6|| Do Or Die Affair

When I woke, the first thing I felt was warm water splashing against my skin.

I was naked, sitting in a tub filled with soapy water, my body being scrubbed by Poppy’s small hands. She didn’t notice I was awake at first, humming softly as she worked a sponge over my back.

When she finally glanced up and saw my eyes open, she gasped and quickly grabbed my hand.

“Your Highness! Are you okay? You scared me!”

Her red curls bounced as she moved closer, her wide eyes glassy, like she might cry at any moment.

“W…what happened?” My voice was hoarse, my gaze darting around the room. I realized every inch of me was being washed, even my hair was all wet and soggy.

“You started crying after what Head Maid Smite said, and then you fainted,” she explained quickly. “I ran after her to tell her, but she just rolled her eyes and told me not to disturb anyone. So… when I saw you were still breathing, I brought you here. I thought it best to clean you up before helping you to bed. I’m sorry, Your Highness, I didn’t know what else to do.”

I let my eyes settle on Poppy and sighed. She didn’t look much younger than me. Eighteen, maybe nineteen. I couldn’t imagine what I would have done in her place. Probably fallen apart completely.

“It’s okay, don’t cry,” I murmured, shaking my head gently. “You did your best. But… Don't call me Your Highness anymore. It feels awkward. Just call me Dahlia.”

Poppy froze, her eyes widening as if she hadn’t even thought of the possibility. Then, in a panic, she shook her head.

“No! I can’t do that, Your Highness. If the Head Maid ever found out, she’ll—” She cut herself off, wrapping a trembling hand around her throat, shaking her head pleadingly.

I reached out quickly, resting my damp fingers over her hand. “It’s okay. Calm down. You can just call me that when we’re alone, alright? No one has to know. Does that sound better?”

She finally relaxed and took a sigh of relief. She nodded slowly. “Of course, Your High—ah… I mean, Dahlia.”

We both let out a tiny laugh at her stumble, and the sound shocked me. It was the first time I’d laughed since my father told me the news two days ago.

A sudden weight of heaviness swept over me, and I felt incredibly tired. I motioned for Poppy to help me out of the tub and into my room.

Once I sat on the bed, I wrapped myself in a towel while Poppy slipped away and returned with a simple white dress.

“I’m sorry, Dahlia,” she said softly, lowering her eyes. “Every new concubine is supposed to be assigned three maids and a chef when they first arrive at the castle. But I’m the only one here. You haven’t even faced the Seduction Trials yet, and already they’re looking down on us.”

Hearing Poppy mention the Seduction Trials sent another wave of dread crashing over me. The very words dragged me back to the truth I’d forgotten for five seconds, the reason I’d broken down in the first place.

That my father and sister had lied to the king, presenting me as a white wolf, ready for breeding.

That I was now expected to endure a series of brutal “tests” before I could be officially crowned his concubine.

And worst of all… that everyone already expected me to fail.

I bit down hard on my lower lip, then lifted my gaze to Poppy. My voice trembled.

“Poppy… please. Can you tell me what the Seduction Trials really are?”

For a moment, she didn’t answer. Her eyes darted to the door, as if someone might be listening. Only after a long pause did she sit on the edge of the bed beside me, lowering her voice to a whisper.

“There didn’t use to be Seduction Trials,” she confessed. “Before… the women brought here as concubines would simply spend their first night with the king.” She hesitated, her face flushing pink, fingers twisting nervously in her lap. “But they wouldn’t last the night.”

My throat went dry. “Last the night?”

Her blush deepened, and she bit her lip.

“They say the king is… a monster in bed. Not just skilled, but insatiable. His stamina is inhuman, and his appetites are—” she lowered her voice even further, trembling. “his appetites are shocking. He… breaks women.”

I stared at her, unable to breathe.

“So the Trials were created to prepare concubines to withstand him. To see if they can handle his… hunger. Some collapse from exhaustion, others get hurt. I heard once… the daughter of a priest snapped her spine before morning.”

A cold shiver ran down my spine as Poppy’s words sank deep into me. No wonder everyone looked at me as if I’d already lost. If even white wolves couldn’t endure the king’s bed, what chance did I, a wolfless omega, even have?

