Thea

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- If that’s all you wanted to tell me, then don’t worry. I wasn’t going to go there. I’ll spend a much more useful time without your annoying company. I said mannerly and reached for the hooks of my bra, unbuttoning it and hiding my bare breasts in my palms.

The next second, hot breath touched my ear. But that was all that touched me. He realized that I didn’t like the idea that his split personality could touch me, so he kept himself in hand.

- Are you doing this on purpose? By the way, I’m trying to focus on important things right now, and you’re distracting all my thoughts to yourself. he whispered sensually. – The little seductress.

- Then don’t get distracted and let Skars occupy this empty head. - I advised.

He chuckled angrily, making it clear that until I get dressed, I should not expect his second self with an independent mind to appear here.

- I’ll punish you next time, mark my words. You will beg me to touch you. – he said and I felt a chill down my back when he took a couple of steps back.

I grabbed the dress hanging on the screen, covered myself with it in front and turned to him. His eyes burned with undisguised desire, like hellfire. We both felt the tension between us, both were at the limit, so as not to break down and attack each other.

- We’ll see who will beg whom. – I said as erotically as possible. – Keep in mind, Your Majesty, that you will have to make a choice – either me or Giselle. Despite the fact that you’ve had a lot of women up to this point, now it’s a matter of principle. If you sleep with her, I won’t have to beg you for anything.

I did not take my eyes off him, letting him understand my intentions and life principles, and in my heart I was terribly afraid of tomorrow. Although my ultimatum sounded very childishly possessive, I couldn’t help myself, I wanted him to dispel my fears, to say that he wouldn’t touch Giselle, wouldn’t share a bed with her.

I swallowed hard and lowered my eyes to the floor. There was no trace of the former playfulness. After all, mind games are a terrible thing. At one moment, the mood can turn upside down.

He didn’t answer me, as if he was considering my expressive words, whether to accept them or respond with his ultimatum. Taking advantage of the moment, I quickly dived into the dress and buttoned the buttons on my chest and only when the dressing was over, I turned around and saw that he was standing with his eyes tightly closed.

- You can open your eyes, I’m already done.

I even wondered for a split second why he suddenly decided to close his eyes, when suddenly it dawned on me, and I jerked my head up sharply, glaring at the innocent image of Skars.

- Milady, I swear I didn’t see anything. – he raised his hands in a protective manner and now I closed my eyes and exhaled convulsively.

- What is Raphael doing now? - I asked him, probing the ground of what I was allowed to know and what not, what he would hide from me and what he would tell.

- He has an important meeting with one of his people who has been away for a long time.

- Do you know what Giselle is doing now? – slightly narrowing my eyes, I waited for his answer.

- Probably preparing for the wedding. The king sent her a wedding dress to try on.

- The King? Isn’t that what tailors should be doing?

- Yes, the tailors, but the deadlines are tight, so the king instructed the Duke of Parmont to buy a ready-made dress for Lady Giselle at the atelier.

I don’t understand anything, it’s absurd. Is the Duke buying a dress for the future queen? Ready-made dress at the atelier? Somehow it’s not royal or something. And how Giselle agreed to this is not clear.

But this does not concern me, although somewhere deep inside me, malicious laughter was having fun.

- Skars, tell me, I’m not locked up here, am I? Can I move around the castle if I don’t catch Giselle’s eye? I asked, and he immediately nodded approvingly, making me squeal with joy and break into the most childish smile.

I was already sick of all these walls around, I didn’t have enough freedom of movement, I didn’t have enough fresh air and walks in nature, and also communication, easy communication about all sorts of nonsense with my friend Jenin or conversations about horses with Oliver. I didn’t have many friends in the castle, but I could trust these two. At least that’s how I felt.

- Great, then I’ll run to find Jenin right now. You can stay here if you want. – I waved my hand in the air around the room.

- I’ll go with you.

- Wh-what? - I grinned incredulously, as if I hadn’t heard him. – Why?

- Just in case. - he winked at me.

- All this, of course, is great, but you are too conspicuous, I can’t take you with me, I myself need to manage not to attract unnecessary attention to myself, and it will be doubly difficult to do this with you.

- Oh, if that’s the only problem, then...

The room was plunged into swirls of fog again, and I already knew what was going on and expected him to turn into a raven, but instead of him, there was a small stuffed animal on the floor, a fluffy and impossibly charming hamster.

