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“I realise that my behavior might not always be to your liking.” She scoffed at that and watched his jaw clench for a moment, still not meeting her gaze.

“But I am trying to accommodate everything to your wishes.”

“Why?” she asked and took him off guard, his gaze flickering over her face.

“Because I think that you have the potential to win this tournament. You certainly deserve it.”

She crossed her arms in front of her. He was not telling the truth but that was nothing new to her. Nikolai had been lying to her from the moment they met and maybe if she was more curious she would prod further and investigate that matter. But that was not what she came here for.

Inhaling deeply, he started to talk again. “What I wanted to do was apologise for my behavior this afternoon.” Noora raised a brow at him and he quickly added, “For my behavior in general. I am truly sorry and I hope sincerely that you decide to stay and take part in the tournament if not for you, for Lulva.”

She let her eyes wander over his face, doubting his sincerity though she could see that it was one of the rare times he seemed to apologise.

“And?” she asked, resulting in him narrowing his gaze.“Was it that hard? To apologise,” she clarified.

Nikolai took a step forward lowering his head slightly, orbiting in Noora’s space.

“This was the first time I ever apologised.”

“I feel honoured,” she quipped.

“You should.” His voice dropped and his gaze turned darker for a moment before he straightened again.

It was like Noora could watch him draw back into the well-mannered man that he had to be.

“I bid you goodnight.” He turned and quickly strode off as if he was hindering himself from saying anything more.

It was probably better that way, taking into account that Noora gave no fucks if he was apologizing to her or not.

With a sigh, she stepped into the dimly lit chamber, closing the heavy door behind her, before her eyes found the small girl cuddled into the plush comforter.

Noora’s steps stuttered on her way to Lulva as she saw the white fur peeking out from beside her.

Her breath was stuck in her throat. The medium-sized fur ball, rolled in on itself, was the wolf, sleeping soundly beside Lulva. Watching over her in her sleep.

Chapter 23

Nikolai

“How could you possibly think that you would have the allowance to decide that he is a part of the jury?” Nikolai’s voice roared as the doors banged open to the drawing room of the palace. His mother flinched in her seat across the window on the left wall, overlooking the frozen sea.

“Answer me,” Nikolai prodded as he came to a stop in front of her. His chest was heaving with every breath he took, his veins aflame with rage he had never felt before. No, that was not the truth, he had felt this rage before but the person who inflicted this emotion inside him was long dead.

“I don’t know who you are talking about,” Euphemia said nonchalantly, placing the porcelain cup back on its saucer.

Nikolai scoffed and turned away from her, pacing in front of the window to somehow get rid of the energy balling up inside of him.

“You know exactly who I am talking about. Koa-Ailani? The high chief of one of the most vast witch hunter clans, currently residing in Oy Frossen.”

“What about him?”

Nikolai whirled around, considering choking a woman for the first time in his life. His mother rolled her eyes once she noticed how worked up he was, she finally conceded.

“I made sure that the tournament would have an objective and fair jury so that no one was left out.”

“Fair? Do you call that fair? How could it be fair that a witch hunter is on the jury when they hate people like Noora deeply? How is it fair that the moment he will lay eyes on her it will be his only desire to kill her?” He barely managed to get the words out and apparently, his mother had enough of his rage.

She got up from the settee, the fabric of her gown swishing along her frame. “Calm yourself, son, it has been forbidden to kill witches in Oy Frossen for a long time. Koa-Ailani will not touch your pretty little witch.”