Entering inside, Aurora’s mouth patted in awe, it was so beautiful, everywhere was colorful, she wondered why the king would have a beautiful mansion like this at the edge of the town.
If she were to choose the most beautiful between the mansion and the palace, she would choose the mansion without thinking twice. Still, the reason the king would build this beautiful mansion in the bush bothered her.
She moved around exploring the mansion until she came across a room, the door was glittering, it was made of gold. She halted and got curious about the inside if the outside was this beautiful.
Then, she tried to unhook the door, but it proved aborted, still she didn’t give up, rather she changed her plans and used her fist on the door.
She’s a stubborn type, and hates to accept defeat from living things.
But these are nonliving things…
Her heart thumped as a voice came behind her, without looking back, she knew the owner of the voice. The voice always melted her soul and took her to cloud nine.
Slowly, she turned around, a bit panicked about what the king would say about her wanting to force her way into the room. Still, she was thankful she had dressed up, if not the king would have learned the truth about her.
“Did you want to go in?” The king asked as their gazes met, she couldn’t deny the fact that the king’s presence always sweeps off her feet.
“Yes,” She replied timidly.
The King placed his hand on the door, traveling round like he was looking for something, his finger dipped in a tiny hole as he uncovered it, and Instantly the door busted open.
‘A secret room’
Aurora muttered, seeing the logic he used to open the door, understanding the reason it refuses to Open to her.
The King led the way into the room while she followed behind him. She was a bit anxious as they walked inside, unable to take her mind away from what would happen if anyone found out she’s not in the royal prison.
Without looking at her face still, Malik discerned that she was lost in thought, he expected a reaction from her, which she didn’t.
“Are you okay?” Malik asked in a concerned tone, which is unlikely of him.
“Yes,” The masked girl replied. She tried to take her mind away from it, and focus on why she was here.
One thing Aurora learned is that the king cares for the masked girl, so she has decided to embrace the opportunity the masked girl has.
Just then she noticed the room was filled with the pictures of a woman, seeing how beautiful the woman was, she rushed towards one, and brushed the dust from her face and held on to her chest.
“The woman is so beautiful,” She admitted.
“Oh! Yes, she is”
Malik said with a sadness in his voice, making Aurora wonder who the woman was to him. She would love to ask, but she’s afraid of learning the answer.
What if she is his secret lover? Maybe that is why he built a mansion for her in the bush.
Initially, Aurora thought, until she reasoned again and asked herself why the king would bring her here if his woman is living here as well.
Perhaps she is just paranoid or jealous of a picture that she didn’t know anything about.
In the process of her reflection, the king found a chair and sat on it while he pulled another for the masked girl to sit on.
“Thank you, your Highness,” She said in a humbling tone, the way a servant would talk to her master.
“And I thought I remembered telling you to be free with me whenever we are alone, I don’t know your true face, so there is no way I can punish you for relating with me as a friend.
I’m not your king, but your friend whenever a mask is on your face. All I want from you is friendship, so please be free with me, don’t be afraid of me like the way others were”
The king of few words said this long epistle and Aurora’s heart almost jumped out from her chest.
‘Masked girl, what have you done to my king? She asked herself a rhetorical question.
Now she’s inferior to the masked girl, the masked girl has the king as her friend while she’s nothing but a liar in the king’s presence.
The King collected the picture from her hand and looked at it sadly, he blinked back the tears wanting to come out.
People see him as a man that didn’t have a heart, but he has. There is one person that has made tears come out from his cold eyes all his life and is the woman in the picture he is holding.
Although it is hard to know if the king is hurting since his face is always cold, Aurora was still able to see that he was hurting tonight, and it got her perplexed.
“Did you know, you are the first person who has entered this mansion apart from me?” The king asked, confusing Aurora the more.
She knitted her brows, confused.
The room they were in is filled with a woman’s picture, yet the king is saying she is the first person who has ever stepped into the mansion apart from her.
“Come… Come and make me coffee, I want to know how your coffee will taste,” The king suddenly announced.
Fear assailed her instantly, rubbing her two hands together.
If you asked one thing Aurora is bad at, it is making coffee. Her family always made fun of her, of this when she was growing up as a princess.
Although it is the work of the palace maids, queen Adaze didn’t allow the maid to prepare her husband’s coffee, this made all the Princess know how to prepare coffee.
The king directed Aurora to where she will make the coffee while he left her and went to sit inside the parlor, waiting for Aurora to come with the coffee.
Aurora was inside the kitchen preparing the coffee, after she finished it, she dipped her finger inside, wanting to taste it.
“Teeeeeeee” She spits out the little content that touched her tongue.
It was tasteless, giving her mouth a sour taste.
Starting the coffee from the beginning again, she wanted the masked girl to impress the king, moreover Aurora was the one that her coffee was bad at, not the masked girl.
After trying five times, she was finally able to make a good one. She poured it inside a cup and took it to the king.
“Are you cooking in there?”
The king teased her, her cheeks blushed hearing the king tease, she had never heard him tease before, she wanted to laugh but catching the expression on the king’s face the laughter seized.
“Your coffee is as bad as the woman in this picture,” The king said, but in a blunt tone.
He’s not friendly, always cold, but whenever he is with the masked girl, he’s like another person, and he wondered why too.
“Who is this woman, my king?” Aurora could no longer deny, she’s jealous of the woman.
“You mean this woman” Malik said and touched the picture, creating a silent atmosphere before he finally answered.
“She betrayed me, just like Aurora. All the people I trusted always ended up betraying me” Malik said. Making the sadness so apparent on his face.
She felt a burn in her chest watching the sadness on the King’s face, pulling him into an embrace. She has always known that the king trusted her.
Furthermore, she wondered if she was a bad person for protecting her community and family and, in exchange, hurting the king.
After staying in the embrace position for a while, they finally disengaged, then the king volunteered to make another coffee to drink before they sleep, and leave tomorrow.
“Your Highness, please I want to tell you something, before you make the coffee” it was so heavy in her mouth to stop the king, but she couldn’t postpone the main reason she left the prison.
“Wait until I finish the coffee,” The king said and left.
She looked at the king as he walked away, butterflies giggling in her stomach, she couldn’t believe her sight that king Malik wanted to go and make a coffee.
She was feeling excited, waiting patiently for the king to come back, until a deep sleep fell on her. She wanted to rub the sleep away, but she couldn’t cheat nature.
She was exhausted due to the stress she had been going through since morning.
When the king arrived, he met her sleeping, he dropped the coffee on the table gently, not wanting to disturb her.
His gaze landed on her beautiful body, even though he hadn’t seen her face, yet he couldn’t deny that she had a beautiful body.
For the first time, he wondered why the fragile woman here was able to give him the peace he desired.
He moved closer to her, his hand moved to her masked, wanting to see the beauty beneath the mask.