The Princess And Her Alpha Bodyguard

42~ IT FELT LIKE HOME

My jaws dropped open as my lips parted. If there was a fly around, I wouldn't be surprised if it flew into my mouth.

"Say something, Lae. Why are you so quiet?" asked Valdemir as he stepped up to stand next to me.

"N-no," I stuttered, unable to believe that what I was seeing was real. It was too good to be true.

Turned out, this place was a greenhouse. It was a huge one as well because it wasn't easy to find the walls on each side. Not to mention the back of this place. As for the top, I had to crane my neck up until it hurt to see. The roof was made of glass, allowing the sunlight to shine through and lightening the entire room.

It was only a greenhouse to some people. However, to me, it held a special meaning.

Why?

Because this greenhouse gave me a nostalgic feeling. It made me feel like home.

My kingdom.

Zariya.

The trees and flowers in this room were the exact species I had in my personal garden in Zariya. It was a place my late parents had it made for me, where all the flowers were in different shades of blue. Just like this one. Now that I looked around, it seemed not only the plants but also the arrangement was the same as that garden of mine. There was a three-tier water fountain in the middle, surrounded by blue Thunbergia. As for the path that led there, it was accompanied by rows of plumbago on both sides. There were also other flowers like blue passion flowers, Blue Butterfly Pea, and Morning Glory.

I knew it sounded weird to have a garden with only blue flowers instead of a colorful one. But this was how I liked it. My favorite color was midnight blue, so I enjoyed a view where different shades of blue were displayed before my eyes.

"Do you not like it?" asked Valdemir.

"No. Not that." I shook my head and turned to him. His wolf's shape mask turned blurry because of the unshed tears in my eyes. "I like it so much. I just can't find the right words to describe how I feel."

"That's good." He nodded. "I'm glad to hear."

"I find it impossible to believe this."

He stepped closer and placed his hand on my shoulder. "Believe it. Everything here is real. I know it sounds exaggerated, but I'll do my best to get all the impossible things for you. Just name whatever you want."

Tears trickled down my cheeks, but I wiped them away as quickly as they came. This was a joyous occasion. I shouldn't cry.

"Are you alright? Why are you crying? Are you feeling sick? We can come back later. Let me get you back to your room." He was about to carry me again, but I stopped him in time.

"Please don't." I shook my head. "I'm fine. These are happy tears" I said as another tear rolled down my right eye. When I was about to wipe it, Valdemir beat me to it. His thumb brushed the crystal droplet away before it rolled down further. But instead of retracting his hand, he kept it there, letting his warmth radiate all over my skin.

"Even if it's a tear of happiness, it still pains my heart to see you cry," he said in a low voice, yet it made my heart beat so loud.

I took a step back to get away from his touch. It made his hand linger in the air for a second before he put it down. The air was as silent as the grave as neither of us spoke a single word.

"Um… can I ask why you’ve brought me here?" I asked, cutting off the awkward silence in the air.

"Is that question even necessary?" He chuckled and looked at the inside of the greenhouse. "I brought you here because this is your place."

My brows furrowed in confusion. "My place?"

"Yes." He nodded. "This used to be my secret hideout when I was a little boy. It was an abandoned place, so I'd hide out here for hours, and no one could find me."

"Really?"

"Why do you sound so surprised?" He turned back to me.

"It never occurred to me that you are the lazy type." I shrugged.

"I was a kid. It's typical for a boy my age to be mischievous and lazy sometimes. Well, what type of person do you think I am then?"

His question caught me by surprise. I'd never thought there would be a day he would ask this. This was uncalled for. "Well..." I trailed off, buying some time for my brain to process the answer. "Everyone has high respect for you, so I thought you were the type who would study and work hard without sleeping. I also imagined that while every kid was playing, you'd be sitting under the tree and reading a thick book."

"I'd die before I grew up if I did that. I'm not a vampire. My body needs sleep. As for the reading part, I'd done that. My father sent me piles of books each week and told me to finish within ten days."

"Are you serious? He did that to you when you were just a kid?" Not that I'd never heard of this before. It often happened to kids born in royal and aristocratic households. Still, I thought werewolves were different. I thought they led more carefree lives than humans. But now, it looked like that wasn't the case.

