Adarian asked NanNan her opinions on who would be best to serve Olivia, taking care of her dressing needs. NanNan surprise asked "She didn't bring a personal maid?"
Adarian looked at NanNan a little sheepishly, "I tricked her into coming here."
Olivia smiled and rolled her eyes at Adarian. She was already embarrassed by the way she had met NanNan previously. This man always seemed to succeed at tricking her. He tricked her when they met. He tricked her into coming to the castle. He tricked her into a marriage. Though she wasn't sure if it held up in a court of law. Their names were side by side in the book of Love, and they couldn't marry anyone else for as long as they lived because of this. Her face blushed with this fact in mind and she glared at him.
Olivia was tricked into coming to the castle without bringing her personal maid? She was tricked into this yesterday? She just realized that if Olivia had slept in the Queens quarters last night, she would have been informed about it. They would have had to make sure the bedding had all been prepared. Then where did Olivia sleep? She glared at Adarian too.
Adarian seeing these two women look at him like that turned sheepish again as he looked away guiltily. He cleared his throat.
"You slept together last night?" NanNan guessed correctly. She had known Adarian was trying to fix his mistake with Olivia, but NanNan remained unsatisfied until she saw the way Adarian treated Olivia. He treated Olivia the same way her late husband had treated her. The king was clearly falling in love.
Olivia panicked internally a bit. And she looked at Adarian for help. It was true they slept in the same bed last night. Technically that is sleeping together. But… The way NanNan said it sounded way too suggestive! Seeing Adarian not respond right away she pulled his sleeve and pouted at him.
He saw the mortified look on her face and smiled. "We did," he admitted. Olivia lightly punched him and hid behind him unable to look at NanNan right now. From behind Adarian came a muffled and frustrated, "We didn't do anything! We just fell asleep!"
NanNan noticed her frustration and walked around Olivia. She noted the clumsy knots on her dress. No maid would have knotted the dress this way. Had she been walking around like this all day? "The least you could have done was call the maid to help her in the morning! Look at these knots!"
"Is it bad?" Olivia turned to look at NanNan with tears welling up in her eyes. This was just too much! She was too embarrassed and now she was inexplicably trying not to cry. She had never been in a situation close to this before!
Seeing Olivia panicking she hushed her, "No dear, it looks fine. The knot is just a bit… creative." Adarian saw Olivia's tears threatening to fall and panicked too. He was at fault for her tears this time. What should he do? Should he hold her like he did yesterday? Would that make it worse?
Olivia made the choice for him, she hid her embarrassed face in his chest. She was never moving from this spot! She was too embarrassed. She hit him with her fist again. He was amused. This was the second time in a row she hit the monarch of the country. This should have been considered a huge crime, but he wasn't mad about it at all.
He smiled as he wrapped his arms around her. She really was too cute. Did she think this was a good hiding spot?
NanNan saw this reaction and was happy, Olivia might not be ready to head into this marriage just yet, but she would get there. The couple looked like they would get along just fine. Especially since Adarian was acting the way he was. Adarian's trust had long ago been diminished to almost nothing. NanNan had been one of the few people he still trusted. But now. She saw him with Olivia. He trusted this girl. She liked Olivia, and Olivia even had her approval. She just hoped she wasn't wrong.
She was wrong last time, King Adarian's wife Rosamund had cheated on him with his cousin Oscar. She knew Olivia had a history with Oscar. Would that be something Adarian had to watch out for?
"Well…" NanNan stated "you're getting married soon anyway. I suppose it doesn't make a difference if you sleep in the same bed starting now. But Adarian, you should really get the Queen's apartments ready. What will others say if they think you are sharing a room?"
Olivia looked at Adarian, "I'm supposed to have my own apartment?"
Oops, NanNan messed up.
"No," Adarian said. He finally had to tell her. He hoped she wasn't too hurt by this. "There has already been an attempt on your life. You also aren't allowed any visitors, until I know you are safe. I used bridal training as an excuse for now, but until I know you are completely safe, you'll have to stay by my side. If you are apart from me, even for a moment you could be put in danger, not just by Graciella, but by others. So for now we will be together the entire time. We'll eat together, sleep together, and you will stay right by my side."
"So Marquis Was trying to kill me yesterday," She stared blankly. "I thought that was the case."
"The Marquis?" NanNan asked, "Which family!?" She was insulted, who would dare to try and hurt the future queen. This was getting close to treason! If they were brave enough to go after the future queen, then they were brave enough to go after the king too.
"Praxis," Adarian said.
NanNan was shocked. They tried to kill their own daughter? She looked at Olivia who didn't seem shocked about this at all. What could her life have been like up until now that this didn't even shock her? "Why?" NanNan blurted out. What she meant to ask was why wasn't Olivia shocked. But what came out of her mouth was just the word Why.
Adarian thought she was asking why the Marquis wanted to kill Olivia so he answered, "He wanted me to marry his second daughter so they can take over the throne.
Olivia knew Adarian held NanNan in high regard, but she didn't expect him to tell her the truth right out. She looked more shocked that he told NanNan the truth, rather than when she was told they tried to kill her just yesterday.
Adarian watched NanNan for a reaction. He knew deep down she wasn't involved in any of this, but he had to confirm it. NanNan delivered perfectly. She looked at Olivia with pity at first, then she looked angry. "How dare he!? We know there's no chance for an heir right now, but the whole kingdom thinks otherwise!" Then she looked at Olivia, "Did you tell him the truth about that night child?" Perhaps if she had, and he had believed her, then… But did that even matter at this point. She was supposed to be the future queen! Even she had heard the rumor that Adarian coveted his cousin's lovely bride to be, and that was why he seduced her, and not the other way around.
Olivia shook her head, "He didn't give me a chance to explain."
NanNan shook her head. "I'll be her personal maid for now. She turned to Adarian. "You know I'm loyal to you. No one should have to worry about their own parents trying to kill them."
"He's not my real parent?" Olivia looked at NanNan like she had heard her wrong at first.
"Birth parent or not," NanNan explained, "Once he adopted you he became your parent. That meant it was his job to look after you, take care of you, and provide for you even after marriage. He is supposed to be there to protect you. Him not doing those things is not a reflection of you, or your real parents. It's a reflection of his own poor character." NanNan was still angry on Olivia's behalf.
Adarian was happy that this worked out. Olivia would now have a personal maid to help her dress. But he had another plan. He poured out a glass of weather for Olivia as he pondered how to ask NanNan about it.
Olivia accepted the cup, but looked up at him and asked quietly, "This isn't a magic cup blessed by a mysterious god is it?"
He laughed and pulled her closer to himself. He gave her a light peck on the forehead. "No," He said, still smiling.
Olivia touched her head where he kissed. "Where's the toilet?" she asked him quietly again. He pointed to a corner in the room where the door to the toilet was. "Ok. Thankyou"
She walked off to the indoor porta-potty. She really needed to talk to him about indoor plumbing. 'My world did it without magic, this one can do it with magic. Make the whole system better.'
Adarian watched her walk off. He smiled as he turned to the woman beside him. "NanNan," he said in a smiling singsong voice.
"What do you want?"
"Teach me to do the knots on her clothes correctly. She shouldn't need a maid every time in the future right?" He didn't want any rumors about how often or how little he and his wife tried to make an heir in the future.