Pampered by the Villainous Tyrant King

Chapter 10

"Just some light exercise to strengthen my muscles. It's not tiring so don't worry. I wish that I could learn how to use a sword though. It would be nice to learn some self-defense."

"That could be arranged."

Annabeth's eyes lit up. "Really? I can do that?"

She had thought that the king wouldn't be happy that a queen would know how to use a sword given the strict protocols in this world. But then again, there were female knights like Sir Rachel and even Princess Alana had fought on the battlefield. After all, what was taekwondo against swords and arrows?

"Why not? It'll be good for you to learn how to defend yourself."

The king looked at Annabeth's enthusiasm. So this was what she liked. He had sent a sapphire and pearl hairpin with matching earrings to the princess earlier but received a report that her reaction was rather lukewarm compared to how other noble ladies might react when getting such an expensive jewelry set. Still, she seemed to like the earrings more over the hairpin so the king noted her preference down.

"I'll have the best swordsman in the kingdom teach you." He found himself promising to those expectant gray eyes. "If you want, we can go take a look in the armory to see if there's any suitable swords."

Annabeth's grey eyes sparkled with pleasure while Lucy shifted her feet. Princess, shouldn't one be more happy about receiving that hairpin the king took great pains to acquire? That hairpin was being auctioned off when the king bid for it right underneath the nose of the snobbiest noble Lady Ceto in Eldoris.

"Oh, right, I almost forgot. What did you come here for?" Annabeth asked curiously.

"To tell you how your experiment went."

Now that their wedding was edging closer, many delegates from other countries were on their journey into Eldoris. The representatives from Tynan were no different. The county governed by Count McLean happened to be near the border of Tynan and Eldoris.

There were some ruffians located in the county that had dared to stir up some trouble. Conveniently, these rough people were stirring up trouble when both the Tynan representatives and Lady McLean happened to be near the scene. But Lady McLean was not the sort of gentle lily that needed rescuing.

"You said she was in the midst of beating up the gangsters when Prince Jason happened upon them?" Annabeth asked, incredulous. "And she thought the prince was part of the gangsters and was nearly about to beat him up as well?"

Then she let out a laugh. Holy shit, this new lady-in-waiting was far more interesting than she thought. Thank goodness, she was worried whether the lady-in-waiting she had chosen would be fussy about strict rules and protocols.

Fortunately, the prince proved his identity and wasn't even insulted that Lady McLean had misunderstood him. He had even invited her to travel with his delegation for safety as they rode onwards to the Eldoris palace.

"I wonder for whose safety it is, his or hers?" Annabeth said, amused.

Regardless, the little nudge in the direction of a different fate was set. It was now up to the actions of the prince and Lady McLean to see if feelings were returned.

There were only five more days until the wedding. Annabeth wondered what would the expression of Princess Alana be like when she saw another woman beside one of the men who was supposed to be simping for her?

"What is a simp?" The Eldoris king asked. "Is that a Kiran saying?"

Apparently Annabeth had said her thoughts out loud. Oops. She was usually good about keeping her speech in style with the manuscripts, but she was starting to become a little too comfortable around the king.

A little while later, the king paused in the middle of his work, frustrated that the letters were beginning to swim in circles or jump off the page. Needing a break, the king asked Sir Grover a question.

"If my understanding of a simp is correct, do you think Rachel is a simp for me? Or at the very least, I would say the Kiran princess is most definitely not a simp for me?"

"Your Majesty...I don't dare answer that question."

The sound of the ink pen scratching on paper continued before pausing once more. The king looked up and grinned.

"Hey Grover, would you be considered a simp for that new gardener called Miss Juniper?"

"...please don't tease me anymore, Your Majesty."

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A/N: Some light comedy this chapter. Next chapter we'll have Annabeth meet face to face with possibly the most dangerous antagonist inside Eldoris, and of course, some classic pampering :P

For future reference, the first even remotely slightly spicy moment is around chapter 17 and the first truly spicy moment in chapters 30+ and more to come after that. Slow burn :P

As always, thank you all for your support! See you next chapter!

Edit: Ugh, I'm so mad at Google Docs today. I wrote two chapters today and they didn't auto-save :0 and got deleted while I was working on them. Tragic. Press F to pay thy respects. T.T