335 Shutting the Desire
After taking a leave from Vincent, Ti quickly made her way towards the staircase so as to go to the Queen’s chamber.
On the staircase, she almost again got startled when she encountered the King who was standing right there as if he was greatly angered by someone or something.
Ti quickly bowed her head low and greeted the King very politely, “Good morning, Your Majesty.”
“Ah! Ti!” Caspian put on a smile on his face and nodded in response to Ti’s greeting. He noticed that she was carrying a tray with the cups and pots that were meant for the Queen. So, before Ti passed by, he asked, “Are you going to the Queen’s chamber?”
Ti gave a polite nod and answered, “Yes, Your Majesty. I will go and wake her up.” And thinking he might have some orders for her, she kept on standing in front of the staircase.
As she had thought, the King looked at her and ordered, “Then ry a message to the Queen for me, will you? Say that I will be out in the capital this morning. But I will make sure that I will return by the afternoon, before leaving for the border between Sorvando and Orsenia again.”
“Orsenia?” Ti repeated the very familiar and homely name, not realizing that she was unintentionally questioning the King.
However, Caspian didn’t mind it at all. Rather, she further rified it to her so that she could in return rify his ns to the Queen. “Yes. I will be having a meeting with Crown Prince Alexander at 8 PM there. I will give further details to the Queen myself.”
Ti gave a bow to the King again and replied before taking her leave, “I will make Her Majesty aware of your ns for the day.”
.....
Ti then quickly and carefully climbed up the staircase and began walking down the long corridor that led her toward the Queen’s chamber.
While on her way, at the end of the corridor, she saw a couple of maids giggling to themselves and walking in her direction. At their sight, she couldn’t help but recall the conversation that she had heard between Beatrice and Marce.
‘What if these maids also harbor simr feelings toward me?’ Ti couldn’t help but wonder as they were getting closer and closer to her.
When they got right in front of her, Ti lowered her head so that she wouldn’t make any eye contact with them. And as they passed by, she ufortably held her breath even though they weren’t doing anything to her like passing remarks on her or giving her a death re.
She finally let out her breath after making sure that the maids were far behind her. And although she was carrying that heavy tray, she managed to run towards the Queen’s chamber so that she wouldn’t encounter anyone further.
After entering the antechamber, she stood in front of the Queen’s bedroom and softly knocked on the door. “Your Majesty, it’s me,” she made her presence known so that the Queen wouldn’t hurriedly get up to grab her clothes.
“Ti, good morning!” She was greeted by Anastasia from the other side of the room.
Ti thought that the Queen would still be asleep when the King asked her to ry the message on his behalf. However, it looked like the Queen was already awake by now.
Anastasia opened the door to her bedroom and weed Ti with a sweet smile on her face.
Ti returned the smile and greeted the Queen, “Good morning, Your Majesty.” She then entered the room and asked whileying down the tray on the bedside table, “When did you wake up?”
“Just a while ago.” Anastasia adjusted her nightgown and sat on the edge of her soft bed.
Ti began brewing the tea for the Queen while engaging her in a conversation. “Oh… You must have been really tired then. You normally wake up a little bit earlier than this.” She was d that the Queen woke upte because she was a littlete in bringing the tea for her.
“You could say that.” Anastasia’s corner of the lips slowly turned upward as she recalled how she had spent the whole night by sleeping on Caspian’s chest. She then silently kept on watching Ti doing her things while waiting for the tea.
Ti also silently brewed the tea instead of rying the message of the King right away. Her mind kept on slipping to the incidents of the morning and she wasn’t able to properly focus on the important matters.
After a while, the whole bedroom was covered by the sweet aroma of the tea. Ti carefully poured the tea into the teacup and handed the cup as well as the saucer to Anastasia.
Anastasia brought the teacup closer to her nose and waved her hand as if she was gathering and inhaling the aroma of her tea. And after taking a sip, she praised the tea, “It tastes wonderful, Ti.”
She looked at the tray and asked a little disappointedly, “Didn’t you bring another cup? I told you so many times that you should have tea together with me. But you never seem to obey me.”
“Ah! I forgot…” Ti gave an apologetic smile to the Queen.
She had been making this apology for quite a while now. But it was the truth. She had be somewhat forgetful, especially during the morning hours. She would either be distracted by the thoughts of Vincent, or by the recollection of her nightmare.
Anastasia, unaware of what Ti was going through, pursed her lips and mumbled in aining tone, “You always say that…”
Ti smiled and sped her palms together. “I promise that I won’t forget about it tomorrow,” she said firmly.
She then walked around the bed to go to the other side and pulled the nket. She took it near the window to dust the nket before folding it when her eyes suddenly fell on the trinity of Sorvando.
They were talking loudly and walking towards the main gate. It looked as if they were bantering with each other about something.
And as if Vincent sensed Ti’s presence, he turned his head around. He gazed directly at the window and met eyes with Ti.
Ti took a sharp breath and quickly pulled her feet backward. She didn’t know why she was suddenly hiding though. She was about to peek through the window again when she suddenly recalled all those disgusting things that the maids were saying in the bathhouse.
Ti furrowed her brows and thought to herself, ‘I think it’s better if I maintain some distance from him. I shouldn’t let my status sully his. He doesn’t deserve it.’
With that thought, she backed off from the window until her legs touched the bed. ‘But what if he is still waiting for me to appear at the window again?’ she thought to herself as great difort surrounded her heart.
She tightened her grasp on the soft nket and clutched her jaw. ‘Control yourself, woman!’ she shouted at herself in her head so that she wouldn’t fall weak and give in to her heart’s desire.
After a few seconds, Ti took a deep breath and folded the nket as calmly as she could. After cing it aside, she walked towards the wardrobe to take out Anastasia’s clothes.
“Oh!” She suddenly turned on her heels when she recalled that she had a message to deliver. She looked at Anastasia and then said, “My Queen, His Majesty had asked me to deliver some messages to you.”