The Werewolf King's Bride

"Your Highness, you look tired these days," Ruby said when I finally woke up. It was almost lunchtime. I was taking a bath that Ruby prepared for me.

"Yeah."

"And you eat quite a bit more than before, Your Highness."

"I\'m hungry all the time."

"Perhaps Her Highness is pregnant."

"Pfft... What are you even saying? I use birth control all the time and Dem told me that Luc said it is hundred percent safe. There is no way I can be pregnant. Didn\'t I tell you this before?"

"Yes, Your Highness. But I\'m just saying what I saw," she said.

"You\'re wrong about this one. I\'m not pregnant. We are yet to talk about it first," I said.

"My apologies, Your Highness."

I sighed and tried to relax in the bath. It was true that I had been tired all day and I had been eating a bit too much than usual. But it was normal for me. There was no way I could be pregnant. I was confident about this one.

But it was not why I was a bit troubled. I was going to drink tea with Dem\'s aunt. She did not like me from the very start. It was obvious from the fake smile she gave me. And besides, Dem had told me the same as well. There was a chance that she could try to poison me.

It was not the worst scenario since I was going to take the antidote before. Rather I was more worried about her changing the date. I had a feeling that she did that on purpose, but I had no idea why.

And before I knew it, time was moving forward mercilessly and it was the afternoon in the blink of an eye. I had taken the antidote already. Dem had also sent me a letter to remind me to take the antidote.

I was grinning like a fool and had read the letter almost twenty times before Ruby told me that I was running out of time. I was behaving like a high schooler with a crush. Perhaps it was because I had recently become an adult and already was living with the person I liked.

Ruby had styled my hair in a long braid with sky blue flowers decoration. I was wearing a sky blue gown. It was not too plain, not too sparkly. Perhaps being a queen needed to waste too much time after the makeup even if it was just for having tea, and that was also with a family member.

"Don\'t you think it\'s too flashy?" I asked.

"No, Your Highness. It\'s perfect and besides, the dress is just a plain gown. I was thinking of one with more jewels, but as you said that you don\'t want to wear something heavy, we have to go with this one," Ruby said.

\'Plain gown- my ass! This thing is too long and flashy, no matter how I look at it. Just look at the flowers in the front and the unnecessary layers... It\'s super expensive as well.\'

Demetrius never bought anything that was not costly enough. He said that he did not care about buying costly things, but still, he wanted to do it for me. I told him not to, but he said that it was important to make a unique expression as the Queen of Querencia. I could not argue about this one since he knew more about this than me.

His mother and aunt wore these types of dresses as well, but mine ones stood out too much. He said mine ones were more costly and made out of the best fabrics. Even Ruby was chattering about how good and perfect the fabrics were though I could not find much of a difference.

I had reached the garden where Dem\'s aunt had invited me. She smiled broadly at me the moment I reached there.

"Your Highness, the Queen, please allow me to greet," she greeted me formally.

I still had a hard time getting used to these formalities. But as a queen, I needed to follow them even though I did not like them at all.

"Indeed, Lady Caerlion," I smiled. "It\'s a pleasure to see you."

"The pleasure is mine, Your Highness. What a funny world- two people living in the same residence but cannot meet each other at all," she said with a smile. I could sense the hint of mockery in her tone.

"Yes, after all, those two people are supposed to work," I said. "It doesn\'t matter if one is idle, the other one is busy nonetheless. How can those two meet in such a different lifestyle?"

"Indeed, indeed," she said. She looked at the maids and said, "Pour us some tea."

"In any case, Your Highness doesn\'t dislike black tea, right?" she asked.

"No, I\'m fine with it," I said. I had no idea what I was going to talk to her about. Perhaps I would just go with the flow. If she wanted to talk about something, I would just get along with it. And if she tried to embarrass me, I would just prepare some comebacks as quickly as possible.

"Maintaining all the formalities is a bit tiresome. Do you mind if I cut it down a bit? It will be just between us," she said.

"I\'m afraid not, Lady Caerlion. You and I are not someone who can drop the formalities out of nowhere," I said. "And I wish to stay the same way."

She gritted her teeth, but then fixed her composure pretty quickly. "... Well then, it can\'t be helped," she said. "... Anyway, I heard there is a committee for noble ladies. As the Queen and an honorable person, Your Highness can join the committee as well.

Coincidentally, I\'m a member as well. I can help..."

"Did I ask?" I asked bluntly and then smiled. It was something Dem taught me. He said this kind of attitude was good for making a scary impression. And that was what I needed. "Don\'t get me wrong, Lady Caerlion, but I don\'t think you\'ve given me enough time to think about it first before going to a conclusion. Shouldn\'t you think about asking for my opinion first?"

"... Ah, forgive me, Your Highness. Let me ask you properly this time- Would you like to join the committee?"

It was clear how much she hated obeying me like that. But there was no other choice. She could do nothing but do so even if she despised it like hell. Power was an important thing it seemed.

"No," I replied and took a sip of the tea. "But if someday I feel like it, I will let you know."

"Sounds good, Your Highness."

"Right?"

"By the way, I am very curious about something- how is married life going for Your Highness?"

"It\'s going pretty well. Thank you for asking," I said. I kind of knew where she was headed...

"Good to hear. Our king is not someone to love after all. If all goes well, then it\'s very good to hear."

"Why are you saying that he is not someone to love? Has he told you this himself, Lady Caerlion?"

"No, he hasn\'t..."

"Then how do you know this? Or are you making weird assumptions based on some kind of twisted phase in your mind?" I asked calmly. "Or do you not want him to love me?"

"How can I want such a thing, Your Highness?"

"Ah, yes. It\'s more like how can you even say such a thing. We can\'t control what we have in our minds, but we can definitely control what comes out of our mouth, right?" I smiled. "After all, it\'s for our own good."

"... Indeed, Your Highness. A king marries mainly because of an heir..."

"If you\'ve invited me to talk about me and my husband\'s personal lives, then let me get something straight. I don\'t have any time for trash talk, you see. So if you understand, Lady Caerlion better not meddles into our personal business. I don\'t like it when others poke their noses in unnecessary places, you see."

The way her face gloomed hearing my words was worth seeing. I did not like to be rude to people. And I always tried to behave properly, but some people were not worthy of it. There was no point in trying to be nice to them since they knew how to flip down the nice part with manipulation.

And the rest of the talk was wary. She had a difficult time as she could not embarrass me as she wanted. This time I thanked Dem and my mind for helping me with potential comebacks. I grinned in my mind with satisfaction.