The Crown's Seduction-Chapter 36: Invasion of Privacy

The next morning, as expected, Mineah was fast asleep well past her usual schedule. If not for her three Shadow Maidens who barged in when they called for her and heard no response, she would probably still be getting her beauty sleep.

"Milady, you scared us," Zaila murmured. "How come you still woke up late when we clearly left you early last night?"

Instead of replying, Mineah just yawned as she lazily got up from bed. Eventually, her three Shadow Maidens simply shrugged before preparing for her usual routine.

"Is Nikolai back?" she asked.

"Not yet, milady," Krisha replied.

"How about his Shadow Knights?" she further asked. "Has any of you talked to them yet?"

"No one, milady," Dani regretfully replied. "We were unable to find nor call for them, unfortunately."

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Mineah frowned at the news. Still, she knew that those knights should be around her somewhere.

Without a word, she walked straight to the balcony and loudly announced, "If none of you Shadow Knights will appear before me right now, then I won't hesitate to jump off this balcony! Five! Four!-"

"Milady, what are you doing!?" Dani burst out as she approached her from behind. "You'll freeze! The water is very cold down there!"

"Three!" Mineah counted down, ignoring Dani's protests as she held onto the rails and positioned herself to climb up and jump. "Two!-"

"Your Majesty…"

Mineah stopped her countdown and turned to face what were assuredly the Shadow Knights. In front of her, four female Scions knelt in wait as well as two others that she recognized from two nights ago; this Marlo and Luis.

"A proper introduction would be nice, don't you think?" she calmly spoke.

"Apologies, your Majesty. I am Marlo, and he is Luis," he formally introduced himself. "We are His Majesty's Shadow Knights. We have been tasked to look after you."

The four female Shadow Knights curtly introduced themselves one by one as well. Mineah simply nodded.

Observing the people in front of her, Marlo looked to be in his thirties while Luis was more in his teenage years. She recognized them, of course, but only now did she get a proper look at them since she had been too occupied worrying about Nikolai at the time.

"When will Nikolai come back?" Mineah directly asked with a straight face stare at Marlo and Luis. "Where did he go?"

Hearing her question, the two looked at each other, making Mineah frown as the silence between them stretched on.

"You're not allowed to tell me?" she murmured.

"Our apologies, Your Majesty," Marlo announced. "All we can say is that His Majesty is currently with Taro to visit Mount Sorel. We're not sure when he'll be back."

"I assume he traveled in his mist form then," Mineah pondered. "How long will it usually take for him to reach Mount Sorel like that?"

"One whole day or less, Your Majesty," Marlo replied.

Knowing, she wouldn't get any more answers to her questions, Mineah could only sigh. She supposed that this was the best she could get at the moment.

Still, after a few moments, Mineah looked at Marlo again and asked, "How many Shadow Knights are currently guarding me from the shadows?"

"Four, Your Majesty, and there were three more assigned each for your ladies-in-waiting," Luis answered.

"This is an invasion of privacy!" Dani retorted.

"Right! What if I'm walking naked inside my cabin?!" Zaila burst out next, her eyes wide while glaring at the two male Scions.

"We make sure not to invade your privacy, milady," Luis defended. "We make sure to keep enough distance in between us, simply standing guard outside your quarters upon making sure that everything is safe inside. We also ensure that we are at least seven paces apart if you are outside."

"We don't see you all though, so who knows if you're peeking at us?!" Zaila fired back.

"We assure you, milady, that we don't have even the slightest urge to think of doing such things," Luis defended with a dim expression.

By the sidelines, Mineah shrugged as she watched the debate between the two. It was only when Marlo turned to her that she had her attention taken.

"I know you have more questions, Your Majesty, but we're not allowed to disclose more than that," he respectfully apologized. "Please direct all of your questions to His Majesty once he has returned."

Mineah pinched the bridge of her nose. Somehow, all of these revelations made her head ache with all of the questions still plaguing her.

"Fine, you can go back to wherever you're hiding now," she sarcastically sighed.

"Please don't hesitate to call for us when you needed us," Marlo said with a curt bow before he and his fellow Shadow Knights vanished into thin air.

Dumbfounded, the four of them stood in brief silence before one of them finally found the courage to say something.

"Isn't His Majesty being a bit too much with this kind of security?" Krisha complained using their secret language. "Maybe we should let them know that we're not just ordinary handmaidens and that we're capable of protecting ourselves if need be."

Shaking her head, Mineah let out a sigh as she answered, "I'll discuss this with Lai as soon as he is back. In the meantime, let's just be grateful for the extra protection we currently have for ourselves."

In the end, all of them just moved on. After all, it wasn't as if they had any other choice.

Likewise, despite her calm demeanor, deep inside, Mineah was in deep turmoil from the revelation of the Shadow Knights.

Was she in danger enough for Nikolai to place a strict guard around her including her own three shadow maidens? Or maybe he simply suspected her of something so he put a few pairs of eyes to watch over her every move.

Either way, she didn't want to be caught off-guard like this ever again. If need be, she'll just have to play her own game.