The Crown's Entrapment

Xenia’s smile brightened as she almost ran to Mineah, her little sister patiently waiting for them with King Nikolai beside her. Her sister looked so elegant, yet mysterious with a gothic crown on her head. Combined with a filigree of gold with diamonds, the vulture symbol of Valcrez was displayed front and center, as was a custom in her new home.

“Mineah!” she called out, not minding her surroundings.

Mineah had a broad smile as she open her arms wide to accept her pouncing. “Big sister… You never change. Why run when you can just walk?” she scolded with her usual gentle and sweet demeanor. “It’s not like you’re chasing after me, you know.”

“I missed you,” Xenia murmured, feeling her little sister stroke her back and hug her tightly.

“Hmmm, come now and show your respects to King Nikolai first,” Mineah whispered into her ear.

Right, where were her manners?

With Mineah breaking the hug, Xenia immediately straightened her back and gave her courteous greeting to the Vampire King.

“Your Highness, apologies for my abrupt actions,” Xenia greeted with a smile and a humble bow. “Thank you for accommodating our visit…”

“That’s alright, Xen,” Darius interrupted with a laugh. “Show how barbaric you can be so that Nikolai can thank me later for snatching you away from him.”

“Spurting out nonsense again, eh Darius?” Nikolai scoffed as the two men bumped into each other’s chest and hugged like how they used to do back during their encounter at the great hall of Ebodia Castle. The two didn’t care about their surroundings too, indicating just how close their friendship truly was.

“I hope you brought enough bribes with you to appease my royal council,” Nikolai mumbled as the two finished their usual greetings.

“I did, my friend,” Darius nodded, signaling for his men to roll out the chests they brought with them. “Hopefully, these would be enough to seal their mouths.”

Seeing the caravan of riches trail out of the Lucian, Xenia was surprised since she wasn’t aware that they even had those in the hold of the ship in the first place.

“Milady, you and my wife will ride in the carriage so that you two can have some privacy during our journey to Valcrez castle,” Nikolai explained to her, grabbing her attention. In response, Xenia looked at Darius who simply nodded at her.

“Come then. Let’s go so that we can arrive at the castle in time for dinner,” Mineah commented with a smile.

At that, Xenia let her sister pull her inside the carriage.

As soon as they were inside, she turned to Mineah and immediately asked, “So, how was it so far? Is the king treating you well?”

Mineah’s face blushed and she murmured, “Please don’t worry about me. I’m quite well, and the king is being very good to me.”

That timid smile and blush of hers didn’t escape Xenia’s notice, immediately concluding that Mineah wasn’t having any problems with her current relationship with the king. Still, she reminded her, “Hmm, I won’t ponder too much about it, knowing how private of a person you are, my dear little sister. Just make sure to tell me if you do encounter any problems.”

She gave her a worried smile, “I know you won’t open up to our parents if you’re having a hard time, so please, Mineah… Always run to me if you encounter any problems, alright?”

Mineah nodded and murmured, “You always protect me, Sister.”

“Who else would? Us siblings should always have each other’s backs, Mineah. Likewise, I expect you or Ezekiel to help me out whenever I have problems,” Xenia chuckled. “Hmm, remember when our parents would always tell us that?” Mineah nodded in agreement.

“Also, I haven’t heard anything from our brother yet. Have you somehow heard anything from him?” she wondered. “It’s been a while, but I’m sure he should’ve already sent a word to Jayra by now. She’ll probably give it to me once I return if it’s not something too urgent.”

The last time she heard from Ezekiel was when he was cheering her up for her training before she left to sail for Valcor Island.

Focusing back on her sister, she frowned when she noticed how Mineah’s face suddenly paled.

“What’s wrong?” she worriedly asked.

“Uhm, it’s nothing, Sister,” Mineah replied with a reassuring smile.

“About Brother, I’ve heard that the war is to our advantage, so you don’t need to worry too much,” Mineah assuaged her and quickly changed the topic.

“Uhm, can you tell me how your training has come so far? You should focus more on securing the throne beside King Darius. Make sure that you show them that the Princess of Ebodia shouldn’t be looked down upon. We have special blood in us, Sister, and it’s time that everyone knew the power we hold within us…” she encouraged.

“Hmm, but I thought Mother and Father prefer for it to be hidden… About the angel blood and Mother’s kind,” Xenia muttered with a frown. For some reason, she felt like something had changed about her sister, but she was just glad that Mineah looked and sounded more confident now compared to before.

“Mother and Father wouldn’t encourage you to participate in the trials to become Queen if they still wanted to hide the truth,” Mineah firmly stated. “I strongly believe that everyone should know the power the monarchs of Ebodia held so that no kingdom would dare to attempt to conquer us like what’s happening now.”

Xenia could only take her sister’s word for it. Unlike her, Mineah was more involved in politics with her parents and Ezekiel. While she preferred to enjoy a carefree life living as a Princess, her siblings were sometimes deep in the court intrigues that happened in their kingdom. Now that she thought about it… she was probably too unfit to become a Queen, unlike Mineah. Truly, she still had a lot to learn and improve upon once she became Cordon’s new Queen.

And at that, the weight of the crown suddenly dawned on her. Just the thought of all the responsibilities she had to shoulder… Ughhh… Xenia’s head started spinning around just from the thought of it.

Mineah chuckled, “Hahaha! I know that face, Sister. Say goodbye to your dreams of being a wanderer and start getting used to know more about your new kingdom. Cordon is your new home now, although Ebodia will always be our forever home.”

“I know, Mineah. Goodness, my head already hurts just from thinking about the responsibilities I have to follow,” Xenia groaned. “Anyway, I’ll do my very best to achieve my goals no matter what. I won’t allow my man to have any other qualified Queen to stay by his side except for me,” she declared with a grin.

“That’s more like it, Big sister. Aren’t I too lucky not to undergo such things while being a Queen? You shouldn’t have run before. Because if you didn’t… you would’ve been in my place wearing this crown without so much as having to go through physical torture just to prove yourself worthy like what you’re about to experience,” Mineah mumbled with a small pout. “But then again, I guess you can’t have everything perfect. In Valcrez, you might’ve not experienced physical hardship, but you’ll definitely experience mental exhaustion in return.”

“I’m sure you can handle it well, my dear sister…” Xenia cheered her little sister on with a smile. “Among the three of us, you have the strongest mind!”

“Definitely,” Mineah answered with a dangerous smirk on her face. “I refuse to simply let them trample us beneath their heel.”