The Princess And Her Alpha Bodyguard

13~ GETTING REJECTED HURT SO BAD

"Is the temperature warm enough, miss? Or do you want it hotter?" asked Lumina as she poured a bucket of hot water into a large timber bathtub that I was sitting in.

"No, it's hot enough," I said, scooping up the water with my palm and pouring it on my shoulder.

"Then should I add more petals, miss?" asked Dila. She and Lumina were the ones who helped me change into pajamas on the day I was injured.

Everything about Dila was the complete opposite of Lumina, except for her round face and black eyes. She was shorter and had a slim build. Unlike Lumina's hair that she always braided into a relaxed fishtail, Dila tied her brunette shoulder-length hair into a loose half-ponytail.

It wasn't just the appearance that made these two best friends as different as night and day. Their personalities were included as well. Lumina loved to make small talk and tell jokes, but Dila preferred to stay silent. Ever since she entered this room, the question she asked just now was the second time I'd heard her voice. The first was when she came in and introduced herself.

"No. I think they're enough, Dila,” I said, looking down to see a mixture of pink, white, and orange petals of orchids floating around to the point that I couldn't even see my legs under the water.

"Let me help you scrub your back and hand, miss," said Lumina as she put down the bucket.

"Are you done with the hair?" I asked.

"Yes, miss. It's all done." She grabbed a sponge and ran it all over my back, starting at my nape. "Dila, you do the right side. I'll do the left."

There was no response from Dila. Still, I sensed another sponge coming into contact with my right shoulder.

*******

After I finished washing, Dila carried the bath accessories out of the room while Lumina stayed behind to help me with my clothes. She brought a dark green dress over, but I told her I wanted another one. I chose the finest dress I had so far: a floor-length A-line, midnight blue dress adorned with silver lace trim accents at the hips, the hem, and at the end of flounce sleeves.

"You have keen eyes, miss. This color suits you best," said Lumina after she finished helping me with the dress.

I lifted my head and looked at my reflection in the mirror with a smile. The Queen's Anne neckline was left plain, with no beads or lace, allowing my pearly white skin to contradict its dark blue shade. It seemed midnight blue wasn't my favorite color for no reason.

"What should I style your hair today? Maybe we should change. How about—"

"No." I cut her off. "Just do the same style we've always had."

"Oh, alright, miss." Lumina looked slightly surprised, but she didn't ask further.

I became pretty fond of the waterfall braids lately. Besides, wouldn't my blonde hair make a good pair with the blue shade dress if I let it cascade down my back? I wondered if Valdemir thought the same.

Stop, Lae! What are you talking about? A small voice echoed from the back of my head as if it was scolding me. Why should you care about what he thinks?

Well, that was a good question. I'd been contemplating the same thing since I got in the bath. I didn't know why I had to doll myself up like this when there were no events for me to attend. The only place I needed to go was the garden.

"It's all done, miss," said Lumina.

I turned sideways to check if there was any strand of hair that stood up out of place. When there was none, I looked at Lumina through the reflection and said, "Thank you. I love it."

"I'm glad to hear that you like it, miss." She nodded. "I'll go and help Dila carry the timber bathtub then."

"Wait," I called out her name before she walked away.

"Yes, miss?" She turned to look at me.

"When Valdemir returns, can you let him know I want to talk to him? I'll be in the garden." I controlled my voice, trying not to let the enthusiasm show.

Lumina gave me a broad smile and said, "Of course, miss. I will."

*******

I was standing under the Michelia tree, breathing in its aromatic smell and trying NOT to think about the kiss. Yet, it was harder than I thought. Every time I turned to look at that Giant Banyan Tree, the memory returned.

"Gosh, stop it, Lae! You're not here to date. You're here for business. Grab hold of yourself." I murmured to myself as I shook my head, hoping to push away that memory from consuming my brain cells.

I asked to meet Valdemir here because I had something important to discuss. Or rather, to ask for a favor. I'd been thinking hard about it for the past five days. Now that I'd recovered, I think it was time to talk about it.

"Lae," said a deep voice that I knew so well who it belonged to.

