Chapter 9

 "Azalea!" Eli called as she quickly jotted down her newfound discoveries.

The unfavorable event in the Gardens was already a week ago as Eli found herself with a considerable amount of time in her hands. With the Prince carefully avoiding her after their talk and the informant from the lu Pavel pack giving her just that- information, it was quite obvious that personal research was the only way to quench her thirst for knowledge.

She opted to spend most of her time in the Main Library, marveling at the incredible number of bookcases and the sheer size of it. While she didn't stay awake all the time and sometimes dozed off to the light vibrant sound of nature right outside the glass panels on the side, she made sure to make her waking moments productive.

Hence her frantic wave for her maid, Azalea.

"Lady Eli? Is everything all right?" Azalea inquired, panicking slightly at the Princess's disheveled appearances.

"Can you please get me any papers related to 'cloud chambers'? There must be papers Charles Wilson wrote in the late 1800s-?"

Azalea's face was contorted into one of confusion as the Princess rambled on and on about clouds, electric charges, condensation, and many elite vocabularies she could not catch up on. It irritated her to not be able to follow the Lady's intelligence, and therefore could not give her the help she clearly needed.

It seemed as if these types of situations recurred more frequently than ever, and Azalea was quite tired with all the research Lady Eli was determined to do. Not that she would ever complain. Albeit the fatigue from assisting her Lady's research, it inspired the maid to seek intelligence- something she would be condemned to do in public.

Her Lady was a spitfire and inspiration herself, it was a fresh breath from any other snotty, high-class aristocrat. It didn't hurt that Lady Eli also treated Azalea as if she would any friend, despite Azalea being a human.

All these traits were what lured her hands to sign her contract whenever it came up for renewal. Lady Eli, without knowing, has earned herself a loyal friend for being completely herself and had no need to buy an ally.

That was maybe the best trait she had, Azalea thought to herself.

"Uh- Azalea, did you hear what I said?"

Eli questioned the maid who looked on with an unnerving smile on her face. The sun was high up in the sky, and Eli mentally balked at the thought of almost having skipped lunch.

"Crap, sorry Azalea, you must have been starving." Eli checked the grand clock next to the arrays of crusty-looking parchment. "Let's get some lunch!"

Azalea brightened at her request- Finally! Something she understood!

"Right away, Lady Eli!"

===

She suppressed a groan as the grainy yet soft texture of the carrot cake melted in her mouth. Velvety bread layered with rich and luscious whip cream was the last thing Eli had in her mind when she crashed into the past.

In her previous attempts to make allies in the castle, she had sought all the chefs and bakers in the palace to get in their good graces. From what little she had remembered from her history texts, food poisoning was a fatal and sufficient way to murder someone. Or die.

And she wanted to avoid that as much as possible.

Her original plan was to greet everyone and put in some good words, hinting that she had no intentions to become a pompous aristocrat but rather someone who actually cared for their general well-being. It was pretty much common sense if you wanted to survive the Palace life.

What she wasn't prepared for were the warm welcomes from the chef, sous-chef, and the pastry chef themselves. Apparently, Lady Elise was not a new figure in the kitchens which shocked her further.

Lady Elise must've not been as ostentatious as everyone painted her to be.

In all truth, she wouldn't deny she pictured Lady Elise as a presumptuous ass with all the unpleasant exchanges she had. Perhaps she was too fast to make judgments of her past self.

The more she engaged with the chefs- a big family that produced a long line of Royal Chefs- the more she felt at ease with them. And no longer was she there to prevent herself from future poisonings, but to make genuine friends.

As it was rare to meet any lighthearted, playful people in the Palace, she aborted her ridiculous mission to gain 'allies' and made a few friends. Brenda Friedman, the head pastry chef, in particular, was one of the many she had the pleasure to meet.

The thick armor of flour on her arms colored her bright, brown complexion, and with thick lashes shyly bringing out her huge gray eyes, her petite form stood out amongst the other brawny bakers.

After their first encounter, they had become good friends enjoying their lunch together. Eli's other companion in lunch, Azalea, was at first wary of the brown werewolf peering eerily at her, but managed to loosen up after a few awkward lunches.

It was a first for a human to have lunch with a werewolf.

On this brilliant spring afternoon, the atmosphere between them was anything but awkward as Brenda droned on and on about her newfound 'lover' in the countryside, over freshly baked carrot cake. Both Eli and Azalea were more enamored with the cake than the farmer boy Brenda talked with fervor, yet they nodded to her every word.

