Sold to the Dark Lord

05| Get Used to It

Sleeping in a room for the Queen? Given a personal attendant? Given fancy clothes and special attention by King Alexander?! Nonsense. Such thoughts filled the head of a lady who fell deeply in love with the King. Ramisha Agra, a daughter of a large landowner.

It had been a long time since the Queen's death 20 years ago and Ramisha tried to win Alex's heart, but all her attempts failed. Whenever Alex was close to marrying another woman, Ramisha always tried to ruin it. She doesn't hesitate to throw terrors or spread scary rumors to make the women who are candidates for the queen resign.

Now, she was filled with rage and heartbreak when a palace maid gave her a message about Arabelle's arrival.

"That b***h?! No problem. I'm sure she won't last long. Alex will definitely get bored with her after some time, then either throw her away or... I'll make her give up." She crumpled the paper containing the information about Arabelle obtained from the main palace maid.

Ramisha got up from her dressing table, "We'll see how strong that woman is. So far, humans are terrified when they see our transformation into wolves."

She went out and asked the servants to prepare the carriage because she was going to the Palace to see Arabelle with her own eyes. More than that, she wanted to see Alexander, who was getting harder and harder to meet, always having an excuse to avoid.

"Frisly, help me get ready! I want to visit the King. After all, he and I, we are quite close," she said, calling Frisly, her personal maid.

Frisly hurried over, "His Majesty will regret not seeing you, my Lady."

"Is that right?"

"Of course, you are the best."

"You're right." Ramisha smiled confidently.

***

In the palace, precisely in the flower garden behind the palace, Arabelle sat in a gazebo with a classic touch that was so beautiful. She was not alone, there was Renha who Alex chose to accompany Arabelle and occasionally report to him.

"Ren, why haven't I seen His Majesty at all since morning? He didn't even go for breakfast," Arabelle gazed pensively at the flowers.

Renha smiled meaningfully, "Do you miss him?"

"No... I'm just curious. But, you know where he is and where he's going, right?"

"Even if I don't know, I can find out. Do you want me to find out?" Renha raised his eyebrows, teasing Arabelle.

Arabelle shook her head, "You, really! Auh... How annoying," and they both laughed. After all this time, she finally had a friend again.

Arabelle felt bored, she chose to get down from the gazebo and walk among the flowers that began to bloom. The air in the North was cold, but it wasn't too bad. Arabelle actually liked the cool weather like now. It was too hot in the west, too many forests were cut down for obscure developments. Whereas here, of course, the werewolves were here to protect their forests.

Arabelle looked at Renha who was walking beside her for a long time. There were several questions she wanted to know but was too afraid to say. Arabelle was afraid of offending.

"Do you have something to ask? Just say it. From earlier, you kept looking at me." Renha said suddenly.

Arabelle was surprised, "You noticed that? Can you read minds too? Can you smell my blood?"

"Woah... Woah! Calm down," Renha chuckled, "Don't get tense like that, just ask me the question, I'll answer. But don't ask me to count, I'm dumb at that part." She joked. "And yeah, everyone will notice if you stare at them like you did before. That's too intense. And reading minds is not that simple either."

Arabelle elbowed him lightly while chuckling softly, "Okay, well, actually I'm very curious about your change from human as it is now to..."

"Wolf. Why so hesitant to say that, 'wolf' is not a difficult word to say," Renha said.

"I, I just feel- nevermind... So, what do you think?"

Renha took a deep breath, actually he was also confused about what kind of sentence to explain. But, he said it anyway.

"For me, I'm still quite weak, sometimes I can change because I'm triggered by things that really corner me. During the full moon, our strength doubles and we usually find it difficult to maintain human form at that time. We usually run to the forest." Renha replied.

Arabelle nodded in understanding, "Then, Alex? I mean, His Majesty? Is he the same?"

"Besides the King, he is the Alpha. The Alpha of the many Packs under the Morthesc kingdom. His Majesty can maintain his human form even on a full moon." Renha said.

Amazing. Arabelle was getting more and more curious.

"You know, Ra, His Majesty has other powers."

"Oh really? What is it?"

Renha was no less eager to tell. "He can read minds without touching, he can erase anyone's memory with just one small scratch and His Majesty is the fastest runner, as well as a good fighter. He is good with his sword."

Arabelle had seen for herself how skillful Alex's hands were when swinging a sword and making Luke, the great warrior of Borcasc Kingdom lose.

"After being blessed with a handsome face, he was blessed with another great thing. That's not fair. Right, Ra?"

Arabelle laughed, "You're right."

"But here's the thing, His Majesty can be cruel sometimes. He is merciless." Renha added.

"He also rarely smiles." Arabelle said, "He rarely smiles himself but tells me to smile often."

Seeing Arabelle who was about to pick a flower, Renha hurried to pick one for her. "If you want something, just let me know, I'll prepare it."

"Oh, including picking flowers?"

"Whatever, my duty is to serve you." Renha said.

Arabelle stopped her steps, then tucked the flower in Renha's ear, "But I want to pick the flowers myself, so, please let me. Okay?"

