The Sleepy Princess Loves The Cold Duke

Chapter Twenty-Six: Extreme Brain Freeze

"Can I take back what I said," Poppy grumbled. Loki shook his head, a bright smile on his face. He had awoken Poppy and had the brilliant idea that she would shadow him throughout the day. This meant waking up at the crack of dawn and sitting in his office.

Poppy slowly unraveled herself from the blanket bliss and started getting ready. She brushed her teeth with him. Ate breakfast together. He offered to shower together but that's where she drew the line. Loki just shrugged and stared, 'another day then.' Poppy was not prepared for these attacks on her heart.

"He is growing more bold with every second, Steven chuckled. Poppy covered her bright red face. "Too bold, in my opinion." Steven grinned and made a mental note to update his journal with the good news.

Steven was still planning on helping Loki and Poppy but it seemed Loki was beating him to the punch.

•••

'All he does is work.' Poppy sighed. "Sire. Didn't you say you were planning on letting Poppy get to know you?" Steven asked. Loki nodded. Steven grumbled at his master's oblivion. "Why don't you take off work for the day. I can handle things for today. Go somewhere nice. Or at least talk. She can't get to know you by watching you regulate the budget. Just come back before we have to handle things with Angelica again."

To be honest, Poppy had no idea he was even working on a budget. She just saw numbers and boring words and dazed off. Loki looked at Poppy for approval and she excitedly nodded. 'Anything to get me out of this boring room.'

Loki stood up from his desk and offered a hand to Poppy. She accepted it and they ran (at Poppy's pace) out the office.

When they were outside Loki looked up to the sky. "Well for starters. I was born and raised in this region. This place used to just be sticks and stones. Very little people lived in this region except for fugitives and magic creatures."

They began to walk down the drive through and towards the city down the hill. "My grandfather is who earned the title of Duke. He was a genius man and the best friend of the late King. He made many contributions to this country. Then my dad was born. My father and my grandfather never got along. So my father ran away to the northern region."

Poppy listened patiently. She was enjoying this little story time session. "My father met my mother here. I was told she was a beautiful woman who cared for everyone. Unfortunately, she caught the eye of my father. He forced her to marry him. She passed away when I was born. And I'm actually happy she did. Who knows what hell she would have continued to endure by my fathers hand." Loki looked angry and sad all at once.

"Anyway. I grew up here. Wilbur remembers more than I do." He chuckled at that. Poppy smiled. "Fast forward to when Angelica came into our lives." As they walked the streets many citizens greeted the Duke and future Duchess with a smile.

Poppy could imagine just how thankful these people were to Loki. He changed the state of this region drastically in just the six years of his reign. He turned sticks into marvelous towns and neighborhoods. Even she knew how much the population spiked in the Northern region over the past few years. He was making a name for himself and proving his worth to the country. Her father, the King, had praised him on the day of their engagement meeting.

Loki and Poppy walked to a more open area. There were more houses and even a park in the middle. Loki offered to buy her ice cream which she accepted. 'When will I ever reject sweets?'

Once he came back with one chocolate ice cream cone for Poppy and a vanilla cone for himself, he continued his story. They sat down at a bench under a tree. "Well, like I was saying. Angelica came into my life when I turned ten." He licked his ice cream cone and looked pleasantly surprised when he didn't feel the urge to gag. 'So he likes vanilla.' Poppy mentally noted.

"She absolutely sucked in the beginning." Poppy chuckled. "Always crying and whining every chance she got. My father told me that her parents were close friends of his that they had died in a car crash. He told me that Angelica and I were to be married. I was completely oblivious to what my father had done." His eyes were filled with melancholy memories. Poppy reached over and held his hand. Loki grinned and lifted his hand up then kissed her hand.

"It's true that I fell in love with her. Whether it was because she used a enchantment on me or just young love, I don't know. But I still remember that the more I saw her every day the more I didn't mind the thought of spending my life with her. I just thought. 'This wouldn't be so bad.' But then one day I heard screams. I could tell it was my father. I could see it in the eyes of the servants that they had no intentions of helping him. Everyone hated him. So I ran into his bedroom. And what I saw... I don't think I'll ever be able to forget it."

He took in a sharp breath. "You don't have to talk about it if it's too much for you," Poppy reminded. Loki shook his head, "no. I want to tell you. I will tell you. Just... give me a second." He looked at his ice-cream and basically downed the whole thing. He looked like he was going to collapse. 'Is he having a brain freeze or a seizure?' After a couple seconds he swallowed the ice cream and heaved for air. "Why?" was all she could ask in complete shock.

He licked his lips. "I needed the stimulation. We do that on the battlefield. When you feel drowsy you stab your arm or something. It always works." 'So like an extreme version of just splashing water on your face?'

"Okay. I'm okay now." Poppy just quietly nodded. 'What a weird man.' "So I walked into the room."