Page 34 of Ruined Kingdom

“Not tonight, Miss. For this, you’re going to want to do it yourself.” The maid explained but still somehow managed to offer me no information.

Do what myself?

Finally, we stopped at an unassuming door.

It looked like all the others, but this one felt different. There was magic emanating through the wood.

The maid opened the door to reveal a dark and nearly empty room. There were wine bottles and chests strewed about. It looked to be a storage room that hadn’t been used in a long time.

A fear flickered into my mind. I was reminded of when I was locked up in the dungeon. I wasn’t being locked up again! Was I?

I looked to Tieni, and she snapped out of it long enough to reassure me. “You don’t have to worry, my dear. It’s safe.”

I pressed my lips together and gave her an uncertain nod.

I stepped forward, and the door closed behind me without anyone on the outside closing it. Now I was standing in this dusty old storage room in the darkness by myself. I hadn't realized I had developed a fear of the dark recently until just now.

My hands gripped the material of my dress nervously.

“Hello?” My voice echoed off the stone walls and back to me.

“Sophia Everly. It is a pleasure to have finally made your acquaintance after all this time.” A soothing, motherly voice came from all around me.

I turned, thinking perhaps she was standing behind me, but there was no one there. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize someone was waiting to meet me.”

“No need for apologies here, Sophia Everly. Everything happens in the way that it is meant to. Now I hear you were in need of a special dress.” The voice’s pitch grew higher, alerting me to the fact that she was excited.

“I suppose I am.” I shrugged into myself, not knowing what to expect.

“Hmm, allow Delphine to get a good look at you then.”

Did she just refer to herself in the third person, or was there another person in this room that I couldn’t see?

I could hear the pensiveness in her voice, and I slowly began spinning in place, holding my arms out.

“This is very exciting. It's the first time I'm getting to work on you in person,” she admitted.

“Are you the one that's been making all of my dresses?” Now that I was thinking about it, of course, my dresses had to have been made by someone.

“What kind of question is that? Of course. The only dress Delphine didn't make was your first one, and… Permit Delphine to say that was a disaster. Delphine would have done so much better.” Her tone turned snooty.

I feared I might have offended her, but no one had informed me that this was where my dresses had been coming from. “I apologize if I’ve said something wrong.”

“Not at all, dear Everly. Delphine shall simply have some words with the Alpha King when we are through here.”

Oh, boy. I didn’t create a problem for myself. I created one for Kaine.

“Wait. Why Kai—I mean, the Alpha King?” Her comment piqued my interest. I wondered why she didn’t say Tieni or one of the maids.

There was a pause. I could only assume it was because she thought I was joking.

“Well … because he’s the one who has come to Delphine for all of your dresses since. Delphine takes what is in his mind and materializes it. The same will be done for you now.”

Kaine… Did he make all of my dresses since the beginning? Did he have feelings for me even back when I was his prisoner?

My chest flooded with warmth as I tried to hide my smile.

I love him so much.

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