The Incredible Queen Luna

Chapter 19 Past

The next morning, Leona was awakened by a flustered scream.

She heard some girl yell “Oh My God!” and then hurried footsteps that were getting away.

She frowned unhappily and then slowly opened her eyes, and then vaguely saw the back of a young girl in a weird dress who was running among those trees.

It took Leona a few seconds to realize it was the Dragon Princess’s maid, and she was running because…

“Oh! My!”

Leona blushed, recalling that she was now completely na/ked with Eric.

She quickly got up from his chest, and then saw he was grinning at her.

Leona blushed even more. “When did you wake up?” she asked, gathering the scattered clothes from the ground to get dressed.

Eric sat up from the ground too. He didn’t stand up as he didn’t have any clothes with him.

“About half an hour ago,” he replied while watching her get dressed.

“You are really beautiful when you are asleep, and nake/d," he said.

Leona felt her cheeks burned. She quickly put on her clothes, threw her coat at Eric, and then reached her hand for him.

“Come on, let’s go inside the house. I bet there is a shower there,” she said.

Eric nodded his head and then took her hand. They walked through those trees and went back to that wooden house.

Inside, the decorations were also wooden, and ancient, but luxurious. The Princess prepared clean clothes for them very thoughtfully. They found the bathroom and took a quick shower in it.

As soon as they all dressed up, the door was knocked on.

Leona opened the door and then saw the same maid from last night standing outside.

“The Princess invited you and your wolf to have breakfast with her, ma’am,” the young girl said with her head lowered.

Leona noticed the maid’s ears were red as if about to bleed. She knew it was the same maid who had just seen her and Eric na/ked.

She blushed too, but kept her voice casual.

“Sure,” she said, “thanks for the invitation.”

She then turned back and reached out her hand to Eric, suggesting he come with her.

Eric looked at her in surprise. “You don’t want me to shift to wolf anymore?” he asked.

Leona nodded her head. “You are my man now, not my little wolf anymore, remember?” she asked with a smile.

Eric grinned. He walked up to her and took her hand. They then followed the maid and walked through the orchard.

They headed in a different direction from where they came last night and soon reached a clear, running little creek under some of those flower trees.

Leona was amazed by it. She asked the maid, “How did you put a running creek on a floating island?”

The maid replied with her head bowed. She still felt embarrassed to look at them.

“It’s because of the Princess. She can control everything on the island with her mind,” she said.

Leona nodded her head. What those Chinese dragons could do was amazing.

They walked along the creek and soon reached a Chinese pavilion right beside the creek. It was small, with a pointy hexagon green roof and six round red pillars under it. Inside the pavilion, the dragon princess was sitting beside a round stone table.

Noticing they had arrived, the Princess walked out of the pavilion and greeted them with a big, shining smile.

“Leo,” she called Leona’s name and hugged her.

Leona hugged the Princess back and then introduced Eric.

“This is Eric, my…husband-to-be,” she said with a bit of shyness glittering in her eyes.

Eric’s eyes instantly lit up. He squeezed Leona’s hand excitedly, and then grinned at the Princess.

“Nice to meet you, Princess,” he said.

The Princess blushed a little. She barely spoke with men in private, and now she knew why Leona couldn’t marry her.

“Nice to meet you, too,” she said, and apologized, “I am sorry for the mistake last night.”

Leona comforted her.

“It’s alright,” she said, “I should have read the rules before I came here.”

They all went inside the pavilion and sat down. The Princess poured them tea first. Soon the food was served. The Princess prepared bread, fruit, yogurt, and all kinds of pastries. Leona felt relieved that she didn’t have to use chopsticks. She then told Eric about their plan of going undersea and the Dragon Scale couldn’t cure her sister.

Eric was a little disappointed, but he cheered himself up.

“It’s alright,” he said, “I knew it wouldn’t be that easy. I will keep looking.”

Leona squeezed his hand to comfort him. The Princess then asked what they needed to fight those ice dragons.

“The wolf ambassador in your kingdom,” Leona replied with a grin, “Please call him in with your name and have him meet us in your palace, then we could get help from the Wolf Queen.”

***

The wolf ambassador at Dragons, Robert, was kind of bewildered recently.

About ten days ago, out of nowhere, his respectable Queen Leona disappeared for a trip right before the coronation. And then, a new supreme wolf appeared and proclaimed his right of inheritance to the kingdom with a furious howl.

