194 YOUR FAMILY OR ME?

Zoe didn't notice that there was a table behind her. Her bottom accidentally sat on it, giving Raigon freedom to intimidate her with his fiery interrogation.

He placed both of his sturdy arms on each side of Zoe, acting like a human cage that is trapping her inside with no chance of escape.

"What if I tell you that I think the one for me is right in front of me?" He peered at her intently, revealing his devoted attraction towards her. 

Zoe gulped as she felt her gaze melting her core. But she made an iron resolve to control herself.

"Are you ready to defy the Queen then, who seems to think otherwise?" She lifted her chin, meeting her smouldering gaze head on.

Raigon paused for a few seconds as he was astounded by her outspoken query. 

"Are you making me choose between you and my mother now?" He slightly distanced himself and his expression changed from a domineering to a pressurized one.

He stepped back and removed his arms around her as he answered straight from the shoulder. "Honestly, I really want you both to be in good terms."

He loves his mother with all of his heart. She is the one who gave birth to him and raised him well until now. But he could also see her ill feelings against Zoe, which tore his heart.

Zoe swallowed hard as she could see the conflicting emotions in his demeanor. She doesn't want to confuse him like this but she needs to know where she stands in him.

"But if it will not be possible, I will choose..."

Raigon stopped midway and pulled her closer to him until she can smell a whiff of his personal scent as her nose was on her chest. 

Her heart jolted and her pulse pounded as to what he would do next. But he just put her down on the ground and distanced himself away from her. 

"Let's talk about this next time. I hear footsteps going here."

True enough, Azra came rushing to the kitchen and called their attention. "Your Highness, milady. Lord Vigo is here and he wants to see you, your Highness."

Zoe was shocked at first as she was anticipating a definite answer right at that moment. But she grasps the situation and nodded to Raigon telling him that she understands.

"I thought that villager was joking when he said that he saw you in the market with a woman. What a coincidence! I didn't know that we would meet this way again, your Highness."

Lord Vigo greeted Raigon and bowed to him in a fake respect. A muscle in Raigon's jaw clenched at his remark. He only showed himself to Lord Vigo, hiding Zoe inside. 

But he didn't know that Zoe was silently listening to their conversation at the adjacent room where they were in. 

"Why did you come here?" He replied in a heavy irony voice, making anyone who could hear scramble away. But not Lord Vigo.

He lifted his chin and stared at his face straightaway. "Is Lady Thana aware how you were screwing around with another woman even before you get married?���

Color drained from Zoe's face as it dawned on her that she was the third pary in this crazy relationship.

Raigon tilted his head side to side as he tried to keep his composure. "Why do I need to inform her when we were not even formally engaged yet? And why do you need to ask me about this. Do you like her?"

Raigon's question baffled Lord Vigo as he stuttered while he answer him. "Formally. But informally, everyone in Terra know that you were about to be one."

He didn't answer the part about him liking her as he was not here to talk about himself.

Raigon sniggered in a cold sarcasm. "Still, they thought of me as gay. Will I be just using her then?"

Lord Vigo's eyes hardened at his last words. "You know Thana likes you ever since we were children. Don't do this to her."

He suddenly stood up and bade his last words. "If you hurt her, heaven stop me from doing the same thing to you and your woman."

In a rash manner, he turned his back and left Raigon in fury that almost choked him. He drank a glass of water to calm himself down.

Meanwhile, Zoe was still covering her mouth in response to Lord Vigo's revelation.

'Can I really be happy when I know that someone is hurting because of me? His mother, his cousin and his childhood friend?' 

Her head lowered, with her tresses falling over her face. As she felt Raigon moved out of the room, she quickly left the area where she was and go straight to Erin.

"Let's go back." She pulled her arm to stand up as she was bent down and watering some plants.

"What happened?" Erin's eyebrows furrowed as she put down her watering pots on the ground.

"I don't think I can do this anymore. I can't sacrifice other's happiness for my own."

"And what about his happiness? Will you sacrifice it for theirs too?"

Erin retorted back to her, making her doubt her resolve for a few seconds. Her fingers flew to her temples as her head spin in confusion.

"Do you think he would be happy with me if his family is destroyed? If he lose me, he would still have them. But losing them is like cutting a part of his limb, a natural part of him ever since he was born, maiming him for the rest of his life. I don't want him to bear that pain." 

She answered back as she grabbed her hand to take her to the kitchen. 

"Come on, let's just prepare this meal for Lord Hou. After this, you can stay here with Azra if you want. But I will leave."

Erin followed after her with a frown on her face, still disagreeing with her friend's resolution.

**************************************************

Love is not just a feeling.

It is a commitment to be selfless and sacrificial

For the one you love.