ᴍʏ ʜᴇᴀʀᴛʟᴇꜱꜱ ᴘʀɪɴᴄᴇ | ᴢᴇʟᴅʀɪꜱ x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ | ᴜɴᴅᴇʀ ᴇᴅɪᴛɪɴɢ

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ꜱɪxᴛᴇᴇɴ

"You don't wish to marry my son," Queen Oriana states rather than asks.

"No," I whisper because I know the mother of my best friend won't betray my secrets. "No, I don't, my Queen."

"Hmm," she murmurs as she leans back against the tree trunk. "And what do you do in your free time, darling (Y/n)?"

Darling (Y/n)?

"Training, reading. Not much, my Queen."

Don't say too much. Appear humble and modest. Don't show her everything.

"You're hurting right now, aren't you?"

I slowly turn to the Demon Queen to see a sympathetic expression on her face, a face so much like my best friend's.

"My Queen?" I whisper.

"Whispers, rumours, you must try and ignore them, (Y/n)," she advises.

"I do—"

Queen Oriana loudly tuts and waves a finger in front of me. "Lies will not get past me. Don't forget that I've raised boys."

Blushing fiercely, I stammer, "Ap—Apologies, my Qu-Queen."

She waves her hand before saying, "You try to not act like it, but what people say strikes you at your hearts. A warrior you may be on the battlefield, but once you are stripped of your armour and weapons, you leave yourself vulnerable to the verbal attacks of our race."

"Are you saying I'm weak?" I grit out before I can stop myself.

"Not at all, darling (Y/n)."

"Then what's the point—"

"My husband and the rest of the Demon court may call you (Y/n) of the Dark Shadows," Queen Oriana murmurs softly, "but you are far from sinister or sombre."

I accidentally swallow my gasp when she catches a teardrop from my eyelashes.

"That is what I show you, my Queen," I breathe.

"Oh darling (Y/n)," the Demon Queen whispers. "If you're hiding now, does that mean one day you'll show your true shadows?"

━━🌹 ━━

Every time I trip or stumble on my feet, Lenora always leaps toward me to catch me and stop me from crashing to the ground. At the start, I was grateful for it, but now I'm starting to feel just like a ticking bomb that's going to go off any second.

This time, I quickly pull myself back with my magic so that my maid doesn't have to dive into action again.

"I'm fine," I reassure her and she stops when she sees that I really am alright.

"Have you always been this clumsy, my lady?" she asks me.

I stick out my tongue at her. "Get lost."

Lenora giggles at this playful response and continues to walk down the long corridor with me following her. Right now, the two of us are heading to the ballroom where I'll be training Lenora and the rest of the Demon maids.

This morning, I woke up without the youngest son of the Demon King by my side and I had to keep reminding myself that he won't be here the whole day since he'll be at the Kingdom of Liones, hopefully obtaining my best friend's body. Gosh, that sounds so morbid.

"Don't worry, my lady," Lenora brings me out of my conflicted thoughts. "Prince Zeldris will be back before you know it."

I grunt at this while rubbing the back of my neck, my hand sliding over the new material.