The knock at the door woke me up. I automatically pulled Ivetta closer and rolled onto my back, reaching over to my sword before I was fully aware of what I was doing. Ivetta nuzzled into my shirt, and I lay still, listening, my fingers wrapped tightly around the leather hilt as I waited. Nobody was trying the door. Everything was still and silent. Had I imagined the sound? Or was it…Theresa, here to help Ivetta. Of course. Ivetta was making breakfast this morning, and she needed to get up early for that.
The knock came again, quiet and tentative, as if it was meant to be heard by somebody who was already awake. It was Theresa. I released my sword and brushed Ivetta’s silky black hair back from her face. She was very much still asleep, and she showed no signs of waking up. I didn’t really want to wake her, either. She was warm and soft, using my chest as a pillow, and I just wanted to hold her close and go back to sleep.
“Ivetta,” I said reluctantly.
She stirred, sighing softly as she curled her fingers into my shirt.
“Ivetta, wake up.”
“I don’t want to,” she mumbled.
I chuckled and gently pried her fingers from my shirt. “You’re the one who promised to make breakfast this morning.”
She sighed and pulled away from me, leaving me suddenly cold without her warmth. “Why did I do that again?” she asked, rolling onto her back and rubbing her eyes.
“Because you’re too nice,” I replied, moving closer to give her a kiss. I hooked one hand around her waist and tugged her toward me again.
“And because you didn’t come to my rescue,” she accused teasingly, smiling up at me as she brushed my hair back from my face. “You wanted pancakes again.”
I didn’t want or care about pancakes now. She was soft and sweet, her full pink lips begging to be kissed, and I was about to oblige her when there was another knock at the door. I sighed, frustrated, and flopped back down onto my side of the bed, hugging the blankets tightly around me.
“That’s the third time Theresa has knocked.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that?” Ivetta gasped, jumping out of bed and racing to the door.
“I tried,” I muttered, pulling the blanket up over my head. Although, admittedly, I didn’t try very hard.
The latch clicked as Ivetta opened the door.
“Theresa, I’m so sorry. I’ll be just a minute!” Ivetta apologized.
Theresa snorted, the sound somewhat muted. Ivetta must have only cracked the door.
“Yeah, right. So I’m just supposed to stand out here waiting?” Theresa asked.
There was a short pause, and then Ivetta said, “Okay, come in, but be quiet.”
Footsteps entered the room, not the soft padding of Ivetta’s bare feet, but the sound of shoes on the hardwood floor. The door closed.
“Is he asleep?” Theresa whispered.
“No,” I grumbled.
“Good morning, King Chevalier,” she said cheerily - and loudly.
I heard a smacking sound, and I smirked, knowing Ivetta had just hit Theresa’s shoulder like she did to me when I teased her too much.
“He’s trying to get back to sleep. Pick an outfit and meet me in the bathroom. Quietly!” Ivetta hissed.
“Wait. You’re not actually planning on wearing one of your fancy gowns while you’re cooking, are you?” Theresa asked, dropping her voice to a whisper.
Another short pause.
“I’ll wear an apron,” Ivetta decided. “Just pick something.”
Too much noise. Ivetta’s soft padding to the bathroom, followed by the bathroom door closing; Theresa’s shoes reaching the rug and shuffling across to the bureau; a drawer groaning as Theresa pulled it out; fabric rustling as she rummaged through the drawer. I squeezed my eyes more tightly shut and jammed the blanket into my ear. Maybe I should just give up and get out of bed. If Theresa didn’t hurry up-
A thought crossed my mind, and I suppressed a chuckle. She would hurry up if I drew my sword on her. Actually, she’d probably run screaming out of the room, and then I’d have to deal with an angry Ivetta.
Well, it was an amusing thought, anyway.
The drawer groaned again as Theresa closed it, her footsteps shuffled across the rug, and then the bathroom door opened and closed again.
Finally. Maybe I could get back to sleep.
Except now there were peals of laughter from behind the door, accompanied by their voices, gradually increasing in volume as they forgot about me.
I groaned and picked up my pillow, slamming it over my head. It helped only slightly. Their chatter continued, just loud enough to bother me, too quiet for me to make out any words. It fell silent only when the bathroom door opened again, and two sets of shoed feet shuffled across the rug, disappearing out the door and into the hallway.
It was about time. I pulled the pillow off my head and put it back under me, where it belonged, and then I settled in to get a little more sleep before breakfast.
