"Here's your room, your highness." A royal servant said, as he gestured at the huge wooden door that was right in front of us. He was roughly 185 cm and had great features. He was dressed in royal blue attire that hung on all his muscles and broad chest. His shirt was laced with some silver chains that eulogised his total appearance and complimented his grey eyes. He was the definition of perfection and beauty, but the only thing missing from his face was a smile, as a frown ruled over his dashing face.
Something about him felt odd, and I felt like he wasn't a servant but perhaps had a higher blood rank because of the aura he carried. I had spotted some servants outside when the royal family welcomed me into their kingdom, but they didn't carry as much aura as he did, nor did they dress as royal as he. If he wasn't a servant, then why was he helping us to our rooms?
"Who are you?" I asked with a smile on my face as Miriam and Evelyn both stared at me with their eyes poking into my soul.
"Simon," he answered as his sharp jaws clenched, but with his face lacking basic emotions.
"Let's go in," Miriam said, but as she was about to walk into the room, she was stopped by Simon's muscular arms. If she hadn’t quickly stopped on her tracks, then she would have hit her head hard on his arm and might be blessed with a throbbing headache for the rest of the week.
"The room is reserved only for the princess and no one else. Your rooms are next door," he said as he gestured towards the left side of the hall, showcasing their rooms.
They both turned to look at my face, unsure of whether they should leave me or not, but I gave them a reassuring smile before they both walked away to the room next door.
"Why can't they come into my room?" I asked, but rather than giving me an answer, he picked up the two heavy boxes that were beside me like papers before carrying them on his hands.
"Can you open the door?" He asked with his brow raised and his tongue sucking at his teeth. It was then I knew he truly wasn't a servant because of the way he talked.
"Princess Addison," he repeated, as I didn't respond to him on time whilst being lost in my thoughts.
"Sure," I answered, but felt a slight flush at the way he called my name, which wasn't even mine with his grumpy baritone voice.
I turned towards the huge wooden door as I tried to open it, but it appeared to be stronger than me as I wasn't able to push it nor could I pull it. I didn’t even know which way was the correct way to open the door, as neither was working for me.
"Push," he said,
"I'm trying," I replied, but before I could finish my sentence, I felt a strong aura directly behind me as he stretched his arms to push the door open while I was in between his arms.
On opening the door, he walked straight inside and headed for a smaller door that seemed like a closet before placing my boxes in them.
I had been wrong when I thought this was a room as it was more spacious and, on entering the room, I realised it had a lot of doors for different places. It was a suite with my own private kitchen space and even a balcony. The room was definitely a dream room, with the walls painted in offwhite while the ceiling was decorated with an old painting of tree vines.
"The King has invited you to dinner, which is only an hour away from now. Your ladies can't come to your room to dress you up, nor can you go to their rooms for now," he said to me, still with a blank expression on his face before turning his back to leave my room.
I had a lot of things to ask him, but I had no time to ask my questions as he vanished from the room in no time.
The moment he left the room, a wave of sadness rushed through my veins as the thought of my situation washed through me. For the past few months, I've been going from one place to another, and neither of the places was home.
I didn't want the thought to take control over me, as I couldn't afford to waste any of my time crying or thinking about my predicament rather than finding a way out. I had made a promise to myself, my unborn child, and Alaric that I was going to make it back home in less than three months, so I needed to work towards my goal without any unnecessary distraction.
I had just less than an hour to prepare for dinner, but I wanted to see what the view from the balcony looked like, so I opened the cream curtains and took in the beautiful scene from my balcony. The night sky was laced with thousands of stars that brightened the atmosphere, and the moon was a full moon tonight, which meant all of our powers would be in their full glory tonight.
"Princess Addison," Simon's voice called my name, but I immediately flinched as I had thought I was alone in the room and didn't realise when he entered the room.
"What is it?" I asked as his thick brows furrowed.
"You're not dressed for the dinner, which is only about thirty minutes from now," he said, as my eyes widened in shock. I couldn't have spent all those minutes admiring the night sky.
"Okay, I'll get dressed now," I said and gestured at him to leave the room with my eyes, but he didn't bulge. I proceeded to let out a fake cough, but he still didn't move.
