Chapter 19

In other words, she was here to play the nanny. Now she was sure that it was all just chicane. Well, at least it was possible for her not to have to spend all the time around him.

Suddenly she spotted a large crowd in the distance. They all stood in front of a gate that presumably

led into the village. It was the first time that she had seen so many people on her way. It looked less

like a village than a whole city. Now she was suddenly excited and was even happy to be among so many people again. Not that she didn't like the subjects from the castle, but there she was still a prisoner, but here she was just one of many. In comparison, that came very close to freedom.

They came to a stop right in front of the city gate and Lyana looked at Baridi, who now reached out his hand to help her out of the sled. "From here we have to walk, Your Royal Highness," he told her at once. In the meantime the king had already gotten out of the sled and went ahead. The wolf followed him and it almost seemed as if King Ulric was slowing his pace so that the injured animal could keep up with him.

Lyana looted over to Baridi. "Can we just take a wolf into the village like that?" She asked, astonished.

Sighing, the valet handed her hand to Alisen, who had now appeared. "I wish it would be like this.

But even if someone got in his way ..." He didn't finish the sentence. However, that wasn't necessary, because she knew what he wanted to say. She had seen what he had done with the bandits in the forest and she had also seen the sharp teeth of the wolf. Nobody would stand in the way of this couple willingly. "But shouldn't a wolf stay with its pack?" She asked to drive the bloody images out of her head.

"That's correct, but the animals have long recognized King Ulric as their alpha. Therefore he is part

of the pack."

Lyana had already thought so when they first met. Still, she was amazed that she was right. She

didn't know much about wolves, but to recognize a human leader for a wild animal was quite

impressive.

The three of them followed the king into the village. The rest of her companions stayed behind to

look after the animals.

She found it a bit strange that a king was traveling with so little protection, no matter how strong he

was. Her father was very fond of his people, but he would never have accepted anything like this visit to the village . Even if he did, he would have had at least ten or twenty soldiers with him.

In the meantime they had arrived in front of an inn where the count must be at. They entered the

house and immediately everyone turned around to see them, followed by a soft whisper. No wonder

they drew so much attention. They were very elegantly dressed, especially Lyana, who now

regretted listening to Alisen. Oh yes, and they had a wolf with them.

A man approached them and bowed slightly. "The count is already waiting for you upstairs," he

informed King Ulric.

Presumably it was the landlord. Although he saw the wolf growling at him so menacingly, he didn't

say a word. Lyana had no doubt, unlike his guests, this man knew exactly who he was looking at.

The princess suspected that the king often met here to discuss business. But since the landlord

hadn't addressed him by his title, discretion was probably very important to King Ulric. Either that,

or he just didn't feel like dealing with the uproar it could create among the citizens if they knew

their king was among them. The latter seemed almost the more logical explanation to Lyana.

King Ulric went upstairs and Baridi let the two ladies go first with a gallant gesture. Lyana felt the

tension in her maid and gave her a brief squeeze to calm her down. She had completely forgotten

that she hadn't come out of the castle for a long time either. She had confessed that when she styled

her hair. It must have been strange to be directly involved in the King's business on her first visit to

the village in a long time.

Alisen smiled gratefully at her and then they were already upstairs. While the king walked

purposefully towards a door, Lyana looked around a little. It was the first time that she was in such a

building and was not only surrounded by people from the castle. That made her a bit nervous too,

but she didn't want to let the others know. They entered a room without knocking first. Beyond that

was a sparely furnished bedroom with a small study area. A handsome man rose from his chair at

the sight of them and bowed. Two children were sitting on the bed behind him, playing. "Your

Majesty. On time as always. May I ask who the young lady you have with you is?" The Count's gaze fell on Lyana.

"The sun princess. She will take care of your children today as long as we are busy, "explained the

King, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. However, Lyana to show her respect to the count who only briefly showed signs of confusion and then immediately recovered. He stepped up to her, naturally took her hand and indicated a kiss. "Your Royal Highness. It is an honor that you will take care of my children. I would leave them at home, but my wife is seriously ill and therefore needs a rest."