Chapter 22: A Piece of Freedom (II)

Swan woke up after a cold gust of wind came from the window. She was sleeping naked because Gale ripped her dress off last night, so she tucked the blanket up to her shoulder.

Unfortunately, she couldn't get more sleep because the cat maids were already knocking.

"Princess, can we enter now? We need to prepare your warm bath."

Swan rubbed her eyes and sat on the bed. She pulled the blanket to cover her body before allowing Myra and Maya to enter the room.

Myra and Maya knew there must have been something happening between Princess Swan and their King the previous night, and that's why they came prepared with a new dress and medicine in case the Princess got hurt.

They were relieved when they saw Swan was unharmed, but to make sure, Myra entered the bathroom to prepare the warm bath while Maya stood next to the bed to ask, "Princess, are you hurt somewhere?"

"Hurt? Uhm…" Swan shook her head in confusion. "I'm fine…"

"Oh, Princess, I'm so relieved. You don't understand how worried I was last night," Maya said.

"Worried? Why?"

"Because we thought that His Majesty was hurting you. Everyone in the castle was scared last night, thinking that His Majesty would go into a frenzy and attack everyone on sight," Maya said. Then, she quickly added, "B-but it's fine. He is not dangerous at all, as long as you don't upset him much."

Swan frowned. She knew that she had upset the king last night, but Gale didn't hurt her at all. 

"Does he become dangerous when he's upset?" Swan asked. 

"Well, nobody dares to anger him in this kingdom. But those who fought in a war with or against him said that His Majesty is vicious."

Swan could understand that. Though she had never been in any war, she had overheard many tales from the knights that all wars were cruel. Bloodshed and deaths were inevitable on the battlefield.

She was just wondering if Gale was equally cruel towards the common folks. 

Unfortunately, she had no time to ask because Maya came out of the bathroom and said, "The bath is ready, Princess. Please take a bath while we put your breakfast on the table."

Swan nodded. She grabbed her crutches and then walked towards the bathroom. 

Maya and Myra watched over her, and once the Princess entered the bathroom, they looked at each other in doubt, "She's alright, it seems. No wound whatsoever."

"Does that mean all the roaring and yelling last night was just part of their play? I heard humans have many preferences. Maybe Princess Swan is letting our King know a few things."

Maya and Myra's cheeks blushed as they had this strange thought of what was happening between the King and the Princess. They darted their eyes at the messy beds, and their cheeks turned even redder.

In the end, they had to rush out of the bedroom so their mind wouldn't run wild. 

**

Swan finished her bath and dried herself while sitting in front of a mirror. She saw that her nipples were a little swollen after Gale kept on playing with them—fiddling and pinching, just to silence her. 

Once again, she was reminded of last night and how Gale was angry at her despite her giving him such a tempting offer to sacrifice her body. 

"He is strange. Aria and Queen Mother wouldn't think twice about sacrificing me if necessary. Even my father wouldn't be sad about my death," Swan murmured. "Hm… I think nobody would get upset about my death anyway, so why does he get so mad at my death?"

Unfortunately, Swan still couldn't get an answer to that question. So, she put that aside and wore the dress that had been prepared.

"Mm… why is the dress a bit too exposed today?" Swan muttered as she saw the open-bosom style that would expose all of her shoulders and show her cleavage.

It wasn't uncommon in Holy Achate. Almost all of Aria's dresses were this type, with open bosoms that showed half of her breasts.

However, Swan was used to the maid dress that was all covered up, so she felt uncomfortable. 

Nevertheless, Swan didn't dare to complain. She wore it, uncomfortably trying to pull the dress up to cover her cleavage more. 

She walked out of the bathroom and saw all the assorted breakfast that had been prepared for her. 

Myra and Maya helped her to sit on a chair, and as Swan sat on the chair slowly, her dress slipped a little again, showing her cleavage.

Swan's cheeks reddened. She quickly tried to pull her dress up to cover herself before asking, "Uhm, I'm sorry. Can I get another dress instead? This dress is too revealing for me."

"But, Princess, this is what Lady Jade told us to prepare for you. She said that a noble or royal in your kingdom prefers this kind of dress," Maya mentioned. "If you don't like it, then we can prepare another one—"

"N-no need!" Swan stopped her immediately. She was scared that Lady Jade might find out that Swan was not a princess. That mysterious lady was already suspicious of her background. She couldn't afford to get exposed and angered Gale in the process. "I-I like this one. Thank you."

Thus, Swan suppressed her discomfort and began to eat breakfast slowly. 

Maya and Myra looked at each other and stated, "Princess, we got an order from His Majesty to let you roam around the castle freely."

Swan dropped her spoon. She turned her head at the cat maids in disbelief, "Really?!"

"Yes, Princess. But you will be accompanied by us and also by His Majesty's powerful beta to serve as your guardian. He's already outside, waiting for your permission to enter and introduce himself."

Swan nodded without hesitation. She had been feeling guilty because she kept getting royal treatment—a comfortable bed, blanket, soft dress, warm baths, and delicious food—without doing anything. 

She would use this opportunity to check the castle and maybe do something to repay such kindness.

Maya and Myra opened the door, and a man walked into the room with an amicable smile. He walked towards Swan and bowed politely before reaching to her hand and kissing it, "Good morning, Princess Swan. My name is Rock Silverfang, His Majesty's beta and most importantly, your personal knight."