The Princess And Her Alpha Bodyguard

15~ A SERVANT, NOT A QUEEN: PART II

"I know you're awake," he said. "Stop pretending."

I groaned in frustration, wondering why I could never fool him. Not once.

"How could you tell?" I sat up on the bed and turned towards the source of the voice, finding Valdemir standing at the door. His arms folded across his chest. I started to think this was his signature posture now.

"I could hear your sniff from across the hall." He shrugged. "Did you get snot into your mouth?"

"Absolutely not!" I snapped at him. "Why did you barge in? It's nighttime. What if I was underdressed? It would have been improper." I recalled our conversation from the night we first met. When I asked him to help draw up the draperies, this was what he'd said to me.

Now was the perfect moment to return his words to him.

"You aren't underdressed, so it's proper," he remarked, his red eyes scanning my body. "Besides, I left the door open." He motioned his head to the opened door.

"Well, it's fortunate that I am. But what if I am not? Did you know beforehand that I wasn't in my pajamas?" My voice filled with defiance, knowing I had every right to question him.

"Yes," he replied curtly.

"What?" I frowned in confusion, wondering if he was only challenging me back or telling the truth. "How could you be so sure? Could you see through the door?"

"No. I don't have that superpower."

"Then how did you know?"

"Lumina told me. I met her on my way here. She said that she had yet to help you change into your nightwear before you chased her out of the room," he said.

My body stiffened when he reminded me of Lumina. I still remember how upset she was when she left. She was even on the verge of tears. "H-how is she?" I asked.

"Apart from bawling her eyes out until they turn red, she seems fine." His tone was full of sarcasm.

I sighed as the inner voice kept reprimanding me for this. I shouldn't have upset her. I should've apologized to her before she left. Ugh. I hate myself right now.

"Even though she could barely speak because she kept choking on her tears, she still tried to speak to me about how worried she was about you. She told me you hadn't eaten anything since lunch." Valdemir continued when he saw I wasn't going to say anything.

"S-she did that?" I didn't know what to feel right now. Should I be shocked? Or feel even guiltier? I chased her out when she was only trying to take care of me. I made her cry when she had done nothing wrong. Yet, she was still concerned about my well-being.

How can you be so cruel, Lae? Echoed a voice inside my head.

"Why did you refuse to eat?" asked Valdemir.

"It's none of your business," I said, still thinking about that moment when Lumina walked out of the room with her eyes glistening with unshed tears.

"Are you still upset about what happened this evening?"

I looked out the window, wanting to ignore his question. It was apparent enough that he knew how I felt. Why did he bother asking?

"How long do you plan to ignore me?" He continued asking the second question, even though I hadn't answered the first yet.

"As long as I can," I said, knowing he wouldn't stop with my silence.

"Didn't you think about what I'd said at all, Lae?" He raised his voice as if he was mad at me.

I turned to him and frowned, wondering why he was the one to get angry. I should be the one to feel this. After all, he was the one rejecting me. "If you're here to lecture me again, then please leave. I'm not in a mood to listen to you. Zariya is my kingdom. I'll find a way to save it even if you refuse to help."

"Oh, really?" He dropped his folded hands and took three steps forward. "How do you plan to do that?"

"I don't owe you an explanation. Since you already rejected my proposal, there was no need to fill you in about my plan." I brought my hair to the front and let the blonde lock cascade on the right side of my shoulder. Then, I leaned back on the bedhead, using a pillow as support. "But since you've brought the topic up, let's get it done with."

"I'm listening," he said.

"Aine is one of the best horses in Zariya. Unfortunately, she is injured, so I can't take her with me. It breaks my heart to part with her, but I have no choice." I cleared my throat. "I wanted to trade Aine with your horse."

He remained silent, uttering not a single word as his eyes fixated on mine without blinking.

"I also want to trade it for food and clothes." I continued when he showed no sign of speaking. "I have some pieces of jewelry with me, so I want to exchange them. I know it may not be enough, but just note down the amount I owe you. It won't be long until I get everything back. Then, I'll repay you."

Valdemir still showed no sign of speaking even after I finished. His action made me doubt if he even listened to me in the first place.

"Can you say something now?" I asked in a frustrated tone.

Without a single word, he stepped forward until he was standing just a few feet away from my bed.

"What now?" I frowned. "I asked you to say something. I didn't ask you to come closer."

Our eyes locked on each other as he still maintained his serenity. When I was about to run out of patience, he let out a burst of laughter that shocked me to the core. My jaws dropped open as I tilted my head to the side and looked at him in confusion.

"I can't believe it," said Valdemir.

"What are you laughing at?" I asked after I'd recovered from the shock.

"I was laughing at you, of course," he chuckled. It was as if he still hadn't had enough.

"Hey, I'm being serious here!" I yelled at him.

"Yes, you are. But I wonder..." he trailed off as if giving time for his eyes and voice to switch mode. "Is this the right tone to use when you ask someone for a favor?" He asked in a stern voice.

"Look. I wasn't asking for a favor. I had something to trade," I said, trying my best not to succumb to that stern stare.

"Really? But I bet the things you want to trade are under market value. If they were worth the price you wanted, you wouldn't do it with me. You could've done it directly with the merchant. Am I correct?"

I gulped, knowing he had hit the right point. What I needed versus the things I owned didn't match up. If I traded with the merchant, I wouldn't survive the long trip I had planned. After all, they wouldn't let a stranger purchase on account.

