Chapter Twenty-Four
VIOLET
I stretch my arms and legs over as much of the mattress as I can. The space beside me is empty but not yet fully cold. I frown.
“My Lady,” Iseul’s gentle voice is accompanied by her soft knock.
A flash of shadow streaks across the floor and dives under the thick comforter. With a startled cry, I bolt upright at the feel of their cold, bone-like skin brushing against my leg.
Iseul bursts into the room. “What happened?”
“What are you doing?” I snap at the demon at the same time.
“I—” she begins, hurt flashing across her face.
But I am focused on the unwelcome creature in my bed. Grabbing a fistful of blanket, I yank, flinging it to the floor. The demon starts and scrambles from the foot of the bed and dives for the pillows.
My irritation gets the better of me. “What are you—”
“Demons and saints… that’s… that’s,” Iseul’s voice rises to a screech, cutting me off.
I whip around, finally remembering that she doesn’t know about the demon yet.
Iseul gapes, her wide eyes are stark against the backdrop of her concerningly pale face. She points a shaking finger at the pile of blankets, taking a deep breath.
Now, it’s my turn to scramble. I am less than graceful as I launch myself toward her. Stumbling over the blanket, I barrel into her. My hand clamps down over her mouth to stifle her scream before it alerts every guard in the area.
“It’s all right. Don’t scream,” I say.
A knock on the door has me flinching. “Is everything all right in there? Do you need help?” The guard’s harsh voice carries through the door.
“I am fine, thank you. You may go!” I try to insert a lightness to my tone, but even I can tell it sounds fake.
Iseul struggles against my grip, speaking muffled words against my palm. I wrap my arm around her shoulders and pull her against me. It’s a bit awkward with her being several inches taller than me.
“Are you sure?” the guard asks after several beats.
“I thought I saw a bug, that’s all,” I call out. I loosen my hold on Iseul just enough so I can look her in the eye. “Everything is fine,” I add, more to her than the woman outside my door.
Listening, I wait for the sound of heavy footsteps to fade.
“I’m going to let you go, so please don’t scream,” I beg.
Iseul grunts.
Slowly, I release her. Iseul backs away, looking at me in betrayal.
“W-what in the Otherworld are you doing with a wild demon in your bed?” she hisses.
“I think you startled them.”
“I startled them?”
“It’s all right. Joon knows—”
“How long has that thing been here?”
The demon leaps onto the middle of the bed and growls at her for the insult. I wave my hand, motioning for them to behave, without looking at them.
“Only since last night—”
“Joon knows about this?”
I sigh. “Yes. Please let me explain.”
She looks between me and the demon several times before giving a curt nod.
“Joon and Imugi noticed them following me for a while,” I begin. “I was almost attacked by demons, but this one alerted him and led him to me.”
Iseul looks skeptical. “Demons prey on humans—they don’t send for help.”
“We were confused at first, too…” I send a quick glance over my shoulder at the demon. “Until I recognized them.”
Iseul throws her hands in the air. “Oh, well, why didn’t you say so? Knowing a wild demon is entirely different than letting one you just met sleep in your bed,” she says mockingly.
Though I would love to tell her everything, I must censor myself from saying anything that could lead to questions I can’t answer. She needs to believe I was chosen before drinking the frost bloom tea, rather than because of it.
I miss Talya and the way I could share everything with her. I miss having that closeness and honesty with someone. And Iseul has been more like a friend looking out for me instead of a handmaid. I want to confide in her.
“Back home, I did a lot of research on healing injuries and conditions. I would frequently make trips into the forest to gather herbs and roots for poultices, teas, salves, ointments, incense…” I tick each thing off on my fingers as I list them, stopping when I notice Iseul’s incredulous stare.
“During my last trip, this one fell out of a tree and landed head-first in a pile of snow and got stuck. I felt bad leaving them there like that.”
“You felt bad for a demon?” Iseul asks, rubbing her temples. She is clearly questioning my sanity… or perhaps trying to gauge my level of insanity.
“I thought they were a baby,” I offer weakly.
“Demons don’t have babies, Violet.”
Crossing my arms over my chest, I look away. “Well, I know that now,” I mutter, then motion to the demon. “Look at them—it was an easy mistake. Anyway, Joon said to keep them near me.”
Iseul blinks, dumbfounded. “He must care a lot for you to let you keep a demon.”
I choke on air at the bluntness of her unexpected comment.
Joon might feel friendship toward me, perhaps a slight attraction, but that is all it is.
The lingering moments after he siphoned, me on his lap, my body begging him for more until his cock hardened, straining against my hip, was nothing more than a purely natural physical reaction to the intimate moment we shared.
Whatever affection there is beyond friendship is solely on my end.
“It’s not like that between us.”
There’s a knock. We freeze and turn toward the door. A second passes before it slides open. I exhale a relieved sigh when Joon enters, rather than someone else who would be less understanding about a demon.
Did he hear us talking?
Iseul jabs a finger in the demon’s direction and glares at Joon. “You allowed this?”
He chuckles.
“You could have warned me,” she snaps.
Joon shrugs. “I suppose I could have.” He turns to me, a smirk playing across his lips.
His eyes darken as he takes me in. “I wanted to let you both know that starting today, Iseul will give you lessons on palace customs, protocol, and decorum. I will personally oversee these sessions when I can, if necessary, give notes.”
Iseul and I exchange a glance.
“Any particular reason, Your Highness?” she asks.
From the uncertainty in her voice, I think it’s safe to assume that this is out of the ordinary.
“It is merely a precaution and mostly for the sake of appearances.” There’s a pause, then to Iseul, he adds, “It seems a few officials have a lot of spare time on their hands. I hope this will prevent unnecessary complications from arising.”
She seems to understand what he means by that. However, I remain in the dark.
Hearing that I lack in ways his previous wives did not stings more than I want to admit.
I start to lower my eyes, then stop when I realize how ridiculous it is to let it get to me. I am not here to win the approval of anyone. I am here to help Joon break this curse so he can free the Winter Dragon’s victims from their frozen prisons.
The prince looks as if he wants to say something more about it, but instead, he says, “Others will be here in a few hours to move you to the Western Court.”
Joon dips his chin and takes his leave.
Iseul pierces me with her narrowed gaze.
Unable to bear the scrutiny, I gather up the blanket from the floor and pile it onto the bed. I sit on the edge and pretend to be focused on the demon jumping onto the pillow, then tumbling off, only to do it over again.
Iseul joins me, sitting where she can see my face. “I never thought I’d see the day when our Joon would fall in love.” She sighs wistfully, then snorts. “I never thought he would be one to be so obvious about it.”
“It’s not what you think,” I say, hoping she doesn’t see the way my cheeks warm.
“Moving you to live with him. Overseeing these lessons is not something for a prince to concern himself with. What other reason could there be?” Iseul leans in.
“He is trying to keep me out of trouble,” I point out.
“Then why did he look at you like that just now?”
“Because I’m wearing my nightdress,” I counter.
Iseul tilts her head to the side. “Which he has already seen after spending the night with you.” She smirks. “He told me as much.”
“I had a fever.”
She makes it sound as if I’m not alone in these ill-fated emotions I’ve miserably failed to prevent. Allowing myself to believe that will only hurt more in the end. Besides, there is a reason for it. She would understand if she knew about the bargain and my condition.
“I’m serious, Vi,” she says softly, using the same shortened version of my name that Talya and Sebastian do. “He’s changed since you came to the palace.”
My throat tightens at the way my heart leaps. “How so?”
“You know of his reputation throughout the kingdom?”
To hide the warmth burning my ears, I busy myself with gathering the blankets from the floor and piling them on top of the bed.
The demon wastes no time pushing them around for maximum comfort before settling in.
“Everyone does, but that’s a facade. You and Mingi know as well as I that he’s not what they say he is. ”
“True. We know many sides to him, not just the one he shows the world.” She doesn’t outright disagree with me, yet her face and voice reflect her skepticism.
“I told him it was important to me that we trust each other. I think we were able to become friends because of that. Perhaps the others”—I avoid saying wives—“never tried to get to know him beyond all the rumors?”
“Perhaps,” she concedes. “So, why did you?”
I shrug, buying myself a few seconds to come up with something close enough to the truth.
“I’m here for a purpose, and I want to do everything to the best of my ability, which is a lot easier to do if you trust the person you’re working with.
” I swallow and confess another truth. “The thought of being nothing more than a vessel, of each of us doing our part separately, seemed so horribly lonely.”
The demon yawns, stretching their arms and legs out before wriggling deeper into the blankets.
“I think there’s more to it than that—he’s gentle with you. Softer. More himself. Like the person Mingi and I knew as children.”
It might seem that way, but Joon and I are just looking for the same things. Someone to be there for us. Comfort. To know gentleness in a harsh world. Things we have both lacked for too long.
We are both lucky to have good friends, but they can’t take the place of family or a lover. The way Joon touches me is different than anything I’ve known, the intention behind those touches is the same.
The only words I have to offer her are the ones I don’t want to share. That I like having someone who doesn’t see me as a walking tragedy, waiting for the moment when I collapse, dead. To see me as another person with a normal life ahead of them.
So, I shrug and say nothing.
“It’s nice to see him like that again.” She sighs. “You’re good for him.”
If she knew about my condition, she would understand why it would be pointless for anyone to fall for me. Let alone a prince who will go on to make a queen of someone with noble blood.
“Even the guards and other servants have noticed a change,” Iseul continues. “It’s likely that the king and other nobles will have as well. Which would explain why he wants me to give you lessons.”
“Or he doesn’t want me to embarrass him,” I suggest.
“I can see you won’t be convinced otherwise. Fine then, the two of you are friends.” Iseul shakes her head, smiling softly as she turns to the demon. “I will say, you certainly have a way of capturing the heart of the most fearsome of creatures.”
I realize I referred to myself as a vessel, hinting at his curse, details I shouldn’t be able to divulge.
Iseul didn’t react to what I said, nor did the bargain silence me. Which means she must know about the curse and why I’m here, at least to some degree.
“What will you do with them?” she asks, gesturing toward the demon.
“I don’t know… I guess, keep them?” the demon rolls onto their back. “I always wanted a dog when I was little.”
Iseul pinches the bridge of her nose and takes a long, deep breath.
“Violet, I mean this with nothing but respect, but you do realize that is a demon, not a dog, don’t you?
” She drops her hand and pins me with a look.
“If not, then I might have to drag you to the physician to get that head of yours examined. And believe me, you do not want that. She will make you drink the most foul-tasting tonics.” Iseul pulls a face.
“Of course, I know that. Though you can’t deny they do act a little like a puppy.” I pat their head. “Maybe I should think of a name for you.”
“How about, Bear?”
The demon rolls onto their stomach and bounces onto their feet.
“I think they like it,” I say. “Bear, it is.”
“I was… never mind.” She hadn’t intended for me to take it seriously, but somehow, it fits them.
“Now, little Bear, there will be times when I will need to leave you with Iseul. I want you to be nice and watch over her for me, all right?”
Bear nods and prances up to Iseul. She rolls her eyes but doesn’t fight the smile that spreads over her face. She reaches out and pats their head, laughing when they lean into it.
“Yes, yes. Very cute. Now that this has been settled, I should go get your breakfast before everyone arrives to collect your things.”