I wasn’t asleep nearly long enough before the blanket was yanked off of me.
“Good morning, Chevalier!” Ivetta called cheerfully.
I glared up at her and snatched the blanket from her hand. “Why are you so happy?” I grumbled.
“No reason. Come on, breakfast is ready!”
I suddenly realized she was wearing a red dress - the red dress. It was bright, as bright as her shining green eyes in the sunlight streaming through the window, its fabric hugging her curves perfectly, flaring from her hips just the right amount. I traced its path to the floor, and then snapped my eyes back up to her face. The last time I saw her in this dress, we weren’t married, and her life was in danger.
We were married now. The only danger to her was me.
But she didn’t realize that. She was smiling and clearly excited about something, something she wasn’t telling me and didn’t appear to have any intention of doing so.
It wouldn’t be too hard to make her talk.
I grabbed her wrist, yanking her down on top of me. She didn’t have time to do more than widen her eyes before I wrapped an arm tightly around her waist, rolling us over and pinning her beneath me.
“What have you been doing, little dove?” I asked, close enough to feel her breath on my lips.
“Just making breakfast,” she said innocently.
“Oh?” I released her wrist and rested my hand on her hip, sliding it slowly up her side. “That’s all?”
She squirmed, her cheeks flushing as I dragged my other hand from her waist, across her back, and down her other hip.
“This really isn’t the best time, Chevalier-”
“Answer the question, Ivetta,” I purred, nibbling at her earlobe.
She gasped and squirmed again. “Alright, alright, I give up. Theresa was upset about being single, and I thought I’d try to help her.”
I kissed her neck, rubbing my hand up and down her thigh. Her hand brushed mine as she dug her fingers into the sheets.
“Mm…so I had one of my guards get Jin, and I got her talking about him right when he arrived, and I left them to get breakfast to the round table room,” she said breathlessly.
I chuckled. “And came back to me in a red dress.”
“That was Theresa’s idea,” she gasped, tilting her head back as I trailed kisses down her throat.
“If your plan works, she won’t be your maid much longer,” I murmured against her feverishly hot skin.
“Chevalier…breakfast…”
I nipped lightly at her collarbone, and a soft moan escaped her lips as a shiver ran through her.
“It can wait.”
I shifted to plant my knees on either side of her hips, holding her in place while I tugged at the laces at the back of her dress.
“But…the proclamation…”
She had to bring that up.
I sighed, pressing my forehead to her chest for just a moment. “That can’t wait,” I muttered, pushing myself up to hover over her. Little wisps of black hair had escaped the tight braid plaited down her neck; she was deeply flushed, and her green eyes were dark with desire. I wanted to forget about that proclamation and finish this, but it really was only a matter of time before Leon’s background came to light, and I needed to be the first one to announce it.
“You need to change,” I finally said.
“Why?” she asked nervously. She must have picked up on something in my tone that bothered her. I hadn’t meant to upset her, but I was irritated. By the proclamation, by us having to stop this, by the sight of her in that red dress. Other than the vibrant color, it was quite plain, and probably the best suited for cooking if she had to wear one of her royal gowns. But that color.
What was it about the color red that was so sensual?
I sat back, staring at the red fabric wrinkled loosely around her chest without the laces restraining it, her skin above the collar only a few shades away from being a perfect match.
“I don’t want Gilbert or Nokto seeing you in this.”
“Nokto?” she asked, her eyes widening in surprise.
“Yes, Nokto,” I replied firmly, forcing my eyes to hers. “He cares for you more than I realized, and I don’t want him leering at you over breakfast. It was bad enough having him yell at me last night for threatening your life when we first met.”
“Oh,” she said, stunned. “I’m…sorry. I didn’t realize-”
“Neither did I.”
I climbed off of her and headed for my bureau, frustrated with myself. She shouldn’t have to change her outfit because of my jealousy. I knew she wasn’t trying to catch anybody’s eye. She was mine, and she’d made that perfectly clear, time and time again.
“He didn’t seem any more upset or surprised than anybody else,” she said slowly, her voice still coming from the bed behind me.
“Why did you even tell them?” I asked, pulling clothes out of the drawers.
“It started with me asking why Clavis and Nokto weren’t working late with you,” she said, the bed creaking as she climbed out of it. “They asked why I wasn’t including Luke, and I said he had a legitimate excuse. I’m guessing you know he proposed to Arianna?”
“Yes.”
