The Princess Slave
Chapter 35

Violette POV

“What is your name.. mate?” The man asked Lillian. I looked between the two of them, seeing her face was as pale as snow.

“L-Lillian..” Lillian replied.

“Lillian..” the man replied in a slow voice, as is savoring the way it felt coming out of his mouth.

The king’s door opened and out he stepped.

“What’s going on?” He asked. He looked around and a smile came to his face. It made my heart flutter like never before.. I’d never seen him smile.

“Cedric, my friend. You’re back.” Viktor said. The man pulled his eyes away from Lillian, then looked back at Master.

“Ahh, there he is.” The man named Cedric said. He walked over to Viktor with wide arms, wrapping them around Viktor and slapping his back.

“Goddess, it’s been a minute,” Viktor said. He had joy in his eyes, for some reason.. it made me feel really good on the inside.

“My king..” Loren began. He held the tray of ruined food in his hand.

“Tell me what happened,” Viktor said as he pulled away from the man now known as Cedric.

“That little rat, Minerva.. tripped this woman. Which ended up with the girl dropping your food and then..” Cedric turned around, his eyes meeting Lillian’s in an instant.

“I’ve found my mate.” Cedric finished.

“Mate? My slave is your mate?” Viktor growled. I only shook my head and stepped away. I wiped away my tears and looked at the floor.

“Your slave?” Cedric asked, pain and anger was visible in his dark brown eyes.

“No, not Violette.. I’m.. I’m his mate.” Lillian said. A wave of relief flowed through me as that was cleared up. And I swear, the same happened with Viktor. His angry features softened, and out came another smile. Goddess, how can he be so.. never mind.

“Well, this is great news, Cedric. Come, have a drink with me.” Viktor said as he turned back to his chambers door.

“My king, what shall we do about your food?” Loren asked right before the King could get too far into his room.

“Walk Violette to get another, and have a plate made for Cedric.” He said with a single nod.

“Will do, my King,” Loren said.

Cedric walked over to Lillian. Lillian took a step back but stopped when he reached for her hands and held them gently.

“Where can I replace you, later?” He asked. My heart ached at their interaction. But I also felt.. happiness. Lillian found her mate on her 18th birthday, and he seems to be quite a gentleman.

“Uhm.. I’m a servant.. so.. you’ll have to ask Ms. Beatrice. I may be anywhere.” She said. A smile formed on his face.

“I will, my beautiful mate.” He said. She looked at me and I could tell she was afraid to be happy. Afraid to rub it in my face. But I’m happy for her, so I nodded with a small smile for her to go on.

“O-okay.” She said. She quickly grabbed my hand and pulled me away with Loren hot on our tails.

“Loren, who is that man?” I asked. I was hoping to help get the information I knew Lillian wanted, but was too nervous to ask for.

“That is Cedric, he’s a great friend of king Viktor’s. When Viktor came back and killed his cousin, taking back the throne, he named Cedric his second in command.” Loren said.

“S-second in command?” Lillian asked, her eyes wide with shock.

“Yes, miss. But he is a good man, so you don’t need to worry. He will treat you well.” He assured her. I looked at Lillian whose face was as red as a tomato from blushing.

I nudged her with my elbow, trying to show her my happiness so that maybe she would get more excited about replaceing her mate.

“Lillian this is amazing. We always talked about replaceing our mates.. and now you have, but you don’t seem so excited.” I said.

“Why should I be? You don’t even know your mate, yet you’re still having heat and he’s being unfaithful.. causing you so much pain. I can’t be happy when I know you’re not.” She shook her head.

“But I am, Lillian. Yes, I wish I knew who my mate is.. but that doesn’t mean you can’t be happy. You can finally have the life you’ve always wanted. I don’t want you to hold back because of me. You deserve this more than anything.” I said. She turned to me and smiled.

“I found my mate.” She said.

“You did, Lillian. You found your mate.” I smiled.

She squealed with excitement.

“I can’t believe it. And he’s so handsome! How could I have gotten so lucky?” She finally gave into her emotions.

“You deserve it, Lillian. You truly are the most beautiful! Even he knows it.” I said.

“Come, we need to go fix their plates. I can’t believe Minerva did that.” She said. I let out a sigh. Minerva is awful.. and I’ve not done anything to her.

“Minerva is bitter and jealous,” Loren said.

“Jealous of what?” I asked.

“You.. the King.. he doesn’t treat you like a slave. You’re a princess, and to Minerva, that’s a threat.” He said.

“But she’s not his mate. So why would Minerva feel threatened? It’s not like the King would ever take her as a chosen mate. Would he?” Lillian asked.

“No. Not ever. And everyone is a threat to her.” He said. I felt as if he thought there was more to it, but he never said anything else. We finished walking to the kitchens, Ms. Beatrice looked at me with wide eyes when she saw me in my disheveled state. Luckily, nothing got in my gown so there was no need to change.

“Dear goddess, what happened?” She asked as Loren dumped the plate into the trash and placed the plate in the sink.

“The plate was dropped. But it wasn’t Miss Violette’s fault. The king asked for it to be remade, as well as a second plate. Cedric has returned.” Loren said.

“Oh, my son is home?” Beatrice’s face lit up with excitement.

“Your son?” Lillian asked as her eyes widened.

“Yes! He’s been gone for weeks.” Beatrice said. I let out a chuckle.

“He also found his mate,” Loren said. Lillian’s face paled once again.

“Who?” Beatrice asked.

“Lilian,” I said. Lillian hid her face in her hands in embarrassment from being out in the spot. It made me giggle slightly to see her in such a way.

“Oh, my goddess! That’s wonderful! Cedric has searched for his mate for so long.” Beatrice said.

“He has?” Lillian asked as she looked up.

“Yes, Lillian. You will love him, I promise. He’s such a kindhearted man. And he will love you very much.” Beatrice said.

“He will?” She asked. She tried her best to hide the smile on her face.

“Yes, dear. You are a lovely woman. And very beautiful.” Beatrice said, trying her best to assure Lillian.

“Thank you, Ms. Beatrice,” Lillian said.

“Anyways, I must get to work to feed them! Quick, go pick some of the freshest and prettiest strawberries you girls can replace. I’ll get started.” Beatrice said. We nodded our heads and quickly ran out to the gardens.