The King and I did not see each other for the next three days. Each time our meetings took place too spontaneously and ended too abruptly, scattering the existing illusion.

Raphael kept his word to me, and the next morning the housekeeper came to me with the message that my service at the castle was over, causing me a wave of pleasant excitement.

The housekeeper did not ask questions, was tactful and surprisingly kind in her emotions. Although in the first second after her message, I expected sarcastic remarks. But no, it didn’t. Mrs. Rose must really only be stale on the outside, but soft and pleasant inside, like a freshly baked bun. This comparison brought a fleeting smile to my face.

- Miss Burton, if you think that everything is over for you, then you shouldn’t be so happy about it. – the housekeeper hastened to besiege me. - Although the King has ordered you to be relieved of your duties, no further instructions have been received from him. Accordingly, do not forget that you are still under the close supervision of my Lady Giselle.

Well, of course, who could forget about her. More precisely, on the contrary, how could she forget about me, given that rumors about the royal disposition towards me spread like mushroom spores. It is worth thanking those who like to support in-lock gossip for this, and there were a lot of such here.

And although this promised me problems, now I knew for sure that Raphael does not have romantic feelings for the Princess of Adaman which means I can use it for my own purposes.

Our last short conversation with him still echoed in my memory and made my heart contract nervously from a variety of feelings. One part of me was still skeptical and asked me to be careful. And the other one, the one who succumbed to debauchery every time, demanded to believe that the king could be attracted to me.

Of course, I wanted to believe the second one, but in recent years I have been brought up in harsh realities and realized that people change too quickly. One must always be on the alert.

Despite my young years, I was very smart and understood the full responsibility of the actions I had committed. I understood what I was in danger of losing my virginity before the wedding. And the conservative part of me was concerned about this fact, while the other part didn’t care, because I had already ruined my life to the point of no return.

Moreover, from the point of view of age, I was not so young. The average age of marriage was 18-19 years, while many of the court ladies had intimate relationships since the age of 16. But, of course, it was shrouded in mystery under ten locks. Such dissolute behavior was not held in high esteem and was severely punished and stigmatized in the name of the whole family.

- I understand and thank you for your concern, Mrs. Rose. - I smiled and bowed to her.

- And do something about these rumors. It’s in your best interest. I don’t care if it’s true or false, but it’s better to nip it in the bud. Think about it. - The elderly housekeeper spoke much more sternly.

She was not inclined to long conversations, and her position implied constant presence at work to keep everything under control, so she did not stay with me for long. But from her instructions, I realized that now I am allowed to move freely around the castle, I will also be replaced with a room and a maid will be allocated. In return, I promised to do everything I could to avoid Giselle’s eyes. Although the latter was not a royal decree, but the good advice of the housekeeper.

I wonder, and on what conditions will I be in the castle now? As the king’s mistress? But this is absurd, because, no matter what, there is no relationship between us. Isn’t that right?

So, I spent these three days in complete idleness, slept until I got enough sleep, walked as much as my heart desired and even went to visit Berkoot who welcomed me very cordially and he even let me pet him.

But most of the time I spent in the library, no longer hiding from anyone, but still I reserved the far corner behind the cabinets for myself – a cozy and quiet, secluded place.

Today, after lunch, I went there again to finish reading books about magical creatures. It turned out to be a very interesting reading that enriched my knowledge gap. I was especially interested in vampires, I couldn’t get the obvious similarities with the King of Abion out of my head. Could he be such a dangerous creature? But still, I’ve never seen such a creepy side of him.

Despite his depressing, sometimes dark aura, he looks very beautiful compared to the image in the book. But his red eyes and the pleasure with which he licked the blood from my neck...

I took a deep breath and flinched at the sound of the door opening. Due to my location, I couldn’t see who entered, but I distinctly heard heavy measured footsteps that grew louder with each step. And it seems that this visitor was walking in my direction.

A black top of the head with a tail hanging from behind peeked out from behind a bookshelf while the whole body was hidden. And the red eyes gleamed happily, accentuated by an elegant smile.

- Your Highness? What a surprise. - the man feigned surprise.

- It looks like you were coming here purposefully, Mr. Skars, - I retorted, getting up from the floor and curtsying slightly. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

The man laughed at my treatment and gently demanded treatment without status, just by name.

- That would be too tactless of me. - without embarrassment, he gave himself away and came closer, sitting down in the place where I had been sitting up to that moment.

- So, what are you reading? - he picked up one of the books and quickly flipped through the pages, familiarizing himself with the contents, and then closed it loudly, slamming it.

His laughter echoed through the deathly quiet library, and he didn’t even try to hide it. And what, I wonder, made him laugh so much? Seeing my stunned face, he added...

- You see, everything that is written here is pure nonsense. More precisely, not quite everything, but a lot. If you want to know more, then you need to choose more reliable sources.

Looking up at me, he patted the floor with his hand, prompting me to sit down next to him, but I sat a little further away, opposite.

- And where to get these reliable sources? – interest flared up in my eyes.

- The best source is His Majesty. In his head is the largest library of all magical creatures that are alive or existed before you were born. - his words were accompanied by a playful mood and rhythmic twitching of his eyebrows.

I exhaled, trying to figure out if he was joking now or if he was really sending me to the king for knowledge. So open. But I will think about this later, at my leisure, and while the king’s right hand is here, I will ask him a question that has been tormenting me for quite a long time.

- Your eyes... They’re so... - I tried to find the words to express myself correctly.

- Which ones? - The man cocked his head to one side.

- Red? – my question sounded a little silly, because it’s quite obvious that his eyes are red. – I wanted to say that the king has exactly the same. Is this some kind of distinctive feature of the inhabitants of Abion? Or are you vampires?

I spat out the last words without thinking, just out of inertia, but the way the muscles of his face twitched alerted me a little, but then he relaxed again.

- No, my lady, I’m not a vampire. But, as you already know, I can transform.

And the next moment, a veil enveloped him, forcing me to move further away and watching as an adult, strong man disappears in the blink of an eye, leaving a huge black raven in his place.

I gasped in surprise. I couldn’t have predicted this in any way. So Skars has been this bird all this time?

That’s what he meant when he said he already knew me. I still couldn’t get out of my stupor and continued to openly stare at him, either from fear, or from admiration, or from... who would know what else. There’s a complete pun in my head.

While I was in prostration, the raven regained his human form and lightly touched my shoulder with his hand, pulling me out of his thoughts.

- I know it’s shocking, but since I’ve already shown you my transformation ability before, there’s no point hiding it anymore. The King has long trusted me to keep an eye on you, not in order to keep you from escaping, but in order to secure your presence in our kingdom. So can I hope that you and I will become friends? In return, you will receive my unconditional loyalty.

- It’s all so... weird. I need to think about it. Or rather, just to put my thoughts in order. I can’t blindly trust you, you understand that, right?

He nodded in agreement with my words and did not press me. So I quickly gathered up the books scattered on the floor and walked away, leaving Skars behind. That’s the turn of events.

So Raphael originally gave the order to protect me? Having discarded past thoughts, now I was absorbed only in this thought – can I really be attractive to the king? And how long ago? Somewhere in the back of her mind, a smug little Thea was dancing.