The Crown's Entrapment

“Do you think that we can reach Ebodia in less than five days if we keep traveling in your wolf form during mornings, Your Majesty?” Xenia suddenly asked.

She heard him sigh, then he added, “You seem very excited and eager to reach Ebodia… Must I remind you that you’re stuck with me, Xen? Don’t forget that your life is mine.”

Xenia frowned as she mused, ‘Why is this king so possessive of a mere lad?’

She almost wanted to shake her head in exasperation with the King’s actions. But then again, if they followed traditions, Darius had a point since she would technically be dead if he refused to rescue her.

In that sense, she indeed owed him her life. However, her pride refused to let her accept that she was at the mercy of someone else. And it was not only her pride. She was a princess for goodness’ sake! She had royal blood flowing in her veins. How could she owe her life to someone else?!

Once she was home, she would simply have to reward him for his kindness and help him when he needed it. ‘That should be enough for him to let me go, right?’

Xenia was actually not familiar with all of the rules and orders of kingdom politics. Unlike her sister, Mineah, she focused more on training her body and improving her skills rather than reading books.

Ah, she loathed politics… It was why she disagreed with marriage alliances in the first place. But in the end, she supposed that she still couldn’t escape one, when it came down to it.

“Do you have family in Ebodia?” Darius suddenly asked.

Xenia was caught off guard but she genuinely replied, “Yes.”

“So what made you decide to become a wanderer then?” Darius pondered.

“Because I’m trying to escape a dreadful fate…”

“Dreadful fate!?”

“Yes. Being caught up in an arranged marriage is the worst,” Xenia grumbled.

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“Arranged marriage!?”

Xenia rolled her eyes and mused, ‘Why is he repeating after me?’

“Won’t your family notice you?” Darius inquired further.

“No, they won’t. We’ll be going straight to the castle.”

“Where did you learn your fighting skills? Given your talent, I’m sure you would have been a warrior for Ebodia…” he asked.

“Your fighting skills do not look like it came from self-taught training. And your sword… I can tell that it’s not ordinary. An A-caliber double-edged sword… It’s not something that a normal person would be able to afford.”

“Your Majesty… If you don’t mind, I would prefer keeping some aspects about my life private, especially regarding my personal matters. I hope that His Majesty will respect my choice. All I can say is that I’m a wanderer.”

Xenia let out a sigh of relief when the king finally stopped asking too many questions.

*****

As the dusk drew near, they stopped by another village to eat dinner. Then they looked for a good and safe inn where they could sleep for the night.

“I need one room. And please provide us a bath and sleeping clothes for the two of us,” Darius instructed the innkeeper, making Xenia’s jaw drop.

“Your Ma-”

He glared at her, making her shut her mouth out of fear. Avoiding his gaze, Xenia gulped. She couldn’t believe how ridiculous this king could act when he wanted to be.

Acquiescing to the king’s demands, the innkeeper led them to their room, where they were introduced to their amenities.

By the time the innkeeper left, Xenia could no longer hold her protest in, “Your Majesty, are you sure we should sleep in the same room? It is so inappropriate!”

“Inappropriate in what sense? You’re my personal servant after all,” Darius nonchalantly commented.

“Would you do your job this time, Xen? I hope that you won’t act weird and suspicious again!” he scolded.

Xenia gulped as her face paled. She had to remind herself that she was still in disguise.

‘What does a servant warrior even do?’ she wondered while assessing the situation.

There was a knock. Opening the door, the innkeeper, with his helpers, informed them that they had provided them with a warm bathtub and clean sleepwear clothes.

After all was said and done, King Darius quickly dismissed them. He then turned to Xenia and said, “Help me undress.”

Xenia quickly walked towards him. With a gulp, she tried to calm all of her trembling nerves as she prepared herself. If she wanted to put on her disguise, she would need to gather herself and continue with her act.

‘Maybe things will become easier once I tell him the truth? I should tell him that I’m a woman and this is all just a disguise,’ Xenia contemplated before quickly dismissing the notion.

From what she could tell, Darius was a possessive werewolf, owning her life as a lad. If he found out that she was a woman and a Princess, he might become even more possessive of her, possibly reinforcing his belief that her life was his now. It was just intuition, but still, she couldn’t risk it…

Darius’s piercing gaze was so intense that she could feel the loud pounding of her heart in her ears. She had never been this close to any man, even more so with a bare-chested man!

Hesitatingly, she raised her arm to untie his cape. Her movements were so fast that she barely breathed in an effort to avoid lingering on his muscles.

She then quickly turned to hang his royal cloak into a dress stand present in the room.

Turning back to the task at hand, she gulped as she looked at his trousers. This was bad. He was obviously waiting for her to remove it.

Taking a deep breath, Xenia forced herself to calm her trembling hands as she walked closer to him and reached for his trousers. Taking another deep breath, she was about to remove it when she suddenly thought of a brilliant idea.

In one swift motion, Xenia faked a good faint. To her horror, however, instead of falling on the ground, Darius was too quick in catching her body.

‘Keep your calm and don’t move your eyelids!’ Xenia reminded herself as she kept up the act.

There was a long pause that followed, and she suddenly found herself regretting why she even did something stupid like this. Lying still was unironically making her die out of nervousness.

‘What’s taking him so long to put me down on the bed or the ground!?’ Xenia silently screamed.