"As you wish, my Lady." Renha bowed, then they laughed again and continued walking.

"Ren, do you think I am really cursed? People in my old village say so," Arabelle asked.

Renha shook his head, "No. If it's about your hair and eyes, maybe it's natural."

"But I wasn't born like this, my hair was originally blonde, then on the right side it started to turn black. And my eyes, my right eye turned red when I was 20 years old, just 3 years ago." Arabelle sighed heavily, she really felt strange about herself.

"Ouh, I see. I just found out. But, if you're fine and don't feel anything, then it's fine. After all, it doesn't cause disasters for the people around you," Renha argued.

"But why are people afraid of me?"

"I don't think they're afraid, just not used to it. Once they're convinced that your differences are harmless, then they'll get used to it."

Arabelle felt better after listening to Renha's words. She was happy that Alex had chosen her.

"Thank you for giving a positive opinion. Before... You know what, only Luke wanted to be friends with me until I was sold by my own adoptive family." Arabelle looked down sadly. She missed Luke. Very much.

Renha rubbed Arabelle's back, "Now, everything will be much better. You have me and, of course, the King. Look, there he is!"

Arabelle followed Renha's finger to the right of the garden, where Alexander was with Ramond. They walked towards the palace.

"You want to see His Majesty?" Renha asked.

"I don't think-"

"Arabelle!"

"See, His Majesty is calling you. Let's meet," Renha said, leading Arabelle out from among the flowers. He was much more excited than Arabelle.

Arabelle was so nervous, her heart pumping like crazy. Since she was brought to Morthesc, this was the first time for Arabelle to meet Alex in a proper state, not like when she first arrived or last night's clothes. Come on, she felt ashamed of herself for coming into a man's room wearing only a thin nightgown.

Finally, they stood before Alex and greeted him with a bow.

"How was last night? Did you sleep well?" Alex asked. His gaze was straight on Arabelle's beautiful eyes, as if hypnotized by her beauty.

"Yes, Your Majesty," Arabelle replied.

"Then that 'Goodnight kiss' I gave you worked."

Silence. The atmosphere around was awkward.

Arabelle's ears felt heated and became misbehaving. How could he say that in front of Ramond and also Renha who immediately turned her face the other way to hide her smile.

Alex grabbed Arabelle's chin, who looked down again and again, avoiding his gaze. "I told you that I liked your eyes, didn't I? From now on, make an effort to look at me. Don't hide those red eyes."

Arabelle had just realized that since she arrived and interacted with several people, only Alex had red eyes, including her. Renha and Ramond did not have them.

Feeling that she was being stared at, Arabelle turned to Ramond and for the first time their eyes met. Ramond had beautiful golden brown eyes.

"Ramond is more interesting to look at, huh?" Alex raised one eyebrow.

"No! I mean- pardon me, Your Majesty..."

"Alex. Just Alex." Alex squeezed Arabelle's hand gently.

Arabelle was zoned out for a few moments, "N-No... Your Majesty, I can't do that. That's not nice, you're a king and-"

"Alex. Get used to it." Alex kissed Arabelle's back hand.

Arabelle's heart felt ruffled, falling apart just because of one peck. Likewise, Renha seemed to be holding back from getting too excited herself.

Then, a male waiter came up to the four of them with an envelope in hand.

"Your Majesty," he said respectfully.

"What is it?"

"A letter from Lady Ramisha." The servant replied.

Ramisha? Arabelle looked at Renha so she could tell her later.

"What did she say there?"

"She wants to have lunch with you here, Your Majesty."

Alex thought for a moment, then nodded. "Alright, It's been a while since we've seen each other, so yeah, let her come." He said.

"Yes, Your Majesty. I take my leave." The servant quickly went back into the palace.

Afterward, Alex rubbed Arabelle's arm. "Hurry up and go inside, it's quite cold in here." Then he left, followed by Ramond.

His treatment was sweet, but how could someone do that with such a cold face? Even so, the look in his eyes was so deep that it felt like it could drown Arabelle.

"Oh my... His Majesty must really like you, he is so sweet to you... I'm so jealous," Renha jumped up and down.

"But his expression hasn't changed at all, nor has his tone of voice."

"Ey, who cares! Just like His Majesty said, 'Get used to it' oow... sounds cool. What matters is his treatment. Perhaps you're getting influenced? Woah, our king's charm is amazing, so just admit it."

Arabelle scowled, "Always teasing me... Forget it, tell me, who is Ramisha?"

"You could say they're friends, let's call it that. I wouldn't call it close, but Lady Ramisha often comes to the palace. I heard that she likes our king." Renha whispered, because there were so many ears in the palace.

"Is that so?"

"Because she often tries hard to stay by His Majesty's side, even though she is often ignored," Renha said.

Ignored? Arabelle thought, seeing as they were going to have lunch together, it didn't feel like it.

"Ren, I want to go back to the room," Arabelle said.

Renha happily followed wherever Arabelle went. This magnificent palace was very easy to get Arabelle lost.

In the distance, a woman peeked out from behind a large pillar, "So, she's Arabelle? Playing around with her a bit would be fun," she murmured.