain Hans was kind and like a father to you... How could he let you work your ass off like that and still let his men pick on you!?"

She let out a grunt as she continued. "I know it was all in the past, but still it's so annoying to hear," she grumbled. "How could they take advantage of a poor boy like that!?"

Osman chuckled at Bella's reaction. "Ah, that's the kind of expression I was waiting for from you, my little vixen. Didn't it occur to you that I might've exaggerated my story a bit just so that you can pity this poor man and gain some sympathy from you?" he rhetorically asked.

"There's a saying that sympathy and empathy are two positive feelings that could make a relationship between two people become strong, you know. Maybe I'm just using a sob story for more points from you."

Bella scoffed. "I already pitied you enough from knowing that you're an abandoned baby," she snorted. "And why are you even telling me that? You should know that sympathy and empathy wouldn't be enough to win over my heart."

Osman laughed. His Bella was just too adorable in his eyes. She was so sassy despite his hypotheticals, and he was loving every single thing that he knew more about her.

'This isn't good. I feel like I'm falling so far deep into her already...' he mused to himself, trying his best to control the emotions that rapidly clouded his mind.

It was quite different from how he felt with Helena. With Helena, he was able to give up on her easily. With Bella, however, the feeling seemed to have amplified itself tenfold. Was it greed then?

It was such a strong feeling that he never would've thought he would get to experience, and it was so much that it was starting to build up inside of him. If it kept up, he was afraid that his greed for her would consume him alive. It might end up to the point that even his rationality wouldn't be able to control himself.

Osman had a gentle smile as he explained himself. "Hmm... Captain Hans intentionally let me grow up in the harsh reality of this world. It's his way of molding me to become a strong person, Bella," he sagely nodded.

"And honestly, I appreciated his methods. It was because of that that I became proud of how strong I had become with the group. And when I say strong, I don't refer to it as physical strength, but more on the emotional and spiritual side of it."

"Well, maybe I can't just relate since I grew up in a good environment," Bella casually commented. "Still, I can't help but appreciate the good life I've been having since I was a kid now that I've heard your story. You and my sister-in-law are the same, you know. Both of you were abandoned babies; you in the rivers of Os, while she was abandoned outside the walls of Castle Ebodia."

Osman smiled. Bella had just told him something delicate about her family, which only meant one thing: she trusted him enough to open up this much around him.

Last night... He was honestly nervous. He had hesitated a lot about whether or not to suggest this long journey to her. But seeing his progress now, he was glad that he did. And to think that she even accepted it... What fortunes did he have to be this lucky?

"How about you, Bella?" Osman asked, directing the topic of the conversation to his partner. "I'm curious as to how the little girl Bella acted back when she was seven years of age. I want to know about your childhood too."

He wanted to know more about her. Every single detail about her was so important to him and his want for her.

At his question, Bella shrugged and said, "My seven year old self had nothing memorable to tell at all. It's just the usual thing for normal girls who usually just played around." She pursed her lips as she did her best to remember something of importance. "Ah right, that was when I became friends with Clara. Well, the two of us only became close during that time since I didn't have anyone else except for my big brother."

"Hmm, what else is there to tell?" Bella hummed in thought. She then smiled as she recalled, "Ah right, that was also the year I learned to shift into my wolf form and properly interact with my wolf, Poona."

Osman gulped at that sweet and beautiful smile coming from Bella. He inwardly groaned as he stopped himself from doing any bold moves like pulling her into his arms and crushing those plum lips of hers against his.

He honestly felt so weird, and he couldn't explain as to how it was even affecting him. He was a Lycan, so how come he was feeling something strong like this? It was as if there was a pull making him gravitate around Bella when he shouldn't be experiencing such a thing... Like it was an actual Mate Pull...