Conquering His Cold Heart

He found Tilla helping Anastasia out of the travel clothes. “Please don’t mind me,” he mumbled and then went near the dressing table. He dragged the chair to the side and sat down while facing his wife.

“Don’t you want to get changed before staring at your wife?” Anastasia mockingly asked Caspian since he kept on staring at her without even blinking.

Caspian smirked, but brushed off her comment and asked her another question instead, “How are you feeling? Still feeling a little dizzy?”

Anastasia shook her head and answered, “Now that I got out of the carriage, I don’t feel that dizzy. A little rest and a warm bath, and then I should be fine.”

“That’s good to hear.” Caspian turned his gaze to Tilla and then asked her, “Tilla, how’s her temperature? I was keeping track of it, and so far it was normal.”

Tilla looked at the King and instantly replied, “I just checked a while ago. It is normal.”

Anastasia smiled, grateful that she had people who cared for her so much. But she didn’t want them to constantly worry about her. So, she said to both of them in a rather complaining tone, “I keep on telling both of you that I feel fine. Why don’t you both believe me? I am perfectly fine. I don’t think the fever will return after two days now. So, you both should stop constantly treating me like a sick person.”

Caspian got up on his feet and then took a step closer to his wife. He looked at her with a loving gaze and then softly said, “You keep on getting sick. I just want to make sure that I don’t overlook the state of your health until it is too late.”

.....

Anastasia gently patted Caspian’s hand and looked at him with appreciative eyes. And she said in a somewhat worried voice, “At this rate, you will be the one to fall sick. You should also go and get freshened up. Don’t worry about me so much.”

Caspian wanted to say something but he sighed and nodded his head. He took Anastasia’s palm and then softly kissed her knuckles. And he looked into her beautiful green eyes and said, “I will come to pick you up before dinner time. I think your brother would love to talk with you.”

“Mhmm…” Anastasia’s felt a subtle prick in her heart. She forced a smile on her face and nervously asked, “Yes, it’s about time I came clean with my brother, right?”

“Yes. He deserves to know all the truth.” Caspian looked at Tilla and guessed, “Although, I bet that he already knows all the details.”

Tilla looked down at the floor and nodded her head.

Caspian looked back at his wife and said, “But I think he would still want to hear your side of the story and try to understand your true feelings.” He comfortingly patted Anastasia’s hand and further said, “Don’t stress over it too much. He is your brother. He will understand your heart.”

Anastasia knew very well what he was referring to. She took a deep breath and smiled widely. “Yes. I am sure he will understand why I feel this way about you. And I really hope that before he leaves, he will see you with the same respect as I do.”

Caspian was grateful that Anastasia was thinking about his reputation; not just his, but his race’s reputation.

He kissed Anastasia’s hand again and said from the bottom of his heart, “After everything that he saw back there in that village, I won’t be surprised if he labels us as the monsters. But I really hope that he won’t hate us or be scared of us.”

“He won’t.” Anastasia looked at him with conviction and then added, “I will make sure that he won’t.”

Caspian put his faith in his wife and then headed toward his own chambers. While walking down the gallery, all he could think about was things that he could do for Alexander to regain his trust, the trust that might have dwindled after seeing Hamilton fighting the werewolves.

He had already heard the full story from Hamilton. At first, he was angry at him for carelessly displaying that demonic form to his brother-in-law. However, after knowing how Alexander was now somewhat aware of Everard’s true nature, he was a little relieved.

He hoped that his brother-in-law would reveal that information to Anastasia on his own. He wanted both of them to be wary of their friend.

Caspian gave a nod to the maids and servants who greeted him when he reached in front of his chambers.

After entering the chamber without even realizing it, he mumbled to himself, “Alexander didn’t look as nervous around me as he did yesterday. I think Tilla said some good words about me.”

He narrowed his eyes but suddenly smiled thinking back to the time when Tilla used to openly hate him. “I guess she doesn’t hate me as much as she did back then.”

Caspian was finally out of his deep thoughts when he heard one of the servants speaking very loudly.

“Your Majesty, shall we help you get ready for the bath?”

Caspian looked at that servant with deep frown lines between his brows. And he grumbled while gently massaging his ear, “You don’t have to shout in my ears! You could have spoken normally. Now, my ears hurt!”

All the servants and maids who were in that room nervously looked down.

The one who got scolded lowered his head and quietly thought to himself, ‘But Your Majesty didn’t respond when I called you so many times…’

Caspian curled his upper lip and rolled his eyes. Then he swiftly held out his arms to the side and asked, “Help me out of it. Quick. I have a lot of things to attend to.”

Two of the servants instantly began undressing the King while the maids ran towards the bathroom to make sure the temperature of the water was still right. They had prepared the bath a while ago, not knowing when the King would arrive.

When everything was ready, Caspian went inside the bathroom and stepped into the bathtub. The tub was filled with water that was slightly warmer than his body. He dipped himself in the water and sat there while closing his eyes.

‘Ah! This feels really nice!’ he thought to himself. He felt relaxed and happy to be home after such a long and tiring journey.

Soon, however, a few frown lines appeared between his brows when he suddenly recalled something that had been bugging him for two days now.

‘What was that doctor back in Xanmar trying to say?’