Later, just when everyone thought there would be a b/loody war between the new supreme wolf and Leona’s faithful warriors, the new wolf evaporated into thin air.

And then, the head of the Wolf Committee, Walson, called in all ambassadors, asking them to accept the new wolf as the kingdom’s new leader.

Robert was surprised by Walson’s decision.

“What if the Queen returns?” he asked, “The throne has been in her family for hundreds of years. We couldn’t just give it to another wolf.”

“Then she should have thought about it before she went out for a trip, shouldn’t she?” Walson’s face was stern. He was furious about Leona’s sudden leave.

“We are not going to drag this country into a war because the Queen suddenly decided she needed to find herself. If the new wolf ever comes to you, just tell him we are willing to accept him as our new king. The decision is final,” he said.

Robert then asked, “What about the Queen’s warriors? They fought countless wars with the Queen. They will never betray her and accept a new wolf.”

Walson’s eyes turned dark. The corner of his right eye twitched when he spoke, “Just tell the new wolf about our decision. I will deal with it.”

Robert felt upset about the decision but he nodded his head and left the office.

Once he stepped outside the door, he saw Felix in the hallway, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed in front of his chest, waiting for him.

He walked up and asked Felix, “You are on board with the Committee’s decision?”

Felix shook his head.

“No,” he said, and his eyes were dark, “I will die to protect the Queen’s throne.”

Robert would rather have Leona as his Queen too. Leona basically devoted her whole life to this kingdom and she was just near perfection, so beautiful, powerful, and had an iron will. You don’t often get a person like that as your leader.

He gestured for Felix to step away from Walson’s office. Once they reached the corner of the hallway, he whispered to Felix, “We have to find the Queen before the new wolf shows up again. If she returns in time, Walson may change his mind.”

Felix kept his face emotionless, but he knew he had just found the right person to be his ally. He needed as many companions to search for Leona, and he needed to keep it a secret from Walson.

“I know,” he replied, with suppressed pain in his voice, and then lied, “I’ve been asking Walson to send out tracers to find her. He just keeps refusing me. It seems like he doesn’t want the Queen to come back at all.”

Robert fell into silence. Walson had been harsh on Leona since she was still a little girl. The old wolf claimed he was helping Leona grow to be a perfect leader. But it made sense if Walson didn’t want Leona to lead the country at all.

He thought for a while and then asked, “Is there anything I can help to find the Queen? We need her. The kingdom needs her.”

Felix hid the cold smirk under his eyes, and then replied with gratitude in his voice, “Actually, there is something you can help to find the Queen,” he said, and then pulled out Eric’s picture from his pocket.

“I haven’t told anyone yet, but I believe the Queen has been abducted by this man and I have a reason to believe they are now in the dragon kingdom. If you ever see any of them, please try to hold them and report it to me. Only to me,” he stressed.

Robert was confused.

“How could someone like him abduct the Queen?” he asked, looking at the handsome but thin wolf in the picture, “She is the supreme wolf, the strongest among all of us. How could anyone do that?”

Felix’s eyes glittered with blunt hate.

“Because he is the new supreme wolf,” he said, “he abducted the Queen to for/ce her to give up the throne. If he ever approaches you, I need you to report it to me secretly to rescue the Queen. You cannot ask him to be the king like Walson said or let Walson know about his existence. Do you understand?”

Robert nodded his head. “Sure,” he said. He was surprised by Felix’s theory, but he believed Felix’s judgment, as Felix was the Queen's most trusted person.

He then went back to the dragon kingdom and waited with anxiety. Both Walson and Felix believed the new wolf would approach one of the wolf ambassadors sooner or later. No matter what his aim was, eventually, he would need to speak with authority.

And then, right after he returned to the Dragon Kingdom, the Kingdom’s Princess called him in the next morning.

The Princess’s messenger said it was an emergency.

Robert quickly changed his clothes and went into the dragon’s Palace.

The messenger led him to walk past those stone stairs and arrive at one of those complicated wooden houses.

It was different from where the Princess usually met her guests. Robert felt a bit confused.

Once he stepped into the house, the door instantly shut behind him and all the windows were covered with curtains.

The house instantly became dark. Only four burning candles at the corners provided him with some lights to see what was inside.

Four sets of wooden chairs and desks were placed in the middle of the room, two on each side, leaving a passage leading to a sheer curtain that was facing the door, about 10 feet away in front of him.

