Knights of The Dauntless Princess

Chapter 47: Test

"Your Highness, your evening meal is ready," said Sonya, Yelena's personal maid. Upon entering the queen's chamber, she found the queen engrossed in reading and seemingly evaluating several books. "The king inquires if you are feeling unwell. He mentioned that he would be arriving here shortly as well."

Yelena quickly turned her gaze toward Sonya. "Already? Why is he so early tonight?"

Sonya could sense a hint of anxiety in the queen's demeanor upon realizing that the king, Lord Laxus, had returned ahead of schedule. "Is something the matter, my dear queen?"

Yelena furrowed her brow and let out a sigh. "Look at this! I took these books from the grand library of this palace. These are books about the kings of this realm! The years span from the very first to the current king, but why is this so? Why are the latest pages about the most recent king torn? If I'm not mistaken, they pertain to Laxus, don't they? Because he is the reigning king!"

Sonya was surprised by Queen Yelena's research efforts. She hadn't expected the queen to delve into such matters. Nevertheless, she couldn't speak freely, mindful of her own safety and that of her family.

"I've been seeking information that would help me regain my memories, but none of these books can provide answers! Why? Some parts are not just torn, but they've been burnt! It feels as though I'm being prevented from remembering, yet I can't fathom the reason why!" the queen exclaimed.

Sonya tightly pressed her quivering lips together. She wanted to speak, but she had no certainty about what might unfold next. She thought it best to let the queen uncover the secrets of the dark past on her own and wished for her success.

"And look at this!" Yelena said, displaying a picture of a flower callously discarded by one of Laxus's attendants. "I found out that this flower is actually poisonous, but that's only if you crush it and extract its essence! But if you touch and smell it, it has no effect! It even states here that its fragrance can be used as a remedy for headaches, so why would he do that to those beautiful flowers!? It's as if he had a grudge when he threw them away!"

Sonya remained silent and merely listened to her queen's musings. She felt that if her queen's curiosity about things continued, there was a great possibility that she would indeed remember everything.

The two turned towards the door as they heard footsteps approaching. Sonya immediately panicked and tidied up the books.

"No matter what happens, dear queen, please never let the king know about your research into the past! Do not let him see these books!" Sonya exclaimed, hurriedly hiding the books in the queen's closet. She placed them in a basket and covered them with clothes.

"H-Huh? But why?" Yelena asked in confusion. "He's my husband, isn't he?"

Sonya turned to her with tears welling up in her eyes. "You'll understand everything in time, I believe. For now, please follow my advice until your memories return."

"S-Sonya," Yelena said, sincerity evident in Sonya's eyes. She took a deep breath and nodded in agreement. "Alright, I won't let him know!"

As they sensed Lord Laxus approaching the door, they quickly moved to a large mirror and pretended that Sonya was brushing Yelena's hair while she ate. Lord Laxus smiled upon seeing the beautiful face of his beloved and approached her.

"My love, how are you feeling?" Lord Laxus inquired.

Sonya stopped brushing Yelena's beautiful hair and the queen stood up. Laxus embraced his considered wife and kissed her cheek.

"I'm fine. I thought you wouldn't be coming yet, so I asked Sonya to bring my dinner to our chamber," Yelena explained.

Laxus' smile widened even more when he heard that Yelena seemed to have been waiting for him.

"Did you miss me, my queen?" Laxus asked.

In response to the current king of Emmett's question, Yelena's true feelings weren't quite like that. She didn't even really feel whether she truly loved him because, instead of a heart throbbing in happiness, it was the trembling of her body for unknown reasons that it brought to her.

Yelena forced a smile, and because she didn't want to disappoint her husband, she answered him the way he wanted to hear.

"Yes, my king, I missed you."

Laxus gently caressed Yelena's beautiful face in his happiness, "I missed you greatly, my beloved queen."

