Hilda

Hilda was still scowling as she lay in bed at night, feeling quite bothered and unable to sleep. She kept recalling how Serenus's sensuous entertainers kept flirting with Mikal, and she only grew more bothered and frustrated. She closed her eyes and tried to sleep, and she found herself absently turning to think of Vilfred. Her frown disappeared as she recalled how perfectly handsome and hot he looked sitting there half-naked in that spring, thin steam veiling his lightly bearded face, and damp honey curls teasing his muscled chest and arms. She pictured her fingers chasing the small droplets of water that trickled from his shoulders down to his chest, her hands caressing his taut muscles and the smoothness of his gleaming skin...

She heard the distant sound of giggling and chattering coming from outside. Frowning suspiciously, she rose off the bed and went to the door.

She slowly opened her door to take a peek, and she found four of the girls from the spring earlier today hurrying towards Mikal's room. Her scowl deepened. The girls daringly opened Mikal's door and entered, closing it again behind them. Hilda walked outside and followed them, until she stood behind Mikal's closed door. She listened carefully. She had never thought the day would come when she cared whether Mikal slept with random women or not. Not that she cared for him of course. But now he was known to be her fiancé. He should at least pretend to be celibate out of respect for her and her father. But what did he know of respect? He was shameless and disrespectful in every possible way! He had even flirted with those shameless girls and kissed them in the spring earlier today right in front of everyone, regardless to anyone.

Hilda remembered that Vilfred was with him in the same room, and her heart fell. Even Vilfred? She had really started to like Vilfred. He was the complete opposite of Mikal. Gentle, chivalrous and well-behaved. She had often caught him looking at her, and when he did, his eyes were always full of warmth and tenderness, unlike Mikal's cold scornful sneers. 

Loud giggles and screams reached her from behind the closed door. She scowled deeper, trying to shun away the picture that kept creeping to her mind, of Mikal and Vilfred each locked in with two naked girls, fucking and moaning in pleasure.

The door suddenly flew open. Hilda gasped. Vilfred was standing right before her. She felt a strange mixture of horror at being discovered while eavesdropping, and relief at finding Vilfred fully dressed. She dared take a peek inside where she found the four girls already fully naked and halfway done with undressing Mikal too, before Vilfred quickly closed the door behind him.

"What are you doing here?" he whispered as he took her hand and led her away from the uncomfortably growing moans.

"Nothing. I... I heard... I thought someone was crying. I only came to see if someone was hurt. That's all!" Hilda raised her head defiantly as she pulled her hand out of Vilfred's. "I did not really expect to find... Never mind, I will go back to sleep. I did not mean to interrupt you." And just as Hilda turned away, Vilfred had gently caught her hand again, stopping her.

"Can you stay awake for a little bit longer?"

"Why is that? No, no, I am not at all interested in joining your little party in there."

"I am not interested either," Vilfred chuckled. "Well you see, since I was the serious and boring one who was spoiling all their fun, I was kicked out of the room. I have no place to sleep now."

"What are you hinting at Sir Vilfred? You know I can't invite you to my room, even if I wanted to. That would not be appropriate. You see, unlike your shameless brother, I hold respect to my fiancé, even if I hate him."

"Oh, I am utterly disappointed now," Vilfred pouted playfully, before he held her hand again. Her heart thumped. "Well then in that case, if you don't mind, my lady, would you like to have a little walk?"

Hilda paused for a long moment, acting reluctant, yet in reality she wanted to leap with joy. She could not contain her growing smile which gave way to her heart, and she finally nodded in agreement.

"How are you able to survive with him?" Hilda asked as they reached the end of a long pier that stretched over a large lake, leading to a roofed wooden terrace in the middle of the black waters.

"You get used to it after a few years," Vilfred smiled as they entered the terrace. Dancing red lanterns hung from the ceiling, bathing the place in faint orange light. Red silk cushions covered the wooden floor, offering both comfort and warmth against the chilling midnight breeze.

"A few years? Trust me I would kill him within only a few days."

"I won't deny that sometimes I had been sorely tempted to," Vilfred chuckled as they sat down amid the cozy cushions. "But what can I do? I am the bastard child after all."

