"P-please tell me this is some kind of joke, Irene?" Elena asked, slowly moving away from her royal servant. She wrapped her arms tighter around her chest as the thought of being bathed by the King crossed her mind. She shrieked, dreading it. But for some reason, a tingling sensation formed in the pit of her stomach. As if she had lowkey wanted to be bathed by the King?
Impossible!
"It's honestly not a joke my Queen," Irene stated calmly. "While it's not compulsory to be bathed by me for the rest of your life, it is tradition that the King's wife must be bathed and pampered for at least a week, either by the husband or a royal servant, after marriage."
"Yes, you haven't married the King yet, but he had insisted. And I can't possibly disobey the King," Irene added, explaining the situation as simply as she could.
Elena did not even know how to react after hearing this. She just stood still, staring at Irene as though she had grown two heads. Her mind was blank. How was she going to escape this?
Why should such a great kingdom even have such a silly tradition? How would such tradition help the Kingdom grow in any way?
Elena shoved her hands through her hair as a tired sigh escaped her mouth. She spared a glance at Irene before returning her gaze to the ground, trying to think of ways to bypass this madness. Unfortunately, nothing came to her mind. She was already married to King Killian on paper, so there was no reason for her to not follow the tradition. Also, if King Killian had made this decision, there was no way she would disobey him.
Elena could easily tell Irene to cover for her and just let her do the bathing on her own, but from what she had discovered so far, it was clear that Irene was very scared of the King and wouldn't even dare to disobey him.
Letting out a defeated sigh, Elena mouthed. "Fine, you can help me bathe." Her small hands wrapped around her chest dropped to the side as she sulked silently. She did not like this. Her body was hers, no one was meant to see it. But Irene bathing her was far better than having King Killian bathing her.
Oh well, at least the scars on her back had all healed up.
After Elena's agreement, Irene led her to King Killian's spacious bathroom. She had not entered the bathroom before and was only able to find it because King Killian had given her the instructions earlier. So, when she pushed the door open, her jaw dropped. Her eyes widened with surprise, the look on her face mirroring that of Elena. They were both in awe.
"I-is this supposed to be the bathroom?" Elena asked as she strolled deeper into Killian's bathroom, a place big enough to be mistaken for a living room.
As expected, red and black remained the prominent colors in the space, but the bathroom wasn't as creepy as the bedroom. As a matter of fact, although dark, it looked magical to both Elena and Irene.
A sleek modern bathtub with red marble-like veining, placed on a white platform was the first thing that captured Elena's eyes. It was big enough to contain three people, and the design… was just so hard to dismiss. It was incredible.
Furthermore, the floors and walls were cladded in glossy black marble with deep red streaks. Flowers, full-length mirrors, a vanity area, and even another bathtub, were positioned perfectly in their spaces. There were a lot of beautiful things in the bathroom, some that Elena couldn't even understand. Like the big black floating screen ahead.
"My Queen, would you like to check out some shows while you bathe?" Irene asked the moment she noticed Elena was engrossed on the television screen.
"Alexa, please turn on the television," Irene commanded.
"Television turning on." A robotic voice rang out.
Elena's eyes grew wide in shock as an almost silent gasp left her mouth. "What just happened?" She thought to herself, finding it difficult to understand how that black floating thing turned into a television and how Irene was able to turn it on without a remote.
Besides, who the heck was Alexa?
Of course, Elena knew what a television was, but she had not been around to witness the evolution of technology over the years. What she remembered was a plasma and not some floating black screen.
"Alexia, please turn off the television." Elena voiced, her eyes dilating in disbelief as she stared at the screen.
"Turning off the TV," Alexa replied.
"Wow," Elena muttered, a small smile creeping its way to her face. She wasn't dumb, so she was able to quickly grasp what was going on, and she couldn't wait to try so many new technologies soon.
After pouring so many herbs and liquid into the bathtub, Irene finally walked over to Elena to help her take off her dress. She struggled for a little while until Elena finally gave in and took off her dress, exposing a very beautiful slender structure.
Following so many praises and compliments from Irene, Elena was finally led into the rose-filled water. She let out a soft breath as she sank into the cool water, sniffing the rich scent of roses and strawberries. She closed her eyes, allowing Irene's soft hands to do the job.
