The room I am ushered into is extravagant, to say the least. Even in my primitive, ignorant eyes, I can sense that the furniture, decorations, and even the carpet that I am stepping on are worth more than the price of one werewolf slave.
I turn my attention back to Aditya who has opened a cabinet-with little, intricate details on the handle and corners. I feel conscious as if I don't belong in this room. I look at my shoes and feel ashamed of the mess I caused in the doorway.
"Miss, ahm, Lady Kaiya?" she calls. I shift my attention to her. "Will you please come closer? I need to show you something."
"Is there a more simple… room?" I ask instead, without moving from my spot.
"King Theo specifically requested to have your room next to him. And this is the only room that matches that."
"Am I… not allowed to share a room with him?" I ask instead.
I already know the answer even before Aditya looks at me and says, "Yes, you are correct, my lady."
I sigh. Of course. The only reason I am allowed to share a room with him during the past few days is because we are traveling. So I guess this will be the first restriction?
"Ahm, Miss Kaiya, I mean… My lady."
"If you're not used to it, I am fine with Miss Kaiya," I say, to make it easier for Aditya. I'm sure she is also of high birth. It will be hard for her to call me a lady when I was a slave.
"I will try. Should we look at this now?" she asks.
I bend towards my shoes, pull the straps, and remove them.
"What are you doing?!" Aditya exclaims.
I smile at her surprise. She might have noticed it because she clears her throat and in a softer tone, she says, "I mean, you should not do that, my lady. I mean Miss Kaiya."
I place my shoes behind the door and saunter towards her. "It's my room, right? Rooms are for comfort and being barefoot is what makes me comfortable."
Looking away from my feet, she adds, "As requested by the King, we have prepared clothes for you. For tomorrow, I asked the seamstress to visit so they can make adjustments," she announces, changing the subject.
I grin at her and I stand beside her to look at the clothes on the huge wardrobe. It's a double door cabinet, wooden and almost ten feet wide. Worse, it's full of different colored dresses, arranged in order from light to dark colors. I take out one of the clothes and see that it's almost my size. I situate it in front of me to see its fit. As expected, it's also the same height.
"I'm amazed. How were you able to guess my size?"
"Before leaving, King Theo told us your shape, size and your height."
I frown. Before leaving? So before he met me on the island? That's not possible unless we have already met before I arrived at Weiller's hunting park? Or maybe, has he been spying on me before he revealed himself?
"Since we are almost the same size, they fit the clothes to me. That is why it's better if you try the clothes by tomorrow."
I absent-mindedly nod as I look at myself in the mirror. I shake my head. Either way, it doesn't matter.
"Miss Kaiya?"
"Can't we call the seamstress today?" I ask. "It's still light outside."
"In the evening, you are invited to attend the welcoming party for the King. It's a small gathering but you need to dress up appropriately for the occasion."
Haphazardly, I take a dress from the closet. "How about this? It's…" I say, cringing at the color. "very dark green…" But it's only the color that's the problem. It actually looks very exquisite. I return it to the rack and retrieve another dress. This time, a purple one.
"How about this?"
Aditya looks at it, and I follow her gaze. My mouth hangs open. This is worse than before. The small things that look like sequins may actually be real gems?
I shift to Aditya again, but Aditya answers before I can even voice out my questions. "Those are faux gemstones."
I hide the dress again. "I surrender," I say. "I will let you choose my clothes."

*****************
In the end, Aditya chooses a simple, peach-colored dress. She designed my hair into a bun with a small flower pin around it. She also handed me accessories to match up my simple dress. She says that there is no need to wear something extravagant as only the rowdy knights and generals will attend the small party.
The dishes clang and the knights shout at each other. There is more booze than food at the four banquet table. It is chaos as each of them tries to overpower each other's voices. And with the mess, I find it hard to swallow the juicy meat that Aditya had requested for me.
My shift goes in front. Theo is in the dais together with Brandon and the other generals. Kleavon and Harbin are on separate tables. And Aditya and I are sitting at the furthest table from Theo. I am not even sure if he can see me or not.
General Waluyo stands up to quiet down the crowd. In a few minutes, Theo straightens from his seat, and in a loud, booming voice, he says, "To all my subjects! I have a very important announcement for all of you!"
My heart thumps. Is he going to introduce me to this crowd? I blush at the thought. No! That would be too embarrassing… and yet, somehow, I would like it. It's as if he accepts me fully, and that he wants his subjects to know that I am his.
"The travel towards the Weiller's is a success! There are no more threats coming from them. We are even able to expand our territory–an army base on the other side of the world!"
The blush disappears from my cheeks, rather I feel like I am turning pale. I look away from him and focus my attention on the food. I slice the meat and put the meat into my mouth, chewing as Theo continues to speak about the success of Weiller's mission. Did our island become an army base? Ain't that as bad as being a hunting park?
"And now, I toast to all the generals and warriors who came with me to save our people from an impending war," Theo says. The other warriors scream in unison.
From my food, I turn towards Theo. He is looking in my direction. I purse my lips and look back at my plate, cutting another piece from the meat, its juice seeping out in the process.
But seriously, Kaiya? He already said before that I will only remain as his lover. There is no need to introduce me in that case. But why do I feel disappointed? I already accepted that role in his life! Still, I can't help but hope, especially when Aditya mentioned that I am invited to this small party.
"Miss Kaiya?"
I shift my attention to Aditya. So she settles to calling me 'Miss' rather than a 'Lady', huh?
"Should we go? I'm done eating and I'm so sleepy," I ask.
Aditya glances at my plate and sees the half-eaten meat.
"Please? You can return once I'm back to my room."
She looks uncertain if we really should leave. I stand up from the stool.
"I think I know the way. You can stay then. I'll go."
I am about to leave when Aditya says, "I'm coming with you."
We walk away from the banquet table and the instant the hall doors close behind us; I run towards the direction of my room. Aditya runs after me. I can see knights and servants judging me. But I have long forgotten about any of that. I just need to be alone in my room.
Finally, inside my destination, I remove my shoes and all the accessories that I adorned myself with. I walk towards the table and throw them haphazardly on top of it.
"Miss, bath first," Aditya says as she sees me making my way towards the bed. "And a change of clothes too."
"I don't want to," I say like a little child as I slump on the soft bed. I just changed, there's no way I am already dirty. In the park, there are times that it takes days before I take a bath.
Aditya ignores my wish though. She sits beside the bed and starts to remove my clothes. I sit up and scoot away from her while holding my clothes in place.
"What are you doing?!" I hiss. "I say I don't want to change!"
"Are you planning to go to bed in a dress, Miss?"
"Of course! What's wrong with that?!"
"You can't, Miss. Now that you are a King's lover, there are things you can't do. I'm sure Senior Harbin had already told you about that."
"No one knows if I am a King's lover, anyway!"
"Everyone living in this castle knows it. Even the knights at that hall. They've seen you with the King when he arrived. So if you are angry about not being introduced, I am here to tell you that there is no need to introduce you, everyone already knows who you are for the King."
I clench my jaws. How could she tell that much?!
"And being the King's lover, you need to learn how to read people."
I loosen my arms around my chest. She's right. Why am I being disappointed by such a small thing? I already accepted this. Theo is a King for all the god's sake! Being a previous slave, I should already be happy for being treated like this.
And the hunting park being turned into an army base is better, as long as Pitchford won't get into war, they are safer there. At least, my family and Nowra don't need to worry about being hunted every week. Besides, Theo needs to be compensated at the very least for saving us. Still, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth, it's as if I am here as his prize for saving the werewolves in that park.
I sigh. "Okay," I say. "I'm going to take that bath now."