"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. He wears the same cold expression when they first meet. He has that aura of ice-cold thirst for blood.
"Are you going to answer me, or do you want me to cut off your tongue and be silent forever?!?!"
Her voice won't come out because she wasn't sure what to say. She was too terrified, and it was more terrifying than a fellow actress bullying her. Aileen started weeping, and to her surprise, the king's expression shifted to a soft one.
He reached her hand and held it, then asked, "My queen, why are you crying? Are you alright? Did I hurt you?"
Aileen was dumbfounded when the king no longer terrified her. She replied, "Your excellency..."
"Why 'your excellency' ... Why are you not calling me Shaun when we're alone? Did you not like my name? or you're mad at me?"
She sniffed and started sobbing again. Even though hViishaun sounded concerned and the threatening words vanished when the king's real personality hid behind the 'Shaun' person in front of her, Aileen was badly hurt and scared for her life.
'The magic is withering.'
Viishaun embraced her, and they went back to sleep under one sheet. However, after seeing the surfacing of the bloodlust king's behavior after a long time since their marriage, her eyes and mind won't leave her at peace.
Aileen was staring at Shaun and not Viishaun. She thought it would be great if he would never go back to being Viishaun, but that is impossible.
'The magic is losing its control to the King. I need to find what magic it was, and I need to know how I would leave this world before anything gets worse for me,' says a voice in her mind.
She slowly closed her eyes, and the last drop of her emotion rolled down to her cheek.
***********
The sun was beaming through her glass window, causing the lady to stir. Usually, waking up was a simple task for Aileen; she was a busy actress in her world, and having not much sleep was her routine. She glanced at the empty space beside her.
She began to sit up and caressed the pillow Viishaun had used. She sighed and shivered at the flashback of last night's incidents. "I thought I'd die last night. Come to think of it, how did the spell wear off, and how did it resurface?" she murmured.
None of the magic's nature is known to her, and thus she was left in dark shade. She jolted when someone knocked on the door.
"Madam, are you awake? His excellency wants to share a breakfast meal with you," says a maid outside the door.
She was trembling and guessing who was the king today, is he back to his old self, or was he still Shaun, the sweet husband to her.
"Please, help me with the preparation."
The maid nodded, and as usual, they helped her with the bathing and dressing her up. Then they went to the glass door garden, not the dining area.
"Did his excellency request to dine in the garden?"
"Yes, madam. He told us you were not in a good mood last night, so we suggested this peaceful place to please you."
Her worries stopped after hearing that he was still 'Shaun' and not the bloodlust King Viishaun.
"My queen, you're awake. Come sit and join me." The King stood up and greeted her. He kneeled and kissed the back of her palm.
She kept stealing glances at Viishaun, finding the face that scared the hell out of her, but the person in front of her was far from that cold guy. The king sharing breakfast with her was blushing.
"I'm going to the capitol. If you are going somewhere you may do so, you seem lonely. Bring one marquise and maid with you and don't come home late because I'll be worried sick."
Once the breakfast was over, he left with his five marquises. Aileen changed into a commoner's clothes and went to the town to find a book about magic again, but this time she insisted on bringing only her maid.
"This isn't the book I was looking for," she said to the book owner.
"I don't know what you were looking for but please get out at this instant. You're wasting my time, if you are not going to buy any of the seven books you asked us to get for you, just leave this please, and don't ever come back."
Aileen suddenly realized she truly wasted their time searching for books related to witches and spells, however they are all love stories and fantasy books. She could have brought them all if only she had money, but the currency is different here. Her money is useless...
"Madam, do you want these books?" Athena asked.
"I don't have money tho," Aileen whispered to the lady behind her.
"What do you mean? His excellency had given you a black pass."
Aileen remembered her husband's words when he handed her the black card, which is somewhat similar to the black card in her world too. The king said, "This is yours, you could buy anything with this. Everything I owned is also yours. This kingdom is yours as well, so live happily with me and don't ever leave my side."
"Do I deserve to use that?"
She finds it hard to spend money which is not hard earned by her. That's why until now, she had not used any of it.
"His excellency will be sad if he were to hear doubting yourself because it means you doubted his love for you. He chooses you, and you're questioning his decision," Athena whispered back.
In the end, she asked Athena to pay using the black card. Then the book owner was surprised to see the card.
"I'm sorry for being rude, my lady. I thought you wouldn't buy these books."
She thought this world and her world are somewhat similar, in the sense that money can make someone bow down. She was wearing a commoner, thus a little respect bestowed to her. If she had worn her usual clothes at the palace, the book owner would have never uttered those words to her.
She was in deep thought when the wind blew hard, and her hat eloped with the wind. The maid tried to chase after the queen's possession but failed to catch it.
"This is bad. Your hair will be messy, Lady. S"
"And what about it? It's not like the people would know that their queen is going around with messy hair."
"I'd recognize that you are our queen. So please wait here, and I'll buy you another hat."
"No need to do that. No one would know since you're not calling me queen. So let's keep going."
They went to a casa de gelato or an ice cream parlor in her world. However, before they could enter the place, a guy in a stallion white horse appeared. The guy jumped off the horse and walked towards Aileen.
"Greetings lady with shiny gold hair," says the guy who looks like a charming prince from a fictional book.
"M-Me?" Aileen asked.
