The Crown’s Entrapment

Xenia’s face was blushing too deeply out of embarrassment instead of answering, making Jayra chuckle more.

“Come on, I’m dying of curiosity here,” Jayra needled in jest. “Don’t be stingy with your friend about details now.”

“Well…. It’s wonderful…” Xenia described with a twinkle in her eyes.

“…That’s such a stingy answer…” Jayra rolled her eyes, making Xenia laugh. “What I mean is along the lines of was it painful at first like what I heard from others?”

Xenia stared at her friend, controlling her laughter as she teased in turn. “Hmm… Why don’t you try and experience it yourself? Then you’ll know what I mean~”

“You’re purposely answering me like that, huh. Hmph!” Jayra complained with a twitch in her mouth.

Xenia simply laughed upon seeing her friend’s frustrated facade. She knew that her friend was just acting up in an attempt for her to spill more details. Not that it was even easy to do. Already, she was blushing hard at the mere thought of where to even start.

“Well… Aren’t you sore? Do you need healing?” Jayra asked anyway, discreetly lifting her brows as she kept her annoyed tone. “How come His Majesty, let alone you, didn’t even ask me about it?”

Xenia awkwardly smiled at her as she bashfully replied, “I drank some of Darius’s blood this morning. That’s probably why I’m not sore anymore…” She replied with a hesitant frown.

She then added, “But before that, I was sore all over… I mean, I still feel good even though I’m sore, but… Ah! Please stop asking me already and just experience it for yourself so that you will know. It’s not like you’re still single right now, Jayra!”

Jayra rolled her eyes. “Alright, fine. I’ll stop asking you questions, o please stop blushing,” she teased some more despite conceding her point.

Xenia weakly rolled her eyes in turn. “I just told you to stop teasing me…  Look, can’t you just teach me the spell to remove certain scents on someone so that I can do it on my own instead of asking you to do it for me?”

“You two already made love. You just need to let him mark you to make it official to everyone and complete the mate bond,” Jayra reasoned with a grin.

She then added, “As for the spell, it wouldn’t be advisable to cast it that often since it has consequences if it’s used too much. And I’m sure you and His Majesty will be going at it like rabbits, given the appetite of werewolves when it comes to their lust and carnal desires towards their mates.”

Xenia let out a sigh at what she just heard. At this rate, she might as well tell Jayra everything just to make her understand what she needed and spare them both from the unnecessary questions and suggestions.

Conceding to her needs, Xenia finally started narrating the things she found out about Darius and his father’s death, as well as the reason why she didn’t want to complete the Mate Bond yet.

“Well, looking at it, it’s obvious that you’re so in love with him, milady.” Jayra gasped in awe after a brief deliberation.

Xenia, for obvious reasons, didn’t comment on her friend’s words. She was guilty of it all. Guilty of falling so in love with Darius that she couldn’t bear to see him suffer too much, even if she would already be in the afterlife.

“Indeed,” Jayra sagely nodded. “If you complete the Mate Bond with him marking you, only for him to lose you later…. It will definitely kill him…” She sighed, “He’s in love with you. And not to mention the strong hold of the Mate Bond once it happens. In the end, he might just die in pain and longing…”

It was torture. Just the mere thought of it even happening was already breaking Xenia’s heart. She couldn’t bear even the thought of Darius hurting because of her.

“I want to succeed in these trials, Jayra, all because I want to stay with him for a long time,” Xenia murmured. “I’ll do everything in my power just to be with him.”

“And you will definitely succeed, milady,” Jayra encouragingly squeezed her princess’s hand. “You can do it, and I’ll help you with it too.”

As if to take on a sage tone, Jayra then added, “For now, I shall teach you the spell about scent so that when you come back here after the training, you can cast this thing on your own.” She let out a snigger, “Besides, I’m pretty sure that you and His Majesty will be inseparable during bedtime…”

Xenia only frowned, making Jayra laugh even more as she began teaching her the spell.

And thankfully, Xenia easily got a hold of the spell that would help her keep her charade going for a good while…

An hour passed…

“How come I’m not as good at this before?” Xenia asked with a frown. “I pretty much got it down after a few tries.” Usually, it took her weeks to master a single spell. But apparently, it only took her just an hour for her to perfect the new spell.

“That’s because you have a goal. That, and your determination is unbreakable, milady,” Jayra pointed out with a smile.

“Before, you had no motivation. You found things boring since you believed that your fighting skills are enough for you. You hated lectures and preferred going outside for adventure since your life was simple and without obstacles. But now, you have this strong will to protect those who you love and care for…”

Jayra added, “Why, I can even feel the desperation in you a while ago whenever you’d fail an attempt to cast this spell. Before you would’ve just simply walked out with an irritated scoff at how boring it was, leaving Mineah, Wizard Lurio, and I to just sigh at you…”

Xenia nodded, understanding just what exactly her friend meant. “So I simply needed enough willpower,” she murmured as she looked down at her hands.

“By the way…” Xenia suddenly spoke up before just as quickly fizzling out, unconsciously biting her lip as she held her tongue.

“Huh? What’s with the hesitation? Tell me,” Jayra asked with a frown.

Xenia blushed as she bashfully muttered, “Darius… He wanted to ask you for a… Hmm… I told him that I’ll ask y-you instead a-about it…”

“About what?”

Xenia gulped and murmured, “A celibacy potion that can last for a week.”

“Huh?” Jayra asked, her ears seemingly failing her despite the thinly-veiled smile on her lips.

Xenia’s shoulder shrugged as she repeated, “A Celibacy potion!”

Jayra rapidly blinked at her, stunned at what her princess just asked of her.

Xenia lowered her gaze as she added, “He said that we need to train hard in the span of a week, and it wouldn’t be good for the both of us if we’re both distracted with… well…”

There was silence… Slowly, Xenia tilted her head to look at Jayra, only to see that her friend was so red from suppressing her laughter that it soon burst out and roared as the mage laughed out loud inside her so-called ‘The Greatest Mage chamber’.

“Oh! I-I’m sorry!~… P-Please don’t mind me, milady,” Jayra stuttered in between laughs. “I-It’s just… Hah- I couldn’t help myself! O-Okay… I’ll prepare the potion, but it’s something he and you-“

“It’s only for him!” Xenia defended.

Jayra grinned at the obvious weakness in her friend’s argument. “But what if you crawled on top of-“

“Jayra!” Xenia complained with a frown.

“Oh fine. The potion won’t last a week though in just one drink. It would be on a daily dose basis,” Jayra smirked.

“Alright, then I will make sure he drinks it daily,” Xenia answered with a frown.

“Let’s get to work then. We have no minute to spare…” She shrugged as she added with a more serious tone. “And while we’re here, I might as well also prepare the stuff you’ll need to bring with you in your training with His Majesty. You can also practice in your spare time with him anyway. I’ve already prepared a few notes for you to serve as guidance. Just burn them once you’re done with them.”

“Anyway… Let’s also prepare some extra celibacy potions for emergency use,” Jayra quickly took on her teasing tone again. “Who knows?~ You might end up the one using more of it~”

“Jayra!”