04: His real personality.

They had been to three bookstores in the town, but she couldn't find anything related to magic, sorcery, or whatever they called it in Allandis, and it made her wonder why such a thing had no traces. 

"Gosh! If I have a cellphone, and if only this place has an internet connection, then browsing would have been easy," Aileen muttered, and the two people with her were perplexed after hearing her statement.

"Lady, it's almost sunset. His excellency must have been waiting for you at the palace," says the marquise through whispering in her ears. 

"I guess. I'll come back tomorrow. Let's head back to the palace now," she replied in a voice just enough for the three of them to hear.

Inside the carriage, the queen keeps heaving heavy breaths to release her frustration. She was exhausted strolling, only to go home with nothing. She fit herself on the couch inside the carriage to nap because it would take long before they could arrive at the palace.

"Tsk! In my world, cars can run as fast as 60kph. Darn! This backward civilization," she muttered before closing her eyes.

Little did the queen know, they had arrived already, but she was in a deep sleep from exhaustion.

"Madam?" says the servant whose hands were trembling from fear because the queen is not responding, and the king's face is back to being the cold-blooded slayer.

"Where is my queen? Why isn't she coming out yet? Destroy the door of the carriage!" The king ordered. He thought the lady had finally escaped, and regretted allowing her to leave the palace.

Then everyone goes back to their senses after seeing a beautiful lady sleeping like a goddess lost in the human realm, with the door locked from inside.

The king slapped his forehead and thought he lost rational judgment and let panic crawl in his veins. He carried his sleeping wife and brought her to the queen's chamber.

"Tell the chef to prepare a delish dinner. We'll be having dinner once she's awake," says the king, which the servant followed.

"Leave at once. I'm going to lay beside my wife," Viishaun added.

"But, you still have work to finish, your excellency."

"Are you perhaps ordering me around?" Viishaun glared at his secretary.

Consequently, the secretary looked down as he swallowed a lump in his throat. He thought that the king was only sweet to his wife but still cold if something displeased him. But the secretary is just one of the people who can't bring to hate the king because, despite his rude and cold personality, he has a golden heart for helping his vassals. The king brought wealth to their kingdom as soon as he ascended as the ruler of the western kingdom, and if it wasn't for him, the people would have been starving or sold as slaves.

"Anyway, get out and rest too. Close the door as you leave."

"Yes, your excellency. I shall take my leave now," the secretary replied and left after bowing his head.

However, as soon as the King and Queen were left alone in her chamber, Aileen woke up. 

"Honey, you're awake."

Suddenly, Aileen remembered hearing the same word but from a different person. Back then, Stephan used to say those words, once Aileen woke up from a nap at her house while memorizing a script.

"Honey?"

Aileen went back to reality when the King caressed her cheeks. Then, she replied, "Your excellency, I'm starving."

"Didn't I tell you to stop calling me 'your excellency'? You are my wife, and you have the right to call me Shaun." He kissed Aileen's lips, but it didn't last long as the queen's stomach growled. 

"All right. Let's have dinner," says the King. He stood up and extended his hands, telling his wife to hold his hand.

Every servant they passed by bowed their head as part of the land's custom. Even the cook who served the food bowed his head first before placing all the dishes on the ten-seater table, adorned with rubies on every end of the curve designs.

While sharing a meal with the King, she can't help but feel anxious. Something inside her is telling her that something big ought to happen. 

"Did you enjoy going outside?"

"Y-Yes, your excellency."

Aileen noticed that the King dropped his cutlery on the plate and stared at her, wearing a sulking face. It took her a while to figure out what his gesture meant.

"I had a great time in the town, Shaun."

After hearing her call him 'Shaun', the king no longer hid his pair of deep dimples as he beamed with a smile. Even his eyes are smiling, that is how happy he is.

"By the way, I'll visit your chamber tonight."

Aileen coughed at her husband's statement because, in this land, those words meant 'sleeping together, sharing each other's warmth in one sheet'. She had been too occupied by the thought of sleeping with Viishaun for the fourth time, thus even though it had been three hours since the dinner ended, her mind was still somewhere. 

"You should wear something that shows more skin, madam. It was the fifth time since his excellency visited your chamber at night after your matrimony," says Athena, the maid the queen was fond of.

Later on, the queen had jolted by the huge fuss of the chamber created when the king opened it wide. 

"Honey!

"S-Shaun," says Aileen.

Viishaun jumped into the Queen's bed and sealed her lips as soon as he got a hold of his wife's face. Meanwhile, Athena ran outside and winked at the queen before closing the door as she exited.

"Your excellency, shouldn't you be resting instead of spending your night at my chamber?" Aileen asked as soon as their lips departed.

"You're the one who energized me, my only love. You were fine calling me Shaun a while ago, so why  calling me with distant honor again?"

The King kissed Aileen again until they were exchanging a passionate kiss. The Queen admitted that he was a good kisser compared to her fiance, and with that thought, she started feeling disgusted by herself again. Even if she wanted to stop, it's not possible because it would be weird if the Queen abstained from fulfilling her duty to the ruler of the kingdom she was trapped in. She reminded herself that it was part of her way to live in this strange world.

"I love you, my queen."

"I-I..."

Aileen couldn't utter those words without hesitation because she knew none of their romance was true. She's not in love with the king and the same is the case for Viishaun. She postulated that it was all because of a magic spell.

Just when she's about to pick up the words she found hard to speak of, her eyes shifted gaze and noticed an overlooking view of the full bright moon.

"What did you do to me?" Viishaun asked in a cold-baritone voice, wearing a gaze that could shred the queen into pieces.

The queen was frightened and her body started trembling…