The Crown's Seduction-Chapter 428: Sidetracked

After days of traveling on the sea, Dani and Abel finally arrived at Valcrez. True enough, both she and Abel became so busy with their respective duties that they barely saw each other.

’How many days have passed since then?’

Dani had a pout on her face as she stared out the window, her eyes blankly aimed at the dove the queen had asked her to get.

"Looks like our Queen has been relaying rather important messages to Ebodia lately," Zaila commented as she leaned out the open window to look at the dove freely roaming around the palace.

Dani simply sighed. Like them, their Queen was also busy with her constant parades and charity works outside the palace. She was supposed to handle her schedule, but she chose Niran to do it instead for some reason.

"I feel jealous of them going outside. Last time, the Queen met with Laura and King Nikolai in our usual disguises," Zaila grumbled to herself. "I really hope we can all meet like old times soon. I mean all of us. You, me, Niran, Laura, and Krisha."

"I’m sure we all can go out together soon," Dani casually replied.

"We’ll see about that. But look at you zoning out. What’s going on with you?" Zaila teased, making Dani’s expression sour. "Are you perhaps having some wedding jitters in advance?" She then chuckled at her expression and added, "Alright, I’ll be going now to avoid dying from your glare."

From there, Dani could only watch as her friend quickly wrapped up her work on some documents before quickly leaving her alone. Now left to her lonesome, Dani let out a frustrated sigh at being the only one left with work once more.

"I was told not to accompany the Queen in the parade to prepare for my wedding, but how can I do this alone?" Dani mumbled to herself, feeling a bit disheartened that Abel wasn’t around to share her burden.

Some time after, she then remembered she had to meet with Lord Gregory that day to check on the list of invitees for their weddings as well as to look at the invitations themselves. At the thought of seeing Abel, she rushed outside hoping to not be alone for longer.

"Are you in a hurry?"

She stopped in her steps when she heard Abel’s voice coming from behind her.

Finally... She hadn’t seen him in days...

But before she could even turn around, Abel made himself known by appearing in front of her.

"Looks like we’re heading in the same direction," Abel remarked with a roguish smile, something that she couldn’t help but like. It was a refreshing sight to see those smiles again after days of being hard at work.

’I guess I really like him,’ Dani mused to herself.

"I almost forgot to see Lord Gregory," she replied. "The Queen Mother lessened our workload, and she talked the Queen into not bringing me with her on her field visitations so that the two of us could prepare for our wedding and Coupling Rite."

"It’s the same on my end then," Abel added. "I’m sorry if it took me so long to see you."

Dani didn’t respond as she continued with her work. She no longer had any words for him at the moment.

"You look like you’re sulking," Abel shamelessly stated. "Is it because you miss me?"

Dani felt like she was choking on her own saliva just hearing him say those things.

Stopping on a dime, she turned to face him. Sure enough, he was grinning, and her face was burning red as she barked at him. "You!"

"Is that a yes?" Abel continued to tease her.

She was about to defend herself when Luis suddenly appeared before them.

"There’s been an attack on Norma," the man informed them. "Her Majesty lost consciousness, and you’re needed by the king!"

Dani narrowed her eyes. Norma was the province where their Queen was scheduled to visit today.

"Where is Her Majesty now?" Abel asked.

"She just arrived at their bedchamber." Luis informed them.

In that instant, Abel pulled Dani close to him by her waist and whispered, "Let’s hurry."

In a flash, they arrived at their Queen’s bedchamber. She was the first one to arrive, and she quickly used her spell to check on her vitals. Soon, Zaila arrived, and Dani let Zaila do the rest as she focused on doing other things where she was needed. In the end, she started massaging their Queen’s body while Krisha prepared their catalysts.

"Something’s wrong," Dani muttered while she continued to massage the queen’s body, letting Zaila do her usual work with her healing powers. "We need to know what happened."

The King remained quiet and simply kissed the Queen’s hand. On that end, it was Luis who explained everything that had transpired at Norma.

