Paying Respect to the King

Clavis hurriedly went back to the shower and turned the water on to cool off his head. As he brushed his fingers along his bluish silver hair, he sighed yet again.

"Seriously, Clavis, what are you thinking?" he contemplated. "Don't you think you're being too comfortable around her? She's still a woman and you've only been with her for a week for you to walk around the room nonchalantly with just a towel on you. Sigh … Or maybe, I just don't really care much about her? Yes, that's probably it - the most logical and possible reason. It's like the feeling you have with a pet - you don't really care even if your pet sees you naked. Yes, that's it".

A few moments later, Clavis finished his bath, dried his hair and clothed himself with his usual attire - a white shirt and a blue blazer, though this time it had a slightly different style and design.

As he buttoned his shirt, he walked out of the bathroom and towards Selena who was covering herself with a blanket.

"Woman," he called her in a commanding tone, "Get yourself ready, we're visiting the king".

"A-are you wearing clothes now?" Selena nervously asked.

"Ugh, yes I am".

Selena jumped to her feet and looked angrily at Clavis. "Arggghh … first of all, my name is not woman so call me properly - it's Se-le-na - got it? Tsss, when you need me, you call me by my name but when you don't, you just call me 'woman'. Hmf! And second, don't just walk around naked okay? You're not alone in your room anymore, I'm here too! Even if I don't want to, we have to share a room since you're still pretending to your mom. Why don't you just tell her huh?" Her face fumed and blushed as she spoke.

"If I tell her, you'd be kicked out here in no time and she's going to pester me again to look for a wife - so, NO, I won't tell her," Clavis replied emphasizing on the 'No' part. "Also, I'll start calling you by your name properly if you start calling me by my name properly as well instead of 'Hey' or 'You' or 'Pervert'. Do we have a deal?"

"Dang it! He's too smart to argue with," Selena thought in her mind then replied back, "Fine! I'll call you … C-c … Clavis!" Her face blushed at the mention of his name. Growing up surrounded by a bunch of girls, she never mentioned a guy's name so it was a bit embarrassing for her. She wasn't used to it.

Thump. Clavis' heart skipped a beat seeing Selena's cute face utter his name.

"Hm? Am I palpitating? Probably because of stress. I need to take some vacation soon," he thought to himself.

Selena's heart beated wildly as well. "T-there, I called you by your name s-so -"

"- Selena," Clavis called her. "Satisfied? Let's start addressing each other that way".

Selena nodded and rushed towards the bathroom to prepare herself.

Clavis on the other hand, breathed heavily and sat on the bed. A hint of blush could be seen from his cheeks as well.

"Palpitation again".

After a few minutes, Selena finished her bath and wore a bathrobe as she went out of the bathroom. Then, she entered another door that connected to the bathroom and the bedroom which was a walk-in closet. It was filled with Clavis' clothes - around a thousand of them, with different styles and designs but all in the shade of blue or white. Only a small section at the end was a little colorful since it was filled with Selena's dresses.

"Clavis!" she called out to him from within the closet. "Ahm … what should I wear?"

"Anything is fine".

"Hmf! I can't really get a decent answer from you," Selena hissed and then thought carefully, "Hmm.. we're visiting the king … so it means we're paying respects or something like that since I'm basically known as his wife right now. Tsk! But where's my wedding? Don't Magi wed first before becoming husband and wife? Why am I just placed in this household like a pet? Argh, anyway, back to the point … so, maybe I should wear … Ah! This one!"

Few minutes passed and Clavis was getting tired of waiting so he walked towards the closet and knocked on the door. As soon as he knocked, Selena opened it.

Selena chose to wear a dress with matching design and color with Clavis' attire.

"So, what do you think?" Selena spinned around happily. "I look gorgeous in blue and white right? I figured you love blue too much and since everyone knows I'm your wife so I thought maybe I should pair my dress with yours! I'm considerate aren't I?" she smuggly asked him.

But Clavis barely heard what she was saying. He unconsciously stared at her and his face flushed red. His heart kept on thumping. He averted his gaze and tried to think of something else to distract him.

"Hey, Clavis, are you okay? Your face is red! Are you sick?" Selena's smiling face turned to worry. She quickly touched Clavis' forehead to check for his temperature. Humans and Magi should have the same temperature if they're sick.

"I'm fine," Clavis grabbed her wrists to stop her. "W-we should go," were the only words he managed to say after clearing his throat. "I'm palpitating again, what is wrong with me? Maybe, I should go see a healer," he thought yet again.

"Hmf! Are you not even gonna compliment me?" Selena pouted.

"It … looks good on you," Clavis whispered as he turned his back towards Selena.

Selena turned red at his sudden words. "T-thank you! Hahaha … ha".

"Let's go," Clavis said and he held out his hand to her.

Selena took his hand and they both teleported to the Grand Palace.

Upon arriving, Clavis escorted her throughout the journey of visiting different offices - the Judges' office, the Generals' office, and other important people's offices. Clavis introduced her to everyone and Selena simply nodded or bowed to them. Everyone was formal except for the other Judges who laughed at Clavis and teased him as soon as he entered the door. Annoyed, Clavis hurried his greetings and went out immediately.

Last on their list was the king's office.

Clavis sighed. "Finally, the last one".

"So this is what the king's office looks like, huh?"

Clavis nodded. "Before we go in, just so you know, the king knows the real reason why I took you in. Well, maybe not all of the reason but he is aware that I kissed you and he didn't want to have an impure candidate in his harem".

"Tsk! Impure … I'm still a virgin, you know".

"Do you want to be with the king that much?"

"What? No! I'm pissed off being called impure when I'm still a virgin - not because I'm out of his harem. I like it better with you anyways so -" Selena quickly turned her head away from Clavis. Her face turned red again and she kept reprimanding herself in her mind, "What the heck are you saying? Did you just admit that you like to be with him? And why would you? Don't tell me you're liking him for real? That ice block?! Nooooooooo!"

She turned her face towards Clavis again while her eyes still looked in a different direction.

"W-what I mean is …" Selena shyly continued. Then, she peaked at Clavis' reaction.

And Clavis was not looking at her, instead he stared blankly at the door in front of him.

"What the - here I am being all flustered and he doesn't even care about -" Selena argued in her mind until she noticed something.

Clavis' ears were red and she could feel his pulse on his hands that she held.