Vows and Bullets
Chapter 171 - 4th Week of September (Part 5)

Chapter 171: 4th Week of September (Part 5)

Please DON’T READ this Chapter yet. I will update this 4th week of September!

Good news! My hands have healed now and I’m catching up on writing my missed Chapters. My apologies for all the delays. I will replace this Chapter with the real one soon, don’t worry, and upload a new one for the next day. I really apologize once again.

In the meantime, please enjoy the continuation of the story below titled "The King’s Beloved". This is the revised version I am planning to submit for paperback publication. Hopefully, I get a chance someday.

________________

(Part 34 - Continuation...)

And so, Rania, Elliot, and the sprites enjoyed some fun tea time while chatting about random things, even if it was a bit too late for tea time. Afterwards, Elliot got hungry, unsatisfied with the cookies, and changed the course to a dinner instead—some nice soup, fishes, fruits and vegetables. It was funny how they all just met at dusk and not even a few hours passed, they’re already comfortable towards each other. While they talked, Elliot easily adapted into the conversation and by the end of dinner, he became a decent person to talk to. It seemed like he’s the type to learn real fast.

And just like that... a small bond formed between them, though it was still too early to tell but it was there—the beginning of friendship.

Soon enough, the night went deeper and the sprites had to leave, same with Elliot. Feeling sorry for Rania, Luna decided to accompany her, much to her delight. They stayed the night in the pavilion and slept on the bed Elliot created for them before he teleported to who-knows-where. It was a very comfortable bed, thankfully. As soon as Rania and Luna laid down, they easily fell asleep.

The next day, Rania woke up at the sweet smell of fruits and drinks that Luna and her sprite friends gathered for her. This kind gesture filled her heart with warmth and thankfulness for the sprites, making the tiny space feel a little like home for her. It had been a very long time since she last felt that way. Even in Meracus, no matter how fancy the whole palace was, she never felt at home there. Indeed, a place was not what we call home, it was the people we were with—in this case, just a little special since they were magical creatures instead of people.

"Thank you so much everyone," she smiled dearly at the sprites as they ate breakfast.

"Awww, it’s no biggie," some of them blushed and giggled.

"Make sure to eat lots, okay?"

"Oh, and taste this one! This is my favorite!" one of them flew towards her and offered a berry-looking fruit.

"No! Taste this one first! It’s better!"

"What? She’s trying mine first!"

"Ha-ha-ha! Don’t argue, I’ll try everything since you worked hard and got them for me, okay?" Rania gently patted their heads with her finger since they were so tiny.

They all nodded in unison with their eyes sparkling in anticipation—so cute and pleasing to the eyes.

Looking around, Rania noticed Elliot wasn’t anywhere to be found. She thought of asking the sprites about him but then she guessed that maybe he was still sleeping, or doing something, or maybe, he didn’t want to be bothered by her anymore. Either way was fine for her. She preferred to be with the sprites anyway.

"Oh no! I just remembered something important," Rania gasped and stood up from her seat. "I’m so sorry everyone, I just need to go somewhere first. But I’ll be back."

"What’s the matter, Rania?"

"I—uhm, I left something important in Meracus and I really need to get it back."

"What is it?"

"A book, a golden one. It’s special for me so..."

"That’s okay. Go for it. Just be careful on your way. We’ll be here waiting for you."

"Aww, thank you."

"And do it fast while the knights are not yet roaming around."

"Yeah, they gather around every morning for a meeting so now’s your only chance."

"Really? That’s great! Okay, I’ll go now. Thank you so much!"

Rania rushed and stepped out of the barrier carefully. Seeing no one was around, she continued on her way back to Meracus using the shades of trees and hedges to hide herself. Just a few more blocks and she would arrive. But then, someone caught her by surprise from behind.

"Oh, would you look at that? Here’s the little devil," Selena smirked, having found her when no one else did. "Where have you been hiding all this time?"

Rania turned around to face her, reluctant to answer her question. "I was just... I—"

"Whatever, it doesn’t matter. Your outfit tells it all. You snuck out, didn’t you?"

Rania flinched. Selena was right and there was no use in lying so she nodded instead.

"What a stupid thing to do," Selena scoffed as she crossed her arms, slowly walking towards her. "You do know that gaining the favor of the king is a good thing, right? If you don’t want to be his queen, then being a consort will guarantee you a nice life. And yet, here you are, hiding away from him when you’re so lucky he’s even paying attention to you."

Her voice was as mean as ever. She alone had always been the one who bluntly criticized Rania ever since they came to live together in Pémptos Palace—always attacking her with her spiteful words. Rania never did anything to harm her yet for some reason, she would always look at her with contempt, just like that very moment they were talking.

"I don’t want his attention," Rania replied, furrowing her eyebrows. "And I don’t want to be with him at all. He ordered the killing of many people from our race. What I don’t understand is how you’re all okay with this! He’s a murderer! I wouldn’t want to share the same bed with a murderer, let alone talk to him!"

But Selena’s gaze only turned colder. Seeing that, she thought it was useless trying to reason with her. Selena then replied with much disdain in her voice.