- It looks like you have something else to surprise me with. You so cutie. - I said, continuing to be touched by the fluffy creature, which was already comfortably resting in my palms.

With each new day I lived, I realized how much magic was around and how much I didn’t know and didn’t notice before. It was so exciting and at the same time it hurt me even more by reminding me of my uselessness, of the absence of any, even minor magic in me, except for my mother’s ring.

- But you know, it’s still unnecessary. I’ll do fine on my own.

Taking advantage of his sedentary, plump form, I carefully put him on the bedside sofa and quickly, in the blink of an eye, slipped out of the room before he turned into something else and chased me.

I went down to the first floor and found that the servants had almost completely finished the decorations for the wedding. Everything was done in pleasant white and orange colors, the air smelled of peach oil and all kinds of flowers, the aroma of which was interrupted by the compositions collected in bouquets. The marble floor shone today as if it was being constantly polished every second. The same can be said about the columns, which were cleaned to whiteness.

I still couldn’t figure out what made it so bright until I noticed that all the dark blackout curtains, which until today were a salvation from bright sunlight, were replaced with flowing snow-white tulle. There seemed to be more oxygen in the air at once and I wanted to take a deep breath from lightness. Yes, this castle definitely needed drastic changes.

- Teanna, why are you loitering around? – a voice behind me made me jump on the spot from fright.

Turning around, I saw the frowning face of Mrs. Rose, who was holding a large box tied with a beautiful satin ribbon with a massive bow on top.

- Good morning, Mrs. Rose. - I bowed. – Actually, I was...

- I don’t need you to explain what you’ve done before... The housekeeper cut me off. – It matters what you have to do now. While everyone is rushing headlong to prepare for the upcoming wedding, do you have the courage to wander around here and annoy everyone with idleness? Wouldn’t it be better for you to stay in your room then?

Her words weren’t hurtful, but they were fair. Although the housekeeper probably knew that I was no longer a servant, my appearance screamed the opposite, and therefore her words were fair and if I caught the eye of the wrong person, Mrs. Rose would have problems first of all, because her subordinate was shirking from work.

- I’m sorry. What can I do for you? – I hurried to appease the elderly woman, and she somehow slyly narrowed her eyes, looking at me.

- Here, take this box to milady Giselle. - she handed me the box. – This is a wedding dress for fitting.

I turned my gaze from the box back to the housekeeper and she, as if sensing my unspoken question, said:

- Tomorrow is the wedding, Thea, and if you don’t want to suffer all your life, don’t do stupid thoughtless things. - her gaze on me softened noticeably and she smiled a little. – You are still too young, drop all this love nonsense in your head and try to establish a relationship with the future queen, otherwise she will drive you away.

- It’s not like that at all ... - I would like to agree with her words about falling in love, but I couldn’t be so open with her, and therefore had to object.

- Anyway, take my advice. Either be docile and docile, or... Do you know the saying? The cuckoo that sings at night is the loudest cuckoo...

True, this saying perfectly reflected the power of a woman’s influence on a man in love. A woman who shares a bed with a man will be more influential than all other women. And now the thought that the housekeeper wanted to convey clearly reached me. Either I have to accept and let go of my feelings for Raphael, or I have to prevent his intimate relationship with Giselle.

I smiled sadly to myself. Is it even possible?

Tomorrow is their wedding and tomorrow is the wedding night, which should end with consummation of marriage. Giselle is very beautiful, and her demeanor, beauty and outstanding forms cannot go unnoticed. Even if Raphael has feelings for me, he will have to complete this marriage according to tradition. And what if she completely suits him in bed? What if he falls in love with her after that? What if he doesn’t look in my direction anymore, because we still haven’t had that moment of unity that binds partners.

But is it worth thinking about, because if they consummate their marriage, it will no longer concern me, since I will never be able to accept it.

From the abundance of thoughts, I wanted to scream to clear my head for at least a second. I did not waste time in vain and, having accepted the box from the housekeeper, decided to act decisively, rejecting Raphael’s warnings about not catching Giselle’s eye. That’s right, I need to accept my position here and try to get along with his future wife so that I can survive.

I can’t hide forever. And I don’t want to.

- Be careful. – the instruction finally sounded.