Elena felt calm and relaxed and she couldn't help but scold herself inwardly for being so shy and scared in the first place. Being bathed didn't seem so bad. However, she was definitely never going to allow King Killian to bathe her. Ever.
After what felt like an hour of deep cleansing, Elena rose and climbed down from the tub. "Thank you," she muttered to Irene who immediately covered her up with a rob.
"It's my honor, Queen Elena."
On getting to the room, Irene also helped Elena get dressed. She helped her into a nice nightgown, did her hair, and then helped rub a healing cream on the scars on the Queen's face.
"Have a good night my Queen," Irene greeted, to which Elena nodded in response before Irene left the room.
Elena sat on the edge of the bed, still taking in the surroundings. For a moment, she allowed herself to breathe, forgetting the crazy things that had happened in the space of seventy-eight hours. However, a sharp feeling of frustration soon bubbled inside her as she remembered why she was in the King's bedroom.
She really didn't want to share a bed with him. She never signed up for this. How long would this continue? What if there were other crazy traditions?
Elena closed her eyes for a moment, drawing in a shaky breath. She would have to face him. There was no escaping the moment.
Elena waited for a while, her heart hammering in her chest as she imagined the King walking into the room at any moment. Her hands gripped the sheets, as she tried to steady her racing heart. She was painting so many scenarios of how the night would go in her head. Unfortunately, the scenarios only made her grow more nervous as all of them ended up with her head rolling off her neck after annoying the King.
Elena heaved a deep sigh as she positioned herself properly in bed, lying very close to the edge. "Maybe he would sleep in his study," she said after noticing how far the night had gone. She waited for a few more minutes before giving herself up to sleep.
However, just ten minutes later, the door opened with a soft click, and King Killian stepped inside, his tall frame casting a long shadow across the floor. His gaze swept the room once, instinctively, before landing on the bed. There she was. His little mate.
Elena curled up near the very edge as if the rest of the bed didn't belong to her. As if even in sleep, she was trying to keep her distance from him. Her arms were folded beneath her head, her brows faintly pinched, and strands of hair had slipped loose to brush against her cheek.
He stood there for a while, unmoving, caught between the bitterness of what the contract meant. He frowned. How should he start this?
Without a word, King Killian walked toward the edge of the bed, crouched down near Elena, his sharp eyes pinned on her face, taking in every tiny detail. "My precious little price." He muttered softly as he pushed back the strands of hair covering Elena's face.
He felt nothing while staring at her. No emotions. No feelings. Nothing. Just pure darkness. A darkness he relished in.
"I can't believe I have the key to breaking my curse right here with me." King Killian added, as he softly started stroking Elena's cheek. He paused, straightening her pillow before continuing. "Such a soft lady. Too bad, your death had to be the key to breaking my curse."
King Killian leaned closer, inhaling the sweet scent of his mate. He pulled out and stared at her neck for a few seconds—a place he had just sniffed. And for the first time in centuries, he smirked.
Something on earth finally pleased the Death God!
King Killian rose, slowly walked over to the other side, and then lay on the bed. Then, slowly, he reached for her, his arm sliding around her thin waist, the warmth of her body seeping through the thin fabric of her nightdress.
Elena shifted slightly, her brows twitching in faint protest, but she didn't wake.
With a steady pull, King Killian pulled Elena close, guarding her body into the space beside him until she lay against his chest.
He still felt nothing even with such close contact. He was as cold as ice.
"Find her, make her fall in love with you, mate, and then kill her on the night of the eclipse moon. Only then will the curse upon you be lifted." These were the words of a witch many years ago. It was the only way to break the King's curse.
King Killian couldn't help but let out a low approving growl as he imagined what it would feel like once his curse got broken. How he would curse chaos and unleash hell on earth. The thought of it brought another smirk to KillIan's face, but it disappeared almost immediately as he remembered Xavier's motive.
King Killian already had the painful task of making Elena fall in love with him. How was he going to stop Xavier from driving Elena mad to the point where she would kill herself before that night?
King Killian could have easily killed Xavier as he was a threat, but that would only lead to his death…such a cruel downside to his curse.
He was going to deal with Xavier soonest, but first, he had to focus on the most important task.
"How am I going to make my little mate fall in love with me?"