Chapter 41

As they arrived at His Majesty’s tent, Lucius dismissed Herro and Gemini and turned to Freya to say, “First, take off my cape.” Once the two of them were inside, Freya looked down as she stood in front of Lucius, trying to avoid looking at his face. She quickly realized that to take off his cape, she would have to look up at him. A pang of annoyance came over her as she realized that she would be breaking her first rule so quickly. The cape didn’t contain any string that she could just untie by lightly pulling it; instead, it was held together by four golden buttons that she would have to undo individually with her fingers. Freya’s hands trembled as she started to wrestle with the buttons, and she had to stand on her toes to reach the top one.

Lucius remarked, “It appears that we’re going to spend the entire day taking off my cape.” With a slight tone of annoyance, Freya replied, “My hands can’t seem to reach.” But what did he expect? He knew that they had a big height difference, and yet he had asked her to do this. Freya smiled awkwardly and asked, “So you want me to do this?” Lucius lowered his whole body so that their faces were almost touching. This was far too close, and Freya took a step back in surprise. Her legs touched the edge of a table, and suddenly Lucius’ hands were on the table causing him to almost embrace her. Freya felt her breathing stutter; she had never known that taking off a cape could be so dangerous.

Freya’s mind was swirling, but she quickly regained control. Telling herself that this was only work, and thinking of the gold pieces, she straightened herself up and stretched out her hands. The hair on Lucius’ forehead tickled her face and she felt the butterflies return to her stomach. Her heart began to beat faster, and she wished that he would back off a little. She was aware that her face was glowing and she tried to hide it from his view. Her hands still trembled, but she finally managed to loosen the top button and the cape fell onto the carpet. “That took a long time,” murmured Lucius as he straightened his back and finally moved away from her. She noticed that her hands were wet, and realized that she had never felt such intensity when helping Archer remove his cape.

Now that Lucius had moved away from her, Freya was able to take stock of her situation. She thought that she was probably so nervous because she knew that Lucius could behead her if he so wished. She bent down to retrieve that cape from the floor, and then Lucius pointed at the dark blue jacket. Freya felt as though she had been in the tent for a long time already, even though less than five minutes had passed since they arrived. She reached for the small golden button on the jacket, but Lucius quickly interjected and said, “Did I say this?”

Freya opened her mouth but, in her confusion, was unable to say anything. Lucius remarked, “I supervise people around me very thoroughly. This is something you should know.” She didn’t know what he was talking about, but she did not want to let him know that. So she focused on the new button that was proving difficult to get undone. Lucius continued, “Trust is the most important trait. I have believed in this notion for the whole of my life.” Freya nodded affirmatively, but in her mind, she remembered her time at the orphanage. There had certainly been no trust, love, or hope there. Now she wondered why the Crown Prince, with his apparent bloodlust, would say such a thing. It did not match with the image of him charging into battle with his enemies. The jacket finally became undone, and Freya felt a small relief. She had only helped him take off his clothes, and already she was sweating, anxious, and more than a little exhausted. She wished that he would disappear to the bedroom, for then she would be able to breathe steadily a little and regain her composure. But it seemed like Lucius was not planning to go anywhere.

Lucius’ tight shirt clung to his body, accentuating the shape and tone of his muscles. In a similar way, his dark blue pants revealed his well-defined thighs. Freya couldn’t help but think that she had never seen a man quite like this before, and her heart began to flutter. She noticed his sharp nose and the blonde hair on his head, waving like cotton in the wind. She wondered how he look so good and promising, while at the same time being so strange-mannered and angry. She had never met a man like this before and was only used to heavy-bearded like Archer in this environment. Pretty things made people weak, and Freya knew that the things that she liked especially were blonde hair and cats.

Freya’s thoughts were interrupted by Lucius asking, “What is that weird look on your face?” This caused her to feel immediately embarrassed, so she looked down at the floor. With a shrug of his wide shoulders, Lucius walked toward the table and pulled the dagger out of the map that was spread on the table. This new servant was starting to bother him and he wasn’t quite sure why as of yet. Had she been sent as a spy by Hart? Perhaps she was a magician who had come to cast spells on him and weaken him before Hart’s attack. Her piercing green eyes stared at him, and he began to feel a heavy headache growing in his temples. He groaned quietly, causing a startled Freya to yell, “Your Majesty!”

Lucius knew that this was the after-effect of one of the magic potions, for he had experienced this feeling before. The sudden headache, nausea and blurred vision had visited him three or four times since he had last drunk the potion. Freya recognized the potential danger of the dagger in Lucius’ hand and, taking a thick cloth from the table, extracted the dagger from Lucius and wrapped it up. She wondered how she had managed to be this unlucky on her first day at work, and told Lucius, “Your Majesty, I will call for help.” Despite the sweat dripping from Lucius’ head, he curtly replied, “Help is not necessary.” He lurched toward her and, stumbling, fell towards her and put out his hands. Unfortunately, the first thing that he grabbed was Freya’s neck, causing her to yell out in shock. What on earth was happening? His hands slipped from her neck and he fell to the floor, while Freya stared on in shock.

What a shocking turn of events! Freya knew she couldn’t just leave him on the floor, so she bent down and tried to lift his heavy frame from the ground. One hand covered his eyes, and his other clenched Freya’s hand and he whispered agonizingly, “To the bed…” Freya frowned, wondering why nobody was coming in to help. Surely that guard with the spear had heard the commotion and would be coming in soon to help His Majesty? She struggled to lift him, but after employing all of her strength, she finally hoisted him up on the bed. She was sweating all over and she thought to herself that His Majesty was not well at all.

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