The Crown's Entrapment

After the revelation that was her heart somehow having completely let go of Gilas, Freya’s resolve to see Gideon hardened to astronomical heights as she finally found it in herself to truly confess her feelings. There was no second guessing for her now. This was the time for her to finally let her heart out and get this pesky tension off her chest.

[Finally! You finally accepted what was obvious!] Yal teased in celebration. [It only took you like, what? A week?]

[Don’t remind me,] Freya half-heartedly grumbled, her mood being far too great for her to be too upset at her own blunders. [Besides, I was just making sure, you know? You never know if the Pull would be worth it, right?]

[Again, keep telling yourself that-]

Shaking her head at her inner wolf’s teasing, Freya promptly walked towards the castle gates, braving the brief cold just to tell them to inform Gideon that she wanted to see him as soon as possible once they saw him. From there, she made her way back to her room and waited…. And waited…

Frankly, that was all she could ever do at the moment.

[Why not count cards while you’re at it?] Yal cajoled her, the wolf’s constant teasing only reminding her of what she was planning to do. [Better yet, plan what you’re going to say to him! You don’t want your confession to fall flat on its face, right?]

Freya took a deep breath, her mind wandering as she took her wolf’s words into consideration. She did like the idea of having a proper confession instead of just blurting it out loud like an impatient idiot. No… She was better than that.

“Okay then,” she nodded to herself, sitting in front of her mirror as she stared at her own reflection. “What about something along the lines of ‘I like you?'”

“….”

[I hope you’re not being serious about that.]

The embarrassed flush that formed on her cheeks only made the sound of her beating heart echo louder in her ears as she quickly covered her face in outright shame. Even now, her own awkward words echoed in her ears, reminding her of just how bad her initial idea was in practice.

“What else am I supposed to say then?” Freya asked her wolf aloud, thankful that she was currently in the privacy of her own room. “I’m not exactly good at this.”

[Don’t ask me, I have no idea how all that stuff works!] Yal quickly retreated, her wolf’s prior bravado evaporating against the idea of actually confessing. [All I know is that we like him, and we’d like to jump him on the first opportunity!]

“No, we don’t!” Freya swiftly denied it. “And yes, you do know a bit about this stuff! Why else would you keep teasing me about this?!”

[You were the one that always read that lewd books, right?!] Yal rebutted. [Just steal a few lines from there! It wouldn’t make much of a difference, right?!]

Letting out a huff of air, Freya resigned herself to her task as she stood up and picked up one of the numerous books Jayra loaned to her. She didn’t expect that she’d ever had a heated discussion with her own wolf about the logistics of doing a proper confession, but here she was, doing exactly that while letting her nerves run even more rampant than ever before.

“Why in the world am I even more worked up now than when I was being indecisive…” she lamented to herself as she scanned a few of the books she had for the material. “This is ridiculous…”

[Not as ridiculous as you not getting any sleep about all of this, at least!] Yal teased.

“How many times do I have to tell you to keep quiet,” Freya exasperatingly sighed. “At least let me read in peace…”

Blinking into focus, the princess found herself reading more and more than she expected she would, her mind running scenario after scenario about any possible word combinations she could use as her confession.

“Why is this so hard…”

[Because you’re making it harder on yourself?]

Freya ignored her wolf in an attempt to make it shut its trap. She wouldn’t fall into yet another argument with Poona. Not until at least-

*knock knock*

A series of knocks upon her door almost made her jump as she looked at the source of the sound. Dumbfounded, her heart leaped with hope as she asked aloud. “Who is it?”

“It’s me, Lady Freya. Gideon,” the familiar voice filtered through. “The guards told me to come here as soon as I could. Can I come in?”

A singular beat passed before she remembered what she had just done a few hours ago. Her senses snapping back to her, she quickly straightened out her dress before replying, “Go ahead.”

The door swung open, and Freya couldn’t help but hold her breath as the object of her affections had finally shown himself. Still looking as handsome as ever, Gideon looked at her with a hint of worry as he moved forward.

“Okay, Freya. I’m here,” Gideon half-jokingly announced, emphasizing his entrance with a wave of his arms. “The guards didn’t tell me anything about what you wanted to talk about, but if it’s something serious or private, then rest assured that I won’t tell a soul to it about everybody else.”

‘Okay, you can do this…’

Giving herself a small cheer, Freya stood up and faced Gideon head on. She didn’t know what she was going to say, but surely she’d be strong enough to confess… Right?

“I-I…”

Right from the get-go, her throat seized up on her, raw embarrassment making her chest tighten as she struggled to even let out a single word.

“Freya?”

“I-I…” she stuttered, her mouth struggling to make even a single word come out of her lips. “I like…”

“What is it?” Gideon worriedly asked. “Is something wrong?”

Freya blinked, her entire body practically sweating with exertion as she forced herself to face him. She tried opening her mouth again, but not even a sound came out of her. It was useless… She had completely seized up.

“Fre-MMPPHH!”

With one last burst of courage, Freya forced herself forward, her lips landing on his before her legs all but made her jump off her balcony. Running away was the worst thing she could’ve done, but the anxiety running through her chest was just too much. She needed a retreat, and she needed it now.

She could only hope that the kiss was enough for the moment.