14 A Mystery

"You're shivering already," Nikolai noted with a frown. "Winter is coming. You shouldn't stay in the water too long given how weak your body is."

"I'm not that weak like they all to say," she said in a confident tone, defending herself from the rumors that had long circulated.

"Maybe in different aspects, but not with your physical body," he noted.

She couldn't help but lift an eyebrow at him.

"I can already feel and hear your heart's weakening rhythm. It's getting rather… erratic." he teased.

His words make Mineah gulp despite her dry throat. Right… A powerful vampire like him would obviously have exceptionally heightened senses, meaning he could hear as her heart quickened when she saw him.

"Can you blame me? I'm a maiden who just had her first bath with a man," she murmured with a pout. She wouldn't let him get to her that easily. "My heart behaving as you described is to be expected. It's normal."

She leveled her gaze with his. Despite her efforts, he maintained steady eye contact with her and it was really starting to make her feel weird. Sure, she was used to looking people in the eye, but Nikolai's stare was just nerve-wracking, leaving her breathless.

"What?" she scoffed.

He suddenly smirked as his lips stretched themselves into a very seductive smile, one that quickly faded as his face turned dimmer than the night sky outside.

"I'll be going out for a while," he tersely stated. "I'll be back as soon as I can." 

Mineah instinctively closed her eyes the moment Nikolai moved to stand up. Hearing him leave, she did her best not to steal even a peek of what she could assume to be his naked self before she let out a relieved sigh. 

Slowly opening her eyes, she was once again alone in the bath. He had left without her even feeling a thing, and seeing the opportunity, she didn't waste any time in quickly wrapping up her bath. 

After all, who knew when that husband of hers would return without so much as a warning? As such, it would be best that she was in her proper clothes already before such a thing even happened in the first place.

"I wonder what happened…" 

Mineah absently hummed as she dried herself up. Quickly wearing her nightgown, she then sat in front of the vanity mirror before promptly drying and combing her hair while looking at her own reflection. Giving herself a once-over glance, she noted that there was still a hint of a blush present on her face. 

For some reason, she could feel a strong physical attraction towards her husband, and she couldn't help but wonder if it was a good thing or a bad thing given how death always seemed to loom over her like a dark cloud. 

The threat looming over her was getting worse and worse every year as well. She could only imagine what kind of abomination would come to pass should things align in such a way…

Letting out another sigh, she was interrupted from her stupor when a knock echoed from her door throughout the chamber.

"Your High– Majesty, it is I, Dani. I'm here to deliver your meal for the night." her Shadow Maiden stated, correcting herself, using Mineah's proper new title.

"Come in." 

As Mineah instructed, Dani along with two of her fellow Shadow Maidens entered the room. The princess looked at them and asked, "Is everything alright outside? The King just left in a hurry. Something must have happened."

"We didn't notice anything so far, but let me look into it," Krisha suggested. 

Mineah nodded approving of her Shadow Maiden's suggestion, leading the former to leave immediately. She was just about finished when she felt Dani's intense stare. 

"Why are looking at me like that?" Mineah couldn't help but ask. "Is there something with my face?"

"You were blushing hard when we entered, milady," Dani commented with a frown. "Did something happen between you and the King?" 

Mineah's blush deepened at the question. 

Zaila, seeing her princess's reaction, knowingly looked at her with her lips stretched wide as she added, "Did the two of you do it already?"

"No!!!" Mineah quickly sputtered out. 

Mineah grumbled. Oh, how she wished she could tell her shadow maidens the truth of how she was cursed. They were aware that she was indeed a cursed princess, but none of them knew the full nature of the said curse. All they knew was that they had to help her find the best astronomer to predict when the moon would turn red.

"But how come? I thought you wanted to make him fall in love with you," Zaila naively murmured, her eyes blinking with curiosity. "You were supposed to consummate the marriage tonight, right? It is your wedding night, and wasn't it stated in the book that being intimate with your partner plays a big factor in capturing a man's attention?" 

Mineah didn't know whether to cry or laugh at what she just heard. 

Her Shadow Maidens were with her all the time, as such, they knew all about her research including how she brazenly asked some… experienced women about their relationships and how to capture the heart of a man.

She did all of this in order to gain more knowledge about what she was about to do.

As if that wasn't enough, Zaila bluntly added, "The wedding ceremony was already disappointing enough. I mean, it was so rushed that the two of you didn't even get a proper kiss like at a traditional wedding!"

Shrugging despite how deep the blush on her face had turned, Mineah murmured, "Kissing in a wedding ceremony at this time is inappropriate, it was a business deal, a treaty to protect our people. I want to eat. Come and join me."

Brushing away the topic, Mineah was relieved that Zaila didn't bother pursuing her line of questioning. 

A few moments later, Krisha came back without finding a single thing about whatever it was that led the King to leave. She could not even find out where he was at the time.

Mineah was disappointed but there was nothing she could do, she simply dismissed the three after dinner before going to the balcony and looking up at the crescent moon in the night sky.

Staring at the bright moon, Mineah knitted her brows as she squinted at the vultures rasping and hissing as they flew around the area of the inn where they were staying. It was dark, but she could still see quite well due to her gifted eyes.

"Condors," she hummed with a sigh. Those three condors were the same ones hovering over their castle just a while ago. "Probably Lai's pets…" 

She let out another absent minded sigh as she thought about what she needed to accomplish. She honestly needed to learn a lot more about Nikolai, but apparently, he wasn't called the recluse king for nothing. A vast majority of information about him still remained a mystery.

Mineah yawned, and she soon went back inside and climbed onto the bed to get the rest she needed. It would be best if she was already sleeping when Nikolai came back. It would prevent him from giving her these weird feelings again.

***

However, unknown to Mineah, two pairs of curious eyes stood at a distance below her balcony as she turned around and went back inside. 

"Looks like King Nikolai is very attentive to his new bride," an unknown person commented. "He put up tight security around her. How long do you think she'll last?"

"Hmm, we'll see," a woman with a vile smirk maliciously and confidently stated. "But one thing's for sure, she'll soon disappear from Nikolai's side regardless of what she might feel about it."