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But how? Why?

“What do you mean, he declined?” she demanded. “Did you deliver the proposal as discussed?”

Ling Wei bowed her head. “I did, your majesty. I explained everything and even tried to force the matter and still he declined.”

“Forced?” Perhaps it was Ling Wei’s fault. “What do you mean forced? I told you not to stress the importance of the contract to him. It was supposed to be subtle!”

“I did not,” Ling Wei said. “I simply tried to pass on the invitation to the guards but still he refused.”

This didn’t make any sense, Lunalah thought.

“How could he refuse such an offer?” she asked.

How could he refuse ‘her’? She wanted to add, but she dared not reveal that much to Ling Wei. The pain of the Iron Bull’s rejection was like a spear piercing her soul. Perhaps she had indeed gone too far with the contract, but she had masked it perfectly with the need for it being merely a formality that would lead to his success. Why then did he reject her? Was her note too revealing? Not enough?

Her soul writhed, tormented.

“What reason did he give?” she asked. “Why did he refuse my offer?”

“It was a bit hard to understand, even for me,” Ling Wei said. “But the Iron Bull said that he would rather be a prisoner than a ‘punk ass bitch’?”

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Lunalah blinked. “A what?”

“I am still not certain what the words mean, a Terran expression perhaps, but from their connotation, I gather he meant coward.”

“Coward? He believes my offer of grace to be cowardice?” Her inside steamed a second time, but now with more anger than embarrassment. “How could he equate my offer to that? Clearly Ling Wei you must have failed to deliver my offer properly! Did you focus on the contract too much?”

“This One tried her best, your majesty.” Ling Wei bowed her head again. “And no, I barely focused on the contract at all. It seemed he viewed the notion of being ranked with the core world tributes as cheating.”

“He accused me of cheating?”

“No, your majesty, I believe he felt the process would be cheating himself.”

“What do you mean?”

“He made a comment akin to wanting to succeed by his own means. I believe he wants to earn his success through facing the hardships of both the academy and the hell worlds and growing stronger through them. And he did graciously decline your offer, by the way.”

Lunalah sighed inwardly with relief. The entire scenario shifted in her mind. The Iron Bull hadn’t outright rejected her as she had first feared. He had merely rejected the path of ease.

Perhaps she had been too brazen to bait her hook with something like this. But it was good to know why he had not bitten. It wasn’t the hook that he saw, but rather he just didn’t care for the bait. And looking back now, perhaps it was for the best. The thought that he wanted to succeed on his own strength alone, kindling her desire for him even further.

This was a true warrior.

A man who valued strength above all.

A man who could one day even dominate her own heart into submission.

If fate would have it.

“Fetch me writing paper,” she said. “I shall write to the Iron Bull again, praising him for passing my first test and rejecting the easy route to success.”

Ling Wei looked back at her oddly, as if to question her integrity, but one squint of her eyes and Ling Wei fell back into place again.

“At once, your majesty,” Ling Wei said and rose from her seat.

As she left, Lunalah sat back and smiled.

Her true goal of getting the Iron Bull to sign the contract was not met, but it did serve its purpose in another way. She had planted the seed in his mind. The thought that he could one day become a royal consort to a princess. It was a seed that would germinate while he fought to gain both strength and power. And when his first option would tragically fall away, Lunalah would naturally present herself as the second.

Patience, she told herself again.

Patience and restraint and the Iron Bull will be yours.