The Crown's Entrapment

Jayra followed after Bella, the latter having stopped at a corner as she sobbed.

"Bella…" Jayra whispered out to her.

Responding, Bella turned and instantly pounced at her as she continued crying. Deftly, Jayra moved and comforted her by stroking her hair and back.

"Come with me to my private chamber," Jayra suggested, having noticed that there were some passers-by turning towards their direction.

A while ago, Bella and Calypso's exchange were already garnering some attention, so Bartos stepped in and drove away some of the gossip mongers lurking in the hallways near them. Still, it wouldn't hurt for them to actually be somewhere private instead of being out in public.

The latter nodded, and Jayra pulled Bella along as they made their way to the former's private chamber where she practiced all her spells and magics. Guiding Bella to a chair, she then gave her a handkerchief to wipe away her tears.

"I can't believe I wasted ten years of my life waiting for him!" Bella ranted with a sniffle.

"Hmm, you're still young, Bella. You're only twenty-five," Jayra reassured her. "You still have many more years to experience what life has to offer you. Look at me. I'm twenty-eight when I met your brother and realized that he was the right man for me."

She then consoled her, gently tucking Bella's locks back behind her ears as she spoke. "At least now, you know where you stand. Things are clearer now that Calypso is back, and you got to know how he truly feels about you. This time, you'll no longer wait for him."

Bella weakly smiled. Her sister-in-law was a very brave woman.

"I'm so proud of you, Bella. You managed to address this issue early on. It's Calypso's loss. Not yours," Jayra reassured her. "That just means he's not the man for you. I'm sure there will be a much better man for you out there."

"Ugh… I hate this hair now!" Bella jokingly retorted. "I want to change it back to black!"

Jayra chuckled. "That's way too easy. Remember, your sister-in-law is a mage, and I can easily bring your hair back into its original color in a snap."

"Yes. Please do that," Bella nodded with a frown. "Dyeing my hair and even bleaching it is a pain in the ass for me! I don't want to see purple on my head ever again!"

"No problem…"

With a flick of her wrist, Jayra instantly cast a spell to bring Bella's hair back to its original color.

"Wow, Bella! You actually look more stunning and beautiful with your natural black hair like your brother," Jayra gasped. "This definitely suits you better!"

"I know that, Sis. It's just that I never knew when Calypso would return so I kept my hair purple with a few long curls. That's his ideal look in a woman so I did it that way," Bella repeated herself. "He loves the color purple. He even loves lavender. That's why I always used lavender perfume. But now, there's no need to do that!"

"Do you want me to remove the curls and give you straight hair then?" Jayra asked. "Those lovely curls do look good on you. Well, I could also bet that straight hair would look good on you as well."

Bella wiped the remaining tears off her face and asked, "Do you have a mirror, Sis?"

Jayra nodded before grabbing a handy mirror and handing it to Bella.

Taking the mirror Bella inspected her hair as she mumbled, "I want to keep these curls. I honestly love these wavy curls rather than just having boring straight hair."

"Hmm, alright," Jayra nodded. "How do you feel now?"

"Annoyed and agitated!" Bella snarled.

Jayra's lips stretched wide as she pointed out, "Hmm, I guess Mother is right. You're simply infatuated with this Calypso. If you're in love with him, the only word you would've answered to me right now is that you're 'hurt'."

Bella kept silent, so Jayra added, "But I bet you're still hurt right now. Only, it's not your heart that is hurting, but your pride." She insisted on asking, "Am I right? Tell me how your heart is feeling right now."

Bella only stared at her for a while as if assessing her words.

"My heart… Uhm… isn't hurting," she timidly replied with her head down.

Jayra offered Bella a gentle smile as she held the latter's hands, gently squeezing them to get her attention.

Bella raised her head to look at her. "Do you know who I noticed that truly cares for you? It's probably too early to say this, but my keen eyes have always been right so far."

Jayra had seen Lord Osman not far from them a while ago. The Admiral also witnessed what happened, and she bet he also heard Bella's conversation with Calypso from earlier based on where his spot was.

Watching him, she observed his expressions all throughout the argument. Even if he was technically eavesdropping, she saw genuine concern in his eyes.

He even moved as if to follow Bella when the latter ran, but Osman stopped the moment their eyes met, shaking her head at him as a signal for him not to follow. There, Jayra also stopped her husband from following Bella before she ran after her sister-in-law herself.

Bella keenly stared at her, waiting for her to continue. "It's the Admiral," she revealed. From there, she told Bella what she had observed from the start with how Osman's gaze never left her ever since breakfast.

"Don't you feel anything about the Admiral?" Jayra curiously asked. "Do you know the feeling where your heart will skip a beat whenever you're seeing him? Or sometimes you'll feel nervous right in front of him for no good reason? I mean, don't you at least find him attractive?"

Jayra inwardly cringed at her behavior. She knew she was being aggressive at playing a cupid at that moment, but for some reason, she just couldn't ignore the look in the Admiral's eyes whenever his eyes were on Bella.

Bella only pursed her lips. It was a cue that she had no plans on answering her questions at all.

"Hmm, alright then. Let's just get you ready then," Jayra dropped her line of questioning with a smile." You're still fighting in the tournament, right?"

Bella nodded. "I also want to watch the Princess' back in the finals, so I'll go ahead and continue on with the tournament," she explained herself. "You're aware of how they would downsize the number of representatives for each pack to only five contenders in the finals, right?"

Jayra nodded with a smile. "Thank you, Bella."

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AN: So I will post Bella's updated AI-Generated visual in her black hair in the comment section. haha