(From Blue''s Perspective)


    "Your Highness, His Highness, the King of Trouvaille sent this reply," Perita said, handing me a royal blue envelope. "He wrote it right then. Can you believe it? Isn''t it strange?"


    "I see..."


    He sent a reply right away? I did not expect it. King Ford seemed to be quicker to act than I thought.


    There was only one line- Of course; I will surely stand up for someone of my own kind, especially knowing that you and I can be great partners- don''t think anything bad because I have no interest in someone who is married, at least, not romantically.


    "Are you sure this one is meant for me?" I asked. I was very confused about what he meant.


    "Yes, Your Highness. The king also said that if Your Highness thinks that this is not meant for you, then please be assured, because it is," Perita replied.


    "Hmm... Why be so confusing if you knew?" I muttered under my breath.


    Now being confusing meant one thing- he was being mysterious and wanted me to be curious about what he meant. And I would only find out if we met. So, all his actions were leading to one thing- he wanted to meet me.


    ''But I''m not curious?''


    Actually, I did not care much about what he wanted. Why would he want to be friends with me? And that was also to an extensive level it seemed. He was an enemy of Demetrius, which meant he was an enemy of mine as well. If he let his guard down around me, I might betray him. And besides, I was just a human.


    Why would he want to be friends with a human? And why would he say that we were the same kind?


    Not to forget, he also tried to kill me. At least, Dem said so. Then again, Dem said that he was not sure that what he thought happened in his past actually happened the way he thought it did. I was kind of sure now that there might be something more going on and there was a mastermind behind it all. A dark mage definitely manipted Dem''s thoughts and perhaps for a long time as well.


    I sighed. There were a lot of things to think about. And every time I tried to think deeply, my head would hurt. I decided to give it a break.


    "Get me some tea, Ruby," I said. "And Perita, take the letter on the table and give it to the queen of Ataraxia. Personally, of course. They would let you in if you show them my seal."


    When Perita went to King Ford, I wrote another letter meant for the queen of Ataraxia. It happened right that time and I could not just ignore it.


    A maid brought me a cup of ck tea this morning, the one I liked, even though I did not order her. It was right after Perita left. She was nervous and was sweating quite a bit. So, I suspected that she had done something with the tea. And besides, I was never going to drink something someone gave me all of a sudden even though I did not ask for it.


    I told her to drink it herself. She kept refusing and when Ruby tried to force her to drink it, she started crying, saying that she made a grave mistake. That maid confessed everything.


    She had poisoned the tea.


    It was the first time that I found someone poisoning me. I heard before that I was almost poisoned a few times, but I did not have to face them myself since Dem took care of them without getting me involved.


    I tried to remain as calm as possible even though my mind was screaming, "What the hell? She tried to poison me! That means, she tried to kill me! For real!"


    When I asked her who sent her, she said that someone wearing a white hooded cloak told her to do it or they would kill her family. It was a woman, she said. White was the royal color of Ataraxia. The person surely would not be dumb enough to reveal where she came from. It was either intentional and she wanted me to know that she was from Ataraxia for some reason. Or she was trying to deceive me.


    Or perhaps she actually was dumb and did not know that I would survive.


    I sent a letter to the queen of Ataraxia stating what happened since I was a guest and this kind of thing happened when I was invited here. And I also sent a letter to Dem by another maid.


    "Really? I can''t rx for real not even for once," I sighed.


    I heard loud boot noises as if someone was running this way. Well, I was not even surprised, nor did I have to ask to know who it was.


    "Who the fuck tried to do it? Are you alright?" Dem asked breathlessly, opening the door loudly.


    He grabbed my face and then checked my mouth and my entire body to make sure that nothing happened.


    "You haven''t drunk even a drop of it, right?" he asked, panting since he came running. There were drops of sweat on his forehead and his face was filled with worry and anger.


    "I haven''t," I shook my head and wiped the sweat off his forehead with the sleeve of my nightgown. "I suspected her before. And why the hell would I even drink it? I don''t even know her and I haven''t even asked for it. I may be a bit dumb, but I know this much. So, don''t worry and take a deep breath.


    I am alright."


    He sighed in relief and leaned against my hand that was on his face. "You are not dumb. Have you ever heard of a dumb person doing this much?" he muttered. "At least, you are able to save yourself in some cases."