The Crown's Entrapment

As soon as she opened her eyes from what felt like a deep slumber, she expected to be met with the blinding daylight, but instead, she met those dark gray orbs, 'huh, what?' She thought to herself.

Blinking a couple of times she looked at the man hovering over her, and alarms went off in her body when she realized how close The King was to her. If any of them moved even an inch, their lips might meet.

Panicked, she threw her arms forward and pushed The King away from her. He stumbled a few steps back. As soon as she realized what she did, it was too late.

The king, who composed himself rather quickly, casually walked over, and sat on the chair near the bed with a dark expression on his face.

'What the hell!' Xenia inwardly cried.

She was still half-asleep when she opened her eyes, but all of her drowsiness quickly gave way to panicked alertness after her nerves got worked up from the sudden closeness. She unconsciously touched her chest, feeling the loud thumping of her heart as she tried to compose herself.

"I will not punish you for waking up late as I know you needed a proper night of sleep due to your injuries. However, make sure this tardiness doesn't happen again," The King coldly chided.

He didn't say anything about her trying to escape. Xenia took that as a good sign. The King continued, "You have to wake up before me and prepare all of the things that I would need in the morning."

He then stood up and passed her a clean set of clothes."Take a shower and wear this. Make it quick," he whispered.

Getting out of bed, Xenia frowned when she noticed that The King didn't seem to be leaving her chambers. "Is there anything else, Your Majesty?" she asked with a frown.

"Won't you need any help? I will be generous and help you bathe and get dressed since you are injured. That way I can also check your wounds and see if they're all fully healed…"

Xenia's jaw dropped when she heard his ridiculous claim.

'What is happening? Why is he being so clingy all of a sudden?!' Xenia whined to herself.

Why did a "King" even have to bother with her so much? She could already tell that something was suspicious. Or… On second thought, she realized that he believed that she was his possession since he saved her life, but acting like this seemed so out of his own element.

Xenia arched her brows as she asked, "I beg your pardon, Your Majesty, but I can do it on my own."

"Well, I don't doubt that you can. If you're uncomfortable with me, then how about letting my servant Dale and the others help you out?" The King insisted.

'Seriously?!'

"Please, Your Majesty. There's really no need for that since I prefer doing my own chores. Like you said earlier, we need to leave soon, right? Can I please have my privacy now so that I can finish my morning chores soon?" Xenia asked with a forced smile on her face.

She was trying not to offend The King as much as possible, but his insistence on invading her personal space was starting to infuriate her.

"As you wish then," The King answered.

Xenia was dumbfounded by the expression on his face, 'why did it seem like The King was actually pouting?' She thought inwardly as she saw him step out of her chambers.

Noticing some strange steps in the bathroom, she went to take a look. Xenia waited a while before dismissing the servants inside as soon as she saw that they finished preparing her bath.

She then took off her clothes, but not before she double-checked to ensure that everyone had already left the room.

Shaking her head, she then gave her body a once over. She was surprised to see that there were no scars left from her wounds. Tarah really did a great job in combining her medical and magical skills to heal her injuries quickly and perfectly.

And speaking of Tarah, she had heard nothing about her. She sincerely hoped that the healer hadn't left Cordon yet like she said she would. It felt nice to be friends with her. Maybe she should ask her to join them on their journey to her Kingdom, Ebodia.

Sinking in, Xenia let her body soak in the warmth of the water while still being in awe at the hospitality the King was showing towards her. However, what she couldn't fathom was why he was even bothering himself with her.

Was it because he was simply fond of her and admired her fighting skills? Or was there something else she was missing?

She shook her head as she gave up on the thought. She decided not to ponder too much on the matter as she had to hurry and report to the King.

Drying herself off, she was about to step out when a servant knocked on the door. She hurriedly put on the clothes that The King had prepared for her.

"His Majesty is already waiting for you in the dining hall. If you could please follow me," the servant informed when she opened the door.

Xenia nodded, following the servant as they started walking. The dining hall was located on the ground floor of the castle, and it took a while for them to reach the aforementioned room.

"His Majesty often dines with his Moonlight Knights, the highest-ranking officers and his personal cavalry, especially before he's leaving for travels," the servant informed.

Xenia simply nodded, not overthinking about it. She knew enough about the Kingdom of Cordon since her father had made sure that his children studied the rituals and customs of every kingdom within their sphere of influence.

Darius was the Supreme Alpha among all of the alpha's of each werewolf pack inside Cordon. There were many packs within the kingdom, but everyone was obliged to follow and pledge their loyalties to the King, the Supreme Alpha among the Alphas of the packs.

Nearing their destination, Xenia could hear loud voices coming from beyond the door even from a distance.

'These men are too loud!' she inwardly complained. Taking a deep breath, she reminded herself to calm down as she maintained her disguise.

Soon enough, they entered a big dining hall, and Xenia froze upon seeing a lot of men inside the room. There were females too, but she gulped at the thought of seeing so much muscle in one place.

All of them were obviously werewolves, given their muscular build and how little clothes they wore. And although female werewolves had covered up a bit more, the fabric they wore was very thin and clung to their curvy bodies perfectly.

The clothes in her kingdom were far more conservative compared to that of the Kingdom of Cordon.

As soon as her footsteps echoed throughout the hall, all eyes immediately went to her sudden arrival. Already, she felt the scrutinizing gaze from most of the hall's occupants, with her being a new face inside the huge dining hall.

This is definitely not what they called fashionably late, it was 'miserably late'.