The Crown's Entrapment

Another morning came, and before she knew it, it was Xenia's fourth day in Cordon. Good thing Jayra woke her up early, or else she would probably still be asleep. She slept late last night all because of those corrupted books, and she couldn't help but feel miffed about it!

"Don't tell me you finish almost all of them throughout the night," Jayra teasingly chuckled while Xenia yawned and tardily got up from her bed.

"I couldn't help it. I wanna learn as fast as possible since I won't be able to bring those books with me during training," she weakly answered, followed by yet another yawn as she rolled out of bed.

"Ah right... Bartos also mentioned to me last night that King Darius wants to take some precautions, and he strongly believes that you need to be trained around nature. And wouldn't you know it, he's right," Jayra chuckled in recollection. "So on that note, for these two days, you'll be spending mostly with me to train with your spells and magic. And once you come back from that trip with him, we'll then focus on you learning more magic and spells that can help you out in the trials."

Instead of replying, Xenia made a teasing stare as her eyes bore into Jayra's slowly weakening defenses.

"What? Is there something wrong?" Jayra curiously asked.

"Well, I was just wondering if you're planning on trying those steps in the books on Bartos," Xenia teased despite knowing that her own relationship with Darius was going painfully slow. "Is that why you and Bartos's relationship seems to progressing faster than mine?"

It kind of hurt to say, especially since she already knew why their relationship was moving at a snail's pace. It was all because of pride... Her pride, to be exact. Even though she was already working on it, some things were often easier said than done.

"Stop teasing me," Jayra scoffed. "My relationship's moving fast because I hate moving slowly like you."

Xenia shrugged at her answer. She did have a point there.

Letting out a small scoff, Jayra called for the servants and helped Xenia get dressed. This time, the princess ate with Freya and Jayra since the Queen Mother was out early to attend to something important. And the same went for Darius for some other stuff that he had to address.

After breakfast was finished, Freya stood up before turning to Xenia, "Before you go, come with me first in the library."

Having nothing better to do, Xenia and Jayra followed the princess's steps, reaching the library after a bit of walking as they went inside.

Looking up and around, the library inside Cordon Castle looked almost exactly like theirs. They also had scholars and historians, and books were all neatly arranged in files and rows.

Freya approached one scholar and asked the latter something. After which, she then led them towards another door inside the library. They were soon followed by a few scholars with books in their hands.

Xenia and Jayra could only watch as they waited for the scholars to arrange the books on the table. Before long, the scholars left.

"Hmm, you have to read these," Freya stated, gesturing towards the books scattered on the table. "These all detail past events that have happened. These are the history of those who once tried the five trials. They also contain the rules and laws for these trials, especially for the fifth one which is trial by combat."

Freya then grabbed Jayra's hand as she added, "In the meantime, Jayra and I will leave you on your own so that you can concentrate. I'm a blabbermouth too, so I might just end up disturbing you. Jayra here seems the same, so we might as well take a stroll outside and get to know each other for a bit while you study here, Xenia."

Before Xenia could even get a words in, the two women had already walked towards the door. Just before they closed the door behind them, Freya turned to her and added," Ah, I almost forgot... Brother said that he'll come and check on you later. See if you learned well, or something. Also, remember that there will be punishment for every mistake you might make."

Xenia could only roll her eyes as the two left, leaving her in her lonesome as she scoffed. A punishment then? What would it be this time?

Before, she was made to draw the entire castle perfectly, remembering every single detail to the point that Darius was unable to give her a punishment. She clearly even saw the hint of disappointment in his eyes once he saw that she didn't make any mistakes.

Shrugging at the task ahead of her, Xenia looked at the books on the table with a sigh. She had just read books the whole night before this... "And here I am again reading some more..."

She yawned as she grabbed the first book she could reach and read. Hours slowly passed, and Xenia quickly reached the point where she could no longer help her drowsiness. Just as quickly as she reached the library, she ended up dozing off on the table.

******

Walking into the library, Darius was flabbergasted when he saw Xenia sleeping inside the private chambers of the library, her head resting on the table with books surrounding her from all sides.

He shook his head at the sight of it. He had clearly tasked Freya to monitor Xenia and made sure that the latter would finish reading everything within the day. Then again, why did he even think that was a good idea with how much Freya hated boring stuff?

Quietly and carefully, Darius approached Xen, sitting beside her as he removed some of the strands of her hair covering her face. Smiling, he drowned himself in her beauty. It had been a while, and he had intentionally hindered himself from being with her privately because of how close he was to breaking in her presence.

Last night, he had wanted to sneak into her bedchambers, but he managed to control himself just in time. However, there will be a time where he'll get overwhelmed. Would he still be able to manage himself once they proceeded with their training trip with just the two of them?

Think back on that trip, Darius was already busy with the arrangements and had even tasked Gideon to make sure that everything they would need was already stored in the place where they would stay.

Leaning closer, Darius found himself hungrily inhaling the pleasing and addicting scent of his mate. His eyes then darted to Xen's lips, and he didn't even have a second thought as he stole a kiss from her while she was sleeping.

"Mhm..."

He stiffened when Xen moved. Immediately, Darius composed himself as he waited for her to slowly open her eyes.

"Darius?" she whispered out.

"I didn't expect you to be slacking off like this," he murmured with a raised brow, his loving smile still plastered on his face.

Xen pouted her lips and mumbled, "I'm not slacking... I just dozed off, is all."

Darius let off a devious smirk before he leaned in and smacked his lips against Xen's. Her eyes widened at his suddenness, her gaze one of surprise as she looked at him with rapidly blinking eyes.

"That's your punishment for slacking," Darius coyly said. "I suppose you only have to slack off some more if you want me to smack my lips against yours again."

"...What?!"

"Continue on with your reading. I'll be staying with you for a bit more, asking you questions every once in a while," he explained. "If you give me a wrong answer, then I'll kiss you in different ways as punishment depending on how important you know the answer should be."

Xenia's mouth slackened at his words, Darius lifting his brows as he added, "I'm serious, Xen. Get to studying, or else I'll take it as you desperately wanting to share a kiss with me."

Xenia was utterly flabbergasted at what she just heard. She then recalled how disappointed he looked with the drawing she did for Cordon Castle.

He was probably really looking forward to these. She inwardly sighed. No wonder he was disappointed that time, seeing as he was unable to give her this kind of punishment.

'Maybe I should make a mistake... a one or two?'