"Do you need something from me?" He asked, and I swear I would have rolled my eyes at him if not that I was unsure of his status.
"Yes, can you leave my room as I would like to dress up?" I said with a forced smile, but he didn't even look at my face before turning his back to leave.
The moment he left again, I didn't waste any more time as I entered the bathroom to take a quick warm shower before dressing myself up into a straight brown silky dinner gown that complimented my eyes. I was glad that I was able to spot a modern dress in the box, and the women in the castle seemed to be dressed nicely, unlike Edessa with the obnoxious 1600 ball gowns.
I had run out of time while applying my makeup, but I was still able to do something about the dark circles and eye bags under my eyes before applying some lipstick.
I strolled towards the door, but on getting there, I realised that I was still unable to open it. I doubt if Simon was anywhere close to the door, but I had no other option but to knock hard on it.
The moment I placed my first knock on the thick wooden door, it was immediately opened and I was met with the grey eyes of Simon as he stared at me without breaking contact with my face.
I also found myself staring back without saying anything as we both looked at each other for a few seconds, uninterrupted. I was having mixed feelings in me with the way his grey eyes were staring into my soul. It was getting intense for me, but he didn't seem to be moved. I had no idea what he was doing to me, but I needed to stop it at once.
"Dinner," I said, with a cough immediately following, but he didn't act like he was bothered by the cough as he walked to the side of the door, giving me space to pass through it.
I still remembered the route that I took to get to my room from the main part of the castle, so I didn't need him to direct me. I used to suck at remembering new routes, but after what has been happening to me for some time now, I can't take the risk of not knowing my surroundings.
In no time, I was already in the main part of the castle as it was crowded with different servants and nobles. They all had their eyes on me as I walked past them to the dining room, which was the room after the throne room. Because I had no idea how to get to the throne room, a maid had shown me where it was, but the moment I entered the dining room, I was greeted by the sweet smile of the royal family, including the king and queen, as the king stood up from his seat to walk towards me.
I was nervous at first, but I had to remind myself that I was their queen and should be brave. On getting to where I was, he stretched his hands and took mine in his as he led me to my seat with a smile on his face, and honestly, it felt like I hadn't seen a genuine happy smile towards me in like forever.
"Welcome, princess Addison," the queen said with her welcoming soft voice and the same soft eyes that welcomed me when I first arrived at the castle.
The king pulled my seat out for me as I gently sat on the fine wooden chair at the left-hand side of the king, while the queen sat at his right hand and the princess beside her mother. The princess was just two years younger than the prince and had a very charming but intimidating appearance that screamed royalty from afar.
Simon had also joined us at the table, sitting beside the princess; I noticed a red flush on her face the moment he sat beside her and assumed they were having an affair, but the prince was nowhere to be found.
"Let's eat." The king said and gestured for the servants that were at the edge of the room to bring the food, but the queen had a troubling look on her face as the smile she had earlier wasn't there anymore and had been replaced with a frown.
"Why don't we wait for Prince Holland?" the queen suggested, but the king appeared tense at the mention of the prince, who was nowhere to be found.
"Why? I'm hungry and it's obvious he's probably there banging his whore, Lady Willow. " The princess, whose name was Skye, spoke so casually as the queen sent her a death glare while I mouthed an "oh". I now understand why Prince Holland wasn't happy to see me. He probably doesn't want this arranged marriage, but so did I. I only hoped he would be reasonable enough to talk so we could both find a way out together.
"You should let him know he has no other choice but to accept this marriage," the King finally said to the Queen as she sighed while I sat quietly watching the family drama, but Simon was the only one without any emotion attached to his face.
"Let's eat," the king said again, but this time, he spoke with his Alpha aura as the rest of the royals on the table were forced to bare their necks in submission, but his aura had no effect on me, yet I had to pretend I was affected by it as I also bared my neck in submission.
The servants soon dished out the various mouth-watering dishes on the polished wooden table. As I was already getting ready to dig my fork into the delicious variety of food, I noticed that I had to wait for the king to have the first bite of his food.
He was hesitant for a while, but the moment he dug his fork into the roast turkey, a voice distracted us.
"Hello, father," Prince Holland said, with a grin, but his most noticeable feature was the girl he held close to his arms. She must be Willow.