The King's Beloved

What a beautiful morning it was for Selena to wake up in the arms of the man she loved. As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw Clavis' handsome face, peacefully sleeping, with his body tucked in the blanket. She carefully caressed his cheeks and he slowly opened his eyes, smiled at her and gave a peck on her lips.

"Good morning, my dear husband," Selena greeted Clavis with a wide smile on her face.

Clavis smiled gently and greeted her back, "Good morning. How are you feeling?"

"Fantastic!" Selena moved closer to embrace him again until, "Ack! Awww," her eyes began to tear up.

"What happened?" Clavis jolted and quickly sat up on bed, revealing his bare upper body, and checked on Selena's body to see what's wrong.

"My body hurts," Selena groaned, "And my insides, too".

Clavis blushed and lowered his eyes. "S-should I … heal it then?"

"Don't! If you do, then it will hurt again when we do it next time". Upon realizing what she said, Selena's face reddened. "Ah, w-what I mean is - well, basically, we will eventually, since we're - you get what I mean!"

"Yes," Clavis chuckled, "I'm glad you're thinking of next time".

At these words, Selena pouted and slowly turned her back on Clavis. Her back hurt like hell and she knew she needed some warm compress on there to ease the pain.

"Clavis, please, I need some warm compress on my lower back - especially in the hips area".

"Right, I'll ask the maids to get some".

Clavis put on some clothes and not even a few minutes passed and the maids already brought warm compress and breakfast for them. Clavis felt sorry for Selena since she couldn't move so he fed her instead while she got soothed by the compress. The maids, who giggled seeing their sweetness, helped give her a light massage as well.

"Hehehehe," Selena grinned as Clavis spoonfed her with a delicious soup.

"You like it?"

"Yes! But not the soup, it's good, yes, but I like the fact that you're feeding me. I didn't expect you to do that".

Clavis blushed again. "It's the least I could do since …," he hesitated but continued, "it's practically my fault".

One of the maids giggled again which Selena took notice. It was the maid with a hint of old age in her face. Nonetheless, she looked really kind and warm, like your usual grandmother and Selena had been close with her since she arrived.

"Why are you giggling, Granny? What's funny?"

The maid was surprised, but she smiled and answered, "It's just that I've been with the Sortis family since the young master is small and I've never seen him show affection to anyone. Even his family. He always had a calm and collected face which made him look intimidating even if he is actually really kind".

"Woah! Clavis as a kid? I wanna see some pictures! Do you have some Granny?"

"The madam has many. And I think I kept a few for myself as well. Fufufufu"

"Yay! Give me some!"

"Hey!" Clavis stopped them. Somehow he felt embarrassed knowing Selena would see his pictures as a child. "Granny, please, don't".

"Waaaa, that's unfair! I want some!"

"No, not happening".

Selena pouted and begged like a cute bunny, trying to convince Clavis to change his mind. Clavis was taken aback with the cuteness. He hit his face with his palm and with a heavy sigh, agreed to her request. He couldn't possibly say no to his very adorable wife. He realized he grew weaker each passing day to her charms.

"Yes! Success!" Selena shouted in joy. "Thank you my dear husband! I love you so much!" she blurted out. Then after a few seconds, realizing what she just said, she blushed again and buried her face in the pillow.

The maids giggled again.

"Young master," Granny turned to Clavis. "Next time you spend the night with your wife, please be gentle. And do remember to do it sparingly. The miss' body is still young and delicate".

"Ah-" Clavis was taken aback again, but he immediately agreed as he averted his eyes from the old maid. "Yes, I will. Thank you".

A few moments later, Selena felt better and was able to move. She then covered her body with robes and went to the balcony to appreciate the view as she always does. She really loved seeing the beauty of nature for some reason. Clavis got off from the bath and walked towards her to join her.

"Clavis," Selena sweetly called out to him. Clavis was now standing beside her.

"Yes?"

"I just wanted to say … that I've decided".

"Decided to what?"

"That I'll make you fall in love with me".

Clavis' eyes widened and his cheeks felt hot after Selena confessed.

"I …," he hesitated as he lowered his eyes, "I'm not very familiar with love yet but I'm beginning to understand it. Until I know for sure, then I'll say it to you clearly. But right now," and Clavis turned to face Selena, caressing her cheeks, "Right now, what I know is … and feel is that, I really care about you. You have become a very precious person to me".

Selena smiled warmly at him, tears could be seen from the corner of her eyes.

"Yes! Thank you"

Clavis smiled at her as well and gave her a sweet kiss.

"Oh! By the way, I dreamed something last night".

"Hm? What dream?"

"Not sure if it has a meaning, or just a usual nonsense".

"Go ahead, tell me".

"It was weird because it felt like … a memory instead of a dream. But anyway, I dreamed that I had magic! And I was … hmm, not sure how you call it, but it's like, I was magically engraving some words on a door. I was with a friend too! But I forgot the face. Not even sure if it's a man or a woman".

"Do you remember the words you're putting in the door?"

"Yes, I do! Which is also another weird thing because I never remember any lessons that were taught to me, unless I'm interested".

Clavis chuckled at her.

"Well, anyway. The words goes like this -"

And at the same time, Luna stood in front of that same door Selena dreamed about, and read the words aloud to Rania, Elliot and Ducis.

The engraving on the door said ...

"If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing."