The King's Beloved

"Ugh..", Rania grunted as she slowly opened her eyes. Once fully opened, she noticed the dragon patterns on the ceiling and the unfamiliar room she's in. There were large pillars at every corner with markings of a dragon encircling the whole pillar from top to bottom. Though the room was very spacious, it had a very dark tone which made it eerie - only little light balls hanging on the wall served as the source of light for this place. There was little to none furniture and decorations, only a desk and a chair with some bookshelves at the corners, then a sofa set with a coffee table at the other side, a fireplace, and lastly, was the bed she's lying on. Actually, if it weren't for the bed, you would not think this is a bedroom. It was like a medieval government office of some sort - the sofa was the receiving area, then the desk was where the work would be done - the only weird part was the dragon pillars since it made it look like a temple for dragons.

"Where...am I?" she said as she slowly got up and sat. Then, with a sudden gasp, memories came back to her as she stared unto the dragon markings. She remembered herself being stabbed in the back, and the vines sucking her in, and a dragon breathing a ball of fire aimed at her.

"Rania! Rania!" the silver-haired sprite called out to her in delight. She was there fluttering beside her the whole time, unnoticed. "You're awake!"

Rania looked in the direction of the small voice and there, she saw the cute and tiny sprite.

Recognizing her, she exclaimed, "Luna!...you..why are you here? Where am I?"

"Well ...you see, ever since you saved us before,..we told you that we decided to follow you," the little sprite answered shyly. "And then, one day, we just saw you sucked in here and you almost died! That nasty dragon was ready to kill you! Good thing we were able to stop him in time. Oooooohh ~ it was really hard! Took a lot of our spiritual energies!"

"So you saved me,'' Rania responded with a sweet smile. "Thank you very much! I keep on being saved these days. I am really blessed."

Luna blushed, so as the other sprites who started gathering around her when they noticed Rania's woken up.

"Well, it's no biggie, we owe you anyways!"

"Hahaha, don't listen to her Rania, she's just shy," said the other fairy with a husky voice.

"Yeah, she's been worried sick about you this last few days that you hadn't woken up," added another.

Rania's smile widened as she chuckled. "I see, well thank you everyone, really..for saving me. Now I owe you big time!"

"Sheesh~ it was nothing," said another cute and plump little sprite.

They all laughed happily and you could feel a very comforting atmosphere around them.

"Were you the ones who healed my wound, too? I noticed it's gone and there's no scar," curious, Rania asked them.

Luna answered, "About that…. Actually, someone else healed you...the owner of this place"

"The owner?"

"- I believe you're referring to me?" Elliot suddenly came from nowhere. Slowly, he paced towards Rania. "You're currently inside 'Anguis', mostly known as the Forbidden Chamber."

"...You're...the masked man at the ball." Rania recognized him at a glance. "So..you live here?"

'Yes..and no. I currently stay here but this is not my home."

"I see. Thank you, for letting me stay."

"Tell that to your annoying little friends. They never stopped fussing about you."

Drawing close to Rania who still sat on the bed, he gestured his hands on the bedside table and suddenly, food appeared. There was warm bread and cheese, a delicious looking, piping hot soup, fresh fruits, some coffee in a cute cup and a glass of water.

"Eat up while it's hot. You need to recover your energy," his voice still aloof but with a hint of concern.

Rania was surprised by his kindness and all she could say was "Thank you".

All the books she read about the Forbidden Chamber only talked about how dangerous it was and how no one should dare enter it or they would all die. Never in her wildest imagination did she think she'd be welcomed and taken care of inside. Perhaps, it was indeed because of the intervention of the sprites. And for that, she was even more thankful.

A few moments later Ducis arrived with his very unwelcoming presence and told Rania to hurry up in recuperating herself. At this remark, the sprites argued with Ducis - he was really a stubborn guardian, and hard to please at that.

A couple of more days passed and Rania was now able to walk and regained some of her strength. Finally being freed of her bed, she walked downstairs and explored the whole chamber. Of course, she asked Elliot first, if it was alright and he easily agreed. Elliot was rather silent and seemed calm as compared to Ducis who was always grumpy towards her. He was distant and not really interested in the things happening around him, as far as she observed. When she tried to converse with him, he always had very little vocabulary and was mostly unresponsive with just a few nods and head shake unless a topic interested him like...books he liked. But still, she was thankful that he let her stay and even gave her whatever she needed.

Well, except for the fact that he slept beside her on her first night in the chamber. Though Rania was thankful, Elliot got an earful from Rania.

"Ahm… You know Elliot," Rania started while pressing on her forehead - she had to after the sprites told her what happened that night. "I'm not sure if you know, or if it's just because of a difference in culture..but…"

"Cut the crap, what is it?" Elliot coldly interrupted her.

Rania sighed deeply. "There's a thing called decency for us humans. And that includes, for a man and a woman, who are NOT yet married, nor are lovers, that they should NEVER sleep together on the same bed".

Elliot raised one of his eyebrows as he pondered on the meaning of what Rania said.

"I don't get it. Man, woman, what's the difference? The bed is big enough it could fit three or four people. And that's MY bed, you're talking about."

Rania was surprised. "Oh...okay…. I see". Then, turning to the sprites she said, "Now I get it. He didn't really mean any harm. He's just a pure soul," she whispered.

The little sprites nodded in disbelief. "Hmm…."

Rania turned back to Elliot. "Okay, you're forgiven. BUT - you're not gonna do that again, is that clear?"

Elliot's face furrowed. "If I don't, then where will I sleep?"

"Can't you just make another bed?"

"I can't sleep if its not on my bed"

"Oh, I see. Then, make one for me. It doesn't need to be too big. Just a simple one is good enough"

Elliot thought again for a moment then shook his head. "I still don't get you but, whatever. I'll just make one."

And so, he made a copy of his own bed though this time, it's pink and silver, and placed it beside his' since it's the only reasonable spot in the room.

Elliot, aside from wearing his white mask all day, he liked reading books. Rania often found him in the library inside the bedroom chamber and sat there for hours. If he's not reading books, he practiced his magic on the balcony or in the Forbidden Forest just below his chamber. If not, he'd play a board game with Ducis or mess around with the sprites or very seldomly, chat with her for a moment. But never once did she saw Elliot stepping out of the chamber which made her curious. He would only go back and forth from the chamber or the Forbidden Forest which was, basically, part of the chamber as it looked like - maybe that's why it was called "forbidden" as well, Rania figured.

"Why? Why doesn't he ever go out of that door? Is there something keeping him from going out? Was he not allowed to?" As her curiosity reached its peak, she set out to ask him directly on a one, beautiful night. She had avoided it so far as she didn't know if it may offend him or whatnot. But her curiosity couldn't contain her and so, she asked.

"Elliot," she called out to him who was sitting on the railings of the balcony connected to the bedroom.

Elliot looked back at her. "What?"

"I've been meaning to ask...it's just that I'm not sure if it's alright."

"Ask away, you already came to me anyways."

"Y-yeah. So…. I just noticed...that...I never saw you went outside... apart from the Forbidden Forest. Even on the day of the banquet, you were in the pavilion, which was part of the Forbidden Forest…. Why... is that? Is there a specific reason? Or is it that you just don't want to go out?"

"You imbecile!" Ducis shouted in anger as he heard the conversation. "How dare you - !" At his remark, Rania jolted.

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