The Werewolf King's Bride

He took out the tiara\'s jewel-encrusted box and opened it. The tiara was made of gold, and it was adorned with deep black gemstones. Dem claimed that those stones were extremely valuable and could only be found in Querencia.

He placed the tiara on my head and to be honest, for a moment, I thought I was a different person.

It was not the first time he did it. When I was crowned the Queen of Querencia, he did it then as well. But I took it off almost right away because Dem said I did not need to wear it all the time since it was just for formality to wear it sometimes.

The king and queen\'s crowns had always been the same since the beginning. It was amazing how beautiful and new the crowns still looked.

"Ah, you... you truly do look like a queen," he muttered as he rested his chin on my shoulder.

"Yeah... I\'m surprised...," I murmured.

"Why do you look surprised? You should know about your beauty. I am your husband and I know about your beauty. I know how gorgeous you are. Yet, I still get surprised every time I see you. You are just too beautiful," he said.

"Can\'t I get surprised too if you can?"

"Nope. You need to be more confident, so no matter what, you can think that you are the best-looking person alive."

"Jeez, it\'s easy for you to say because you have that level of confidence," I said. "You are really handsome and it\'s not a lie either that you are the most good-looking person. But it\'s not the same for me."

"Who said that?"

"Me..."

"Really?" he chuckled. "Just admit it."

"Admit what?"

"You\'re the most beautiful woman ever."

"... Let\'s just go."

"You won\'t admit it?"

"... Let\'s go."

I decided not to bring this kind of thing in front of him again. I had suffered enough embarrassment talking to him like this.

Dem assisted me in standing up, despite the fact that I was capable of doing so on my own. He had been helping me with everything from the moment I had gotten sick.

"Look at me," he said.

"Hm? Mm..."

He suddenly kissed me. Though he was very clingy and liked to kiss and touch me often, I still did not expect it. But it would be a lie if I said I did not like it.

"You... ruined my lipstick," I said as the long kiss finally ended.

"I don\'t think I am sorry," he smirked.

"I knew it! You are always like this," I muttered.

\'Well, I\'m not going to put on lipstick again. It doesn\'t feel bad that you were the last person to touch my lips tonight...\'

We met Mother on the way. She was wearing a black gown as well. She smiled at us when she saw us. But it was not just Mother there.

"Blue!"

"Ava...?"

The little girl literally jumped on me. I did not expect it at all and almost fell, but Dem had his grasp around my waist for quite a while which I had not noticed.

"Don\'t jump on your aunt, Ava," Dem said. "She will get hurt."

"Did you miss me, Blue?" Ava asked, ignoring Dem. She had grown up a bit and her voice seemed clearer than before. Even though it had been two months since I had seen her, it felt like I had seen her for the first time in a long time.

"Ava, why are you addressing your aunt by name? It\'s not appropriate," Evelyn scolded her.

"It\'s alright. I told her to call me by my name anyway," I smiled. "How have you all been?"

"Eh, we traveled a lot. My limbs are hurting. The banquet is what we needed right now," Evelyn said. "Right, honey?"

She nudged her husband on the arm who chuckled and kissed her on the cheek. They were a happy couple. The moment I had seen them, I knew that they were very happy with each other.

"I missed you a lot, little Ava," I said, kissing Ava on the forehead. "Did you miss me too?"

"Don\'t try to pick her up. Remember your health condition," Dem muttered.

"I missed you too. But are you sick, Blue?" Ava asked.

\'Oh my gosh, she\'s so cute! Ack! The way her tiny lips move when she says those big words! How adorable!\'

"Just a little. But your uncle is taking care of me. So, I will get better very soon," I said.

\'And if everything goes well, you might even get to meet your cousin.\'

"Uncle is taking care of you? But isn\'t Uncle Demetrius selfish?" Ava muttered, confused. "He doesn\'t take care of anyone else."

"Pfft...!" Even though I did not want to, it was hard not to laugh. Especially, Dem\'s face looked so drained and funny...

"Hahaha, I\'m surprised our Blue was able to tame this narcissistic werewolf!" Evelyn burst out laughing. "Well done, Blue! He now resembles a well-trained puppy, haha!"

"Don\'t talk about Demetrius like that," her husband chuckled. "What will others say if you talk like that about the king?"

"It\'s fine. Even if our Demetrius is selfish, he is good to his wife. That\'s all matters," Mother said.

This moment was perfect. It was just how a family was supposed to be. Everyone was smiling, but...

I felt uneasy.

And it was not just me. I noticed Demetrius\'s face as well. He appeared to be feeling uneasy as well. Was it because we suspected something was wrong with his past and he was missing a significant portion of it?

I did not know how Dem truly was feeling, but I felt like someone was trying to play with my mind. It was just like the time when I had started to have weird dreams.

\'Can\'t I be happy and relax? Just this once? Why? Why does this uneasy feeling attack me again now?\'

"It\'s time already," Dem said. "Ava, go to your mother."

"Alright, Uncle Dem. Take care of my Blue for me, okay?" she said, pouting.

"... Your Blue?" I heard Dem mumbling. "When did she become your Blue?"

"She was always my Blue," Ava said.

"Oh my god!" Evelyn started laughing again. "I didn\'t think... Demetrius is now fighting Ava for Blue as well? I didn\'t think I\'d be alive to see this day!"

"Come to Father, Ava," Merrick, Evelyn\'s husband, and Ava\'s father, said as he knelt down. "We need to join the banquet now, right?"

"Alright! Blue, we will talk later, okay?" she said, holding out her pinky finger towards me.

I smiled as I locked my pinky finger with hers. "Of course, we\'ll talk later."

"It\'s a promise!" she exclaimed loudly, her blue eyes gleaming with determination and eagerness.

"Yes, it is," I replied with a chuckle.

"She\'s really cute, isn\'t she?" I exclaimed to Dem as we approached the main palace\'s entrance.

"You\'re cuter," he said casually.

"Stop joking, really! Did you see how her little lips move when she talks?"

"I prefer..."

"Don\'t say it!" I pressed my palm over his lips.

"It appears that the King and Queen of Querencia are very close."

Hearing the unfamiliar voice, I looked ahead of us. It was a woman with red hair and green eyes. Beside her, there was a man with red hair as well, but his eyes were red as well.

\'Red eyes exist here, whoa!\'

She was perhaps thirty and the man was a bit older than her. They were dressed in purple Royal attire. The neckline of her dress was embellished with silver-colored ornaments. Of course, they were not real silver since silver was considered a cursed object in the world of werewolves, and it was lethal to them.

It was not hard to know who they were. Red hair was mostly common in Mazazine and purple was the royal color of Mazazine. And besides, I had seen their portraits before.

\'Black and golden were the royal colors of Querencia, royal blue was the royal color of Trouvaille, golden was the royal color of Lacuna, purple was the royal color of Mazazine and white was the royal color of Ataraxia.\'

"King and Queen of Mazazine," Demetrius said. Despite his straight face and lack of discomfort, his voice betrayed him, or he sounded harsh on purpose.

"Oh my, is the King of Querencia not going to compliment my looks?" she exclaimed, her palm covering half of her face for some reason. "Or, will the Queen of Querencia mind if the King of Querencia does so? After all, it is heard that the King and the Queen of Querencia only like to keep each other for themselves."

\'She is definitely trying to bring up the fact that we don\'t have any harem of our own and only have one partner. It\'s not usual for kings and queens.\'

"That\'s right, Queen of Mazazine. I am only for my wife, the Queen of Querencia, just the way she is only for me," Dem smiled proudly while her face turned bitter in a moment.