Holly groaned. Her hands were fumbling around, patting the pillow and then frowning when the pillow felt firmer.
Holly opened her eyes, but all she could see was a faint image. The sting of a headache attacked her. Holly massaged her head for a moment while focussing her gaze. Her body felt hot and sore.
She widened her eyes when she saw a beautiful face right in front of her, inches apart. Holly might scream in shock, but she chose to remain silent. She stared at the sleeping face beside her.
Holly's hand groped her own dress. [My clothes are still intact. Nothing happened.] She breathed a sigh of relief.
[What is he doing here? Why does he sleep beside me? Do I have to sleep with him after being a Queen?]
Holly's eyes were still on that face. Seeing Felix like this reminded Holly of when he was still sleeping in the glass coffin a few days ago. Holly couldn't lie, but his face did make her chest flutter.
Holly should have stayed away from him. He was a killer, remember? But, she instead looked at Felix like an expensive masterpiece.
[Why did he become a murderer?]
Holly sighed wearily. Regret the fate that made Felix a murderer. Holly looked at her fingers, not shaking like they had before. Maybe because Felix was sleeping, Holly wasn't afraid of him.
But if Holly thought more clearly, Felix had no intention of killing her. Indeed, because Holly couldn't die in his hands either.
[Even my father was a murderer.] Holly was sad to remember that. How could he be afraid of Felix and judge him when her father was a killer too?
Those beautiful closed eyes suddenly moved. Holly hastily closed her eyes again, pretending to be asleep. She herself didn't know what the purpose of doing that was.
"Wow, your acting is so bad you can't even pretend to sleep."
Hearing that, Holly immediately opened her eyes wide. Her face blushed. She got caught. But her eyes got bigger when she saw Felix smiling brightly at her.
"Why are you smiling?"
Felix raised his eyebrows. He looked at Holly for a moment. Holly's normal reaction when she found a man sleeping next to her was to shove him or scream in anger. But she seemed to enjoy his presence.
Felix admits he felt relieved. At least she wasn't afraid of him anymore.
"You made me promise to smile. Did you forget?"
Holly tried to remember when they made such a promise.
"Oh, so you forge, you said I'm handsome when I smile?"
Damn! The memories just came back, like a movie being replayed. Holly remembers everything, her words, actions, and confession to Felix.
Holly covered her face with her palms. "I don't remember anything," she said. Although her face wasn't visible, her ears looked red.
All her insolent actions toward Felix deserved severe punishment. How dare she do those to the King!
Felix didn't mean to be angry with her. Being embarrassed enough like this was already a punishment for Holly.
Not hearing Felix's response, Holly gave up. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty. I didn't mean to! Akh..." Holly got up in a hurry to sit up and apologized to him, but her sudden movement made her head throb in pain.
Felix swiftly held her so she wouldn't fall. "Don't force yourself. You haven't eaten since yesterday," he said softly.
Holly's headache disappeared immediately. "Thank you," Holly answered in a half-whisper.
"You should eat. Luckily Adda had already heated up the soup." Felix took a bowl of soup from the table.
Meanwhile, Holly watched him intently. Out of a sudden, why did he become this nice to her? It was true that he had been polite to Holly since yesterday, but today he was even better. Utterly different from Felix when he first met her.
Holly accepted the soup from Felix's hand gently. However, Felix looked awkward. At first, he wanted to feed Holly, but he thought that didn't seem necessary anymore. Holly can eat by herself.
"Can I watch you eat?"
Holly looked up. Her confused eyes met with Felix's black irises, looking at her pleadingly.
"Um... Sure." Although Holly didn't know how important it was to watch her eat.
That night, Felix got a new hobby. Watching Holly eat.
***
The following day, Holly is faced with another difficult situation. Felix invited her to have breakfast with the higher-up people he chose personally.
Holly sat beside Felix, chopping up the steak without eating it. Ever since she came here, they only served meat. There were very few fruits and no vegetables at all.
The higher-ups that Felix invited were not the nobles that Holly saw during her inauguration. They looked like armies who had been trained on the battlefield. Their faces were fierce with scars here and there and loud voices every time they spoke.
There were about twenty people there, including Cass and Gilbert. Except for Felix, Cass and Gilbert, they eat like barbarians. Spoons and forks were no longer needed. They eat meat only with their hands and teeth.
"I want you to know them. They will be the first to help you if anything happens," Felix said.
Holly looked at them one by one. Was that true? They looked more like rascals than helpers.
"I haven't formally introduced them to you yet." Felix only realized it when he saw Holly's confused look.
"They are special knights, people that I have specially selected to do the job. Cassandra is their commander."
Cass waved from her chair. She still looked relaxed as usual.
Holly's jaw dropped. Cassandra, the beautiful and elegant lady, was a commander of these scary knights. Holly could hardly believe it.
"And Gilbert, he is my brother and my royal advisor. But I have specially chosen him to be your personal bodyguard."
Gilbert stood and bowed respectfully to Holly. Honestly, Holly didn't feel comfortable with his action. Gilbert was the King's older brother, but he refused the respect he deserved.
Holly smiled and lowered her head to return the salute.
All eyes stared intently at Holly. Holly shuddered. She felt like prey ready to be devoured on the dining table.
"Don't look at Her Majesty like that. You scare her."
Felix immediately broke the creepy mood. He was starting to understand a little bit about Holly and her fear when other people stared at her. She must have been traumatized by how badly people treated her.
"Try to smile when you're in front of Her Majesty," Felix ordered.
Those knights put their meat onto the plate. Reluctantly, they grimaced, baring their teeth that looked strong and sharp. Instead of being friendly, they looked even more terrifying. Holly froze, seeing their awkward faces.
Felix sighed. "Tsk! That's not a smile. Try to be a little more sincere."
They looked at each other, didn't understand what a sincere smile looked like.
Holly tried hard to hide her smile. Seeing their confusion, it seemed they weren't scary but just silly.
"Never mind, forget it. You guys are only good at lifting swords." Felix sounded frustrated. He reminded himself to hold smile training for them.
"I have one request of you." Felix turned his attention to Holly while the others started eating again.
"What is it, Your Majesty?"
Felix looked at her earnestly. "Take me to the village."