Conquering His Cold Heart

The vast paddy fields that she was seeing soon turned into villages, and the villages soon turned into the town. The streets got busier, houses got denser, and there were people everywhere, celebrating the coronation of their new King.

“Are we in the capital yet?” she asked Caspian when she noticed the increase in the number of soldiers who were patrolling the area.

Caspian looked out of the window and guessed, “We should be.”

After a few more minutes, both of them were sure that they were already in the capital. They saw a castle standing tall a little further away from the main settlement.

‘So, that is where Everard lives?’ Anastasia thought to herself as she leaned a little to get a proper view of the castle.

This castle was surrounded by walls that weren’t as tall as that of the Kilerth castle. It looked old, but it didn’t look as spooky as the Kilerth castle, maybe because of the decoration that was put up for the day.

When they were only a minute away from the drawbridge of the castle, Anastasia pulled her head inside the carriage and then looked down at her feet. The rims of her sky-blue gown looked fine, at least the front part of it. She slightly lifted her gown to look at her shoes. Tilla had helped in cleaning her shoes before climbing inside the carriage earlier. Thus, they didn’t look that dusty.

Anastasia then gently patted her cheeks and her nose with the tips of her fingers. She turned to look at her husband and asked, “Does my skin look too oily or dirty?”

.....

Caspian pinched her chin and then closely looked at her face. “It doesn’t seem like that to me,” he replied sincerely.

“What about my hair? Does it look dusty or messy?” she asked again, worried that she wasn’t looking too presentable after traveling for almost the whole day. She was even sleeping in her hairdo.

Caspian looked at the few strands of hair that had escaped from the hold of the clips of her bun. He tried to put those loose strands back into the bun, but he only made it worse.

“Er... I think we might have to redo your hair before we exit the carriage,” Caspian apologetically replied.

Anastasia gave a nod and said, “Ah! Let’s do that then.”

After briefly pausing at the drawbridge of the castle, all of their horses and carriages were allowed to go inside.

Anastasia glanced out of the window as the guards of Xanmar lined up at the entrance and saluted them one by one. When there were no more soldiers blocking her view, she darted her eyes around to see a beautiful garden alongside the path. A few of the guests were lingering around in the garden and happily chatting.

She saw them holding the wine glasses. She subconsciously let out a quiet shy when she saw that they weren’t holding blood in those glasses. A few waiters were going around the garden while carrying trays of snacks. Anastasia couldn’t be any happier. She felt as though she was back in the right place. She felt as if she was back among her kind when she saw those guests eating normal food.

A while later, all the carriages finally came to a halt.

Caspian looked at his wife’s face to see her expression. She had a different glow on her face even after that tiresome journey.

“I will send Tilla here,” he said to her before elegantly stepping out of the carriage.

Now that she was alone, Anastasia started getting a little nervous. She prayed that her husband wouldn’t wander around and accidentally come across Everard when she was not with him. Although she trusted that her husband wouldn’t pick a fight with someone he just met, a small part of her was worried that Caspian would act on his jealousy.

“Your Majesty, may I come in?”

She heard Tilla’s soft voice from outside the carriage.

And she nervously ordered, “Yes, Tilla. Come in and quickly give me a touch-up.”

Tilla did as the Queen had asked. She had brought a small bag with her that contained Anastasia’s makeup products. She clipped the loose strands of Anastasia’s hair back into the bun. She wiped the Queen’s face and applied fresh products on her eyes, lips, and cheeks. And she also checked Anastasia’s gown and dusted off the rims as a temporary fix.

Tilla looked at Anastasia’s face and then said, “I will help you change into a fresh gown after they lead us to the waiting room. For now, this gown shall do.”

“Okay.” Anastasia gave a subtle smile to her handmaid and then asked in a little surprised voice, “We haven’t traveled to other Kingdoms before. So, how can you be sure that they will lead us to the waiting room?”

Tilla smiled and replied, “I used to observe other maids sometimes when I was back in Orsenia. When the guests arrived there after a long journey, that is what they normally did to allow the guests to rest a while before meeting the monarchs. So, I assumed that it would be the same here.”

Anastasia proudly smiled at her handmaid. “Okay, let’s step outside then.”

When Tilla pushed open the door of the carriage, she was almost startled when she saw Caspian standing right there by the door.

Caspian was waiting for his wife to come out. Or to be more precise, he was guarding his wife himself. And as soon as the door was open, he held out his hand for his wife and asked with a smile, “My Queen, may I escort you?”

“Of course,” Anastasia giggled softly and then held her husband’s hand.

When she stepped outside, she saw a few soldiers of Xanmar waiting for them.

They all bowed to Anastasia, and then one of them said while gesturing towards the castle, “Your Majesties, this way please.”

When Caspian gave a nod to them, they walked ahead of everyone. Caspian and Anastasia walked while being surrounded by their royal guards. The squad of soldiers who had come along with them had dispersed in the capital in their disguises.

“We’re finally here...” Anastasia whispered as she glanced at the tall columns and thick walls of the main entrance of the castle.

Caspian cautiously darted his eyes around and mumbled in his heavy breath, “Yes, we are.”