The Crown's Entrapment

Gilas gulped. He was speechless. He could tell that Lady Jayra had only mentioned her using her mana to make her statement less awkward for him.

[Are you dumb? Quickly answer her and say NO,] Han quickly insisted. [Tell her that it's better for Clara's immunity to get rid of it!]

"My lord?" Jayra called out to him again.

Snapping back to reality, he looked at her with a blush on his face as he awkwardly murmured, "It's fine, Lady Jayra. Thank you for everything. It's best that she heal through her own immunity this time. We wouldn't want to take too much out of your mana anymore."

"That's true. Thank you for understanding, Lord Gilas," Jayra replied with a wink. "Besides, I made sure that Lady Clara's already away from danger… So all she really needs is a bit of extra caring. See you around Lord Gilas…"

With that, Jayra immediately turned around and leave with a wide smile on her face.

[And why are you smiling like that after talking to Lord Gilas, my wife?]

Jayra quickly pursed her lips at the telepathic message. From a distance, she saw the intense gaze her mate was giving her, and she fought the urge to laugh at the obvious misunderstanding.

Well, it was an idea that came to her while she was healing Lady Clara yesterday. Bella had mentioned to her the other night how Lady Clara was marked, but the Bond between her and her mate was still not completed yet. Bella also said that the two haven't mated since they didn't share the same scent yet as her and Bartos.

From what she could recall, Clara's wolf lost her sense of smell, which meant Gilas would have a hard time trying to court her with him being the only one to feel the Mate Pull between them.

Then again, Clara had mentioned before that she could still feel the Mate Pull whenever she and Gilas would touch. On that note, to cut things short, Jayra's playful mind simply gave her the idea to leave some remnants of the poison in Clara's body just to make her shiver at night.

She once again giggled at her own playful thoughts. She had done it enough that she was sure that her mate had picked up her mood through their Mate Bond.

[Ah, you've been playing a nosybody on other people's affairs, my wife…] Bartos remarked, having finally gotten his answer to his own question a while ago.

[I can't help it. I just feel like Gilas deserves some warmth and affection of his own after everything he's been through,] Jayra explained herself. [Lady Clara is his mate, and can you imagine the torture he's been through after all these years living in the shadows just looking at Lady Clara from afar? We both know that Lady Clara has a one-sided love for our King, and I'm sure that she also wants to move on from it as well… Call me a nosybody, but those two need some bit of pushing.]

She then scoffed and continued, [Hah, time won't help those two move on… What they need is each other's warmth to move on. Let them have some physical connection since that's the most effective way to start for werewolves, right? Sooner or later, everything else will follow…]

Bartos teasingly chuckled. [Hmm… Well, I suppose I'll stop being a nosybody on your affairs then, my wife…]

Looking at her mate's location where he was standing currently with the King, she replied, [You better… Focus on your work instead. As for myself, let me formally greet my royal family.]

She then gave Bartos a wink before continuing to walk towards the spot where the Ebodian royal family was. Looking at who was with them, it would seem that she would need to take special care with her word choices in greeting them.

The King of Valcrez, the Vampire King and husband of Mineah, was with them, and he was apparently still unaware of Prince Ezekiel's curious case. No one actually did except for Prince Ezekiel's mediate family, her, their head wizard Lurio, and their new Seer Tarah.

It was a sensitive case. Dragons were considered an abomination of this world, and nobody really liked them in the first place. Jayra sighed deeply. At least the family who took care of her were still together at this moment; standing tall and giving each other support as they've always done.

As soon as she reached their location, Jayra flashed them her sweetest widest smile before politely bowing and greeting them all.

Seeing her approach, Queen Dana immediately met with her halfway for a warm hug. "Oh, my dear, I'm so happy for you. It's just sad that we weren't able to attend your wedding," she regretfully apologized. "Still, you must know how happy I was to receive the good news, knowing that you're in good hands…"

"Thank you, Your Grace…" Jayra replied with a wide smile.

Ah… She missed getting these motherly hugs from Queen Dana. Snuggling warmly, she drowned herself in the Queen's embrace, knowing that such things would become a rarity for her since they were now kingdoms apart.

Soon after, the King, including Mineah and Prince Ezekiel, took their turns in giving her a hug.

"I'm glad to see you back, our Prince… Our Future King of Ebodia," Jayra teased with a wide smile right after she had hugged him. Even now, she could sense it… Something had changed in Ezekiel, but she couldn't exactly pinpoint what it truly was. Looking at Queen Dana and Mineah, both of them simply gave her a meaningful nod.

"I'm glad to be back as well, Jayra. I'll see you in Ebodia for the coronation soon, but for now, let's focus our undivided attention on the new Queen of Cordon," Ezekiel answered with a serious note.

Jayra nodded in understanding before turning to the Vampire King and giving him a curt bow. In response, the latter simply smiled and nodded at her.

She then looked at the rest of them and said, "I'll have to leave you all here to wrap things up… I just stopped by to greet and welcome you all here." She gave them another smile and added, "I'm sure our new Queen, Queen Xenia, would soon run in your direction once she's available… Please excuse me."

"Of course, dear. Go on… We'll see each other again during dinner at Castle Cordon," King Stephan nodded in understanding. "We're also expecting to meet your in-laws soon."

Jayra simply smiled as she gave them a curt bow before turning around to leave. She was very excited to introduce Bartos's family to them later… Not even just excited, but also feeling proud at the fact that she would finally let them formally meet each other!