The sweet smell of honey tainted with bitter wafts of coffee swirled around them, placing them in a state of euphoria. The sun leaned to the side to bask the women in its warmth, relieving the stress from strenuous research.

A large bang of the canteen doors broke their contentment and announced the entrance of a burly warrior tailored in an old-fashioned dress suit. The black man walked briskly to their table.

Brenda, who accounted his jerky movements as an attack, was up in a second to cover her future Queen while Eli, who has observed the skittish man keenly, remained unperturbed at the sight of the lu Pavel brooch on his left chest. She motioned for Brenda to ease when his posture showed no signs of attack. The pastry chef reluctantly followed and pulled a chair apprehensively to the side.

The warrior who was close to her age stepped hesitantly, bowing curtly as he halted in front of them. His dark brows pulled together, warm brown eyes searching hers for any sign of familiarity as many did. The same kind of disappointment washed over his features.

"Princess Elise, your presence is requested in the throne room." He was curt.

"And you are?" She narrowed her eyes at his abrupt notice.

Better safe than sorry.

If he was offended at her tone, he didn't show. "Christian lu Pavel. Beta- ah, future Beta of the lu Pavel Pack, your Majesty."

"You were a friend of mine, weren't you?" She sighed. "I apologize. I've lost my memories, as you were told." She rose to her feet staring dejectedly at him.

"Brenda, you outdid yourself on the carrot cake, and thanks so much for the lunch. I'll come again tomorrow, promise. Azalea, let's go." There was no use in refusing to attend. His stubborn stance told her all. She couldn't help but think that in the past, the potential of loyalty he showed may have been a trait she would have appreciated.

The three of them quickly moved through the halls and if it weren't for the rough texture of her violet gown brushing against itself, it would have been an awkward silence.

Scratch that, it was awkward.

Luckily, Christian was the first to talk.

"Augustus wouldn't be happy to see you sharing a table with a human." His tone was placid but betrayed a hint of warning.

"Said human is one of my people. I will do whatever I wish to." She wished her voice was as steady as his. His words were too direct, too sharp. The textbooks weren't kidding when they stated the existence of a caste system.

"And you are one of ours." Her head swiveled as she met his already set gaze.

"If the lu Pavel Pack has a problem with whom I eat with, they have some serious control issues." She muttered, carefully watching Azalea in peripheral sight.

"I forget how stubborn you are. Just remember that I warned you." The Beta shrugs, his hardened features loosening as they strode through parted doors linking the main foyer and the Grand Hall.

Eli had a hard time catching his character. Was he a friend? Did he want to kill her? Was this some sort of trick to lure her to the dungeons?

Crap.

Despite all the ways this could result in her dying, tortured, maimed etcetera, etcetera, she actually had a sliver of faith in the man before her. She couldn't explain why, but it was just instinct telling her that for now, the Beta was not her foe.

"You knew my brother, didn't you?" She asked in genuine curiosity.

Christian sucked in a breath but answered, "Yes, Elijah was a great friend of mine." 

"I-I'm sorry for your loss." She offered authentically.

At that, he laughed. "To be honest, you're in no place to tell me that considering you're family." he rushed out, "but I appreciate it nonetheless. You really don't remember anything, do you? You must be dire to recall your past."

And just like that, a huge wall between them crumbled.

She chuckled, "Yes, I am. You don't know the half of it." I came from the future, but the hell to that, "But I completely blew that chance away by the current situation with Alexander. At the very best, he hates me, that's for sure." At his grimace, she worried if she crossed a line. Lord Alexander was his Alpha after all.

"Alexander doesn't hate you, the opposite of that, really. He's just hurt." His tense statement worried her even more, "But Elijah left us with a promise, and we are a man of our words. Even with the deceased." She peered at his warm gaze, pondering if she should venture further.

"Quite a commitment, huh?"

"You were from a highly respected family back in the lu Pavel, we can't and won't turn our back on a member." He grunted. "Alexander is merely unable to look above his protectiveness at the time being, and believe me when I say he's the last person you should be worrying about."

It was astonishing to know how Lord Alexander worked in the equation of her messy life, and she itched to know more. She was readying herself to prod further of the people she should be worrying about when the Beta slowed to a stop.

She could hear the rumbles and shouts beyond the pair of doors in front of them. As she turned to ask the Beta, he was already pushing the door open and her heart lurched at the sight before her. 

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