Sayon, The King's Mistress

"I heard of your arrival so I thought I would come to visit,” she flicked her long hair back and sat on the couch with seductive grace. The King nodded at her briefly in acknowledgment, before rising to his feet and fixing his appearance. He then stepped aside, striding past her to pour himself something.

Sayon followed him to the counter, flaunting her figure in her see-through dress. The King turned his eyes to her and furrowed his brows, "You came here like this?"

What she called a dress was a halter neck with almost a see-through pattern. It fell past her knees and no woman would even wear it in her bedroom as it offered no resistance against the cruel cold. You could see her lingerie from anywhere. He can only guess how it was in natural light.

“Yes, I did." She stood up in front of the mirror and giggled coyly as she swirled in it. "Don't I look like the most beautiful creature you have ever beheld?"

Scoffing, the King chugged down the bitter nectar, and turned back to the counter: "Next time you enter my palace dressed in these rags, I'll personally take time to skin you alive."

Sayon stilled on her place and her smile soured at his brutal indifference, "I received word not too long ago about the human who survived your lycan.” she recalled. The king, who was heading back to his desk, abruptly stopped in his tracks and turned to the exotic beauty, prompting her to continue. “Her father is the King of Ehan but her mother is suspicious. The circumstances surrounding her death are a mystery and I couldn't confirm her mother's maternal ancestry. Her Grandmother was most likely a slave or courtesan.”

Ambrose narrowed his eyes at her nonsense and taunted. "You are quite prejudiced for someone who has a list of candidates for a father. What does it matter to me whose blood she carries?" He took a sip and shook his head to get rid of the spitting headache. "Tell me who else was there that night?" 

Sayon frowned at his flippant attitude but continued. "I wouldn't know even if I was there. When I went back there to assess the scene, your demon shadow had sucked every life force out of every particle."

Flopping down on his divan, the King threw his head back. He had healed the foreign princess with his mark, taking the life forces around him as a medium. That could have been the reason she survived and the building collapsed.

His Lycan went far and beyond to care for his chosen mate, who he didn't know shit about. He rubbed his face in frustration.

Sayon pursed her lips in annoyance at his behavior and pushed her agenda forward. "What I'm trying to say is, if you are a slave or a courtesan, you don't need to specify origins or blood. If her Grandmother was a beast, witch, or demon, the Princess could be a halfling. She could be what subdued you that night!"

He scrunched his eyes and tried to piece together the scenarios. "It wasn't her." He finally shook his head decisively. His mate was too fragile to do anything like that. He remembered her soft hands trying to fight him off and shook his head. "It wouldn't make sense for her to be this powerful. She's a human, I have checked."

Sayon clenched her gritted jaw: "Her family believed she was a cursed woman from the Foretold! They say she killed her mother! That's the reason they sent her here to die." She frantically proceeded to convince him, despite his lukewarm response. "You 'let' her live against her will and you now can't kill her, isn't that the perfect sign? She can't stay here. She's destined to ruin you!"

That was when Ambrose really looked at her for the first time that night.

'...Can't kill her? That is true. He really can't bring himself to kill his chosen mate. But... since when did his lycan go around marking people in madness?' There's something about her.'

She came closer and leaned on his divan string right in his eyes, she spoke with determination, "I'm the only one who understands what you have gone through and that woman will only bring misfortune upon you."

She cupped the side of his face as she stared into his deep stormy eyes.

"Sayon."

"Hmm?" She blinked at him with a smile.

"Get out of here before I drag you, kicking and screaming."

...... 

“So how do you find this place?” Princess Laylin asked as she sat across from her attendant, smiling brightly as she looked around. Her suite was luxurious, it had all her stuff from her previous room but it felt cold and unfamiliar. “If we were back in my room in Ehan, we could see birds chirping around,” she recalled gleefully.

Princess Scarlet kept her word and really sent her servants the next day. They didn't look like they were treated badly. She heard from them that they were given minimal work in an abandoned Greenhouse.

“Once you get used to the weather, you will find things you like here.” The Governess supplied, looking absolutely stiff in her seat as she looked around mechanically.

Laylin's smile was stripped away too. How could she forget her happy youthful days when she had every dream in her reach? She was dragged away from it and eventually renounced. She turned her gaze down, hoping to avoid another breakdown in front of them.

"I'll report the evening's menu to the kitchen." Melissa was quick to catch the shift in the air and excused herself. 

At the very least, Princess Scarlet hadn’t been lying when she said Melissa's work and ethics were unparalleled. Aside from a few random errands, the work she did was mostly minor but her familiarity with other servants made things easy. She was a glorified companion and a lively company.

“It feels as though it was just yesterday when I was sitting in my room and watching spring pass by, but then I see the isolated cold garden and realize just how much time passed for me.” Laylin sighed with an air of regret. The Governess didn't know how to contribute to the conversation.