I turned around to see Valdemir, dressed in an all-black attire—except for the white tunic—, standing a few feet away from me. My eyes lowered to his left hip, where a sword in the crimson scabbard and gold pommel was hanging in the brown leather holster. "Do werewolves need swords to fight?" I raised my eyebrow in puzzlement.

His eyes followed mine as he looked down at his sword. "Oh, this?" He lifted his head and said, "It's a disguise. But it's also for protection. We don't transform when fighting with humans."

"Oh, I see." I nodded.

"By the way," he trailed off and let his eyes travel from my head to the tip of my toe, "you look stunning in that dress."

I could tell my face was on fire after hearing the compliment. "T-thank you," I stuttered and averted my eyes to the ground.

It was true that I wanted to hear him say this. I'd be disappointed if he saw me in this dress and said nothing. Still, it was hard to control the rush of blood to my face.

"Lumina told me you'd wanted to talk to me," he said, breaking the silence.

"Oh, yeah." I cleared my throat. "Yeah, I wanted to talk to you."

"Okay." He nodded. His eyes were on mine as if he was listening.

"Let's sit down over there. It'll be a long talk." I pointed to the Giant Banyan Tree.

We walked there, with Valdemir leading the way, and I followed behind. When we arrived at the tree, we sat next to each other but not as close as that day. He seemed to keep his distance. I didn't blame him for this. He must've remembered what we did the last time we sat here.

"So, what is it you want to talk about?" he asked.

"Lumina told me you'd gone to the border," I said.

"That's right."

I wasn't sure if my question deserved a curt answer or he just shortened it on purpose. Whatever was the case, it was time to get down to business.

"I know it might be impossible since your people live in seclusion. But you'd already been to the border, did you perhaps hear anything about Iory?" I asked, looking down and fidgeting with my fingers.

"We may not let outsiders in. Yet, it doesn't mean we can't go out. I had people in every kingdom to get me the news. In a simple term, we call them spies," he said.

"I thought werewolves only live in the pack." When his eyes showed a questioning look, I explained. "I read a story."

"Those spies aren't werewolves. They're humans. I paid to do the job, so they didn't know my identity." I turned to look at him, but he refused to glance my way. He kept staring at the Michelia tree I'd stood under from before.

"So, you have your spy at Zariya, too?"

"Yes." He nodded. "And if you're wondering about how your ex-fiancé is doing, let me tell you he's doing just fine managing your kingdom. I'd heard that he sent a letter to bring in another group of Izles armies, but they hadn't arrived yet."

"Perfect." I clapped my hand once, finding excitement arise within me. "It's just like what I've thought."

"What's so perfect about it? Are you glad that your ex-fiancé is doing fine?" He asked in a bitter voice.

"Can you stop addressing him as my ex-fiancé? It made me cringe. Besides, he was my enemy. He's the one I set out to kill." My hands balled into fists whenever I thought about what Iory had done to me. "And this is what I wanted to tell you about. I needed your help, Valdemir. Could you help me get my kingdom back?"

There was a brief silence from his side as he gazed at the same place. When I was about to ask him again, he turned his face and looked me in the eye. "Why do you want to fight, Lae?"

I was taken aback, though I wasn't sure what caused it. His questions or the look in his eyes.

"Because it's my kingdom. I have to get it back," I said after recovering from the shock.

"So that you can be the queen again? To become the high-status woman who ruled?"

I narrowed my eyes at him, wondering why he seemed disgruntled. "Well, that's what I was born to be. What's wrong with that?"

"Then Iory was also a prince. He was born to rule, too. Why don't you let him?" He challenged me.

"Why?" I hissed. "Because he stole what's mine. That's my kingdom. The castle is mine, and so is the throne. The position of a leader belongs to me. Not him,"

"So, the reason you wanted to fight is that you want your crown back?" he asked.

"Isn't that obvious?" I answered his question with a question of my own.

He stayed silent with his eyes still locked on mine. Then, he did one thing that surprised me. He shook his head and said, "I should've known. Still, I can't believe it."

Alright. I had enough of this. He'd been acting strange. And it was starting to annoy me.

"What's wrong with getting back what is mine, Valdemir?" I asked him.

"It's not about that," he said.