I brushed past her to the bathroom, reminding myself to ask her later about tea with Arianna. Even if that went well, I would accept nothing less than an apology from that woman for the way she spoke to Ivetta the night of my coronation.
“Silvio was upset by that, and he asked why I suddenly liked her,” Ivetta continued, raising her voice so I could hear her. “I said first impressions weren’t always correct, and I pointed out that a lot of them left me with bad first impressions. Then they wanted to know who did what so they could tease each other about it. Nobody was surprised about you threatening me when we first met, but Clavis wanted to know if you’d done it more than once.”
She sighed, the soft sound like a punch in the stomach for me. It wasn’t exactly a private, personal memory for us. The only reason it bothered me was because I hated that I’d ever done that. It wasn’t her fault.
“I shouldn’t have elaborated. Do I really have to change, though? Maybe Nokto was just drunk.”
“He was drunk,” I confirmed, stepping back into the bedroom.
She was kneeling in front of her bureau, holding up a bright pink dress. If I was worried about the looks she was sure to get, that one was out, too. It was much tighter than the red dress. But then, it didn’t matter what she wore. I was attracted to her, and every dress drew attention to and emphasized some facet of her appearance in one way or another. Nokto and Gilbert were probably the same way.
“It’s all because of that time he got poisoned, isn’t it?” she asked softly, still staring at the pink dress. “His experience with women is limited to a mother who beat him and tried to kill him, and all the women who just want to go to bed with him because he’s a prince. He’s never had a woman who actually cared about him before, has he?”
“No, he hasn’t,” I said, taking the dress from her hands and shoving it back in the drawer. “Stand up.”
She did so without question. I pulled the laces at her back tight and tied them in place.
“What was I supposed to do? Leave him alone and let him suffer?” she asked.
“You did nothing wrong. And, to his credit, neither has he.” I sighed. “Which is why I find it difficult to be angry with him.”
She stepped in front of the mirror and smoothed her skirt. “Well, if Jin and Theresa work out, maybe I’ll start looking for someone for Nokto.” Her smile was back as she moved on to fixing her hair. “Is matchmaking an acceptable pastime for the queen?
I chuckled, my eyes meeting hers in the mirror. “Don’t meddle too much in the affairs of others.”
She turned to face me and wrapped her arms around my neck. “Why would I do that? I’m much more interested in our affairs.”
Her lips were ready and waiting for my kiss. I slid my hands around her waist and up her back, pressing her into me as she stood on tiptoe to meet me halfway. “I’m not working late tonight,” I murmured, barely pulling back at all to speak. My lips brushed against hers with each word. Another kiss was tempting, but not a good idea. We needed to go.
“Good. Because if you think this red dress is nice, I can’t wait to show you the red evening gown I’ve been saving for a special occasion.” She gave me a quick peck on the lips and pulled back. “We’d better go before the food is all gone.”
If the red evening gown was anything like I imagined, she was never wearing it in public. I belted my sword around my hips, grabbed my cloak from the coat rack, and followed my little siren out the door.
The round table was crowded again. Arianna was sitting next to Luke, smiling with amusement as he stuffed his face.
Leon whistled at Ivetta. “What’s with the red dress?”
“You can ask Theresa about that,” she replied, sitting in the chair I pulled out for her.
“Maybe Jin can ask her for us,” Clavis said suggestively, sending him a sideways glance.
“Shut up,” Jin said sourly.
“So that’s Theresa. Wonder why I never ran into her before,” Nokto mused with a sly grin, but his crimson eyes were not on Jin. He was entirely too focused on Ivetta for my liking. Ivetta noticed it, too, and dropped her gaze to the pancakes in front of our plates.
“I told her to avoid you,” she said casually, adding a couple pancakes to her plate and several more to mine.
“That hurts,” Nokto replied with feigned injury.
I added more pancakes to the stack on my plate, deciding it was a better use of my time than glaring at Nokto.
“Did everything go okay, Jin? She can be a handful sometimes,” Ivetta said innocently, glancing up at him.
Jin shot her a glare. “Not as much of a handful as you are.”
That much was true.
“Well, I did give you a choice,” Ivetta replied sweetly.
“Some choice,” he muttered.
“What choice would that be?” Clavis asked, his golden eyes glittering.
She shrugged. “I told him he could either help Theresa or wake Chevalier up.”
Even if Jin wasn’t attracted to Theresa, he made the right decision.
Clavis laughed. “What a choice. Lose his head or help a beautiful woman.”
“Lose his head?” Keith asked curiously.
