Pampered by the Villainous Tyrant King

Chapter 21

Annabeth looked down at her bandaged finger. Was that why the king insisted on putting a healing salve? Normally, Annabeth would have ignored the tiny papercut.

"Well, thank you for dropping that unexpected information on me," she muttered.

"Don't worry. As long as I'm here, nothing will happen to you." The king smiled.

Annabeth childishly stuck her tongue out at him. He wasn't reassuring at all. The villainous King Perseus of Eldoris had died at the end of the novel. Of course, now with the prince of Tynan on their side, hopefully the odds of the king's survival would be much higher. After all, her own survival was tied with his.

"Ah, if you're so bored, then why don't you take a look at the things Mandol and Kiran sent over?" The king suggested.

"Mandol and Kiran both sent things over? Why?"

The king handed her a list. "For the boating incident, of course."

Annabeth scanned the list of treasures. There were fine paintings, beautiful woven tapestries, and chests of gold and jewelry. There was even a note that said the Grand Duke of Mandol would lose his governmental position and have his salary deducted for ten years.

But what was surprising was that Kiran seemed to have sent over the majority of the apology gifts.

"Well, I understand why Mandol would, but not Kiran. Didn't Alana fall into the water as well, or do you suspect that she had a hand in this accident?"

"The evidence for that couldn't be found, unfortunately. But Kiran's prime minister was sent to give us an explanation for why the Kiran delegation happened to miss our wedding and crowning ceremony. In the end, we had a little...discussion and came to this conclusion."

So he meant that he basically forced them into doing so pulling some political bullshit behind the scenes. Oh, whatever, Annabeth thought. The king looked rather smug at what he had done so she didn't say anything.

"The stuff they sent wasn't anything too special, however. I'll add some chests of gold to your budget if you want to buy any books. Take this."

The king handed a small jewelry box. Annabeth opened it curiously. A delicate hairpin made of pure gold with a dahlia flower made out of rubies for petals and pearls and diamonds for leaves. Even someone like her who was clueless about fashion could appreciate the jewelry that lay in her hands. In fact, the hairpiece looked like a matching piece of jewelry to the pearl earrings she had received.

When Annabeth voiced this, King Percy confirmed it as such.

"My father dedicated this hairpin to my mother. I managed to save the earrings only. Somehow, this hairpin was sent to Mandol instead of remaining in my mother's treasury. I had a feeling that my dear stepmother had taken it and perhaps used it as bribery."

King Percy took the hairpin and attempted to put it in Annabeth's hair. Unfortunately, her hair was in a ponytail at the moment and all the maids had been dismissed early. Annabeth just laughed, looking at the messy state of her hair.

"Well, don't quit your day job as king, Your Majesty. I'm afraid that the career of hairdresser doesn't quite suit you." Annabeth said, teasingly.

"I'm sure I mentioned that I'm quite good at taking things apart. Not so much actually putting things together, like your hair." King Percy smiled, looking at her expectantly.

"What?" Annabeth asked.

"Didn't I do a good job of getting your compensation?"

Annabeth laughed. The king reminded her of her childhood dog who used to bring toys to her and ask for pats as a reward. So, she reached out and ruffled the king's hair.