He ignored Sonya's presence and sealed his queen with a kiss. Every time Laxus kissed and touched Yelena, she didn't understand why her eyes always welled up with tears. She felt like she was betraying someone, but she didn't know whom. She also knew within herself that she was merely forcing herself to do that; firstly, because he was the king, and secondly, because he was her husband.

"My king, just a moment," Yelena said to simply stop it.

"Sonya is here, and I'm still eating," Yelena said.

Laxus turned to Sonya, "You can leave, Sonya!"

"N-No! W-Wait, please!!!" Yelena restrained.

Laxus frowned, "Why?"

Sonya and Yelena exchanged glances. Sonya seemed to understand that the queen didn't want to be left alone with Laxus, but she couldn't do anything about it or make an excuse.

"B-Because! I have a headache, I was going to get a massage from her after I finish eating," Yelena lied.

"I see," Laxus said, but because he wanted to release the heat he was feeling in his body, he didn't allow it. "You can get a massage from her later."

"B-But—"

"Sonya, leave now," the king commanded immediately.

They had no choice but to follow. Sonya left, leaving the two inside the room. Whenever that happened, Yelena knew what the man wanted. Every time they did that, she felt like her body was being violated.

Lord Laxus embraced her from behind. He brushed aside the queen's beautiful hair and kissed her nape tenderly. Instead of a tingling sensation flowing through the queen's body, it felt repulsive to her. The standing of her hair wasn't due to pleasure, but to disgust with every touch of their skin. Nonetheless, she couldn't refuse because the last time she tried... he hurt her by physically abusing her.

Yelena wanted to cry, but she held it back. She couldn't show that to her presumed husband. And once again, she had no choice but to give her body to her king, whom her heart didn't recognize.

****

A feast was held in Ranz's castle to celebrate Captain Trevor's agreement to form an alliance with them. Everyone was happy because their current number had doubled or even more after his agreement.

They prepared an abundance of food and the cooks provided various drinks. Along with them was Louie's grandfather, Captain Trevor. Shiloh, Erica, and Enrico were overjoyed to see him again.

Meanwhile, in the midst of happiness, Amara couldn't find Nina. She wondered why, as Nina was usually the one who initiated the dancing and music on such occasions, but this time she was absent.

Amara walked around to look for her friend and found her under a large tree.

"N-Nina? What are you doing here?" Amara asked, getting Nina's attention. "Everyone's celebrating inside. Why aren't you there?"

Nina smiled faintly, but Amara sensed that something was bothering her again.

"In a little while," she replied, turning her gaze back to the peaceful and radiant night sky.

Amara sat down beside her and they both fell into contemplative silence. "Is there something wrong?"

"Hm? Oh, no, nothing," Nina quickly dismissed, but then let out a sigh. "I'm just lost in thought."

"About what?"

Nina furrowed her brow, seeming a bit irritated. "I don't know, I'm just annoyed. I don't want to see Ranz!"

"Ranz? Is it really that easy to lose interest or feelings for him? Doesn't that seem a bit too fast?" Amara asked.

"N-No, I know he's still in my heart, especially since I see him every day, but I'm trying. As much as possible, I'm trying to remove my concern for him and ignore him, but..."

"But what?"

Nina lowered her head and seemed even more annoyed, "But the thing is, I don't understand why that mor0n is doing such things. Whenever I try to forget about him, he makes me feel like I'm important to him! He's really frustrating!!!"

Amara glanced at Nina for a moment and then chuckled softly, "Ah, so that's what's bothering you! Because he's concerned about you, it's becoming difficult for you to let go of your feelings for him again!"

"N-No, it's not like that!" Nina quickly denied it, her face turning even redder. "I-It's just that he's really confusing me! He told me before that he doesn't care about me, but why is he acting that way? He keeps rescuing me, and just earlier... he hugged me and said that it's not a good idea to make him worried about me! I don't know if he's gone crazy or what!!!"

Amara burst into laughter again, her palm covering her mouth. "That's exactly what I mean! Now you're hesitating whether to let go or to hold on because he's giving your feelings a glimmer of hope."

