The Crown's Entrapment

Back at the Hindman Manor, Jayra’s hand trembled while she was reading the message their Wizard sent to her through her pigeon Skyler.

“This can’t be…” she murmured as her knees wobbled beneath her feet. It was a good thing that she was able to hold onto the nearby table for support as she sat on the nearby chair.

“His Royal Highness… How could this be…” she gasped, her mind instantly wandering towards Princess Xenia. The instructions were very clear on how they had to keep this incident a secret from Princess Xenia. At least not until she finished the trials she had to face to become Queen.

Even now, their head wizard Lurio was doing the best he could in looking for their missing Prince that had suddenly turned into a dragon. The details weren’t complete yet, but Lurio quickly stated how their King and Queen were already aware of the situation.

At this news, she was now in a dilemma. She had already sent the invitations to Ebodia, and she felt like the timing for her wedding ceremony wouldn’t be right with the things that were currently going on with her loved ones.

Jayra shook her head in disbelief. She still couldn’t fathom how their prince had become a dragon. Was a dragon’s soul shifted into his body? Since when then?

Now that she thought of it… Ezekiel was much stronger compared to a normal human being. But then, he also had angel blood in him, so they thought that that could be the reason… But then…

It was too much. She felt like her head was about to burst with how many thoughts were running in her head. Closing her eyes, she tried to relax, only to jolt when she heard a knock on her door. Jayra immediately cast a spell, making the letter disappear into particles that scattered harmlessly into the air.

“Sister-in-law? It’s me, Bella!” the woman excitedly announced from her door. “Can I come in?”

“Sure, Bella,” Jayra promptly answered as she quickly composed herself and stretched out a smile on her face.

“What is it, Bella?” Jayra asked, smiling.

“Tea time,” Bella replied with a grin. “I’m here to pick you up. Come. Let’s go together.”

Jayra stood up, and as usual, Bella hugged her arm before pulling her outside. The former smiled. She would surely miss this clingy sister-in-law of hers once she left.

She had to go with Bartos back to Cordon Castle tomorrow, and there was no time to waste. She had to finish the armor she was personally handling for Princess Xenia before then. She wanted to make it perfect, all in accordance with the instruction of their Queen.

“Aren’t you supposed to be training hard right now?” Jayra commented to her in-law as they walked through the hallway. “I mean, you’ll still be participating in the trial by combat, right? What if you get lucky and have your first fight with Clara?”

“Clara… I can easily beat her, sister-in-law, so you don’t need to worry about me,” Bella boasted. “I’m a natural born fighter, and I have my own ways of seeing through my opponents.”

At that, Jayra no longer commented. She wondered how good Bella indeed was, seeing as Bartos also seemed not to be worried for his sister as well. Anyway, they said that Pinra was the only dangerous opponent they could get, and Bella promised that she would yield if she ever had the displeasure of having to fight her. So she guessed that there was nothing to worry about on that front.

“Hmm, this will be your last day here in the manor, but I’ll be sure to visit the castle more often,” Bella sagely nodded. “Or maybe I can even spend a night there, Sister-in-law. I can always just use Brother’s or your bedchamber once I get there instead since I’m sure that my beastly brother will refuse to sleep on a bed without you by his side. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. You two are pretty much considered as a married couple already anyway.”

Jayra blushed at her in-law’s teasing, but she quickly answered within reason. “But wouldn’t Mother-In-Law need you here running the manor? Father-In-Law will be quite busy attending to matters regarding the royal court while our king isn’t around…” she reminded.

“Oh right, I almost forgot,” Bella muttered. “Still, Mother’s already doing well enough on her own. In fact, she just finds me more of a nuisance at times since we usually have different ideas on certain things.” She waved Jayra off as she chuckled, “Anyway, I’ll just visit whenever I’m free, so don’t worry. I’ll make sure that I’m not that busy enough that I wouldn’t be able to see you from time to time.”

“I’ll be looking forward to seeing you in the castle then,” Jayra chuckled.

From there, the two settled in comfortable silence. It was uncharacteristic for the both of them to simply bask in their respective presence, but Jayra supposed that there was always a time to just be quiet and enjoy the mood.

“Say, shouldn’t you be working right now?” Bella teased.

“What happened to want to spend time with me in these last few hours we have left?” Jayra scoffed in retort. “And here I thought you enjoyed my company.”

“Hey~ I do, it’s just that I also know that you’re not one to procrastinate,” Bella pointed out. “Mother likes that about you, having seen your work ethic these past few days.”

Jayra couldn’t help but blush at the compliment. Still, “If you think that, then you haven’t known me that long. I can be rather lazy if I want to.”

“Oh? Then make sure Mother won’t see you being that way,” Bella teasingly chuckled. “Or to me, for that matter. I might just rat you out so that I have a companion whenever I’m getting scolded~”

Jayra could only shake her head at her sister-in-laws, constant wit. She’ll really miss this place once they left…

‘I’ll make sure to have Bartos drag me back here whenever possible,’ she inwardly noted for future use.