"I heard he spent last night with that human. She was allotted the palace closer to his highness" Lilith, the maid gossiped with her mistress.
Mina looked at her maid with a calculating gleam in her eyes.
"He spent an entire night with a human?" she asked with a hint of disbelief.
Lilith nodded her head.
Mina is the daughter of one of the ministers in the WERE kingdom and also the fiancee of his highness, king Eros. She served him as his concubine for a year before he selected her as his future empress and mate. From the moment she was announced as the future empress, her previous docile attitude disappeared and she began to show her true colors. The other concubines in the harem began to fear her viciousness. If she finds out that the king is showing a little bit of interest in any of his concubines, she would make sure to destroy their reputation and make Eros detest them.
They are tens of beauties in the king's personal harem. The most beautiful women from the entire kingdom are given to him as war gifts or for special favors. Most of them are the daughters of the royal advisors and ministers. Everyone has their own palace and a dozen maidservants to take care of them. There are only three biggest and most luxurious palace's available in the harem. One is allotted to Mina, and another one is used by Eros, which is closer to the royal court. The third and the last one are used by the royal mother.
Royal Mother is the stepmother of Eros and is the woman who served as an empress beside his father. Eros takes her words into consideration before he takes any important decisions. She is the one who suggested he take Mina as his mate and the future Empress. Eros respects her and adores her so much. So that's why he declared Mina as his future mate.
"Yes, mistress. I heard that she insulted his highness in the court and even kicked a man between his legs" Lilith shared, which raised Mina's ire towards Iris.
Mina is shocked to hear this news.
'The king who hates humans with a vengeance has grown soft on another human? ' she thought as an uncomfortable feeling began to arise in her heart.
"He didn't punish her for her behavior?" she asked evenly.
Lilith sighed for emphasis.
"He was angry, that was for sure. But strangely he didn't punish her, much to the shock of the ministers and royal advisors who are present in the royal court during the hearing of her case. And what more, he announced himself as her master, which is unheard of. Everyone in the harem is presented to him as gifts. He never fancies any woman on his own. But this one seems to be different. Mistress, I think you should be careful with this one" Lilith warned.
Mina frowned at the warning.
"What do you mean?" Mina asked with a dangerous edge to her voice.
Lilith leaned a little toward her mistress as if she is sharing some secret.
"Mistress, i heard that his highness told her maids that she would be serving him every night from today. That means he will not visit our palace like he used to. It looks like his highness is quite taken by her fiery attitude. If you don't act now, then she has the power to threaten your position" Lilith shared what she heard from the other maids in the harem.
"Impossible"
Mina fumed with anger when she heard this. She threw a vase at a mirror, breaking it into pieces. Mina looked at herself in the pieces of mirror that are scattered all around the floor now. Mina is beautiful with porcelain skin and delicate features and an hourglass figure. Her tall frame with long legs is a dream to most WERE men. Every man in the kingdom is salivating after her, but she is fixated on Eros. When he didn't show signs of accepting her, he approached the royal mother to ask for her help. That's how she became the future mate of the king.
"Mistress, it's no use to get angry on that poor mirror. Plan something to bring that human down" Lilith suggested.
Mina smirked with evil intentions.
"Let's go visit that human and welcome her into the harem" Mina spoke with a dangerous gleam in her eyes.
When Lilith noticed it, she became excited.
On the other hand, iris bathed and is dressed in the clothes given to her by her maids. She doesn't want to wear the clothes given to her by Eros. But she has nothing else to wear. So she gritted her teeth and accepted the clothes reluctantly.
The clothes are similar to the ones she saw women wear in this world. A silk bralette kind of blouse with a knee-length skirt, leaving her midriff bare. Her clothes look expensive and are made from expensive fabric. The metal bangles around her wrists kept tinkling whenever she moved her hands. Her maids insisted that she put on some heavy earrings, which Iris refused. But they insisted and didn't give her any chance to refuse. Now her ears have some fancy-looking black metal earrings.
When her maids asked her to wear a neckpiece, she firmly said no. Two hours after Eros left the Palace she is temporarily staying in, Iris is standing near a small lotus pond, which is located near her palace.
"Mistress, you should eat something. You haven't eaten anything since last night. You might faint if this continues" one of her maids reminded her for the tenth time.
Iris sighed with helplessness.
She came out of her palace to search for a way to escape from her fancy prison. But she found the place is heavily guarded and everyone refused to answer her when she asked them about the way to go out of the place. Iris is angry and on the verge of crying. This place is nothing short of a prison to her.
"You must be the new human added to the harem" when Iris heard a sweet voice, she turned to face a beautiful woman.
"You must be the new human added to the harem" when Iris heard a sweet voice, she turned to face a beautiful woman. "Good morning your highness" all the maids greeted Mina by going on to their knees. "Raise" Mina said, showing Iris that she has the upper hand here. The moment Iris looked at Mina, her gut instinct told her not to trust her at all. To her eyes, Mina looked like a snake in sheep's clothing. Iris didn't bother to reply to Mina's comment. Instead, she turned her face away and ignored the woman. When Iris blatantly ignored Mina, it made her angry. "Didn't anyone told you to show respect to the one's who bear higher rank than you ?" she asked arrogantly. Iris snorted sarcastically. "That's why my maids bowed to you" she replied nonchalently. She is already irritated to be trapped in this world. On top of that, she doesn't have enough patience to deal with arrogant good for nothing woman like her. That made Mina angry. Lillith and the maids are shocked as well.