Hilda looked up at Vilfred, her eyes wide and her mouth open in shock. "What?" she barely whispered and he laughed out in response.

"Easy there, that was a joke," Vilfred was still laughing. "It's an inside joke between me and Mikal. We've been using it ever since we were children, because he always managed to get his way with our parents. They'd treat him like a king and they'd treat me like a shadow. So whenever my parents favored Mikal, we would go joke about it and say they did that because I was the bastard child. But we had to make sure not to let father hear us. He hated us using that word. Here, I'll tell you the whole story," Vilfred smiled, while Hilda still stared at him with round eyes.

"When we were little boys, I was around nine or eight and he was around seven, our father got him this beautiful sword for his birthday. Mind you, I had been begging father for a whole year to get me a sword but he never agreed because my swordplay skills were not good enough, and yet he went and got one for Mikal who was only seven! Anyway, a few days later Mikal's sword was all over the floor, the jewels popped out and lost, the hilt broken and the blade twisted. Don't even ask me how he butchered the poor sword like that. And then? He goes and throws tantrums, cries and breaks things because father got him a bad sword that was easily broken."

"Oh dear..."

"Wait, you haven't heard the best part yet," Vilfred chuckled. "Now what do you think father did? He went and got him another brand new sword, much bigger and stronger. And he gave me Mikal's broken one so I could start practicing."

"Fuck," Hilda muttered.

"Yes, can you imagine? I was very angry. I kept crying, saying it was unfair. Then I kept ranting on how much they all hated me because I was a bastard child. Which earned me the greatest scolding in my life," Vilfred chuckled. "Father yelled at me, warning me never to say such a thing again. But then when he calmed down, I realized how much he really loved me..." Vilfred paused and closed his eyes for a moment while his lips curved into a bittersweet smile. "I'll never forget the pained look in his eyes as he took me in his arms afterwards. He kept telling me how much he loved me, that I was as equally cherished as Mikal. But because I was the big brother, I was expected to have a larger heart, and because Mikal was a little child, it was only natural to spoil him, and that I should lovingly do the same."

"Sorry, but that doesn't make sense to me," Hilda scoffed. "If anything, it only makes me want to go and smack Mikal in the face." 

"Well, I don't blame you," Vilfred laughed. "But he's my baby brother after all, and I can only love him no matter what. You just need to learn how to deal with him."

"Oh why would I need to learn that? It's not like you seriously think that I am going to marry him. It won't happen trust me."

Hilda and Vilfred spent the rest of the night talking and chatting about endless things. She had only realized how long they stayed there when the skies started turning purple.

"It is dawn already!" Hilda gasped.

"It is," Vilfred smiled tenderly. 

Hilda could no longer hold herself. She leaned in close to him and brushed her lips against his. Vilfred sat still, letting her caress his lips, before he turned his face away. Hilda frowned, deep hurt and embarrassment burning within her. Even Vilfred doesn't like me?

"I am sorry," Vilfred said. "I cannot do that. I cannot betray my brother." Vilfred rose and left without another word. 

Hilda stared behind him, her heart tightening with frustration. Tears sprang to her eyes and poured down her face. She put her hands over her mouth muffling her sobs. He was definitely lying. What betrayal was he talking about? It was clearly obvious that she and Mikal loathed each other and that they would never really get married. It was probably just an excuse to turn her away without hurting her feelings. At least he was considerate enough to do that, unlike his rude asshole of a brother. But it was her own fault to have led herself to believe that Vilfred could possibly be interested in her. He was obviously just being nice to make up for his brother's misbehavior.

***

Hilda was still resentful when everyone woke up in the morning. She was the first one to arrive at the dining hall for breakfast, and unluckily, Vilfred was the first one to come in after her. She deliberately turned her face away and did not even answer when he said 'good morning'. Thankfully, King Serenus entered the hall a few moments later, accompanied by Bernard and Frederik. But Mikal did not show up with them. Hilda's scowl deepened. Of course, Mikal would never wake up for another few hours after last night's orgy.

"You seem quite upset my child. Have you not slept well?" Serenus asked.

