SMITTEN

"I wonder how the female human was doing?" Lord Lycano's eyebrows furrowed as he crossed his arms. 

His body tilted to the west windows and gazed outside as if he could see her from there.

He was at the storehouse observing the daily functions for the day. And he was reminded of her as his eyes beheld the stocks of Riso.

He thought that she would come back in a day or two, believing that she would see the King's true colors as she stayed longer at the Castle. But it was taking her a longer time than he expected. 

"Do you need help with anything, my lord?" the eldest worker in the warehouse asked him. He has just laid down a sack of Riso. 

Lord Lycano knew that he was asking about his business. But he couldn't help but see that it could also be about his setback.. 

"Do I need extra help to have her?" He contemplated.

He still wants her. And he wanted her to come to him voluntarily and not threaten her, since she has been nice to him. And it would not lead to bloodshed.

But it seemed like he was wrong. He shouldn't have let her go back. 

Just then, a new guest came to the warehouse. She was a familiar looking guest. 

"I knew I would find you here," Lady Marina greeted him in a furious state. 

She was like a fire breathing dragon with smoke coming out of her nostrils in rage.

If he guessed what happened, she must have been making her own way to separate the two. As he recalled, she was the one who was more aggressive in stopping the female human in being a royal wife during the Tribal Council. 

With her appearance, she looked like she failed, too.

Lady Marina crossed her arms and asked directly, "What have you been doing all this time? Would you really allow that female human to bear the King's child?" Lady Marina grumbled at him with her clenched fists.

Lord Lycano knew that she was just controlling herself. Because if she will really allow her anger to burst out, his warehouse would be eaten up by the ground. 

It is very rare that he has seen her like that. It was like once every five decades.

The other servant workers in the warehouse left in fright as they saw Lady Marina's bottled up rage.

"Calm down and relax. We don't even know if she was really the Chosen One," Lord Lycano tried to pacify her anger, even though he knew that he failed as well. 

"I thought the female human was smarter," Lord Lycano thought to himself. 

He could still remember how she offered an apology for discriminating against his clan on behalf of all the humans. 

That was very kind of her, making him go soft on her, wanting her to come to him not through force but through her own volition. 

He led Lady Marina to his workroom. It wasn't that large. But it was a private room where they could talk about confidential matters. 

Lady Marina seemed to calm down as she sat herself and asked for a cup of water. 

"I went there as soon as I left the Castle. The Butler told me that he saw lady Aisha walking out of the King's chamber just this morning," Lady Marina told him after she drank the cup straight. 

Lord Lycano was taken aback. He didn't know that King Leandro would be that fleet-footed. 

He could have waited for the wedding before he consumed her. 

Lord Lycano's fangs appeared as he was reminded of how greedy the King was and how he has taken everything he wants. 

"I should have not given her a chance to leave this place," he growled as he stood up and almost transformed to his werewolf form if it wasn't for Lady Marina's intervening statement. 

"What are you planning to do then? Will you kill her? Or abduct her? For sure the King would be looking for her. And if he finds out that you stole his bride, you know what will happen to you and your clan," Lady Marina tried to talk sense to his clouded mind. 

She was right. He could still recall how the King banished some of the members of his Clan from Gaea, which led them to be savage beasts in the human world.

"Am I really willing to risk my clan for her?" 

He drew in a deep breath as he sat down in front of Lady Marina and talked with her. 

"What do you suggest I do?" Lord Lycano asked. 

"I have a plan," A sly smile curved on Lady Marina's face before she shared her idea with Lord Lycano.

Lord Lycano's face shone as well. "It's a deal," he uttered while rubbing his palms together. 

*********** 

Meanwhile, at the Castle, Lady Aisha was still struggling to imitate the traditional dance of the Gaeans.

"Can't I just do it my way?" Aisha grumbled as she tried to do a hip hop step to the beat of the music. 

She did a Doggie step as she moved her arms and shoulders from left to right. Then she did a body pop where she isolated her arms, then her chest and made them pop.

The traditional dance has a lot of twisting and turning. 

And her body was still numb. Her head was still splitting from that wine that she drank last night. Fortunately, the King allowed her to sleep in his comfortable bed. 

She now knew that it was her fault that she was there, as she asked the King's royal guards what happened last night. 

But what she couldn't comprehend was why she was almost naked when her senses came back. 

"Did the King rape me? Or did I give myself completely to him? Gosh, if only I didn't want to outdo Lady Marina a while ago, I would have turned around and checked out another location instead," she thought, not realizing that her cheeks were turning as red as the roses around her in embarrassment. 

While she was doing her own version of the music, some Castle servants came to the Castle Garden and bowed down to them. 

"Greetings, my lady. We ask for your permission if you could fit in the wedding dress today," the head seamstress bowed down to her. 

"Will it be alright if I wear it?" Aisha's fingers flew to her parted lips. 

She recalled one of the traditions in her former world about fitting in a wedding gown before the actual day. The elders said that there is a chance that the wedding will not take place if the bride wears her wedding dress in advance.

"Please do so, my lady," Rosalia pleaded with them. "You must look lovely on that day," she gave her a beautiful smile, convincing Aisha to come with them. 

They went to the dressing room where the wedding dress was.

Aisha's jaw dropped as she saw it. It was an ivory and gold garment made from the finest materials, as if the threads that were used with it were real gold.

It was different from her idea of a wedding dress. But she liked it. 

She was about to pick up the dress, so she could change into it, when the headmistress stopped her. 

"You can just stand there, my lady. Let us do that for you," the head mistress said before nodding to her lady assistants as a sign for them to come forward and do their tasks. 

To Aisha's surprise, they started to undress her. She recalled the first time that she was announced as the soon-to-be royal wife of the King. They also did the same to her. 

"I really can't get used to this," Aisha muttered to herself as they fit the dress to her.

"The head mistress was circling around her, checking out the details as the lady servants put on one garment after another on top of her. 

Aisha drew in a deep breath as she felt suffocated with the thick garments that are over her petite body. 

"I think the dress was too big for you in the chest area, my lady," the headmistress shook her head as she lifted both Aisha's arms sidewards. 

"You don't have to emphasize that my boobies were small, ma'am," Lady Aisha rolled her eyes. 

But as she said that, memories started flowing flashing through her mind like flash cards. 

Aisha's face went pallid white. Her knees went weak making her almost fall to the ground. 

"My lady!" Rosalia rushed to her side. Like a flash of lightning, she supported her and helped her be seated on a couch near them. 

"The garments must be suffocating her. Please remove them now," Rosalia pleaded as she grabbed a fan and tried to increase Aisha's air intake.

The lady servants quickly nodded their heads and undressed Lady Aisha again. 

"It is good that we have learned our lady's condition before the actual wedding. We will change the garment to a thinner one. Probably a Bombycus with small onyx stones and ..," the head mistress continued to think out loud. 

But Aisha cannot hear what they are talking about. Her ears were deafened as she stared into space, recalling the intimate scenes that the King and her shared last night. 

Her palm flew to cover her face as she recalled how she provoked him by sleeping on his bed and talking about boobs and stuffs. 

She even reacted like a wild woman with him saying ridiculous things without a sense of shame. 

"What have I done?" Aisha scolded herself as her feet stomped on the floor like a toddler having tantrums. 

"It's alright, my lady," the head mistress tried to comfort her as she bowed repeatedly to her. "Please don't blame yourself. We will change your dress, so you can be comfortable during the ceremony."

But Aisha's shoulders slumped as she uttered, "I really couldn't face the King now."