The Crown's Entrapment

A few hours passed, and Xenia woke up in an understandably empty bed. Darius must’ve gone on ahead with their planned schedule, and she should probably do the same.

Immediately getting up, she put on her clothes and grabbed the pouch Helena had asked for her to give to Osman once she met him. There were so many things that had happened between then and now that she had almost forgotten about it. She was aware that Darius had gone inside his private study to discuss the plans with his men, and Osman would definitely be present there in the meeting.

“I can’t believe I dozed off,” she mumbled to herself as she took long strides to reach her destination. Well, she couldn’t blame her mate for not waking her up, but it would’ve been nice if she would at least be present for such an important meeting in regards to their plans in bringing Nasser down.

Unfortunately for her, by the time she reached the door, everyone was already leaving the room.

“Xenia,” Jayra greeted with a teasing smile as she approached. “His Majesty’s the only one inside. He said he wanted you to have some more rest…”

Xenia had an awkward smile as she replied, “Right. I dozed off longer than I thought I would. But anyway, I just honestly came here to look for Lord Osman. I have something important to give him…” She then gave her a nod as she added. “I’ll go straight into your workplace later to show you something once I’m done with this.”

“Hmm… Lord Osman had already left, but I’m sure he’ll stop by at the inner courtyard,” Jayra hummed in contemplation. “I usually see him there with my sister-in-law, Lady Bella lately. You see, those two are always together nowadays.”

Xenia frowned at the vaguery her friend was doing. But before she could ask her for some more details, Bartos had already interrupted them, excusing himself to fetch Jayra. So in the end, she simply nodded and went on her way.

With her destination now clear, Xenia immediately walked to the inner courtyard. She still had to give the pouch to Osman, or else she wouldn’t have the chance to do so later.

And knowing how Osman would be once he was dispatched to his duties outside, she wouldn’t have any other chances after this. Besides, she too would be very busy tomorrow to even see him. Ah, she would’ve loved to have a long talk with Osman, but it’ll have to be for later…

pAn,da-n0v e1 For now, she would simply give her good friend a decent summary regarding her time within the Element Forest, particularly about the woman he longed for, Helena.

Reaching her destination, Xenia perked up as she saw the man she was looking for. Like Jayra had said, Osman was indeed in the inner courtyard, sitting on one of the tables there with Lady Bella. The two seemed to be having a good conversation over some coffee, and she politely made her presence known by greeting the two as soon as she reached them.

“Good evening, Lady Bella, Lord Osman…”

“Your Grace…”

Both Bella and Osman stood up from their seats, greeting her with a curt bow. She gulped at the sudden interaction. She wasn’t used to seeing Lady Bella acting like this to her. The last time she even remembered her doing something like this was she was annoyed at the woman with how much she was getting closer to her mate Darius.

‘Did I miss something?’ she mused as she shifted her gaze back to Osman and Bella.

“Congratulations, Your Grace. I’m so proud of you,” Osman admiringly uttered, making Xenia smile widely.

Ah, she couldn’t help her emotions from the reminder of her triumph. Approaching Osman, she hugged him tightly while she sobbed. “Thank you so much for everything, Osman!” she gratefully sobbed. “I wouldn’t have made it out if there if it wasn’t for you. I owe you so much!”

She longed to hug this good friend of hers since last night, but it would’ve been awkward to do so during dinner in front of everyone. Not to mention the important matter at hand regarding Nasser’s past at the time.

Osman chuckled as he humorously said, “His Majesty might end up killing me if he ever saw me hugging you tightly like this.”

Xenia immediately let Osman go as she wiped away her tears. She chuckled as she said, “Heh, why would he react poorly when he should be grateful to you for all of the training you did for me? It was because of that I managed to survive that well…”

“I’m honored, Your Grace. And I’m really glad to see you back,” Osman remarked. “I’ve never been this proud…”

“Oh, by the way, I have a present for you that you’ll definitely like!” Xenia burst out with a wide smile.

She was so clouded with her own excitement that she forgot that Lady Bella was still there with them, who had already casually sat back on her chair to continue drinking her coffee. “Helena! She’s still single, and she gave me something to give to you. I know how much you longed for her, and this could be the sign, Lord Osman… For the two of you to finally be together! I strongly believe that you two just had some misunderstandings. I hope you two can finally clear things out.”

Waiting for his reaction, Xenia was surprised to see that Osman had this awkward expression on him as he turned his gaze away from her. Following his gaze towards Lady Bella who had remained in her seat while drinking her cup of coffee casually, she quickly took the gesture as something more.

Feeling the sudden attention, Bella simply smiled at them and scoffed, “Oh, please, don’t mind my presence…”

Bella was smiling, but Xenia noticed something more behind that smile. Something was off. That smile wasn’t warm, it was something sharper than she had expected.

‘Did she just glare at me while masking that dangerous stare with her sweet smile?’ Xenia mused. Why would Bella throw daggers at her, masking it with her poker smile? All of a sudden, a chill ran through her bones, feeling as if someone had just cursed her.

Ignoring the feeling for now, she then looked at Osman before going back to Lady Bella. She inwardly cursed when she suddenly got an idea of what exactly was going on based on the look the two shared between them.

‘Ooops… I think I stepped in at the wrong time,’ she quickly thought. With a gulp, she quickly apologized. “I’m sorry. Did I disturb you two? I mean, I don’t mean to interrupt. It’s just that a lot of things have happened, and I didn’t have the time to talk to Lord Osman yet,” she blurted out. “I’m not even sure when we can talk again so…”

Waving her hand, Bella smiled at her and said, “Your Grace… Please, I really don’t mind. Lord Osman and I are just having some casual conversations over coffee. I’m about to leave anyway, so the two of you can catch up more properly.” She let out a faint smirk as she added, “You have a fight tomorrow, Your Grace, so let me give you and Lord Osman some privacy for such important matters.”