The Crown's Entrapment

Darius was walking Xenia to her chamber when they saw Jayra along the way. Seeing the opportunity, Xenia said, "My King, I would like to speak with Jayra. I'll follow you to the luncheon meeting soon."

Darius nodded at her request, letting her hand go as he gave a slight nod to Jayra. But before he left, he stated, "I asked our seamstresses to expand your wardrobe for you earlier. They should be at your doorstep waiting to get your measurements by now."

Xenia nodded in understanding as she whispered, "Thank you."

It was a long time coming as well. She needed something with a different design that could cover her marks but was also made of thin fabric so that it wouldn't be uncomfortable to wear during this kind of weather.

Darius then looked at Jayra and added, "She also has a scratch on her arm, so please treat it accordingly."

"I understand, Your Majesty," Jayra commented with a slight bow.

With all of his affairs in order, Darius then turned to walk away, leaving the two alone as they faced one another.

"Let's go, Princess," Jayra said before immediately hooking her arms around Xenia as they walked together to her chambers. "Hmm… Looks like the two of you are getting along rather nicely. Is it really that better for you to train with His Majesty than me?" she teased with a grin.

Xenia tried her best to ignore her friend but the burning blush on her face completely gave her away.

Jayra shook her head in mirth. "Hey, as much as I didn't want to interrupt you two, you still need to spend some of your time with me so that you can polish some of your spells and magic."

"O-Oh right… Of course, I will," Xenia quickly agreed. "I'll speak with Darius about it later. Just give me our schedule so that we can work on our times."

The two settled into a comfortable silence. Walking through the halls, a beat passed before Xenia broke the peace.

"By the way, where did you eat breakfast?" Xenia asked with a frown.

She honestly felt bad that she can no longer eat with her friend as she was used to, and she had planned on bringing it up to Darius one of these days. She would ask to eat with Jayra every once in a while, or if possible they could also bring Jayra with her, seeing as Clara could also join the monarchs. As such, why not bring Jayra with her as well? She was practically like family to her anyway.

"Well… You don't have to worry about me, my friend, because I'm eating with my mate," Jayra bashfully admitted.

Xenia's eyes widened as she stopped walking, making her friend do the same as they stared at each other.

"Mate?" she burst out, her eyes blinking in disbelief.

"Shhh… Keep your voice down. We're still in the corridors," Jayra quickly scolded as she carefully looked around.

Heeding her friend's words, Xenia hastily pursed her lips, quickly greeting some of the servants passing by and bowing to her back as she composed herself.

Seeing as they had a few words that needed sharing, Jayra immediately pulled her down to the nearest bench to sit.

She made sure that no one was near enough to hear their conversation as she then informed, "Well, I haven't told you this yet since we've been in one awkward event after another. Everything's just happening so fast for me to even remember to bring this up."

After which, Jayra then began her story. The more the story went, the wider Xenia's eyes opened in disbelief.

"No way!" Xenia yelped out in surprise. "Bartos and you? Really?"

Even after hearing it straight from Jayra's mouth, she still couldn't believe how things ended up like that. However, seeing the radiant smile on Jayra's face, along with the happy aura that she was emanating, somewhat put Xenia at ease.

"So you accepted him already then?" Xenia questioned. "That was fast."

"Hmm… Life is short, Princess Xenia. I'm not even sure what the future holds and how long I'll even live in this world," Jayra shrugged. "I just don't want to have any regrets, so I'm allowing myself to follow what my heart is telling me. It's not like I have anything against Bartos, and I can see his efforts so why not?"

She chuckled, "Besides, I also like him physically, and I'm starting to fall for him emotionally while I get to know him more."

Listening to Jayra, something about her friend's experience hit her pretty hard. It was weird. Why couldn't she do the same? What would she lose if she ever let herself lose and just let herself be carried away by her own feelings?

"Aren't you annoyed at the thought of, you know… that Bartos…" Xenia muttered out. "Well… what if… I mean… He's just like that because of the Mate Pull, right? What if… We're different… We can't feel the Mate Pull like them for us…"

She was tongue-tied. Xenia couldn't string her words properly, making her fail in getting her point across.

Letting out a small scoff, Jayra gave her a knowing smile as she said, "Hmm… I guess you have that kind of worry towards the king then, right? You're afraid that what he's feeling right now is nothing but the Mate Pull influencing him?"

Xenia nodded. It felt great having someone that she could talk to like this rather than keeping her problems to herself. She felt Jayra's hand squeezing hers, making her look up to her friend.

"Hmm… I've thought about that too, but then it came to me that werewolves could also just choose to reject the Mate Pull, especially if their mates are not to their liking," Jayra explained.

"I mean, them rejecting a non-werewolf won't bring them any misfortune unlike if they rejected their fellow werewolf. With that, I came to the conclusion that since he's not rejecting the Mate Pull, Bartos likes me for who I am.

That'll eventually lead to us falling in love, I suppose. He's still not marking and mating with me yet, so there's no mating bond between us so far. And while that's not on me, he can always still reject the Mate Pull if he suddenly changed his mind."

"So you mean he can no longer reject it after he gives you the mate bond, right?" Xenia confirmed.

"Of course," Jayra reiterated. "That's when the two mates will form a bond so strong that only death can separate them in the werewolf's perspective. The werewolf will feel the ultimate pain of loss if it happens, causing death to most of them…"

"Ah, I really can't believe how dense you are," Jayra shrugged. "Goodness, Princess... You're so smart on other things, so why do you lack the brain cells when it comes to this?"

Xenia glared at her friend, causing Jayra to quickly zip her mouth. Giving her an awkward smile, Jayra murmured, "Apologies, Your Highness, but I just can't help but understand why King Stephan chose me, in particular, to stay by your side. I'm your best shot at keeping you on the right track."

Xenia moved to pinch Jayra's nose. But before she could get her in her grasp, the latter was quick to get away and run from her.

"Hey! Come back here and I'll show you just how grateful I am that you voluntarily stayed here with me!" Xenia burst out as she ran after Jayra.