Elysia: The Royal Concubine

Chapter 2

A magnificent golden carriage arrived in front of a huge iron gate. Four guards were placed for security. They were clothes in blue along with black pants and each had a sword on them.
A huge amount of servants were lined up in front of the gate, waiting for their master to enter. They were all wearing black and white clothes.

Sean unlocked the door of the carriage and got off the wagon.
Elysia was deeply asleep as she was exhausted since she sobbed for hours on the road.
It took them a whole day to reach the castle.

Sean sighed and picked up the sleeping female in bridal style.
"Ngh..." Elysia moved a little in her sleep as she wrapped her arms around his neck tightly.
The servants who watched the scene were surprised while a few flushed. They never saw their king being hugged by a woman even though he had already four concubines! It was new to them.
'Ah, let's hope she doesn't get killed." They thought while sweating, in case they made a mistake and the king noticed.

"Leave," Sean ordered them with a cold yet soft tone. Even if he was 'the tyrant king', he tried his best to stay kind as much as possible. But if they did something wrong, they would get their punishment as well.

The servants obeyed and left to continue their assigned works.

Sean arrived in front of the palace designed for the 5th concubine. It was a big light blue castle. The path that led to the entry door was filled with flowers.
He entered the castle and headed towards the bedroom. He opened the door and went inside the room.

Everything was clean and neat. The bed cover was a soft pink colour. The curtains were white and pulled up, letting the view of the sunset be visible.

The young man tenderly put Elysia on the bed and covered her up with a blanket. Then he walked out.

"Your majesty." A maid with braided black hair bowed quickly as she encountered the king. She looked old since she had a few wrinkles on her face.
"Take care of her, Lidia. And don't forget that the wedding is tomorrow. Every preparation is meant to be flawless." He ordered the head of all the servants.
"Alright, your highness." The woman replied and bowed again.

***
Elysia opened her eyes slowly.
"What happened?.." She mumbled as she sat up on the bed.
She rubbed her head softly, trying to ease the headache she was having. Her eyes were still red from how much she had cried. She closed her eyes then opened them again to clear her blurry vision.

She looked around, unable to recognize the area.
It was a very clean room with a fireplace since the weather was cold outside. It had a huge mattress on which she was sitting. It also had a mirror with a wardrobe in front along with a chair to sit on.
'Ah.' As soon as her gaze fell on the mirror, she looked at her messy hair and tried to fix it with her bare hands.

"Your highness." Lidia entered the room with a bowl in her hands. Her face wasn't the face of someone pleased with her. "Take the medicine since you're awake. Afterwards, sleep. You have to look well at the wedding tomorrow." She spoke as she approached Elysia, giving her the bowl.
"What's this for?.." Elysia interrogated the head maid.
"I just said it's medicine." The woman sighed.
"What for?" Elysia asked, getting annoyed. Did the maid think she was dumb enough to shallow whatever someone gave her?
"Headache. Now drink and go to bed. It's already night." Lydia left the room, banging the door.

"Is she a maid or a queen?" Elysia rolled her eyes and drank the liquid inside the bowl.
"Eww." She felt like throwing up from its bitter taste.

Then, another knock was heard.
Elysia, completely exhausted, got off the bed and opened the door for the person who came to see her. It was the person she wanted the least to meet, Sean.

"Why are you here?!" She yelled with an angry tone.
"It's my land, my palace too. Of course, I would be here." Saen grinned as he landed closer to Elysia's ear.

The young woman suddenly had a flashback of what this man had done just yesterday. Would he kill her too? Her body shivered as she felt his breathing against her neck, she quickly pushed him away and closed the door quickly, hoping he wouldn't try to open it.

"You're scaring her too much, your majesty," a high-pitched female's voice was heard from behind.

"Who do we have here?" Sean sarcastically spoke although he knew whom that voice belonged to.

"Don't taste me, your majesty." The female walked in front of him as the light started showing her appearance. She had scarlet coloured hair along a pair of jade-like eyes. She was wearing a green dress with yellow patterns on it. Her necklace was made of gold and so was her earring as they were a match.

"Scarlet. You should accompany my new concubine as you are the most kind in the harem." Sean smirked as he turned his feet, leaving the young woman alone in the hallway.

"Hah. Me, kind? Whatever." She mocked as she knocked on the door the king was knocking a while ago.

"Go away, you murder!" Elysia yelled.

"Umm. Who did I kill again?" Scarlet wondered as she kicked the door after glancing right and left, making sure no one sees what she was up to.

Elysia stood there as her eyes widened, seeing a woman kicking a door. At worst, in the royal palace!

'Who can this woman be? Is she here to save me or?' The brown haired girl thought silently as she stared at the red haired female in front of her.

"I'm totally not here to save you nor kill you. So chill, girl." Scarlet spoke as she headed inside the bedroom without Elysia's permission and sat on the bed.

'What the hell? She read my mind??' She thought as she quickly turned her gaze to follow Scarlet's actions. 'I can't even say she can't enter as I don't consider anything in this palace to be mine, far this room to be called mine.' She sighed silently.

"I'm not reading your mind. I'm just reading your expressions." Scarlet laughed put like a crazy woman.

After having a good laugh, she stopped to finally look straight into Elysia's confused gaze.

"I suppose you're wondering who I might be?" She asked mischievously although she knew the answer.