“You can’t keep hiding forever.” Eloise, who couldn’t help her heartbreak, pointed out. "You are laying low while all the ladies are quick on their feet to catch the King's eye!"

The Governess sighed, clutching the spoiled slave's shoulder, Eloise flinched, "Mind your manner, people here have no patience for us so you need to tread carefully. Catching the King's eye is no child's play and do you want our Princess to present herself in front of that savage beast?"

Laylin furrowed at her tone but kept her mouth shut.

“I’m well aware of that but this isn't fair. Just look at our Princess! She's confined here and King doesn't even check on her.” she looked out of the balcony, breathing deeply as she stared at the desolate lake out of the window. “Whenever I see that Sayon, my heart aches for our Princess!.” she admitted and the Princess appeared dumbfounded.

"Have you seen Sayon? Do you know who she is?"

Governess's eyes widened and she indicated Eloise to cut it off here, but Eloise was too immersed in gossip. "Who here hasn't? She visits the King almost every day, and barely dressed at that! She comes bearing refreshments and stays coped inside his office for hours! Even the guards shut their eyes when she passes by. God, she's so shameless!" The Governess gave up and clicked her tongue at the young witch's stupidity.

Laylin, after thinking about it, looked up at Eloise. "Next time you see her pass by, let me know." She wanted to see with her own eyes how this proclaimed beauty charmed men, left and right

The Governess was shocked, "Princess! Why would you-"

Eloise cut her off passionately and nodded. “Yes, Princess! You need to teach that woman a lesson on who holds the rank here. I promise I won't get caught and report to you at once!”

“Much appreciated,” Laylin thanked with a smile, and nodded at the young girl's innocence. In any case, she needed to meet the lover of her fiance and set clear boundaries. “I’m sorry for dragging you into this but you can't, in no situation, react first. Instead, just report to me what you see and hear.”

As they left the Princess alone for the evening, the Governess cornered Eloise. "How many times have I told you to watch what you say?"

Eloise was spooked and stuttered. "Wha-What did I do?"

Scoffing, the Governess rolled her eyes. "Have you forgotten the kind of days you had recently? We are not in Ehan, we are in a nation where we would have been grilled alive if we weren't accompanying the Princess!" She asserted their situation clearly, and Eloise stared at her quizzically unable to understand where the conversation was headed. "We can't let the Princess do something this rash! If we live quietly and manage her well, we can be fed and paid. The Princess will be happy in a life like this too!"

Eloise pursed her lips, "...You want me to keep her in the dark so we can keep a lofty lifestyle?"

"Lofty?" The governess shook her head, "No, I want you to leave the matter of the court to me. I'll deal with it as I always have. Don't feed her ridiculous ideas anymore! We can't let her create a scene in a foreign court! Instead, I will help her build her position here 'slowly' so she can be revered as a kind and tolerant woman. If the Princess causes a scene people will only look at her like she was troublesome!"

"Is that so...?" Eloise looked confused at her suggestion but due to her immaturity didn't have anything to refute.

The Governess, Agatha nodded holding both her hands. "Yes! All I want is the best for the Princess. You know that, don't you?"

Eloise furrowed her brows at her changed demeanor but nodded anyway.

Agatha sighed in relief. 

Eloise was downcast. "I didn't realize I was harming the Princess's reputation like this..."

“Hey, it’s alright, I know you’re only looking out for Princess Laylin. From now on remember to always report everything to me before telling the Princess.” the Governess assured her, before noting the bruises on her neck. With wide eyes, she pulled away her collar. Eloise was quick to hold her hand. "What the hell is this?"

Eloise bit her lip while facing the floor: "It's nothing. I'll deal with it."

It was the witch's withdrawal symptoms. In the worst case, the witches lost control and aura burst out of their bodies.

“How long has this been forming? You can't leave it alone, it must be troubling you greatly. The forest behind Princess Scarlet Palace is usually empty, so go there when you can't hold your aura anymore.” she smiled sadly at the poor slave, as she understood how he felt.

Witches had a hard time living in hiding because of this. The weaker the witch, the more she will yearn for control on the aura. If you don't let it out, the skin becomes itchy and prickly. Eloise had little witch blood, so she must have scratched her skin to calm her nerves.

Soon she and Laylin will too be depraved and desperate. They needed to be well-settled before they could use a safe place as their own.

.... 

'WHAAM! BAAAM!'

In the late evening, there was a loud racket out of Laylin’s room, knocking off several art pieces. The attendants in her room had mixed reactions. Some had broken off decorum to take a look out of the window, others opted to stay slumped in their seats, shocked.

After a second, though, there was horrifying chaos everywhere.

"Princess, stay inside till I check what it is." Panicked, Melissa told her and she just nodded. She didn't really care enough to check though she was curious if the construction at the King's palace had given out with the force of her curses. 

Unknown to her, what she will later hear about, will change her life forever.