Rendezvous in the Romanowskian Empire

48. Making up to him

A/N
Whenever update is late than usual, just know I'm buried under uni workload 💔
Caution: Long chapter ahead. Also, brace your hearts.

Althea

I tried every possible way to wrap the cloth around me, but in vain.

The concubines were stubborn. Even when a good amount of time had passed, they weren't budging to get out of the hot bath.

Though Julian practised till late afternoon, it's better to reach the palace before time. Moreover, our hysterical laughs had caught the attention of those men and they weren't leaving any chance to flirt. Creeps.

This was a rocky cave-like room next to the bath arena where I was changing. Callie had told they had brought clothes.

But I didn't know the linen would barely drape the whole of me.

I looked in the mirror and huffed in annoyance. My breath fogging the mirror. Water still dripped down my hair, wetting the cringe-worthy draped linen. Instead of covering my shoulders well, it ended up just under my arms. The rest coming below my knees in place of covering me till the feet.

What kind of a joke do I look like?

"Phoebe! Zurin!" I waddled out of the cave to stand at the top of the stairs, not stepping down to the bath, "Can you help me? This cloth-" I clutched the ends in front of my chest. It wasn't long enough to even tie one knot, "It's too short! What is this dress you have brought?!" I complained.

"Awh, dear, you are not wearing it right!" They shouted back and continued to play with the water.

"Then help me, please!"

"Althea, it's no harm to go a bit late. We'll have to do less work in the kitchen then," Zurin winked, and the others squealed a yes with her.

As if you even do any work in the kitchen at all.

I won't hesitate for a second to write in my AI book that Julian's concubines were envious, credit stealers, troublemakers and above all, laziest humans of this century.

"Listen," God, I desperately wanted to fix my dress, "One of you help me, then go back in the bath, alright?"

They were laughing without a care, "And how are you going bac-"

"The carriage that we came in. And I'll send another one for you all!" I screamed again, hoping one of them would come out, but it looked like they were frozen in their spots now.

"What happened?!" Their weird expression was getting on my nerves, "I always help you and when I want it, you're making excuses!" I yelled, "Is this what you called friendship?"

But all they did was dip further in the water, their cheeks flushed red. No wonder they were again distracted by some man entering the bath.

"And hello, I'm talking to you all! Who the heck are you staring at?" I turned around, my face bursting in anger.

I'd never changed from furious to frightened in such a short span.

No no no.

This can't be.

The person looming over me with a murderous gaze on his face couldn't be the ruler of Romanos.

With my body that had started shaking under the bright Sun, I turned a bit to see what he was looking at. The concubines' heads hung low, eyes not dared look into his. The flirting men had scurried to the opposite end of the bath.

My anger melted into pure fear when I felt his lethal gaze directed my way.

The truth of the situation was seeping in like some slow poison. When why how was he here?!