How the Emperor trapped a Witch

Chapter Forty-six: Uncomfortable feelings

"Greetings to he who rules everything, his Imperial Majesty of the World." 

My first view of Lady Laila was of her head, her pink dress spread out as she bowed before the two of us.

"Rise." Alaric looks at her impassively as the sensation of her being familiar to me grew as I looked at her heart-shaped face. Locks of curly dark brown hair was perfectly braided to the sides of her head as wisps framed her face which accented her doe-like hazel eyes completed with full pink lips.

I stared at her as I tried to remember why I seemed to know her, flinching a little as she rose- looking at Alaric with sugary sweetness before finally noticing me. Unease set in as she smiled at me, making me uncomfortable for some reason. I tried to make some space between Alaric and I who grabbed my waist and pulled me down next to him, our legs touching.

 I didn't really focus on what they were saying as I searched my memories cause I knew she was familiar.... 

I paused as I saw the love sick look on Lady Laila's face as her lips curled into a bright smile which was then I knew- she was the Main Female Lead!

All of a sudden, I started comparing myself to her. We were roughly the same height, but she was more feminine then I and was perfect in her appearance from the top of her head to the tips of her pink shoes with small precious stones. A corset exaggerated her hourglass body shape with diamonds dangling from her ears and neck. Even her dress was meticulously embroidered with gold thread that shined every time she moved.

I always wore plain dresses in green, dark blues, or brown. I only owned one pair of boots that were worn through with age, my hair was always thrown into either a ponytail or braided back and I have never touched any makeup in all my 164 years. 

I felt completely underdressed. 

*****

"Tia?" I jump a little as Alaric called my name, looking at me with concern.

"Ah! Sorry!" I quickly stammer out, feeling my face heating up. "My mind had wandered a bit. My apologizes." 

"There is no problem Lady Celesita." Lady Laila smiles at me while Alaric lightly presses his hand on my forehead causing her eyes to narrow slightly. "Of course, it must be rather tiring to listen to such formalities." 

"Tia, your head is burning." Alaric says as he removes his hand. "Why didn't you say that you were not feeling well sooner?"

"I feel fine though." I tried to reassure him, which did not work at all. I hadn't even noticed that something was wrong while I was overthinking.

"My apologizes Lady Laila," Alaric stands up before cradling me in his arms and nods his head towards her. "We will have to continue our discussion another time."

"It's alright." I struggled a bit to loosen his grip on me. "I can leave. I'll ask Valerie for medicine."

Alaric looks down at me, his eyes studying me closely before holding me tighter. 

"No." He swiftly heads for the door which opens and quickly loops down the hallway and up the stairs to our room, laying me down on the bed as the door closed behind us. 

"Lay down." He orders as he pulls the covers up over my chest. A few moments later, someone knocks on the door. "Enter." 

Valerie walks in with two other maids who held trays: one with medicine and the other with soup. She directs them to place the trays on the table as Alaric looked on.

I was actually surprised that I was sick. Witches don't get sick easily since magic runs through them which basically purifies the body of any abnormalities including sickness. 

Alaric came over with the tray that contained the bowl of soup, setting it down next to the bed before allowing me to sit up. He held out the spoon for me to eat, ignoring my protests that I could feed myself.

In the end, I had no choice but to eat every spoonful by his hand before drinking a bitter tasting potion that Valerie wordlessly provided- wisely not saying a word to add to my embarrassment. My eyes grew heavy after I ate so I allowed myself to finally fall asleep. 

::::::::

My head aches as I woke up while my throat felt drier then a desert. I sat up a little and notice Alaric sitting on a chair, sleeping uncomfortably in a strange position. Something drops before my eyes, landing on my hand causing me to look down to see a wet towel.

Alaric had been nursing me all night long.

I smiled a little then realized that I was looking back to a pair of eyes. 

"Your awake." He says as he sits up, groaning a little. "How do you feel?"

"Tired." My voice sounded horrible to the point where I didn't even have to ask for water- Alaric quickly gave me some.

"Get some more rest." He takes away the glass before fluffing up my pillow.

"Are you going to keep sleeping in that chair?" I asked as I watched him sit back down. "That can't be comfortable."

"It's fine." Alaric flashed my favorite smile. "Don't worry about me and get some sleep."

"No." I pouted, deciding to take advantage of the fact that I was sick to act childish. "I'm not going to sleep unless your comfortable."

Alaric stares at me wordlessly as his lips twitched up in amusement.

He finally relents after a short battle of wills and lays down besides me. I cuddled up next to him, falling asleep from the warmth of his arms around me.