The Crown's Entrapment

They finished the breakfast in silence. In the end, Xenia had no choice but to travel with the King on a single horse again. And yet despite knowing this, she still tried her luck by saying, “Your Majesty, don’t you want to travel faster? Like using your wolf for-”

“No!” The King firmly answered, cutting her off in an instant.

At the echo of his voice, Xenia gulped. ‘Grumpy beast!’ she wanted to voice out but held her tongue.

As she expected, there was simply no way that Darius would accommodate her request for him to change into his wolf form so they could travel faster. And that was all because she was unable to please this brute King with his so-called warrior-servant thing!

‘Maybe tonight, I should actually try serving him well,’ Xenia thought to herself.

‘So what if I’ll be able to see his privates? Hah! It’s not like it’s something great to see! Maybe I should just think of it as practice since I’ll get married soon… I might as well familiarize myself with seeing a naked man…’ she justified the situation to herself with a sigh.

‘It’s nothing different from healing anyway, where you need to study the human anatomy to be better at your craft…’

“Why are you sighing, Xen?”

“Nothing, Your Majesty,” Xenia whispered, barely managing to stop herself from rolling her eyes as she replied.

Along their travels, they stopped every once in a while to take a break in the shade of the forest. King Darius also let the horse drink some water and recuperate while they readjusted their bearings. According to him, the forest they were in was a shortcut that would lead them to another village near the border of Ebodia.

As they returned to the road, King Darius had wolves following him, often making sure to gaze through their eyes to look out for possible danger.

Xenia knew that werewolves could talk telepathically, but she wasn’t sure if they could also do it with animals as well. She found herself wondering if they were even real wolves, or if they were baby werewolves in their animal forms…

After the wolves left, Xenia casually asked, “Are they also werewolves? Are they babies? Or are they simply normal wolves?”

“They are wolves, Xen,” Darius neutrally replied. “They’re guiding me towards the right path inside the forest.”

“I see…” she nodded. “So you guys can also talk to animals and understand each other… Is that applicable to all animals or is it just for wolves?”

Xenia curiously asked. It was there that she realized that she lacked the proper knowledge of her current situation. The knowledge that she probably would’ve learned by now if she didn’t skip the boring classes about it with Mineah. Back then, she would often sneak out and look for her older brother, Ezekiel, in the training ground and practice her combat skills with him.

“Just wolves…” Darius plainly answered.

“Huh…”

Getting her answer, Xenia found herself looking at the clear water where the horse was drinking. She stared at her reflection, as she leaned forward Darius looked at her back and squinted at her.

***

[Just push her in the water… That way, she’ll get drenched and you can tell her to change her clothes.] Zeus grunted. [Help her change her clothes then. Please, just end your misery by thinking whether or not Xen is a male or female.]

“Xen, grab your sword,” Darius instructed.

Xen turned, his eyes widening as he saw Darius aiming his sword right at him.

“Your Majesty! What are you doing?!” Xen asked with a frown.

“Grab your sword now while I’m still being nice,” Darius warned. “I’m already doing my best not to slash your…” Darius warned.

[You mean slash her clothes, right? But that would be weird to say. Ah, so you prefer removing her clothes using your blade? What a naughty move!] Zeus excitedly snarled. His inner wolf was anticipating the next thing that could happen.

When Xen refused to move, Darius swung his sword at him. He was about to slash the fabric on Xen’s chest but the lad quickly dodged the attack and grabbed his own sword as he positioned for a defense.

“What is wrong with you!?” Xen yelled.

‘I’m stripping off your clothes!’ Darius smirked, mentally barking on the back of his head.

Understandably, Darius ignored Xen’s violent reaction to his aggression and continued attacking her with all his might, slicing every piece of clothing he could from her as he advanced.

[Are you enjoying this? Is this really better than just pushing her to the water?] Zeus impatiently commented as he watched the scene between Xen and Darius unfold.

Either way, the two seemed like they would take centuries to finish up just because of how fast Xen was moving to dodge and weave herself away from him.

Having had enough, Xen finally unsheathed her sword, her sharp gaze landing on Darius as she grunted, “Your Majesty, you started this! So don’t you blame me if we both end up getting wounded!”

She then started parrying the King’s advance as she continued, “Just what the hell is going on with you suddenly attacking me like this anyway?! Are you being possessed by an evil spirit right now?!”

Darius tried his best not to chuckle at how Xen was trying to justify her own violent actions. It was laughable, to say the least.

[This isn’t making any sense… Let’s just talk to her nicely. Ask her directly perhaps?] Zeus concluded.

Darius, who had finally gathered enough of his senses, simply drew his sword back as he asked Zeus, [Do you even think she will tell us the truth? Because I highly doubt that.]

[Hmm… It’s still worth it to try, don’t you think?]

[Yes, you’re right. There’s no harm in trying. I’ll just talk to Xen and ask. What we’re doing now is too childish for my liking… Look how terrified Xen looks right now.] Darius inwardly scoffed, making Zeus laugh at the absurdity of the situation as well. Especially now, that Xen’s face was turning paler by the second.