Behind the curtain, Robert vaguely saw a shadow that looked like both a man and a woman sitting on an ancient Chinese couch. He knew it was the Princess’s habit to meet her guests behind the curtain, but he also knew that it wasn’t the Dragon Princess. The vibes behind that curtain were different.

He couldn’t help but take a step forward and introduced himself.

“Excuse me, I am the wolf ambassador, Robert,” he said, and then added, “I was supposed to be here to meet the Dragon Princess.”

That shadow didn’t speak for a while. And when it finally did, the power in its voice scared Robert.

“You are not allowed to speak to me like that, traitor!”

It was a male voice, very young, but extremely powerful and intimidating. When the wave of that voice reached Robert’s ears, the poor ambassador couldn’t help but kneel on the floor.

He instantly knew who the man behind the curtain was-the new supreme wolf both Felix and Walson had been looking for. And the wolf’s power was just…. unprecedented.

Robert now was convinced the new wolf had indeed abducted Leona. He was powerful enough to do so. The poor ambassador couldn’t help but tremble, but also tried his best to keep himself calm.

“I am not a traitor,” he said, “I don’t know what you are talking about.”

It was strange to meet the new wolf in the Dragon's Palace. Robert wanted to text Felix to inform him of the location, but he was too afraid to do so.

The powerful wolf had absolute control over him. He couldn’t even get up from the floor.

And then, he heard the new wolf smirk, with fire and anger in his voice, “The Queen has been missing for over ten days. Not a single one of you stepped out to look for her or even speak for her. How dare you still call yourself the wolf ambassador? The Queen didn’t need a heartless subordinate like you.”

There was even hate in the wolf’s voice. Robert felt both surprised and confused. He thought the wolf hated Leona. Leona being dead was the easiest way for the wolf to get the throne. But instead, the wolf was defending her. It was different from what Felix or Walson told him.

Behind the curtain, Leona was surprised too. She was sitting behind Eirc with her hand on his shoulder.

The plan was to ask the ambassador to send a message to Felix to warn the shrewd cat to stop his little tricks. She really hated that Felix defamed Eric as a deadly criminal. But Eric started with a different topic. And he was seriously mad at those wolves for not looking for her and protecting her.

Leona had never known that. In front of her, Eric was always gentle, considerate, and kind and carefree.

They never talked about her ex-husband or Felix’s betrayal. She didn’t know that Eric minded that more than she did.

She pressed her cheek on his back, and hugged his waist from behind. Eric put his hands on hers, and then heard the ambassador reply in a trembling voice.

“The Queen isn’t missing,” he explained hurriedly, unable to lie in front of the absolute power, “The Queen’s husband told us the Queen went out for a trip and she didn’t want anyone to find her. That’s why nobody spoke anything about the Queen’s absence. And the Beta told me the Queen was abducted by…” his voice suddenly cut off as he realized how inappropriate to speak out what Felix told him.

But the wolf wouldn’t allow him to stop.

“The cat said what?” he asked, but it was actually an order.

Robert swallowed the lump in his throat, and then confessed nervously, “Beta said the Queen was abducted by you. He said you wanted to for/ce the Queen to give up the throne.”

“And he asked you to help him to catch me, didn’t he?” Eric asked instantly, but it was Leona’s question.

Robert nodded his head. Sweat had been all over his face and back. He couldn’t tell if he was feeling scared, nervous, regretful, or angry. He just wanted to get out of this place so he could breathe again.

“What about Walson? How did he react to the Queen’s absence?” Eric asked, and it was Leona’s question too.

Robert replied honestly, “He wants you to inherit the throne in replacement of the Queen. He thinks the Queen is being irresponsible to disappear.”

Behind the curtain was a short silence. Eric felt furious about that answer.

Leona practically sacrificed her whole life for the kingdom. She had been fighting wars since she was 14, and got so many wounds and injuries on her body. It was Leona who brought peace and prosperity to the Wolf Kingdom. But after she disappeared, none even thought about looking for her. They all believed the lie of her stupid husband and thought she was an irresponsible Queen. And she had just been absent for ten days, they were already plotting to replace her.

He felt the powerful Queen tremble behind his back and his heart shattered because of it.

He grabbed Leona’s cold hands that were placed in front of his abdomen, and ordered the ambassador with fury, “You go back tell Walson, get Austin and that damn cat into the prison, and wait humbly for the Queen to return, or else, I will destroy your f*****g kingdom on my own.”