“Our dear Chev is not an easy man to wake up,” Clavis explained. “In fact, I do believe Ivetta is the only person in existence who has never been threatened at swordpoint by him.”
“I don’t know about that,” Leon said, chuckling. “What about all those death threats?”
“He never used his sword for those, and he never threatened me first thing in the morning, either,” Ivetta defended me.
“Because he was too busy trying not to grab you and pull you into bed with him,” Clavis said knowingly. “Oh, look, you match your dress now.”
She shot a glare at him, but he was right. Her cheeks were bright red. Not as red as earlier, though, and I could deepen the shade without even touching her.
“Not every morning,” I said, smirking at her as I buttered my pancakes.
“Which is why I kept my distance,” she replied coolly, her face flushing even deeper.
“Are you going to eat anything other than pancakes?” Yves interjected, staring at my plate.
“No,” I replied, pouring a generous helping of maple syrup over everything.
“He never does,” Ivetta said, adding some scrambled eggs to her plate. “When I make him pancakes, that’s all I make.”
“But you’re missing out on all this good food,” Gilbert said. His plate was stacked high with a generous portion of everything.
“You’re going to eat all of that?” Ivetta asked.
“The man is a bottomless pit,” Silvio answered for Gilbert, whose mouth was already full. “When he gets hungry, he eats more than Luke.”
“At least he eats everything,” Yves commented. “Leon, there’s more to a well-rounded meal than just meat.”
“Yeah, there’s alcohol, but it’s too early to drink,” Leon said, biting into a piece of bacon from the pile on his plate. There was also a copious amount of sausage and nothing else.
“No, it’s not,” Jin said, sipping his orange juice and wincing. “It’s never too early to drink.”
“I’m glad you all like it,” Ivetta said happily. “I keep meaning to ask Yves to teach me some fancier recipes, but I just haven’t had the time, so it’s commoners’ fare for this morning.”
“Commoners’ food is the best,” Luke said between bites.
“This is commoners’ food?” Arianna asked. “It’s really good.”
“Thank you,” Ivetta said, beaming. “It’s what I grew up with, so it’s really all I know how to cook.”
“What makes it commoners’ food?” Silvio asked. For once, he didn’t sound condescending, but he couldn’t very well put Ivetta’s cooking down when he was enjoying it as much as everybody else.
“Well, to put it bluntly, it’s cheap. Few ingredients, little to no spices, and it doesn’t take much time or effort to make. I was able to make this by myself before I was ten years old,” Ivetta replied.
“Is it common for children to be responsible for making meals at such a young age?” Gilbert asked, surprised.
“At least helping to make meals, yes. Girls learn everything from their mothers so they can take care of their own families when they’re old enough. It’s sort of a rite of passage when a girl makes her first meal by herself. In my case, I took over cooking as soon as I could so Mother was able to focus on working.”
“I don’t even know how to cook,” Arianna said, looking at all the food with wide hazel eyes as if she’d never seen it before.
“I can teach you, if you’d like,” Ivetta offered. “Are you coming back for the goodwill gala?”
“Yes, of course,” Arianna said, glancing at Luke and blushing shyly.
“It’s not hard at all. Once you master the basics, you can cook just about anything. Maybe Yves could teach us something more complicated, too,” Ivetta said, looking over at Yves for confirmation. He nodded, his mouth too full of food to reply.
“You two are really hitting it off,” Leon commented, looking from Ivetta to Arianna with a wide grin.
“I’ve been the only woman at this table for far too long,” Ivetta replied.
That was certainly true, and without knowing if the much needed apology had taken place, I was still pleased to see them getting along. My brothers’ teasing was considerably less than usual, and their attention was split between Ivetta and Arianna, who was making tentative contributions with encouragement from Ivetta. Except Jin wasn’t giving his attention to either of them. He kept glancing at the door, as if he couldn’t wait for breakfast to be over so he could make his escape.
Or see Theresa.
Now, if only Nokto and Gilbert would find their own women and stop looking at mine.
Breakfast ended, and goodbyes were said. Ivetta popped out of her chair and raced around to Arianna, asking to see her engagement ring. I smiled and left for my office. The proclamation that had wasted hours of my life yesterday would only take me a few minutes this morning, thanks to Ivetta’s insights. Part woman, part girl, part seductive temptress, part social butterfly - she had always been much more complicated than she appeared at first glance. But no matter who was looking, she was all mine, and I decided she could wear that red dress whenever she liked.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT8tDQFLO4P
