[Zafiraâs POV]
Hmm⊠heâs marked the wrong one, Zafira thought as she caught the document flying through the air.
âWhatâs that for?â Rael asked with a puzzled look.
âThat might look like a scam, but itâs not,â she replied, flipping it over just to be sure. âYep, itâs a sex shop. Just leave it.â
Raelâs brows immediately furrowed in disbelief.
âWhy would a sex shop need 50 million Trell from the palaceâŠ?â he muttered. âI get people have their own kinks, but why do we pay them?â
Pfft⊠heâs so serious about this. Zafira held back a giggle as she maintained her poker face.
âWell, itâs not only a sex shop, but also where we keep our shadows. People tend to speak when theyâre⊠you know, distracted,â Zafira said with a shrug.
It was a bit crude, but it wasnât necessarily unsafe for the shadows. Before their deed even began, the shadows would lace their targets with a certain poison that would make them spill their secrets.
And of course, right after, theyâd inject a venom that would give the target short term amnesia.
Theyâd leave happy. The shadows and Zafira would leave informed.
Itâs a win-win situation, but I donât need to tell him that⊠he already has a group of his own, Zafira thought proudly.
Synthex. It was an interesting group that was operating within her city.
Though she was left a little surprised when her shadows werenât even able to gather the location of their base of operations.
But that only meant Rael chose the right people.
Still, she noticed him grumbling as he went back to work.
In the meantime, Zafira returned her gaze to him, carefully studying his movements.
His fingers traveled over the documents precisely, making sure to straighten a couple of them out in the process.
It was a nice gesture, one she could appreciate.
But I wonder⊠why exactly do you care so much about Celestara?
He wasnât power hungry. The first thing he did once he became the king was get to work, and then open the boutique up for business.
Her fatherâs first boutique.
What was even more surprisingâhe could actually hold his own in a standoff against Yrgonâs ruler.
The deal couldâve been a bit better if I went there, but itâs still a huge win for us, Zafira hummed, a smile tugging at her lips.
âHey Rael?â
âHm?â Rael tilted his head, stopping everything he was doing. âWhatâs up?â
âNothing~â Zafira giggled. âI thought I was going to sneeze.â
âBless you in advance then, my queen,â Rael said with a dramatic bow, and got back to work.
ââŠâ Zafira stared at him in silence for a few moments and thought back to the past.
All the men she had seen over the years saw her as either the potential queen candidate or simply the queen herself.
There wasnât a single point in time where she felt even a single spark with the opposite sex. However, ever since the first time she met Rael in the courtyard, something began to change.
She didnât feel the spark at first and was merely testing him.
Zafira even went as far as to show him her pampered persona, and instead of making fun of her for it, he played along and even gave some insight into the Yrgon deal.
Because of his position, she was able to narrow down the officials responsible for proposing something like that in the first place.
Of course, she lopped their heads off and incinerated their bodies, which made the majority vote fail and the deal be called off.
She felt like her guard was being lowered, even if not intentionally.
In the end, she made her first impulsive decisionâand that was to marry him.
She had convinced everyone it was simply because she didnât want to get married to some fat old noble.
But the truth?
She didnât want Rael to leave Celestara. If all it took to keep him was a crown and her last name, then so be it.
And to her surprise, he accepted, went through all their public appearances without a hitch, and even brought her back allies, presents, basically everything she could ever want.
But one thing did scare her a littleâa âwhat ifâ scenario.
What if she hadnât held her coronation that day?
While they were in the weird moving picture room, Rael mentioned he was planning to leave Celestara, but her coronation, and his imprisonment, stopped him.
Then there was the incident a few days ago where she was sure she had lost him.
Her heart ached. What if I didnât see him that dayâŠ? What if he had diedâ
âZafira?â Raelâs worried voice startled her out of her thoughts. âIs everything alright? You look a little pale.â
Pale�
âIâm fine, just a tummy ache.â Zafira brushed it off.
However, Rael didnât buy it. He placed the documents on the floor, tapped something in the air, and summoned a red potion.
âHere, itâs strawberry flavored. I saw you had a bunch of strawberry based sweets the first time we actually talked,â Rael said as he placed the potion on the table and walked back to his stack of documents.
Zafira just stared at his back speechlessly.
Why�
She was confused. Greatly.
He had mentioned being able to tell apart lies, so he mustâve known she was lying.
But yet again, he went along with her jokesâeven spending money on a healing potion.
However, when she inspected the âhealing potion,â a warm feeling rose up.
âTasty Strawberry Milk (Common)
Homemade Strawberry Milk. Procured from the starlit dream dimension.
Rael had a faint smile on his face as his gaze traveled toward her. However, once he realized she was still staring at him, he quickly buried himself back in the documents.
In the meantime, Zafira felt stunned. But despite that, she uncorked the Strawberry Milk potion and gulped it down in one sip.
Just as the description had saidâit was absolutely delicious.
Zafira placed the empty potion vial beside the construct and sighed softly.
I donât like feeling vulnerable, but maybeâ
âHey Zafira?â Raelâs voice cut in.
She tilted her head. âYeah?â
Rael peeked out from behind the documents, a small grin tugging at his lips.
âNothingâŠâ
ââŠâ
Dummy.
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