Mina is galring at Iris. She hurt her elbow when she fell down and now its bleeding. "Wait until i report this to his highness" Mina threatened. The moment the other concubines registered the threat, they scattered away from the scene with fear. But Iris on the other hand is least bothered about it. "Be my guest. You can tell him what ever you want" she muttered with an eye roll. At the same time, Eros came from behind her, which she sensed immediately. "Here he comes. You can have a gala time with you fiancee. I am leaving" Iris muttered and took a step in the opposite direction from where she can sense Eros is coming. He is too close and with his heightened senses, he heard everything both the women said to each other. He caught Iris by her elbow and stopped her from leaving. When Mina saw Eros, she began to shed fake tears. She bowed her head and transformed into her gentle dove persona and began to pretend. "Your highness, she is hurting me. I tried telling her to behave, b
Iris is restless. She searched and tried for the entire day to find out a way to go back. She even searched for a painting that looked like the one she fell into. But all her efforts are in vain. No one is ready to help her in the first place. They all are looking down upon her because she is a human. Apart from Eros who is showing a hint of softness towards her, everyone is making her feel like she is the dirt under their shoes. That king wants to sleep with you again. That's why he is being considerate. Don't you remember how he treated you when you came here?' her sub-conscience reminded her. After the scene with Mina the would-be queen, the maids who are appointed to serve Iris began to tell her how stupid she was to trifle with Mina. They threatened her that from now onwards, Mina would target her and they are scared to stay here and serve Iris. So they left her palace leaving Iris alone to fend for herself. She is hungry as she has not eaten anything since the previous night.
Eros finished his duties for the day, and he decided to retire for the night. He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples tiredly. People think being kind is all about power over his subjects. But no one really thinks about the immense responsibilities a king actually has over his people. A normal is only responsible for the well-being of his family, but a king is responsible for the entire nation. He has to make sure that his people are well taken care of and that all of their needs are met without any issues. "Your highness, it's already late and you tired. You should consider retiring for the day" his trusted attendant in waiting Thomas suggested carefully. Thomas takes care of Eros, like his food, accompanying the king in his day-to-day obligations, etc. He is just like a personal maid to Eros and will stay invisible. He will appear only when he is needed. He will make sure that Eros has everything he needs. He will not prepare anything personally, but he will look after the prepa
One moment Iris was sitting on her Palace steps and in the next moment, she found herself being hauled by someone from behind. By the feel of his bulky size and height, she understood it was a he. He tactfully closed her mouth with his huge rough palm and his other hand is tightly wrapped around her midsection and began to drag her inside her Palace. The blanket of darkness around them made her unaware of his presence until it was late. Her heart began to pound with fear. He is easily double her size and his strength is more than she can fight with. Her feet are not touching the ground, showing her how strong he is. He is lifting her off the floor easily with just one hand and she can do nothing but flail her arms and legs helplessly. He is closing her mouth and nose so tightly, that she is being suffocated with a lack of air supply. She tried to hit him with her elbows, but it was as if he is not feeling her hits at all. The water pitcher in her hands is now lying on the floor. He
Thomas is waiting outside the Celestial palace for his highness. He is told not to come inside until his highness says otherwise. Thomas is peeking inside the Palace with a frown. 'Why is it so dark? Where are the maids? Why didn't they light the lanterns? Is it because of lady Iris? Did she order them not to do so? I don't know if his highness is alright or not. Lady Iris is not so fond of his highness. But strangely his highness is interested in a woman who is not all willing to please him. And moreover, Lady Iris is a human. She is beautiful as well. I wonder what his highness likes in her? ' he thought to himself. Just then, he heard a loud crash after his highness requested to open the door. Eros never knocks on anyone's door ever. The maids and his concubines come outside to invite him in. But with Iris, he is doing things that he never likes to do before. "Oh dear god, did Lady Iris throw something at his highness in anger?" Thomas worried out loud. He peeked inside hesita
Eros is hugging Iris tightly. He can still sense her fear and anxiety. He is worried about her. He saw bruises around her waist and neck. He wanted to kill that guard again for touching her like this. But too bad, he cannot bring him back alive to kill him. He noticed that her hands are loosely hanging to her sides. He never pursues a woman who is not interested in him. He never had to. But with Iris, he didn't care. She is making him do things that he never would do under normal circumstances. "Are you alright?" he asked her softly. When Iris heard his tender words filled with so much concern, her nose began to tingle. Her eyes became moist and tears began to pool in her eyes. She blinked repeatedly so that she could stop the tears from rolling down. She refused to cry in front of him. No one asked about her well-being after her grandfather passed away. Even in the human world, she is alone. But there, she has the illusion of familiarity and safety, which she lacked here. She pulle
Lilith ran inside the Astral palace feeling out of breath. Mina is sitting in front of her vanity and applying some herbal lotions to her face to brighten the skin tone. It's like a face pack of sorts. When Mina saw her maid running inside her bed-chamber almost out of breath, she frowned. "What happened? He killed that human already?" Mina asked with a smirk and turned back to face the mirror. Lilith stopped and wheezed a little when she tried to take huge gulps of breath. She is running like this from the celestial palace. She wanted to pretend like she is passing by the celestial palace to see how their plan is going on. But to her shock, she saw a group of guards in front of the palace. When she asked what happened, she heard that an intruder tried to kill the king's new concubine and the king himself killed the intruder, which is a first. "No mistress, his highness killed that guard. Lady Iris is fine. His highness carried her to the Imperial Palace" Lilith revealed. In an i