The Werewolf King's Bride

"So, where should we go first?" he asked playfully.

"You said around the palace. Are you shy now?"

"Me? Shy? You bet!"

As he said, he went to his study. He did not put me down at all. And it did not even seem like he was the least bit tired of carrying me. His arms were too strong.

I felt pampered.

As he said, he took me to every single place in the palace, even in the kitchen. Everyone was shocked. The shocked looks I witnessed on my way made me shy even more. It was embarrassing, but I was determined.

But I did not tell him so. I did not want to give up. It was very childish. But I could not say that I was not enjoying it either.

"What about going to the garden?"

"No! You said inside the palace?"

"I meant, palace ground," he shrugged.

\'This mischievous...\'

"Then we can even visit the knights," he smirked, "like this."

"No! I give up! I give up!" I declared and got down even before he could put me down gently. Going to the knights like this was just way too much.

"No need to get too worked up, sweetheart. I wouldn\'t do it."

It did not seem like he would not do it. Rather, he seemed pretty excited a while ago about this. If I had not stopped it, he surely thought of doing it.

I eyed him suspiciously. He raised his eyebrow playfully. If I said something now, he would surely tease me in some way.

"Why aren\'t you saying anything, my wife?"

"Is there anything to say?"

"Is it because you\'re too shy that you lost your words?"

\'Haa, now even though I didn\'t say anything, he teased me again... Jeez!\'

"I am not!"

"Then why don\'t we go to the knights like that?" he asked, smirking.

"... Stop teasing me," I said, hiding my face in his chest.

"Haha, alright. I won\'t tease you anymore."

I went back for a bath. Today, seven maids were taking care of me. Usually, it was just Ruby. There were actually two personal maids for me, but for some reason, it ended up only with Ruby.

It was pretty strange that only one maid was around the queen. But Demetrius suspected everyone and did not trust anyone much. Ruby gained his trust in a weird way, but because of that, she could be around me. I knew why he was behaving like that. After all, he could read minds. He knew what someone was up to.

"What scent should we use today, Your Highness?"

I usually used rose oil or did not use anything at all. Dem did not like the smell of scented bath oils. And it was not like I had to use it too. But sometimes, Ruby nagged. So, I would choose rose oils.

"Vetiver," I said. I chose something different this time. Thankfully, the names of the plants were not different here. So, I did not have any problem.

\'I read vetiver is good for relieving stress. Who knows? I might have been stressed lately.\'

"By the way, I don\'t remember us having vetiver," I muttered. "Is it newly imported? As far I know, it is not produced in Querencia."

"Yes, Your Highness. It is from Lacuna," one of the maids said. "We are importing vetiver a lot, starting this month. There is a rumor that it was His Highness\'s direct order."

"I see..."

"Your Highness, please lend me your ear," Ruby whispered. "Actually, His Highness did it after the imperial doctor told him that it might be good for Your Highness."

"Eh...?"

It could not be true, could it? It seemed like he was doing it because it would sell well in our kingdom. Perhaps Ruby was wrong. Or was she?

"Your Highness has very soft skin."

"Yes, Her Highness has beautiful hair as well."

"Her Highness would look good in anything. But of course, black and golden suit Her Highness the most."

"When Her Highness wore that light blue dress two months ago, it looked very good too."

"Did you see the new dresses? They are too beautiful."

"Yes, I like the one Her Highness is going to wear at the banquet. It will look amazing on Her Highness."

I could only hear them chatting about me and my dresses endlessly. If I was not the queen, they would not perhaps give a damn about me. I did not have much of a charm as a person. It was not about beauty. There was nothing in particular that I could do, except one thing- I could remember anything I read. This ability was tiring.

It helped me these days when I took care of a few things in the castle. I could remember the amount of money spent on every single thing which worked as an advantage. I wondered if I would be able to gain some kind of power that at least would be enough to make me useful.

I had no intention of gaining any kind of power. But if I could come to use to this kingdom, perhaps it would not be a bad thing.

I wondered if I would be able to awaken my power safely. What if the dark mage Demetrius knew of was not strong enough? After all, Dem said that my father might be a powerful dark mage since he managed to contact me like that. I had a suspicion too. But now everything depended on how much black mana I had in my body. The greater the amount was, the harder it would be to awaken my power.

\'I just wish for everything to go smoothly.\'