My hand fisted tight in the fabric of my dress, my chest rising and falling in panic. Every part of me screamed for me to run. To run far, far away, until no one could find me again.

My voice came out a broken whisper. “What happens… what happens to the women who don’t pass the test?”

Poppy’s expression darkened, her voice dropping lower, as if she herself was terrified.

“Then you don’t get to sleep with His Majesty. And if you don’t share his bed, you’re not really his concubine. You become a Forgotten.”

The word rang in my ears like a curse.

“No staff will respect you. You’ll be shoved to the very bottom of the food chain. At least now we’ve been given quarters… if you fail, Dahlia, we won’t even be given food. Or clothes. Or a candle to light the dark. You’d exist here like a ghost, unwanted, unseen, wasting away in the palace walls.”

Coralie’s words echoed in my head

“We both know you’re not beautiful. Even a monster like the king, who fucks anything with a pulse, wouldn’t look twice at you. So keep your head down, act like you’re dead. If you’re lucky, he’ll forget you even exist. You can stare at your walls all day in your quarters, and no one will care. See? Happy ending.”

“That’s why every concubine treats it as a Do or Die affair. Because if you fail…” She shivered. “It’s better to be dead than to live as a Forgotten concubine.”

Then I’d really be done, wouldn’t I? Living every day in this haunting castle without the king’s favor. Without food or dignity. I’d be finished.

“Do you… do you know what the trials actually are?” I asked.

Poppy shook her head quickly. “They change every time a new concubine comes. Nobody can ever predict them. But they always fall under the same titles.” She started listing them out. “The Trial of Restraint. The Trial of Temptation. And the Trial of Submission.”

So that night, I sat alone in my bed, eyes locked on the walls, thinking long and hard about what I should do now. Should I run? Even if I packed my bags, I wouldn’t make it to the castle gates before they dragged me back.

My eyes drifted to the fireplace. There was a discarded iron poker resting on the wall, its mouth was sharp and wickedly pointed. My fingers twitched at the thought. If I ended it now, it would all be over.

But that would mean Coralie won. When she set the trap, I fell into it, and I became exactly what they all think I am. A good for nothing. No. I couldn’t give her that satisfaction. I couldn’t let her win.

No matter what.

I didn’t sleep a wink that night. My eyes burned from holding back tears and my body was stiff from sitting upright, staring at the same crack in the wall until morning. By the time Poppy found me, I was like ice.

When Head Maid Smite came into the room with two other maids trailing behind her, I didn’t even fight them. I was stripped, washed until my skin felt raw, and scented oils rubbed into every curve of me until I was shining. My hair was braided harshly into a single tight side plait, tugging at my scalp but I didn’t even complain.

Then came the dress. If you could call it that. It was a sheer black slip of fabric clung to me like a second skin, it was see-through. It covered me, yet revealed everything about my body. My nipples pressed brazenly against the fabric, two shameful peaks I couldn’t hide even if I tried. Every movement made the lower part of me quiver.

I was made to kneel and watch as they wrapped a black silk around my wrists, binding them tightly. Another length of silk was tied around my eyes, pulling me into darkness. My senses were reduced to the sound of their footsteps circling me.

“Perfect,” I heard Head Maid Smite and the maids beside her laugh. “The king will enjoy watching her break.”

I hated it. I hated that the instant I heard the king would be watching me, my mind betrayed me, dragging me back to yesterday, to the way his hand clamped around my jaw, to the way he called me his slave. I hated that my thighs pressed together on their own, that my legs quivered at the thought of his gaze searing through me.

Bound and blinded, I bowed my head as they led me out of my quarters. Each step was so slow, I could hear the echo of my bare feet against marble, the only sound guiding me. I couldn’t see, couldn’t smell, couldn’t even hear more than the shuffle of the maids at my side.

Then the air changed.

It was colder here, sharp and biting against my thin silk dress, so cold that it licked between my legs and made my clit twitch in humiliation. My breath hitched, visible in the air, though I wasn’t sure if the shiver racing through me was entirely from the chill.

This was no ordinary chamber. I felt it in the silence and the way the air seemed to hold its breath with me. My heart thundered in my chest, and somewhere deep inside, I knew it.

The Seduction Trial had begun.