Chapter 23: Ch 23. Amena Cots
The red-and-yellow-feathered phoenix, like Jhon and his group, possessed powers made of fire. Sometimes these took the form of sparks, bursts of flame, and flashes of fire shooting from their hands or mouths.
That’s why Jhon’s breath felt hot against her skin and didn’t make her feel any better. Even so, Selena didn’t need ice water to soothe the burning sensation in her hand. She simply let it be, even gently stroking the leaves of the Ember Root plant until its light became even more dazzling.
"What kind of plant is this? Why does it feel hot?" John asked, looking at Selena and then back at the plant.
"Does it feel familiar to you?"
John furrowed his brow. "A little. Its warm aura feels quite soothing to my body," he replied, his eyes widening slightly as he looked at Selena. "Is this the plant you brought to soothe the heat near my heart?"
"You’re pretty smart."
Jhon’s eyes widened even more, but Selena had already taken a slow breath and was staring at him expressionlessly.
"Take it to bed with you, and wherever you go, don’t stray too far from it so it can grow bigger. That way, tomorrow we can extract its essence, and the fire from its roots can also be used to treat your illness."
Jhon looked at the plant and nodded. "Will I be completely cured after that?" he asked curiously.
"Not yet, but at least it can give you more time to live," Selena said, then walked away. "Make sure you take good care of it—it’s a sensitive plant. So don’t let any of you with bad intentions or a bad attitude come near it. If it withers and dies, you’ll die too."
John swallowed hard, unable to believe Selena could sound so casual when this was a matter of life and death.
"I’ll obey you; I’ll take good care of it."
Selena glanced at him briefly, noticing that the man’s demeanor had become more submissive, even though just last night he’d been so cold and annoying.
However, Selena didn’t have time to look at him any longer, especially since her servant from the Fox Palace had already arrived.
"Your Highness, the woman who called out to you on the street has been taken to the special guest room. The Dragon King, the Lion King, and the Fox King are there waiting for you," the servant said politely.
Selena raised an eyebrow, looking puzzled. "Don’t they have anything better to do? Why are they waiting for me like that?" she muttered, causing the servant to smile awkwardly.
"These past few months, the Kings have indeed been taking it too easy; they haven’t had much to do because the Council of Justice asked them to take more time off. So some matters have been delegated to those with greater authority to resolve. After all, the world of Eldoria has been at peace for several years now; the only issues that have arisen involve the Curse of Extinction that has befallen the king and several groups of beasts. Other than that, there have never been any problems at all," she said politely, causing Selena to nod in agreement.
"All right, take me to that room."
"Very well. Please, Your Majesty."
Selena walked away, leaving the Phoenix Palace without another thought. Meanwhile, Jhon watched her back, then smiled and resolved that, in the near future, she would have to stay at his palace. He would serve Selena as best as he could and make her so comfortable that she wouldn’t want to leave.
"Sovel..."
The personal guard entered and immediately bowed politely. "Your Majesty?"
"Keep an eye on the palace grounds and review everyone who wants to meet with me. You know them all, including their attitudes—don’t let anyone with bad intentions or a hostile attitude enter this room or come near me."
Sovel nodded, having already heard the same words from Selena earlier. He gazed at the plant that seemed to be growing larger, then smiled as if he were seeing something special.
"Your Majesty, it seems the Queen is starting to care about you. She even held this very hot plant in her own hands the whole way. You should appreciate this effort," said Sovel, his eyes still sparkling.
Jhon smiled slightly; his face, which had always been cold, now began to look a little better.
"I know, but she cares about me because I’m about to die," he said, gazing calmly at the plant.
"Your Majesty, at least there’s a silver lining. Besides, as long as the Queen cares, you won’t die, so don’t be so pessimistic when the Queen is even willing to heal you."
Jhon nodded slowly. "I’m not pessimistic; I’m actually happy. The fact that she cares about me because I’m nearly dead—that alone makes me very happy. She’s free to do whatever she wants now; even if she wanted to kill me, I’d offer her my neck," Jhon replied casually.