"She used her heavenly blood and finished off the undead on top of healing those affected by the contagion," Luis explained.

"Heavenly blood?" Dani questioned as she exchanged glances with Krisha and Zaila. However, the three of them chose not to say anything more and simply focused on what they were doing.

After a few moments, Zaila said, "The Queen’s vitals are fine, so she should be waking up soon."

"That’s good to hear," the King said. "You can all leave now."

From there, they all went outside, and Dani simply stood by as Abel then took charge.

"Zaila, the King wants you to closely monitor the Queen so you should stay here," he instructed. He then looked at her and Krisha and added, "You two, make sure that the rest of the Queen’s tasks and duties are fulfilled while she’s still unconscious."

"We understand," Dani answered.

Without another word, Abel left to attend to other things knowing that the King wouldn’t leave the Queen’s side. Things were moving so fast that not even words could describe what was happening, and Dani could only stare at one of the few people that was left with her.

"What is it?" Dani questioned Zaila who seemed to be in deep thought.

"Something is strange with Her Majesty’s inner energy. I didn’t mention it earlier since I couldn’t figure it out, but... I... Let me go for now. I want to check something in the medical journal Queen Dana gave me," Zaila told her. She looked at Luis and said, "I’ll be really quick."

She didn’t wait for their replies and she quickly rushed away, disappearing into the hallways. Again, Dani was left asking even more questions instead.

"Heavenly blood?" Dani asked Luis.

"That’s the scent of her blood," Luis replied. "It’s like no other, and it took a lot from us to remain in control and not lose our rationality over that scent."

"I see," Dani cautiously nodded at him. "Very well, Krisha and I will be going ahead now. Inform us as soon as the Queen wakes up."

With her piece said, she then quickly pulled Krisha away with her. Once they were alone, they began to speak to each other.

"Do you think there’s something special in our Queen’s blood?" Krisha asked her. "It’s probably one of the secrets that she can’t tell us."

"It’s better that we don’t know much for our Queen’s safety, Krisha," Dani told her. "We need to be more vigilant now. This news about the undead and the incident at Norma will have a lot of speculation going around them. It’s good for those who witnessed what really transpired and how our Queen saved lives, but this will also be an opportunity for some to spread false rumors about our Queen."

"What should we do now then?" Krisha further asked.

"We should monitor the situation outside in coordination with Laura. I’ll handle everything inside the palace for now. They might spread rumors about this being a sign of how cursed our Queen is, so we should counter those false rumors somehow," Dani instructed Krisha. "Tell Laura to spread the details on what really transpired at Norma and how our Queen almost lost her own life to save her people."

With her instructions given, they then went on in their separate directions. Dani was sure that Niran was with their Queen when this happened, but at this rate, she couldn’t just approach her friend like they already knew each other for a long time now. Prince Raul wasn’t aware of Niran’s real identity yet, so it would be very risky to do so now.

Walking around, Dani gulped when she saw the Queen Mother approaching her. She was probably on her way to meet their Queen, and she gave the older woman a curt bow once they met.

"How is the Queen?" Queen Mother Rania directly asked.

"Queen Mother, the Queen is resting well, and the King is with her at the moment," Dani informed her. "She’s still unconscious, but she’ll soon wake up."

Or at least, that was what they hoped. That ’soon’ probably meant a few days since their Queen used a huge amount of her energy.

"That’s good to hear," the Queen Mother hummed. "Very well. I’ll go and see her and my son now."

Dani simply nodded with a curt bow as the older woman left her alone. Once she was left on her own once more, she turned around and sighed. She was grateful that Queen Mother Rania now favored their Queen and was very supportive of her. She then suddenly thought of Abel and how bad he must have really felt being called a monster by her brother.

Dani frowned at her sudden thoughts. They were in a crucial situation with their Queen, and yet here she was thinking about Abel like some kind of idiot.

"Ugh... I’m being sidetracked by him," she mumbled to herself with a pout, feeling a bit scared of how deep her feelings for him were growing.