The next day, Ely was surprised to see that there were five female attendants beside her bed.
"Good morning, Queen Elizabeth," one of them uttered, "His Highness would like you to have breakfast with him."
"Uhh… Okay," she hurriedly stepped down from the bed, but she forgot that she had wounded her feet. "Owww, owww…"
"Queen, are you alright?"
"Please let us assist you with your clothes… We have prepared three sets of dresses for you to choose from."
"Oh, thank you," she told them with a smile. "By the way, can I borrow your cellphone? I forgot to ask yesterday because I was so confused-"
"What is a se… selfon?"
"A cellphone. You know, the one we use for communication- Oh shoot…" Ely facepalmed, realizing that she was in a different place. "If you do not have a cellphone, then can you please let me borrow your laptop?"
"What is that?"
Ely sighed. She did not know if she was in a long dream, or did she somehow time-traveled back to the era without advanced technology? She shook her head, and just decided to ask the King later about the world she stepped into.
Among all the gowns and dresses, she chose the simplest one. It was a plain white off-shoulders trumpet gown made of chiffon, which emphasized her voluptuous body. Her D-cup melons were properly fitted into it, making it comfortable for her to move. The maidservants helped her wear it, careful not to hit her wounded feet.
Afterwards, her long, platinum blonde hair was straight and neatly combed.
"Can I borrow some make-up?" Ely asked.
"Make-up?" the maidservant asked back, "I apologize, Queen, but what is it?"
"Oh," she facepalmed once again. "Face powder… Do you have some?"
"Ah, yes," one of them opened a small box in front of the mirror, "Here…"
"Yes, this is it, thank you!"
"Queen, you can use this, too," the maid pointed at the other box, "You can pat these dye powders on your lips and on your cheeks to add some color on your skin."
"This is make-up!" Ely was delighted. She wanted to look beautiful in front of the King. After all, if she wasn't, he wouldn't spare her, right?
After her finishing touches and satisfaction as she looked at herself in front of the mirror, she walked graciously towards the dining hall, as she was accompanied by her attendants behind. In the high-walled room was a large chandelier, and a long table was situated in the middle. They made her sit at the far opposite side of the King.
"What took you so long?" King Maro asked.
"Sorry, I put on some make-up."
"Make-up?" he raised his brow.
"Yeah… Uhh, can I sit near you? It's hard talking to someone in this distance." She pointed out the two lines of the dining table with ten chairs on both sides.
The King gestured for her to approach him. Delighted with this, Ely took her plate and brought it to the seat nearest him. Every servant in the room was shocked. No one ever dared to come near the ruthless King, but the odd foreigner Queen liked to be near him!
"Hey… Maro," she said in a soft voice as she watched him slice the big squid on his plate, "What year is it now?"
He raised his brow, "What are you talking about?"
"I am thinking about where I am right now. You do not have digital technology, and whole the palace is like a big beach resort in Bali, Indonesia except for the dungeon prison and stoned floors in the back-"
The King responded with a stern voice, "Stop. I can't understand what you mean, Ely. Why are you even thinking about such things?"
"I am concerned that my manager… I mean my minister… might be worried about my disappearance-"
She was startled when the King placed down his fork and knife loudly. "I do not care about those things. Stop talking about it. Do you want to continue living?"
Ely pursed her lips, a bit afraid of his reaction, and she nodded.
King Maro suddenly reached out to her and tucked Ely's hair behind her ears and said, "If you want to live, do not mention any details from where you come from, and most importantly, do not mention your dead husband. I'm serious."
Ely was stoned as she stared at the King's beautiful gray eyes. If he and her husband Adam were the same person, why was he acting very differently from him? Was her hunch wrong?
What worried the King was that, when she figured out where she was, she might have the urge to come back to where she lived. He wanted her to get used to the life in the palace, and eventually, he would make sure that he would be the only man in her heart. King Maro stroked Ely's head twice, and then went back to eating his squid dish. "Your food is going to be cold. You should eat."
Hearing this, Ely quickly took the fork and knife beside the plate. The King acted like he did not want her to go back home. She glanced at him who was quietly eating, and thought, 'Maybe, I'll stay… He might be Adam… Otherwise, why would he have the exact, same face? Either this is a dream, or maybe… God granted my wish to be with him again. Oh no… I shouldn't overthink!' Then she shook her head and continued to slice the grilled tuna she took from the serving plate.
The King had calmed down and sipped his favorite red wine. He then asked Ely, "I shall take you to my brother's birthday feast next week."
"You have a brother?"
King Maro nodded, and a grin formed on his lips, "I want to introduce you to him."