Chapter 17

17 Dying

Anastasia was lying on her bed, still out cold.

A little further away from her bed, Zenon was sitting on a chair and was waiting for her to regain her consciousness. He took a deep breath in and thought, ‘When will she wake up? Is it even normal for humans to stay unconscious for a whole night?’

No. It was not normal at all. It was one of the symptoms of her disease.

Anastasia was dying.

And she was forced to come to Sorvando as a tribute bride to find the cure for her disease.

Princess Anastasia had always been a sickly child. She started showing the signs of her deadly illness in her early childhood years.

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She would faint if she performed physically straining activities like running and horseback riding. If she played in the water for a little bit longer, she would easily catch cold and fever. She was always underweight, no matter how nutritious food she had.

Not just that, she would also sweat profusely during her sleep, making her susceptible to cold.

And that was one of the reasons why the Princess grew very close to Tilla. Back in Orsenia, her handmaid would also sleep in her room so that she could take care of the Princess during the night as well. As they would spend most of their time together, they became inseparable by the time they were teenagers.

.....

‘I hate my fate! What did I ever do to deserve all this?’ Anastasia would constantly curse her cruel fate. She hated the fact that no one was able to cure her disease or even name her disease.

The King and Queen of Orsenia had left no stones unturned to treat their beloved daughter. They had her checked by all of the royal physicians of the court. They even invited famous doctors from other nations but all of them failed to diagnose the Princess’s illness.

Rather, they claimed that the Princess would not live past the age of eighteen. And they suggested to the King and Queen that they fulfill her every wish before that age.

Everyone in the Palace had already accepted that fate of the Princess, even Anastasia herself.

The King and Queen spared no effort in ensuring that their beloved daughter lived a wondrous, but safe, life before she would succumb to her illness.

The King would constantly try to console his worried wife, ‘We should make the most out of the time that we can spend with our daughter. She should never know the feeling called sadness.’

Unexpected to everyone, on her seventeenth birthday, the Princess received an anonymous letter that sparked hope in everyone’s heart.

In the letter, it was written that the King of Sorvando had the cure to her illness. But there was a catch. In order to get that cure, the Princess would have to marry the King and also make him fall in love with her.

The letter emphasized that the cure wouldn’t work unless the King offered it to her out of pure love.

Desperate for a chance, any chance, the King and Queen decided to send the Princess to Sorvando as a tribute bride. If there was even a single percent chance that their daughter would survive past eighteen, they were going to take that chance.

Anastasia had no intention of marrying anyone in this lifetime, considering how short her lifespan was. But she saw how happy her parents were when they read that letter. She liked seeing them smiling and full of hope for a change.

Thus, she agreed with them just so that she could see them smiling and lively. Even if she was to die, she thought that her parents would be at ease knowing that they tried everything that they could to treat her.

Zenon abruptly got up from his chair and stared down at Anastasia with hopeful eyes.

Anastasia was softly fluttering her long lashes and was moving her fingers.

Zenon was about to rush out of the room to inform Caspian but he heard Anastasia calling out for him, “Zenon?”

He turned around to see that Anastasia was now fully awake.

She looked around hoping to see Tilla and suddenly she recalled the horror that the two of them went through yesterday night. She breathed in sharply and asked with eyes full of tears, “Zenon, where is Tilla? Please tell me she is al-”

“She is alive and well. We called in a physician to check both of you. He stitched the wounds on your handmaid. And a human maid is looking after her. She will recover soon.” Though it was not Zenon who had hurt Tilla, he looked apologetic for not being able to protect them.

Anastasia had thought that she had lost her best friend in yesterday’s unfortunate encounter. And when she heard that Tilla was recovering, she thanked heaven for the benevolence.

“What happened to that man who attacked us?” Anastasia asked in a whisper.

Zenon could see a glimpse of terror in her eyes so he instantly replied in a soothing voice, “He was taken into custody yesterday. Right now, he is facing his judgment for attacking the Queen of Sorvando. You can rest assured that he will never see the daylight again.”

“Queen of Sorvando?” More than feeling relieved to hear that the vampire who tried to kill her and Tilla was getting punished, she was shocked to hear Zenon calling her the Queen.

“Yes, Your Majesty. You’re married to our King so naturally, that title is yours. His Majesty will officially instate you as the Queen in the crowning ceremony which will be held very soon,” Zenon then gave a reassuring smile and informed the Queen, “I will go and let His Majesty know that you are awake.”

“He was so worried about you that he refused to leave your bedside for the whole night. He just left a while ago to get some food and also deal with that criminal.” Zenon bowed to the Queen and disappeared from the room like a puff of smoke.

Anastasia’s heart was at it again, beating like crazy for that vampire husband of hers.

‘He stayed by my side the whole night? And he is going to crown me as the Queen? Why is he doing all this?’ She pressed her palms on her chest and furrowed her brows.

She vaguely recalled how Caspian had beaten that vampire and how he had comforted her when she cried like a child.

She bit her lower lips and pressed her chest even harder. Her heart was about to fly out of her chest. ‘Please heart, stop behaving like this!’

“Wife! You’re awake?”