The Crown's Entrapment

Kingdom of Valcrez
Inside the carriage, Xenia and Mineah continued sharing their respective experiences living in a new foreign land with one another.
“Don’t you have any regrets at all, big sister?” Mineah asked her. “I mean, things would’ve been different if you didn’t run away.”
Hearing her sister’s question, Xenia smiled as she gently held Mineah’s hand, caressing it while she looked at her intently.
“I have no regrets at all, Mineah. I wouldn’t have met the love of my life if I hadn’t run away,” she replied with a warm smile on her face. “Although, before that, my conscience almost ate me up from thinking how my actions had also put you in a messed-up situation…”
“Hmm… You honestly helped me get married, Sister. We both know that I have a reputation of being a cursed princess in the other kingdoms, which leads to no one wanting to take the risk of marrying me. But the Vampire King…” Mineah trailed off, a joyful smile forming on her face as she continued. “He accepted me regardless of those rumors. So on that note, I do believe that everything was meant to happen the way it did. You meeting the Werewolf King, who you said you now love wholeheartedly, and I being married to the Vampire King, who didn’t even have a second thought of accepting me regardless of whether or not I am truly cursed.”
Xenia couldn’t help but smile at her sister’s warm words. She was honestly curious to know more about her little sister’s private relationship with the Vampire King, but with how private her little sister was… She thought it would be best not to pry any further.
But even so, she still couldn’t help but feel worried for her. Mineah had a reputation of being a damsel in distress, but there was more than meets the eye when it came to her little sister. She might look quiet, helpless, and weak, but she was someone who could be very dangerous despite her physically weak body. Knowing that Xenia knew she shouldn’t worry.
“Are they still bringing it up in the royal court? About you being a cursed princess?” Xenia asked with a concerned tone.
Mineah had a wide grin on her face as she proudly mumbled, “I’m able to use it to my advantage anyway, so don’t worry, Sister.”
Xenia chuckled, “Alright then. I know I might be stronger than you physically, but you’re more cunning and dangerous than me, little sister. Just make sure to know your limitations and don’t do too many things than can endanger you,” Xenia reminded with a smile. “Anyway, Dani is there with you every step of the way, so I guess I really don’t have to worry. She’s a better guardian than your older sister anyway.”
Dani was like a sister to Mineah, just like how Jayra was to her… She was honestly grateful that her little sister had Dani on her side in this foreign land, just as much as she was grateful that she also had Jayra on her side.
Mineah had a pout as she replied, “Stop that. You’re the best sister in the world, it’s just that we have different characters and hobbies that made us a bit incompatible. You’re more carefree and prefer to explore the world, while I’m the opposite of that.”
She let out a soft chuckle as she added, “Also, I’m glad that you also have Jayra with you. And the same goes for Dani on my side. Looking at it all now, we were bound to move to our separate ways eventually, Sister.”
Xenia heaved out a long deep sigh as she murmured, “Right. It was only Ezekiel who had to stay in our home. We were destined to leave our family and live with our new husbands in one way or another.”
Looking at Mineah, she noticed how her sister’s expression changed as she spoke about their brother, but it was quickly replaced by a smile all the same.
After that, her little sister was quick to change the topic and said, “Do you want me to give you a tour around the castle tomorrow, Sister? Or are you already feeling tired and lazy after all of your training? I heard that you had quite the strict regimen from the admiral.”
Xenia blinked at her sister as she inquired, “Hey, are you stalking me, little sister?”
“The king gifted me a reliable raven that I can talk to inside my head,” Mineah chuckled. “I asked it to look after you and report to me about how things are going for you every once in a while.”
“I didn’t even notice a raven spying on me…” Xenia mumbled aloud. She did see a raven once, but she hadn’t noticed anything suspicious about it at all.
Opening the nearest carriage window to her, Mineah held a bashful smile as she said, “I’ll introduce you to Nik then. I’m sure you’ll like him.”
Soon after, Xenia saw a raven fly inside of the window, landing on top of Mineah’s shoulder with a light caw.
“Ohhh… Did you name it after King Nikolai?” Xenia inquired.
“Indeed. He didn’t react negatively though,” Mineah defended with a bashful giggle.
“I see. So how do you address him? The king, I mean? And how does he address you?” Xenia curiously asked. Darius would call her ‘my love’ or ‘love’ often, but she hadn’t tried addressing him in the same way since she wasn’t the flowery type of person. Maybe later, once she was used to addressing him as ‘my love’ or ‘love’ too will she reciprocate the gesture.
Mineah’s face reddened, and Xenia could not help but tease, “Hahaha! Why are you blushing so hard?”
“He’s calling me Mine…” she answered bashfully. Though it was derived from the first four letters of Mineah’s name, the pronunciation was far from what it was supposed to be.
“Wow, I never thought that in his cold aura, he would be cheesy enough to be like that,” Xenia’s eyes widened in realization. “He’s practically announcing to everyone that you’re his.”
“Err… I’m not sure if that’s what he truly meant by it though,” Mineah defended with an awkward smile. “It’s hard to tell what’s going on inside the king’s mind, but I’m sure there’s more to it than that.”
Xenia dropped the thought. She didn’t want to comment, but she would later ask Darius about Nikolai a bit further. She had heard rumors about the Vampire King, and her mate definitely knew King Nikolai more than any of those dubious rumors.
“How about you then?” Xenia pondered, steering the conversation back to her sister. She was getting giddy at how her little sister kept on blushing and smiling timidly the further their conversation went.
“Hmm… Just Lai…” Mineah answered. “He doesn’t want me addressing him as king, so I’ve been calling him Lai whenever we’re alone.”
Xenia teased with a chuckle, “How about calling him ‘mine’ too? I bet that will make him happy~”
She couldn’t help but smile at her sister’s blushing cheeks. How she missed teasing Mineah like this.
“How about you? How do you address each other?” her little sister countered.
“Hmm, he’s calling me ‘my love’ or ‘love’ often, if not Xen,” Xenia truthfully replied. “On my end, I simply call him ‘my king’ or Darius, but I’ve been thinking about trying to call him ‘love’ and ‘my love’ as well. I’m curious how he would react to that~”
***********************
August 27, 2021, AN: We once again reached a hundred Golden Ticket votes (400+) so we’ll have five (5) chapters to be randomly released within the day. Keep voting for Golden Tickets, and thank you sososo much! *hugs*