Sovel’s eyes widened in shock at his words. Was this really Jhon Nix? The King of Phoenix, who wasn’t even this gentle or kind toward his own mother! How could he be acting so strangely and be willing to do anything for Selena?
"Your Majesty, are you all right?"
"I’m fine." Jhon smiled at Sovel, who looked increasingly startled.
Sovel still remembered clearly that Jhon had never smiled at him like this before! Was his king possessed? Why were his attitude and behavior so strange?!
"Go on, do as I said earlier. Don’t let any mistakes happen—this plant is now my responsibility. Selena will be furious if anything happens to it," said Jhon, turning his attention back to the glowing plant.
"Yes, Your Majesty. There’s a meeting today with several Phoenix ministers; I’ll check and make sure again if any of them need to be kept away from you."
Jhon nodded. "If it’s a very important meeting but he’s not suitable to be near me right now, just handle it. Tell him I’m busy and can’t meet with him in person."
"All right, I understand."
After Sovel left, Jhon smiled as he gazed at the plant. He looked at it as if he were looking at Selena—full of emotion and happiness.
"It’s almost lunchtime; maybe I should send some food to Selena to make her happy."
***
"Queen, come here..." Vylen politely called out to Selena, who had just arrived at the entrance. "She’s been brought here; that woman has been looking impatient to meet you for a while now. I don’t know what she wants," said Vylen, prompting Selena to walk toward him and turn to look at the woman sitting in the chair.
Amena Cots—Selena looked at her, and Amena returned her gaze with enthusiasm. However, Selena also noticed that Amena kept glancing around as if searching for someone. She continued to do this discreetly, even after Selena sat down in the chair next to Vylen.
"Amena, it’s been so long since we last met," Selena said deliberately, and that clearly made Amena turn to her immediately.
"Ah, that’s right... I didn’t expect you’d actually become Queen and be treated so well here." Amena smiled, and Selena could tell the smile was a bit forced.
"Oh, really? What makes you think they’d treat me badly?" Selena asked, leaning back casually.
Vylen moved to pour her some water, doing it himself—a gesture that made Amena raise her eyebrows in disbelief.
"Your Majesty, why must you do that yourself? It’s not proper for a king to pour water for others," she said with a polite smile.
Selena narrowed her eyes slightly, feeling a bit offended because instead of answering her question, this woman was acting flirty by pretentiously scolding King Fox beside her.
Was she deliberately seeking attention here?
Stevan glanced at Dorven, who was also sitting there, and then both of them looked at Vylen, who had already placed the glass of drink in front of Selena.
"You should ask a servant to do it; that way, you won’t have to dirty your own hands," Amena said again, this time in a softer voice and with a more attentive gaze.
Vylen smiled, but it actually looked like he was threatening her. "That’s none of your business; I’m just serving my own wife. Is there something wrong with that?" he retorted before Amena could speak again.
Selena immediately turned to Vylen, who replied without any expression.
All right, she was just beginning to understand what kind of arrogance Vylen displayed in front of others. Selena knew that foxes were usually arrogant and acted tough; back in the real world, she had once watched a fantasy story featuring a fox character.
In addition to having beautiful, handsome faces and attractive physiques, male foxes tended to be a bit arrogant in their speech. That was because, in the fantasy world she’d watched, foxes were among the strongest animals.
So they can say whatever they want, however they please—exactly what Vylen is doing right now.
"I was just talking nonsense—please forgive me..." Amena hung her head like someone afraid of being scolded.
That made Selena smile wryly; it turned out that even in the beast world, there were the same kind of flirty, cheap women who liked to flirt with other people’s husbands. Selena thought that only happened in the drama-filled human world—but apparently, it happens here too?
"What’s your purpose with all of this now?" Selena asked, without showing the friendliness she used to. "Earlier on the street, you were calling out to him while shouting, and then when I asked for you to be brought here, you went and talked to the Fox King instead of answering my question. Did you actually want to meet me, or were you trying to flirt with him?"
Amena looked up, appearing slightly hurt as she gazed at Selena’s expressionless face.
"Selena, I can’t believe it... you’ve changed so much since becoming Queen. How can you accuse me of flirting with your husband? I didn’t do that..."