"I knew it was my duty as a future leader to take my study seriously. But some of those books were so boring that I fell asleep before I could even finish the first page."

"I don’t think I can relate since my parents have always been lenient with me. But I think I can understand."

"Anyway, let's stop talking about me. I didn't bring you here to tell you about my childhood," said Valdemir. "I brought you here because I wanted to give this greenhouse to you. I knew you hadn't been away from Zariya for so long, but I thought you might be homesick. You can come here whenever you miss home. I had it arranged according to the garden that you loved."

"Speaking of that, how did you know about that garden of mine? I knew you'd been to Zariya once. Still, except for the gardeners and my family, no one was allowed to go in." I asked.

"I snuck in," he said casually.

"How?"

"Come on. This isn't the time to interrogate me. I had something else to show you." He reached out to my hand and led me inside.

We walked past the fountain into the further part of the greenhouse, where plants became less dense. There, I saw chairs and a round table on the left-hand side. It looked like a nice place to chill for an evening tea. I thought we'd go and sit down there, but Valdemir guided me to the right corner. It was the only place with no tall trees planted within the two-meter radius. Therefore, it was the corner with the most sunlight. We moved in closer toward the shelves that had only one flower pot. I couldn't tell what flower it was since it was too high for me to see.

"Wait here." he let go of my hand and walked toward the shelves. He reached out for the pot with no difficulty—he didn't even tiptoe—and brought it down.

The moment my eyes landed on the flower inside the pot, I gasped in shock. What he was holding in his hand was the Ptum flower. It was a rare flower that no other kingdom had. Reason? Because I bred it myself. No one knew about its existence and benefits except for my family.

Ptum flower resembled a Scabiosa in appearance, but its color was different. It had a blue color on the outside, purple on the inside, and snowy white in the middle. I bred it using three flowers: lavender, jasmine, and an unknown flower. Unfortunately, I had a vague memory about how and where I found the last one. All I remembered was that I found it in the forest when I went out on a hunting ceremony with my late parents. I picked it because it had a unique midnight blue color that made me unable to resist the temptation to bring it home.

And I made the right decision.

Not only was Ptum flower was beautiful but it was also beneficial. Its white anther could put someone to sleep immediately after consuming it. I used it instead of a sleeping herb when I had trouble sleeping some nights. I’d never thought it could be a big help one day. After all, this flower was what helped me escape at the crowning ceremony.

Iory might have changed everything in my room, but he forgot about this flower. I usually kept it hanging outside the window since it required lots of sunlight. This must be why the maids overlooked it when they cleaned the room. Thanks to this negligence, I got access to the flower. After returning from the ceremony, I put the flower's anther in the juice and had the maid drink it. When she fell asleep, I took her clothes and walked out of the room. Because women had to wear a veil on that day, no one noticed it was me and not the maid who walked out of the room.

"Impossible," I muttered as I finished recalling the events. I kept shaking my head in disbelief while my eyes were fixated on the flower.

"I've told you, haven't I? As long as it's within my capability, I'll turn the impossible to possible," he said in a proud tone.

"I didn't plant this in the garden. The only place that had it was in my chamber. So, how did you get this?" I asked.

"This was tricky. But I had my way."

"What way?" I prompted, demanding an answer.

"Are you ready for another surprise?" He asked.

Before I could ask, a soft voice reverberated behind me. "He got help from me."

The voice was familiar. But I didn't dare to judge so soon because it'd been a while since I last heard it. Besides, it didn't make sense for the owner of the voice to be here.

It can't be. I thought to myself. I wanted to turn around. I wanted to see if it really was the person I'd thought of. But I was reluctant to do so in case it failed my expectation.

"Why don't you turn around and find out, Lae?" said Valdemir as he put his hands on my shoulders and turned my body around.

Tears stung my eyes when the person standing before me really was the one I’d been longing to meet.

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©️StellaKMary | The Princess And Her Alpha Bodyguard



A/N: Ptum flower here is made up. This flower doesn't exist in reality. The word PTUM here means SLEEP in my native language, by the way, xD