The Crown's Entrapment

Yet another morning has come, and Xenia had such an excellently good sleep in Darius’s arms that she even woke up late, much to her chagrin.

“He really didn’t wake me up, huh,” she mumbled with a pout as soon as she saw that she was alone in bed.

Letting out a breath, she took her time in looking at Darius’s bedchamber. She smiled when she managed to get a whiff of his scent lingering all over the room… Well, it was practically just the scent of their love-making fluids, but it still made her smile all the same.

Quickly getting up from bed, she saw the empty potion on the table that would’ve hidden her scent on her mate, clearly having been used for its properties. Darius had asked Jayra for one last night, probably since he had foreseen that she would wake up late today for her to personally cast the spell on him.

Sighing, she then performed a quick spell to remove her scent from Darius’s bedchamber before going back to the adjacent chamber she originally occupied to get ready. From there, she would then go and see Jayra in her own private chamber. She was honestly still feeling ecstatic with the fact that her friend would have to leave today for her own marriage ceremony tomorrow at Bartos’s territory.

She walked out her bedchamber in high spirits, greeting back everyone that passed her with a greeting with a wide smile on her face.

“Good morning!” Xenia beamed as soon as she entered Jayra’s chamber.

“Just in time. Come here and eat your breakfast first,” Jayra greeted with a smile of her own, motioning for the princess to take a seat. “Seems like His Majesty knows you well enough to the point that he can predict when you’ll wake up. He even got it down that you’ll walk straight towards here so he instructed the servants to serve your breakfast in here as well.”

Seeing the food on the table, Xenia immediately dug in. Jayra promptly sat opposite of her, quietly watching her eat. She blinked. It wasn’t like her to be this quiet…

Xenia broke the silence and asked, “Wedding jitters?”

Jayra shook her head. With a smile, she replied, “It’s just that everything feels like a dream to me. It’s all going way too perfectly for it to be real…”

“You deserve all this, my friend,” Xenia said with a wink before quickly finishing her food. From there, she asked, “Any message from wizard Lurio?”

Based on how Jayra’s face paled as she averted her gaze, Xenia could already tell that her friend was already aware of the situation regarding Ezekiel.

“N-Nothing yet, b-but I’m sure there’s nothing to be worried about,” Jayra stuttered out.

She was obviously lying…

Xenia let out a mournful sigh, and with a frown said, “I hate you.”

That instant, Jayra raised her head to look at her.

“I already know everything, so please get that distressed look off your face,” Xenia scolded. “Besides, it’s your wedding tomorrow, and you should be rejoicing instead of sulking.”

It was obvious, in retrospect. Even though Jayra was smiling last night, she could tell that her friend was bothered. And after seeing this kind of reaction, she was right in that it was because of Ezekiel.

“I’m sorry, but-“

“Yes, I know. It’s on my mother’s orders. However…” Xenia’s shoulders dropped as she continued, “I feel like you all don’t trust me enough on this… Then again, I guess I can’t blame you all since I’ve been the reckless and impulsive Princess since forever. But that’s not the case anymore. I’ll prove to all of you how much I’ve grown since last time. So please stop worrying about me too much and treating me like I can’t handle any major problems I have to face in this life…”

“I’m sorry, Xenia. You’re right… I of all people should be able to tell that you’ve improved a lot. That you’re more mature now than ever before,” Jayra sighed with an apologetic look. She then curiously asked, “How did you find out?”

Xenia still had a pout as she then explained how her sister Mineah told her everything.

“Also, the wedding will be held earlier than initially planned. I’m sure that by now, they’re all cooking Darius alive inside the courtroom because of the amount of support he was giving to the war between Ebodia and Helion,” Xenia finished her explanation. “Knowing all that, we have to hurry with the wedding and start the trials soon.”

“Right,” Jayra nodded in understanding. “On that note, your armour is ready for you to use. Come and take a look. See if it fits you well.”

At her insistence, Jayra pulled Xenia out from her chair and led her to a corner. Her frined then pulled off the cover hiding the armor, and Xenia gasped at the craftsmanship of her friend’s efforts.

“It’s made out of the best materials available, Princess,” Jayra proudly announced. “This is arguably the best among all of my creations!!!”

Xenia gulped, and a short silence settled in the room. Worriedly, Jayra turned to her with a frown and asked, “What’s with the look? Don’t you find it to your liking?”

“Jayra… this is too revealing,” Xenia trailed off in disbelief. “I mean, it looks good, but how come the design doesn’t fit most of our armors usual designs?”

“Never mind that. This will look perfect on you,” Jayra’s eyebrows snapped as she scoffed, “I made it based on Cordinian customs. Didn’t you see the armour of female soldiers here? Did you see how Clara looks in her armour? She looks great!”

Xenia was aware of how much skin was exposed on Cordonian female warriors, but…

“Jayra, they’re werewolves, so it’s understandable that they’d prefer less clothing on them. The same goes for armour since it’s basically useless once they shift,” Xenia explained with a sigh. “As for me, I’m human. So I’m sure everyone here will understand if I will wore our full armour during combat.”

Jayra’s eyes widened as she said, “But that’s exactly why you should wear similar armour to your opponents. It would show that you’re at the same level as them even if you’re human, and you haven’t even heard enough about this armor.”

She chided as she insisted. “Come on, wear it now and I’ll show you. You might think that it’ll reveal a lot of your skin, but there’s actually an invisible thread connecting them together that would protect you better from any kind of steel, iron, or bronze that an ordinary armour couldn’t handle.”

Xenia frowned as she listened to her friend’s briefing. It looked like Jayra put a lot of effort into her armour, and it would be rude if she didn’t at least indulge her.

“Alright then. Let’s proceed with your idea,” Xenia scoffed. “You’ll be the one to answer to Darius if he reacts negatively at how revealing this armour is.”

Knowing her mate, Xenia was sure that there was a high chance that Darius would prefer her to wear full cover armour of Ebodian design during the trial by combat. But then, she also understood Jayra’s point.

Jayra chuckled, “No problem. I’ll handle the possessive king if it means you’ll wear this thing!”

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