The Werewolf King's Bride

(From Blue's Perspective)

Dem and I sent each other letters almost every day. I sent him multiple letters some day too. He also replied to every single one of them.

A few days passed by and another night came. Every night, I saw a different animal in my room. On the first night, it was butterflies with glowing blue wings. On the second night, it was a bird with glowing red wings. It was a phoenix. I never thought I would see one in real life.

On the third night, it was a fairy with glowing green wings. Like that, I saw a horse, dragonflies, a wolf and a rabbit. Though they were different animals, I felt serenity every time they came before me.

It was truly a wonderful plant. Perita was right. It made me feel calm and relaxed. The plant was the reason I did not cry at night. I did not have nightmares as well. And the room did not feel so large and empty anymore.

I was waiting for the next creature to arrive when I heard a knock on the door. There was no one supposed to come at a time like this. There were guards in front of my room, so there was no chance of an intruder coming.

"Who is it?"

"It's me, Blue," Luc replied from outside.

'Why is he here at a time like this? It's one already.'

I opened the door. It was not just Luc. Ruby had come too. "Demetrius has just sent me a letter. I mean, the letter arrived just now. He said you mentioned some animals coming to your room every night," Luc said.

"What…?"

I had written to Dem about it because I thought it was interesting. But why would he tell Luc that? It was just an interesting plant, after all, nothing dangerous.

"That's true, isn't it? Unless you told him about your dream," Luc said.

"I… I have seen them in real life, not in my dreams."

"Is that so? Let us in. We will talk, then," he said.

I moved from the door to let them in. Ruby closed the door for us and we sat down on the couch. Luc was looking around the room as if searching for something.

"Can Your Highness tell me what you have seen?" Ruby asked.

"Butterflies, horse, dragonflies… Phoenix…"

"How did that make you feel?" Luc asked, standing up and looking around the room, walking all over.

"Calm… I felt relaxed…," I replied. "But why are you asking me that? It's not like I have drunk or something…"

"You miss your husband a lot all day, don't you?" he asked.

"Of course. I miss him a lot," I said.

"What about at night? When you meet those animals at night, do you miss him that time too?"

"Not so much… I kind of… feel relaxed and out of the world…"

"You forget about him and everything else, don't you?"

"…"

"It might sound bad, but that's what you feel," Luc said, knowing my answer. "Blue, have you heard of hallucination?"

"I have, of course," I said. "It's an experience involving the apparent perception of something not present."

"You are right. It's experiencing something that's not present," Luc said.

"Luc, I have not… Don't even…," I said, gritting my teeth. "I was not hallucinating. If you have come to say that only, you can go."

"That plant… Where did you get it?"

"That's a gift. Why?"

"Isn't it the reason you are seeing those animals?"

"What???"

"It's the truth, isn't it?"

"It is, but…"

"Blue, let me tell you something," he said. "This plant is not just a usual plant."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Yes, I know. It's a magical one."

"What magical? It's not magical, okay? It is just a plant that has a strange aroma. If the consumer stays in the same place where it is for a certain amount of time, they will start to hallucinate. It is the specialty of this plant. It will start spreading the aroma at night.

The consumer won't even know they are smelling something. But it will affect them. It is like someone who is addicted to alcohol."

"I don't understand… It's just…"

"It's not a magical plant, Blue," he said calmly while Ruby rubbed my back. "This plant's smell causes hallucinations. That's why you were seeing those things."

"But I heard it calms people done."

"Calms people down? It means seeing the things that calm you down. They are not real," he said. "It's like an addiction. When you don't see them, you get anxious. It's a very dangerous plant.

The more seeds, the more aroma it spreads. Thankfully, it hasn't been too long. Or, you would have gone crazy. Who gave you this damn thing? They should just go and die!"

"Is this the plant Your Highness told me about? The one that Perita gave you?" Ruby asked and I gave a nod.

"What? Why the fuck would she give you this?"

"She did not want me to miss Dem so much and look sad all the time," I said. Luc looked like he could kill Perita in a moment if she was here. "No, it's not her fault! She… Her mother had the same plant and once said that it makes someone calm. That's why she gifted me this. She did not know…"

"How are you so sure she did not know? She is just a knight. Most knights can be bought with money."

"If Perita was that kind of person, Dem would have known already!"

"How will he know? He is away. Besides, can he read minds? It's not like just because he is the King, he can never be betrayed."

"I believe Perita, Luc. She has not done it to… She did not mean any harm," I said.

'How can I say that Dem can really read minds? If she had bad thoughts about me in her head, Dem would know instantly. It's not like she would plan suddenly. I think it is just an accident. She did not know, neither did I.'

"I don't know why you trust that knight of yours so much, but let me give you a piece of advice, Blue. If you want to live in this world as a Queen, you cannot believe just anybody."

"I know…"

"But you trust too many people!"

"So, what do you want me to do? Not trust you or Ruby, or anyone else? I trust very little people here already…"

"I know what you mean, Luc. Although Perita can be quite annoying at times, she is not the type of person to try to harm Her Highness. I have seen her for a long time. I know her. She won't do it. She is…," Perita pointed at her head, "quite a bit slow up there.

That might be the reason…"

Luc glanced between us for a moment and then sighed. "Let me talk to that knight. Send her to my magic tower tomorrow morning. I will take this plant with me and throw it on her face tomorrow."

"Don't do that, gosh!"

"I will make sure he doesn't do anything crazy," Ruby whispered to me.

I nodded at Ruby. She was someone to rely upon. She was probably the only person who could handle Luc.

After Luc and Ruby left, I felt very restless. Luc was a genius mage. He could not be wrong about the plant. But were those truly hallucinations and not real? How could I touch those then? Was it part of the hallucinations too?

I drank some water. But I still felt thirsty. I finished the whole jug of water, but my thirst did not go away. I felt like I was going crazy. I could not even breathe properly. My heart felt heavy and painful.

"Haa… I don't… I don't feel okay…"

I went to the toilet and tried to vomit as I felt like it. But I could not even do so which made me feel even worse.

I cried, sitting in the toilet for a long time. Eventually, after an hour or so, I pulled myself out of the toilet and washed myself up. Crying at night was relaxing as I could let all my emotions out, but in the morning, the consequence would show up.

The next morning, my eyes almost could not be seen because of the puffiness. The maids went all crazy about it. I sent a word to Perita via a maid to tell her to go to the magic tower. At least, Ruby was there, so I would not have to worry about Luc acting all crazy.

'He won't kill her, right? I mean, Ruby is there. She will handle him… What if he goes crazy and doesn't listen to her? Whatever, I know Ruby can handle him. I should worry about my puffy eyes instead. What to do with them now?'