ELVA’S POV I scrammed the bathroom the moment I heard a knock on my door. It was time for my first training with Mr Stewart and I was almost running late. I hadn’t thought it through before going into the bathroom to bathe. I’d still get dirty from the training, so it made no sense now that I had taken my bath. “Who’s there?” I asked as I forced my legs through my blue underwear. “It’s me,” Selena’s voice came from behind the door. I rushed to the door. “Sorry I locked the door,” I said as she came in, “I was taking my bath.” “These are your training uniforms,” she said, handing over a stack of folded clothes to me. I received it from her and she turned, leaving without saying one more word. Mum or Dad seemed to have just woken her from sleep to give me the uniforms. Her room was very close to theirs, making her the most accessible person whenever they needed to send someone on an errand. The uniforms were of three different colors; each consisting of a long-sleeve shirt and a
ELVA'S POV I rushed back to the palace as fast as my feeble feet could carry me. When I got there, the maids rushed up to me. "Please, hurry and come with us, princess!" Nana said. She was one of the oldest maids we had in the palace, so kind and loyal as a person. But most times, she demonstrated fear toward Mother and Selena. I couldn't tell why. "What is going on, Nana?" I asked her. "A prince is on his way to the palace. You can't be presented like this," she said as she dragged me along. "Hold on, Nana. What do you mean by presented?" I asked. But just then, I caught sight of Selena dressed more elegant than I had ever seen her, strolling along the corridor like an angel in a garden of daisies. That was when I understood what Nana meant by "Presented." "Nana, if this is about dressing nice and..." "There's no time, my princess. As you can see, Princess Selena is already set," Nana said, pushing open the door to my room, with two Julie and Sarah, two other maids, right behi
SELENA'S POV Prince Darian's handsomeness was beyond description. His eyes were blue and the intensity of his gaze was stomach-melting. He stood at 6 ft 7. The perfect height of a guy that matched my 6 ft 3. Whenever he mentioned my name, I felt I had been flung into an abyss of beautiful flowers and butterflies. I had seen him when he arrived, and although we had only spoken briefly, I was already head over heels in love with him. He was articulate with pronouncing my name, and I couldn't help but watch the motion of his lips as he did so. He had arrived weary after a long time on the road without rest during his journey, so he wanted to get a deep nap before coming out again in the evening for dinner. It was almost dinner time now, but I guessed he'd come out before that time to take a look outside. The castle structure gave a beautiful view in the evening. From upstairs, it seemed the orange sun sank into the earth whenever it was about to go home. Coupled with its fervid luster
ELVA'S POVI had just woken up from sleep. The makeup I had worn since the afternoon soiled my whole pillow while I slept. It was a total mess now and I needed to wash it off. I yanked off the pillowcase from the pillow and dropped it on the floor. Then I went into the bathroom and washed the makeup off my face.I took the soiled pillow case, together with three other dirty clothes I had, and went off to meet my favorite maid, Nana, so she could help me wash them. To be honest, the materials used in making my clothes in the palace were very difficult to scrub. I don't know how Nana did it, but she always washed them sparkling clean. But one thing I never let her do was my innerwear. It didn't sit right with me. I had the dirty clothes in my hand, walking past the corridor. When I walked past the staircase that led to the top of the castle, I paused when I saw Selena descending the stairs with a handsome young man.I gazed at them for a split second and continued to where I was going b
DARIAN'S POVWhen I told her that I wanted to place my palm on her bare chest, she freaked out."No, no, no. That's not happening," she said rashly."Trust me, Elva. If we do this and it doesn't work, you can report me to your father," I said to her."No. That's not assuring," she fretted. "Just tell me that you're not a pervert.""I'm not a pervert, I promise," I said to her."I can't believe this is happening," she said. She looked so nervous, battling with the decision to proceed or not. She really needed to know whether she was a werewolf or not, and I could sense it in her that she didn't want to forfeit the opportunity of figuring that out.The cottage was shady. No one would be able to make out what we were doing from afar. "Trust me," I said to Elva.After a few more minutes of deliberating over what action to take, Elva finally gave in."Please, I hope you're not trying to trick me," she said."I'm not," I said, watching her as she undid two buttons from her shirt, revealing
SELENA'S POV"Have I been here all this while?" His question echoed in my head.Yes, of course. I had walked in on them hugging each other. How could he not choose me over that wolf-less girl who didn't even show any interest in him?Tears trickled down my cheeks as I stood there staring meanly at him."What is wrong, Selena?" He came close."Please, stop there," I barked.Since Elva came into the kingdom, she had been stealing everything from me. She stole the king's attention from me. She stole the maids' admiration from me. She stoked the tailor's praises from me. And now, she had stolen the man I was in love with."You and her... You're both terrible people!" I cried out, running into the castle.He didn't even make an attempt to stop me or chase after me.Two days later, Prince Darian was still in the castle. He was meant to have gone back home by now. I wondered what kept him still.“Beautiful Selena,” the king called me.“Yes, sir,” I answered, jolting out of my thoughts.We we
ELVA’S POVEveryone gazed at me like something was missing from a part of my face.I stopped chewing the chunk of pork I had in my mouth.“What?!”Father took in a deep breath. “Do you mean to tell me that you don’t remember training today?” Father asked her.“Master Stewart hasn’t come yet,” I said.No sooner than I had said that, Mother walked into the dining table. She had been in her room all this while. I heard she was worried sick about me and had slept off while complaining that I needed to stop having harsh training sessions.Lu ran into the dining room right after Mum had come in.“Who’s up for some night race?” Lu asked.“When I’m done eating,” Selena said.“I’m up too,” Prince Darian said. “Me too,” I joined in.Once again, all eyes gazed at me like something was off with my face, or rather with my voice this time.“I’m sorry you can’t join them. The physician has to come and take a look at you tonight,” Dad said.“But he can come when I’m back from racing,” I insisted, “
ELVA’S POVPrince Darian and I held hands and he led the way. We strolled to the castle gate where the guards were. They were about ten guards and they looked like they all had been waiting for us to come.“Bring it,” Prince Darian said to the guards. Immediately, two of them turned around and hurried off to the guard house. I gazed at Darian with suspense, wondering if he had a surprise for me. I was curious about what he had told the guards to bring. But if it was a surprise, then I’d better not ruin it by asking what it was.Just then, the two guards who had hurriedly left to bring what Darian had ordered them to, returned pulling a cart with them. The cart had something on it. But whatever it was had been covered with a thick and long brown material.“Now, come over and see what I have for you,” Prince Darian said to me, pulling me gently by my hand.I tiptoed over to his side anxiously. What could it be? What could he want to show me?Immediately, Prince Darian pulled the thick b