The Crown's Entrapment

Clara woke up to a start. She didn't know when she started sweating, but one look at her body told her that the mountain of sheets currently covering her body was to blame for how sticky she felt at the moment.

"Was it really that?"

Chuckling to herself, she threw off the mountain of sheets covering her body. Almost immediately, she felt the cool air hit her body, her skin almost recoiling as she shivered at the sudden sensation. Of course, it wasn't as bad as having outright chills, but she still found herself grabbing one of the many sheets around her and using it to cover herself up.

"Oh, you're awake."

Her ears perked up at the voice that echoed from across the room. Looking up, Gilas was already dressed and seated on the table, a steaming bowl of soup seemingly waiting for her as he smiled.

"Good morning," Clara greeted, one of her hands going to her face to wipe away a bit of her own sweat. "I see that you're already dressed for the coronation."

"I'm going to be the one supervising the coronation parade, actually," Gilas chuckled. "Anyway, are you alright? You're not too cold right now, are you?"

She was still wiping away more sweat when she heard his question. As if offended, Clara gave him a sarcastic stare. "Does it look like I'm feeling cold at the moment?"

Gilas blinked before he quickly corrected himself. "Right… You're sweating. Do you need a bit to prepare yourself?"

"If I'm going to the coronation, then I'll have to be," she sighed before letting out a chuckle. "I take it there's a change of clothes in the washroom?"

Gilas nodded. "Along with a few fresh towels just in case you might need them."

"Thank you," she smiled.

Standing up, Clara went ahead and took a quick shower. Changing into a fresh set of clothes, the annoying feeling of sweat finally washed itself off her skin as she went out of the washroom. She would have to get into a better set of clothes once she gets back to Cordon Castle, but for now, a simple dress would have to do.

"I've brought you breakfast, by the way," Gilas gestured for her to join him at the table. "You should eat before we leave for the Capital."

Clara nodded as she followed his advice. Sitting down in front of him, she found that she had a bit of an appetite on her now after almost skipping dinner last night. Perhaps she was feeling better now, which probably meant that her body was doing well in fighting off these poison remnants.

[Either that or the fact that Gilas cuddled you in your sleep just made you feel better in general.]

Clara coughed, Sheba's sudden remarks almost making her choke on her own soup.

"What's wrong?" Gilas quickly asked. "Is the soup bad?"

"N-Nothing at all," Clara hastily replied. "It just went down the wrong way."

Inwardly, Clara was almost seething. It would seem that her wolf had retained her chatty behavior from last night. Well, at least she knew it would pass as soon as she slept with Gilas. But for now, she would just have to suffer through it.

[As if,] Sheba scoffed. [If anything, I'm the one suffering from your constant hesitance to just finish the Mate Bond.]

[You're not even the one in control here,] Clara retorted. [I'm the one that has to do everything. All you have to do is just sit back and nag at me.]

"Clara."

She was taken aback by Gilas's sudden call for her attention. "Y-Yes?"

"I was just saying that we should start moving," Gilas informed her. "We're on a schedule, and I'm needed to supervise the parade, as I've said. And you still need to get prepared with a proper dress for the coronation."

"R-Right," Clara shook her head, quickly shaking off her anger at her wolf with a smile. "I'll go and hurry up then."

With renewed purpose, Clara slurped on her breakfast. All the while, Gilas remained seated in front of her as he watched her eat. His gaze was as intense as it has always been, and she couldn't help but blush the longer she found her eyes staring intensely into his.

'They're so deep somehow…' Clara inwardly remarked. 'It's like I can see into his soul…'

Despite herself, she went ahead and looked at him more thoroughly. He had bags under his eyes, and he clearly looked tired despite having supposedly slept alongside her. And while he was still very much handsome, the constant yawns he was giving off gave off the fact that he hadn't had enough sleep last night.

She couldn't help but ask, "Have you slept well, Gilas?"

Gilas blinked at her, a faint smile on his face as he cheekily replied, "What do you think?"

Clara frowned. "You really picked now to throw that sentence back to me?"

"It's a joke," Gilas chuckled. "It helps ease the tension, right?"

"That it does," Clara pouted. "Still, you couldn't sleep because of me, isn't it…"

The fact that Gilas clearly didn't get enough sleep made her feel bad. It was all because she got cold after a few hours of sleeping in the night. She didn't even feel anything right now, and yet Gilas had to suffer because her body couldn't get rid of the poison fast enough.

"It's nothing I can't handle, Clara," Gilas reassured. "Don't worry."

Still, pouting, Clara finished off her meal. Placing the empty bowl back down on the table, Clara had almost forgotten about what she was doing before Gilas suddenly stood up and made for the door. He then turned to her, looking at her as if waiting for her to follow.

"I'm coming," Clara smiled at him before standing up. "I just ate, after all."

"I know. I'm sorry if I'm kind of rushing you," Gilas chuckled. "It's just that I really don't want to mess with our King's coronation by not being present to oversee the preparations."

"Very well. I won't keep us from leaving then."

With a smile, Clara went and followed Gilas outside. They still had many things to do, and she wasn't going to be the one to make them late for Cordon's biggest event of the year.