The Crown's Entrapment

Xenia had to blink several times as she stared at the young healer before her. Her eyes then darted to the floor, the bodies of Bartos and Gideon gracing her senses.

"What happened?" Xenia gasped. She was feeling better now, but why was Jayra currently with her?

"There's no time to waste, Your Highness," Jarya urged her. "Don't worry, they'll wake up in about thirty minutes. The explanation can come later. For now, the Queen is on her way to get you a change of clothes."

"Huh? Mother?" Xenia confusingly hummed. "I thought she's grounded?"

"Yes. They were inside the meeting hall earlier, but it seems that they instructed Queen Dana to go out earlier," Jarya replied. "It was there that she probably saw you? I don't know the exact details."

Xenia was about to ask for more details when the door swung open. She could only blink in wonder as her mother entered the room with a few servants in tow.

"You. Go to the adjacent room and get ready this instant," her mother sternly said, rushing towards her and practically pulling her into the secret door connecting to the other guestroom. "There's no time to waste."

Xenia didn't know what was happening as she let herself get dragged by her mother. The servants entered with them together with Jayra, and she could only look on as her mother calmly gave out orders.

"She should be ready in less than ten minutes," the Queen said. "That's all the time we'll get."

"Mother?" Xenia murmured, her eyes welling up from the overwhelming emotions.

Her mother turned to her with a faint smile and said, "Let's talk later, dear. I'm just happy that you're back."

She then continued, "We can still rectify the situation. All you need to do is to show yourself at the meeting hall and deliver a good alibi on where you've been… Your father didn't say that you ran away. Instead, he told everyone that you were missing."

"W-what…"

"The Valcrez Council then assumed that you simply ran away from the marriage. Thus, they forced King Nikolai to take proper action," her mother kept on speaking, seemingly ignoring her confusion. "But the situation has changed. We can still fix this once you show yourself."

Xenia was still in awe when one of the servants took off her clothes. She didn't even feel anything as she was being dressed like a doll.

Instead, she simply listened to her mother as she thought up a good alibi that she could say before the Valcrez Royals, the Council, and their King. However…

"But what about the Werewolf King?" Xenia murmured.

"You're a lad to him, Xenia… A lad who simply ran away," the Queen promptly pointed out.

"Jayra already took care of the two werewolves guarding you, and they wouldn't have any recollection of her entering the room. Instead, they'll remember you knocking them out in order to escape."

She gave her a small smile, "I'll take care of the rest, so just focus on your alibi. The Werewolf King might not buy it, but he surely wouldn't make any drastic moves to compromise the situation."

As her mother continued on, Xenia couldn't help but nod as she thought to herself. 'I guess in the end, I still can't run away from this fate of mine… I'll still be marrying the Vampire King.'

It didn't even take them ten minutes to finish preparing her. Before she knew it, she was once again the prim and proper princess.

"Are you ready? Jayra will accompany you to attest to your alibi," the Queen muttered out, her hands already busy putting a veil over her head. "It's a good thing that we have a Tatar Berry in your sister's private garden…"

"Ah…"

Xenia let out a small gasp as she heard her mother's words. She almost forgot that Mineah loved studying potions and poisons, and her sister even had a private garden where she would personally grow wild plants and herbs that could either cure or kill people depending on their usage.

"Just in case needed…" her mother whispered to herself before casting a magic spell for Xenia to see a brief view of Mineah's garden. "That is the location of the Tatar Berries. Keep that in mind for later."

Xenia nodded in understanding. The garden was situated in the forbidden wing of the castle, and no one was allowed to enter the place except for Mineah or the members of the royal family.

No one would look for her there knowing how she, the eldest princess, didn't even bother wanting to come down there. She couldn't even remember the last time that she set foot in the garden.

It was simply unfortunate. Mineah and her mother had the same hobbies… magic, spells, potions and poisons… They are practically the very opposite of her own interests.

"Ready?" her mother asked.

"I am," Xenia cooly responded, seeing her mother nodding in approval as she then turned to Jarya. The Princess let out a sigh, "Let's go."

With that, Xenia promptly walked out of the room, Jayra slightly trailing behind her as they went to go to the meeting hall.

"I'm a bit nervous," Jayra opened up as they walked into the hallway.

"Don't worry. Mother thought up of a good alibi, and it's convincing enough as it is," Xenia reassured her friend. "Although, I doubt that Darius…"

"Hmm… You address the Werewolf King by his name?" Jarya noted. A hint of teasing in her tone as she asked, "I guess you two already bonded a great deal together?"

"No," Xenia quickly denied. "It's just that he might not buy the excuse. It'll make things more complicated than they should be."

"Well, let's just wait and see," Jarya shrugged. "Besides, there's a war brewing, so the Queen could be right… They probably wouldn't make a big deal out of it as long as you show yourself."

Letting out a sigh, Xenia stopped in her tracks as they finally reached the door to the meeting hall. It was flanked by guards on both sides, all of them coming from the Valcrez.

"Announcing the presence of Princess Xenia, the eldest daughter of King Stephan and the soon-to-be wife of the Vampire King," Jayra declared, her head held up high as she spoke.

Xenia silently cursed, wondering why she even used Xen as her alias. She was pretty sure that Darius would inevitably put the pieces together once her face was revealed. If she wanted to keep this charade up, she needed to keep her face hidden from him no matter what.

The door opened, and Xenia took in a deep breath before she stepped into the hall.