"Cat got your tongue now?" asked Valdemir. "If you can't talk, then listen and see if I can guess your so-called secret plan to save Zaria correctly." He walked toward the window and leaned his back on the wall next to it. "You've planned to go to Sirimiri, where you can run into your brother's arms and beg him to help you. You know how much Ralph loves you, so he can't stand by and watch you cry. He'll have to travel around to seek help from his friends in the other kingdoms. Let's say that he fails to get help. What do you think he'll do next?" He stood up straight and answered his own question. "He'll go to war on his own. For your sake."

"He can't go to war. He doesn't have an army. There are only five hundred people in his household, including women. Besides, less than half of them know martial arts. They are merely merchants and servants."

"That's right. He can't go to open war. But he can try other methods, such as an ambush or sneaking into the castle. Still, do you think he and his people stand a chance against the elite soldiers? The Izles Kingdom is second to none when it comes to military power. Have you considered the casualties if Ralph is to face Iory?"

"No! I—"

"You don't have to give me an answer if it's a lie. I don't want to hear your excuse." He cut me off and held his hand up to stop me from talking. "I'm only here to remind you that Ralph chose to give up his position as the prince and married Lydia because he only wants a simple life. A life with no rules, customs, or duties stops him from seeking true love. Do you really want to disturb his peaceful life after all these years? Besides, he's going to be a father soon. Do you want your future niece/nephew to be fatherless? Do you want your sister-in-law to be a widow?" asked Valdemir.

"Stop it!" I yelled and looked down at the shaking hands on my lap. "Please. Just stop."

I didn't want to hear it anymore. Valdemir's words were like having thousands of sharp spears piercing my heart. I couldn't handle it anymore. Yes, he was right. That was my plan. But that wasn't all.

I only planned to go to my brother so that he could introduce me to his friends, since they were princes and kings of other kingdoms. That was all I needed. I didn't want him to go to the battlefield. I was willing to sacrifice my happiness by marrying any of his friends who agreed to go to war with Iory. I didn't plan to get Ralph involved.

But Valdemir was right. Given my brother's kind-hearted nature, he wouldn't allow me to do that. He'd be willing to go to war for my sake. He wouldn't let me joke about my marriage. I should've thought about this.

“Lae,” Valdemir called out my name. "Listen to me. Look at me."

I lifted my head only to find him standing at the end of my bed since who-know-when. I didn't even hear his footsteps nor remember seeing him move from the window.

"After our talk in the garden this evening, I went back to consider your proposal," said Valdemir.

"What?" My brows furrowed in confusion. "I thought you'd already rejected it."

"I did. But after thinking about it, I changed my mind." He cleared his throat and looked me in the eye. "I'll help you avenge your fiancé. But I have one condition," he said.

Hmm... I find this familiar. Ever since I turned fifteen, I've been in this situation a lot. It happened whenever a prince came to visit our kingdom. I kept the thought to myself.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes—I'd been doing this a lot since coming here, although I wasn't supposed to—as I thought back to those times. I also needed to suppress the urge to laugh aloud at his words.

A condition, huh? It seems this handsome, red-haired Alpha werewolf king is no different from all those guys who always chase after me. Werewolf or not, he is still a man. And just like other male species, he can't stand my beauty. I thought to myself. Out loud, I said, "You want me to be your queen, right? Fine. I'll accept it."

"No," he shook his head. "I want you to be my servant."

"WHAT?" I exclaimed in shock, finding it hard to believe that my ears were hearing the right things.

"Allow me to repeat then." He spoke in a loud voice. "Be my servant."

I leaped to the end of the bed. My knees were kneeling on the mattress as I raised my hand, wanting to slap him for daring to say those words to me. But before I could reach his face, he caught my wrist, leaving my hand hanging in the air next to his wolf's shape mask.

"What do you think you're doing?" he asked, tightening his grip when I tried to take my hand away.

"Slapping a sense back into you," I said through gritted teeth.

"Taking out the word 'slap,' it's I who should say that to you." His calm voice contradicted the burning rage inside me. "Have you forgotten? You're no longer a queen. You don't have a kingdom now, Lae. That makes you a fugitive."

"I... I…" I wanted to fight back, but I didn't know what words to say.

Valdemir was right. I couldn't go back to my own kingdom now.

When he saw I said nothing further, he continued, "And just for the record, you're now sleeping in my castle and eating my food with no payment. In other words, you're living off me. You should know that there's nothing free in this world. I was going easy on you in the past because you were injured. But now that your health is back to normal, it's time to stop taking advantage of my kingdom."

"Isn't there any other way besides being a servant?" I asked.

"With you, there's none that I can't think of. However, I was surprised that you could even come up with the idea of being my queen. What? Do you want to use your body as an exchange?" he chuckled. "You must've thought that every man you met was head over heels with you. But that's not the case with me. I'm not like those men, Lae."

I didn't know why his words affected me so much. Was I disappointed that he had no feelings for me? Or was I too embarrassed to get rejected by him again? I didn't know. All I knew was that I wanted to hit him.

And so, I did.

I raised my free hand and tried slapping the other side of his cheek. But to no surprise, he caught it, too.

"Hey, let me go." I groaned in disappointment.

"So, you can slap me?" he shook his head. "Not a chance."

"LET GO!" I bumped my head against him.

"Hey!" Valdemir was caught off guard by my attack. He must've never thought I would use this method to deal with him.

Now! A voice inside my head gave me a cue.

As Valdemir was busy trying to move his head away to dodge my attack, his grasps were loosened. I wasted no time gathering all the strength within me and tried to retract my hands. However, I must've used force too much because I made Valdemir lose his balance instead of breaking myself free.

"Woah!" I closed my eyes and yelped in pain when my back hit the mattress. But when I opened them back, I almost forgot to breathe.

Valdemir was on top of me!

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