"On the contrary Your Grace! In fact I have slept too well that I woke up with quite a headache."

"Oh... Vina!" Serenus called to the chamberlain at once. "Hurry! Bring the pain potions for beautiful Lady Hilda."

"That is very kind of you King Serenus," Hilda finally smiled, quite excited as Serenus mentioned potions. "I have always been intrigued by the magical Eastern potions. I am so curious to learn how they are made. But there aren't many books about this subject in the West."

"Oh you can find hundreds of books about potions in my grand library," Serenus said casually as he ate, while Hilda's eyes turned into full circles.

"Library? Grand library?" she repeated dumbly. "You have a grand library?"

"Of course I do. I am a King. I have everything. I'll take you there after breakfast."

Hilda could no longer maintain her excitement. Unable to sit still, she almost hopped in delight.

"Look at you," Serenus chuckled. "You are neither interested in girls nor boys, but you are all worked up about a library."

Hilda no longer cared about Vilfred or Mikal or anyone in the world as she happily followed Serenus to the grand library. And grand it was. She had never seen or heard of anything like this before. Hilda stood in the middle of the library, looking up in awe and turning around several times to take in the magnificent sight that surrounded her. The enormous domed building stretched as wide as the great hall of Nordenvania and stood as high as the sky tower. Along the circling wall that enclosed the place, endless shelves packed with books reached from the floor all the way up to the high glass dome where the sunlight shone through.

Hilda had not realized how much time had passed as she sat at one of the tables in the middle of the library, a pile of books sitting before her. She was totally absorbed in a breathtaking translation about the structure of some potions made of very rare herbs that cured deadly wounds and maladies. For example, there was a rare herb only found deep in the eastern forest mountains that can cure blood poisoning. Hilda almost gasped in excitement as she read this piece of information. She had never imagined such a thing would exist, and she even doubted whether this information was true in the first place.

"That must be quite an interesting read."

Hilda looked up at the intruding voice with narrowed eyes. Mikal stood at the library entrance, his head raised high and his lips half turned into a smirk.

"Sir Mikal! I find it quite surprising that you are already awake after such a long and exhausting night. And I find it even more surprising that out of all the places in the castle, you choose to come to a library. A place filled with nothing but myths and superstitions."

"That's true. It was a long exhausting night indeed, but it was worth every moment." Mikal walked towards her and took away the book she was reading, holding it up in his hands. "A cure for blood poisoning? No wonder something is wrong with your head, if you believe such nonsense." He tossed the book back before her. "But on the other hand, it's fortunate that you have found something to entertain you. I believe you will be happy to stay here then."

"Stay here? What do you mean?"

"Well, as a matter of fact, I came here to let you know that King Serenus is making a little change to our agreement."

"What do you mean?" Hilda shot off her chair and slammed her hands against the table. "Speak!"

"Calm down Lady Hilda. Has your mother never taught you that a fine lady should act more gracefully?"

"Fuck you!" Hilda snapped and she reached out to grab Mikal's collar. But before her fingers touched him, his hand had firmly caught her wrist, stopping her in place. 

"Don't take out your anger on me Lady Hilda," he spoke in a provoking calmness that only infuriated her further. "It was King Serenus's decision, not mine, to take you as hostage instead of me. Go ask him yourself."

Hilda stormed into the court room. Surprisingly, her father, Bernard and Vilfred were present as well, and she could clearly see the troubled looks on their faces. Her heart thumped. It must be true then!

"Oh there she is," King Serenus smiled. "Beautiful Lady Hilda – "

"You have no right to do that," Hilda shot in.

"I am a King. I have a right to do anything I want!" Serenus's expression darkened at once.

"And what if I say no?" Hilda scowled.

"Then you all go back home and fight your battles on your own."

"If you allow me, may I ask why is this change necessary?" Frederik asked.

"I realized the girl is more valuable than the boy. If you, her father, is the one paying then what good will Mikal do me?"

Hilda turned around as Mikal entered the hall with a cold smile. She glared at him.

"But..." Frederik hesitated.

"That is all I have to say in this matter," Serenus announced. "You either take the mercenaries, or the girl. I shall talk no more about it."

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