"Greetings lady with shiny gold hair," says the guy who looks like a charming prince from a fictional book. The guy has red hair and brown eyes, quite different from the empire's trade look. Most people of Allandis have an innate sparkling ray of sunlight hair. "M-Me?" Aileen asked. She blinked her eyes twice while pointing at her chest. Then the guy smiled and presented her with a hat. 'Oh, he must have caught it accidentally.' "Is this hat yours, my lady?" "Y-yes. Yes, that is mine." Instead of simply passing the object to her palm, the guy placed it on Aileen's head. "T-thank you." "No big deal, my lady. Are you heading inside?" The guy asked, wearing a sweet smile on his face. Aileen thought at the time; it would be no good if she would see him in the future. He reminds her of someone with a sly smile from her showbiz industry. Moreover, she doesn't know who to trust in this strange world. "Oh! I forgot, I had something important to do at my manor, right?" Aileen glance
"Have you heard about the witch forest?" Aileen asked while looking at the overview of the mountain visible from the top of the palace."Hmmm... they are pretty famous for being the house of a sorcerer who cursed the empire fifteen years ago."Aileen was surprised to hear that the empire was cursed. She really has no idea what is happening in this land.'What am I supposed to do here? What if I'm a hero in this land?'Aileen laughed with the absurd idea her mind bore and thought she probably had too much doze of drama she had filmed."What actually happened back then?" Aileen asked out of curiosity.
Aileen was staring at her reflection in the human-sized mirror. She could not help but ask the woman. "Lady Szcheriziel, are you perhaps a sorcerer?"She heaved a heavy breath and accepted that the lady would not answer. Aileen wondered where the heck the soul of this aristocrat lady went to.The queen left her chamber. As usual, the servants bowed their heads and greeted her. Then she told them, "Please don't enter the library without my acknowledgement. I want to read alone.""Yes, madam. Please call us if you need something."She locked the door and started browsing the books. "This may be a fictional story, but who knows if the spell written on the book would work. I need to try at least," Aileen mut
"I won't let you in until you really are Shaun!" The queen yelled, and everyone thought the couple were quarreling.The servants are wishing the two would reconcile sooner because they were afraid that their king would be back from being the cold and intimidating guy. Their madam had softened thy king."What do you mean? I am your Shaun. My beloved, it's me."All of a sudden, the king stopped knocking and started screaming in excruciating pain. As a result, the servant panicked. Aileen heard the commotion outside her chamber. Due to her curiosity and concern, the queen opened the door."W-What's wrong?" Aileen caressed her husband's cheek. Then, she asked two of the servants to help the king lay on
The go-getters' trill, the morning sun radiates looking through the mists, and birds do their wake-up routines, flying through the gentle breeze of wind. The king looked at the brilliant light, which covered the sky, loaded with magnificence, very much like the way he couldn't get his eyes off the woman who was in the middle of working back n' forward.All of a sudden, his trusted right hand appeared with piles of paper. and said, "Your excellency, the invit-"Viscount Severo failed to finish his statement as the king uttered, "Burn all those invitations.""As you order, your excellency. But, it's been forever since you visited this area. Are you perhaps observing something, or are you thinking of something?""Thinking about where my rationality was," the cold king replied."P-Pardon?" The perplexed Viscount almost dropped his jaw, hearing the composed king utter something nonsensical. Then left after seeing where the king's attention was, none other than watching the queen from a dis
Her hand fidgeted, and she wanted to bite her fingernails due to the fear his gaze bestowed on her. At the back of her mind, 'His piercing gaze... that face... It's Viishaun!' She shook her head, and this was not the time to be afraid. I need to explain things to him since 'Shaun' pooped out in the picture when he shouldn't."D*arn it!" He cursed at the wind.She convinced herself not to blink when the king raised his hand and threw a blanket at her. "W-What are you doing, my excellency?""My love, how's your hand?" He asked, caressing the bandage in the queen's wounded hand.She blinked twice and whispered, "A while ago, he was a lion ready to shut me with a sharp fang, but now he looks like an adorable kitty."“My love, let’s have dinner.” The king stood up and extended his hand, asking his wife to take them.Aileen sighed and held his hand. The servants looked relieved when the king and queen passed by them, holding hand by hand."I don't understand what you are trying to say, m
“Look over there! Such a handsome guy! My eyes are bliss,” says the lady whispering among themselves. “I-It’s his excellency,” the queen muttered trying to mix in the crowd to avoid being noticed by the king. But she was surprised to see why his excellency was smiling. She thought… ‘The only time he smiles is when he’s with me and when he is Shaun.’ “Who is he smiling at?” Aileen uttered. Then her eyes widened when she saw her husband kneel and kissed the back of the lady’s hand. Something inside is unhappy seeing Viishaun comfortably smiling with another woman. “T-That’s…” the maid was hesitating to answer because it might cause misunderstanding, and thought they were already not on good terms since the king slept in his chamber. “That’s princess Elvira of the royal Vermillion Kingdom.” “P-princess?” Aileen was amazed at the beauty of princess Vermillion. She has red hair and a pair of perfect wide brown eyes with long lashes. Her nose is well-sculpted and perfectly goes along
"So, it's not your first time seeing him?! You were cheating on me?!" says Viishaun, squinting his eyes."Don't act as if you were jealous. I would have believed it if it was 'Shaun' and not Viishaun. I know you have no interest in me, but if your attitude and behavior keep changing, the people will find us confusing.""What do you mean?" He seated straight, crossing his legs together, and the same goes with his arm, while his brows raised like alps."Take an example, my maid, the secretary, and marquises. They might think we're only having union problems, but if you keep doing that, they might notice something is wrong with you. Usually, your normal self was..." Aileen was hesitant to mention what he was when under the spell. To cut it short, when he's Shaun and not Viishaun."Let me remind you... That 'Shaun' was not me. Also, you tricked me and made me marry you, and now you are telling me to keep acting like a fool?" Aileen could not constrain her madness with the arrogant King.