"Then what?!" My voice came out louder than I'd intended.

"All this time, you've only been talking about your castle and the crown. What about your people? Don't you care about them at all? You didn't even ask how their lives changed under Iory's reign. The first information you want to get is about your ex-fiancé. You'd never mentioned your people, Lae. Not even once."

"Those people are my subjects. They were born to serve the royal family. It's common for their lives to change once there is a new leader. Why bother? It's not like Iory is killing them, anyway."

Valdemir's eyes went a shade darker—like the color of bloodlust. It was as if he wanted to kill someone. I looked around to see if anyone was coming here, but there wasn't any other presence except me.

"W-what?" I moved away, wanting to put a distance between us.

"How could you be so sure that Iory didn't hurt your people?" His voice was grim.

I gulped, finding him scarier at each passing second. "W-well, he had no reason to do so. He needed people to serve him if he wanted to be king. If he killed them, then what's the point of having a kingdom?"

Valdemir stared into my eyes without blinking. I couldn't help but cringe at the pair of red eyes that looked like they wanted to eat me alive. I put my hand behind my back, hoping to hide how shaky they were. I didn't want him to see that he'd gotten me.

"You're right, Lae. A kingdom won't be a kingdom without its people. And that's why a leader needs to protect the people at all costs. As a queen, you also need to respect your people, not discarding them like tools," he said in a condescending tone.

"Are you lecturing me now?" I gritted my teeth in anger. No one had ever spoken this tone to me before. Not my parents. Not my professor.

"You can't sit by and watch them get treated as slaves or get slaughtered like pigs." Valdemir ignored me and continued with his words.

"Wait." I gasped in shock. "Did you say Iory mistreated and killed them? Why?"

"How would I know? Why don't you go back to ask your dear ex-fiance this question yourself?" He said in a half-mocking and half-incensed tone.

"Hey, what's wrong with you? Why do you keep getting angry at whatever I've said?" I put my hands on my hips and glared at him.

"I don't dare to get mad at the glorious queen of Zariya," he said.

"Stop mocking me."

"I didn't dare, Your Majesty."

"Valdemir, stop it!" I yelled at him as I reached my limit.

He finally stopped talking. Then he stood on his feet and dusted his clothes.

"Where are you going? I hadn't finished talking with you yet." I looked up at him.

"There's nothing else to talk about. You asked me to come here because you wanted me to help you get your kingdom back. So now, let me make it clear." He turned around and looked down at me, keeping his eyes locked on mine. "I, Valdemir Braegon, rejected your proposal, Queen Laelia Adelaide."

And with that, he turned on his heels and walked away.

I looked down to the ground as strength left my body, making me fall onto the tree behind me. No one had ever said no to me before. Since I was born, I've always got what I wanted. There was only me who rejected others. It'd never been the other way around.

Is this how it feels to get rejected?

It didn't hurt this much when Iory betrayed me. But when Valdemir did this, the pain was so excruciating that my heart almost stopped beating.

One minute, he acted like he was on my side, and the next, he sang a different tune. Who said only women have a change of heart? Men were even crueler. They were like fireflies, changing their minds whenever they wanted to. They forgot things so fast and left behind no attachments. If not, why did he do this to me? And here, of all places. Didn't he remember that it was this same tree that he kissed me?

Five days ago, the memory of this garden was sweet. Five days later, it turned bitter. Everything here remained the same, but Valdemir's heart had changed.

Just when I thought he had already left, his deep voice echoed from a place not so far away. "Iory isn't doing a proper job as the stand-in king. But I doubted if it'd gotten any better if you were to rule. After all..." he trailed off.

I lifted my face and looked through my blurry eyes to see he was only ten feet away, standing with his hands folding across his chest.

"You're just a spoiled princess who cares about no one but yourselves." He finished the sentence in an icy tone that froze my heart.

I watched him turn around, seeing his black cloak fluttering behind him as he walked away from me without a second glance. I bit my lips and waited. Only when I was certain he was out of sight did I release the tears and pain I'd been holding in. I buried my head between my knees and let out a wail.

For the entire evening, I remained in that position and cried my heart out until my tears ran dry.

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