Nina pouted and remained silent. No matter how much she denied or hid it, that's exactly what she was feeling. She seemed to want to hope that maybe the young man had feelings for her too, which made it difficult for her to release her heart from loving him.

Amara looked at Nina's bandaged arm and asked, "By the way, how's your wound?"

Nina also glanced at it and smiled slightly, "It's fine now. Louie treated it earlier."

Louie?

Amara seemed to have thought of an amusing scenario to test whether Ranz had feelings for Nina or not.

"I know!" Amara said, her gaze once again met by Nina's. "Why don't we find out if Ranz might also have feelings for you?"

"H-Huh? What—how?" Nina asked.

Amara stood up and pulled her friend's hand, "Just do it! Come on, stay in your room!!!"

"H-Huh? In my room?"

Amara nodded and walked back to the dining area. "Don't go there, wait for a few minutes!!! Let's see if he'll come to you or not!"

"W-What!? Lady Amara!!!" Nina's face turned red as she called out to the princess, but Amara didn't stop.

Nina just tapped her forehead and shook her head. "Is she really going to do that?"

Meanwhile, Amara returned to the feast and saw how joyful everyone was. Her eyes quickly searched for Ranz, and when she spotted him, she began looking for Louie.

"Where have you been?" Dravis asked as Amara approached, exhaling in surprise.

"D-Dravis!?" Amara responded, taken aback. She forced a smile and shook her head, "Nowhere, just came from outside. Have you seen Louie?"

Dravis's eyes narrowed at her, seemingly annoyed, "Why? Do you miss him already?"

"W-What? What are you saying!? I... I just have something to tell him about Nina," Amara said, lips pursed as if suppressing laughter.

"You seem really weird right now. It's like some mischief is playing in your mind," Dravis remarked.

"H-Huh? D-Do I really seem that obvious?" Amara said, furrowing her brow. She thought maybe she wasn't good at pretending, so they might notice her true intentions.

"What is that?" Dravis asked in a cold tone.

"Uh, well..." Amara hesitated, but since she trusted Dravis, she felt compelled to whisper her plan to him.

Dravis grinned and shook his head, "What a lame plan that is!"

"Is it really that lame?" Amara seemed disappointed.

Dravis placed his palm on Amara's head, "If you were the one doing it, I think they would indeed notice because you can't control your smile. Let me handle this."

Amara's eyes sparkled and she smiled widely at Dravis.

"R-Really?"

Dravis turned his gaze to Louie, "Louie is right over there. Ask him to leave for a moment, but don't direct him to go there."

"Okay, sure! Thank you!" Amara said and immediately followed Dravis' instructions.

Dravis smiled at Amara's determination to help her friend. After a while, he began to move and approached Ranz.

"Oh, Dravis," Ranz said. "What's going on? Wait, where's the princess and the two pests!?"

"Cyrus is getting drunk over there," Dravis said, pointing with a glance at where Cyrus was. He then looked at Louie and Amara, "The princess is with Louie. I guess she is asking Louie to go to Nina's room."

"W-What? In Nina's room?" Ranz asked.

"Didn't that bandit lady's arm get injured? It seems Nina wants to show her wound to Louie for him to take a look. Amara said it's bleeding again," Dravis casually mentioned, and Ranz seemed to feel irritated.

"W-What? Bleeding again? W-Wait, why in Nina's room?" Ranz inquired.

"Maybe she isn't feeling well," Dravis replied. "What's wrong with resting in her own room?"

Ranz's fists clenched as he had no response, and when he saw Louie leave, he suddenly thought of something unpleasant.

'Louie, look at my body! Examine me, please!' Ranz felt as though he could hear Nina's voice and imagined her undressing in front of Louie.

'No problem, Nina! Let me touch your beautiful body to examine you thoroughly!' He imagined Louie responding, and Ranz's mind started filling with inappropriate thoughts.

"Damn it!!! Not allowed!!!" Ranz exclaimed, quickly leaving the dining area to head to Nina's room. "Louie, I'll really kill you if you touch Nina!!!"