King Theodore chuckled. "It is an honor, Your Highness. Thank you for the complint. I’m very impressed," he replied in a joking tone, which also made laugh a little.
After laughing a bit, I could hear the man taking a deep sigh.
"You know, this is the first ti I’ve heard a complint that actually makes happy."
"I didn’t complint you."
"Uh, no?"
"I just said what I thought."
The man smiled. "Well, that makes even happier. I’m tired of all the sweet talk of the bastards who are partying inside right now. They are just running their mouths for their own benefit."
He turned gloomy again. His chuckle and wide smile imdiately faded, and I averted my face when I saw the sa expression I often saw on my father’s face. An expression of being dissatisfied with sothing and wanting to do more. King Theodore had proven that he was better than my father so far, and I didn’t want to see another new color of that man.
I just wanted a friend, nothing more.
"Even the queen detests ."
I was shocked when I heard it. The queen? Hadn’t the queen been his wife for ten years? So far, I indeed felt that there was sothing strange between them because I often saw my father and mother, who were also the king and queen, always together, eating together, and sleeping in the sa room.
However, King Theodore and Queen Alicia were different. I did listen to so of the queen’s complaints about the king’s cold attitude towards her while we were having tea together. I thought it was just because of King Theodore’s cold nature. However, if I looked closely at everything, the man had never once given his cold attitude to .
"Aren’t both of you friends?"
"Friends? Like this?" The man looked to the side and drank the alcohol from the bottle beside him.
I tried to avert my eyes when the man stared at intently. However, as I turned around, King Theodore touched my cheek and forced to look at him.
"On this land, no one can be my friend but you. So, I beg you... don’t leave , for I will beco the man who suffers the most once again."
I kept my mouth tightly shut. I didn’t dare to make a promise again. The sll of alcohol grew stronger when King Theodore brought his face closer to mine. This was not right. We were husband and wife, but it didn’t feel right for . I closed my eyes to let him kiss , but when his face was only an inch away from mine, I imagined the mysterious man’s face again and put my hand in front of King Theodore’s lips.
I didn’t understand. It seed I wasn’t as mature as I thought. At my age, I still had a lot of confusion. I was confused because I felt uncomfortable with King Theodore’s face getting closer even though it was natural because I was his concubine. Yet, I let the mysterious man I wasn’t familiar with hug and kiss .
In fact, I found my comfort in the man’s embrace. If I compared it, maybe for anyone, King Theodore was far more trustworthy than the mysterious man who was a werewolf, and his identity was still unclear even though I had t him a few tis.
"Sorry," King Theodore said.
I felt guilty because at this point I was the one with the flaws. I wanted to apologize too, but my mouth was tightly shut. The man cleared his throat. He probably tried to clear the awkwardness between us.
"Tomorrow, there will be a hunt. Do you want to join? I want you to accept my hunt."
I let out a sigh of relief when King Theodore changed the subject.
"Shouldn’t the queen receive it? The lady-in-waiting had taught so palace protocol. She stated that every year you would give it to the queen. Isn’t that the tradition?"
King Theodor shook his head. "There is no such thing as tradition. It’s just a habit because I don’t have anyone else I can give my hunt to. If I don’t give it to her, she will cry for a month in front of my room. It’s so noisy. But, now I have you as my friend."
"Your Majesty, I am truly honored to hear that, but it would not be fair to Her Highness Queen Alicia. She is your wife too. You should have put the queen first."
"Alright, alright. You are also my wife, so I will hunt two animals tomorrow. How about it? Sounds fair now?"
Um... I didn’t like this. Hurting an animal and then giving it to soone, I didn’t want to join or participate in that hunting party. Besides, while in Birwick, I had many animal friends, so I really didn’t want to see animals being tornted in front of .
"Your face says that sothing displeased you? Want to share it with ?"
I had to say it honestly. Maybe King Theodore could allow not to get involved and just let stay in the palace.
"To be honest, I’m not comfortable with the hunting party."
"Why? Oh, I almost forgot that you don’t like crowds."
"Hm.. yes, that’s one of them, but besides that, it’s because I’m not comfortable seeing animals being tortured in front of ."
"You want to cancel tomorrow’s hunting party? If that’s what you want, I can do it."
I shook my head quickly. That wasn’t what I wanted. I didn’t want my discomfort making people lose their chance to enjoy the day. I just wanted to stay away from the place. I didn’t want sothing that lasted for years to be disbanded because of . I would rather just walk away and give in.
"Please do not do that. It is ti for you to enjoy the day. I will just wait in the palace."
The man frowned, yet still nodded in understanding.
"I’m sorry, Your Majesty. I don’t an to make this all complicated. It’s just that, in Birwick, I have a lot of animals that I love and care for since I was small, and I consider them my own friends, so it will be hard for to participate in a place where everyone torture the animals."
"I understand. You can rest in the palace alone. I won’t force you to go with . But... can I ask just one thing?"
"What?"
"Send off."
"Sorry?"
"Normally, before leaving for a hunt, the participants would be given an item like a good luck charm by their partners. I want you to give one."
"But, you will definitely get it from the queen."
King Theodore shook his head. "I know, but I think I’d have better luck if you gave it to ."
It sounded strange to my ears, but I accepted the man’s request to give him a good luck charm. I frowned my forehead as King Theodore cheered happily. Was it that happy to get two lucky charms?
"I’m really looking forward to it tomorrow."
***
Since our conversation last night, I couldn’t fall asleep, thinking about what lucky charm I could give to the king. Due to the limited ti, I just asked for a spun rope and embroidered it into a simple red bracelet.
King Theodore often wore all black, so I wanted to give him a slightly different color from what he usually wore.
I stood beside Queen Alicia as one of the wives of the king. Several other won gathered behind us. I felt uncomfortable with all the stares I was receiving, and also the awkward atmosphere between and Queen Alicia.
There was sothing different about the queen today.
Since this morning, when I greeted her, she only gave a cold look. Usually, Queen Alicia would greet warmly, and I was usually the one who accidentally acted cold. I tried to rember if I had done anything wrong, but there was nothing I could rember.
My last mory of Queen Alicia was of accompanying her at the afternoon tea party before the grand evening banquet. And during the garden tea party, I felt like I didn’t do anything that could piss her off. In fact, I was completely silent, not daring to speak without the queen’s permission.
"Are you here to escort the king and give him the lucky charm too?" Queen Alicia asked without looking at .
I nodded. "Yes, Your Highness."
"You don’t have to. You would usually choose to remain silent in the palace and not be seen by anyone, so why did you suddenly appear now?"
"His Majesty King Theodore asked to attend this event, Your Highness."
I was surprised when Quen Alicia clicked her tongue. I hoped that I heard it wrong. I turned to the queen nervously.
"After this, return to the palace again."
I nodded without asking the reason. "Yes, Your Highness. I understand."
I bit my lower lip, feeling intimidated by the heavy aura of the queen. It seed sothing had changed, but what was the reason?
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