Dumping The Ice King His Mini-Tyrant novel Chapter 257

“Adrian, do you like me?”

Selene’s question was fearless—clear, direct, and impossible to ignore.

A flush swept over Adrian’s ears. He braced his hands on the coffee table and dropped his gaze, thick lashes trembling ever so slightly. But the laughter he tried to hold back slipped out, warm and unrestrained.

“Yes,” he said, looking straight at her. “I like you.”

His eyes shone, deep and bright as a starlit sky. Selene instinctively held her breath, unwilling to miss the brilliance in his gaze.

He watched her gently, and for a brief, shimmering moment, the world seemed to fall silent around them.

“Do you know when I first realized I was drawn to you?” he asked.

Selene tilted her head, thinking aloud. “Was it when I kept taking first place in every race as Luna?”

Adrian smiled. “It was when I saw you on the lecture stage at Capital University, full of confidence. Or maybe when you tore down the track, fearless and fast. When you threw yourself into love without hesitation. When you juggled life between your kids, the Vaughn family, and your studies, always in motion.

Every version of you—I’ve fallen for them all. Every day, every year, you radiate such unstoppable energy.

Even when you told Harrison to meet you at city hall, when you sped down the highway with the windows down—I found myself liking you more.”

Carmel’s eyes went wide as she listened to Adrian’s unabashed confession.

Across the room, Luke Holloway seemed to darken the air around him. It looked as though, with a single word from Selene, he’d throw Adrian straight out the window.

“Are you trying to force Selene into a relationship?” Luke growled, voice low and dangerous, as if he might tear Adrian apart right then and there.

Adrian didn’t so much as glance at him; his focus never wavered from Selene.

“If you don’t say anything, I’ll take that as permission.”

“If you like me, take another look. These are just for you, Selene.”

Carmel and Luke both craned their necks, blatantly eavesdropping—surely there was no secret they weren’t privy to by now.

“Selene,” Adrian said softly, “just let yourself enjoy being liked by me. You don’t owe me anything. You don’t have to answer, or give anything back.

Think of it like experiencing anything else in this world—just let yourself feel what it’s like to be loved, no strings attached.

You don’t have to do a thing. Just by being you—Selene—I will love you.

And for me, being able to love you openly, with your permission, that’s more than enough.”