This time, [Y/n] had managed to wake in the morning, not in the evening. Olli had joined her briefly to extract her blood, before directing her to a room where her breakfast would be served. Did every meal have to be so fancy? She'd feasted upon a banquet for her alone this morning and had no idea how she'd manage another meal today.

Now, sitting in one of the grand house's many libraries, simply staring around in awe, the girl was enabled to sit and think. Though it'd be hard to say what she was actually thinking about; her mind was wandering with no particular direction, flitting from one subject to the next like a wagtail from branch to branch. She only came back to reality when a few knocks sounded on the library door. [Y/n] stood up, walking over to it, dipping her head respectfully to a girl dressed in maid's attire on the other side. She blinked up at [Y/n] in shock.

"Oh," she said quickly, smoothing down her dress, "you didn't need to open the door for me. You could've just called for me to enter," she explained quickly. [Y/n] tilted her head. But that seemed rude. [Y/n] gave her a slightly nervous smile.

"Ah, sorry," she said, dipping her head, "I'll... do that next time," she said, though she knew she definitely wouldn't. The girl now looked even more panicked, however.

"Milady, please don't apologise, any fault here is mine," she quickly excused. [Y/n] raised a brow. The girl suddenly covered her mouth, her eyes wide. Slowly lifting her hand from her mouth, she downturned her gaze. "My deepest apologies, milady. I spoke out of turn." [Y/n] instinctively shook her head.

"No, please don't worry," she said calmly, her nurturing self unable to keep herself from taking the maid's hands in her own and holding them as a form of reassurance. The maid seemed shocked, but didn't move herself. "Your species is far superior to mine, anyway," [Y/n] smiled, tilting her head. "Might I ask for your name?" she continued. The girl dropped her head.

"Milady, we do not have names. I am not a vampire, either," she said gently, staring at the floor. "I'm a mere faerie," she said, smiling back up at her. She had an angelic smile — if she'd thought vampires were blessed with inhuman beauty, this faerie outclassed them by a country mile.

"What's a faerie doing in a kingdom of vampires?" [Y/n] asked, her head tilting to the side. The maid let go of [Y/n]'s hands and rubbed the back of her neck.

"Most of the maids and butlers here are faeries. The servant jobs are reserved for us, as well as the weakest vampires." Damn, segregation didn't seem to end with humans. Vampires enslaving faeries? She wasn't surprised, in all honesty. "Oh... um, Milady—"

"Please just call me [Y/n]," [Y/n] interjected. The faerie flushed a little at her mistake but dipped her head, staring down at the ground embarrassedly.

"The king sent for you... he wishes to see you as soon as possible," she finally explained after an eternity of dancing around the point of why she was there. [Y/n] blinked in surprise. Shit — would he be angry that she'd stalled for too long?

"Ah, crap," [Y/n] blurted out, staring at the door. "Sorry Miss Faerie! I'd love to talk to you again soon!" [Y/n] said hurriedly, rushing out of the door to her room. She went down one corridor before pausing. 'Where the hell is Olli and how on Earth am I supposed to—'

"[Y/n]," the man in question's voice sounded from behind her, "you were taking some time so I came to find you," he hummed, before stepping in front of her and continuing down the corridor, beckoning for her to follow. [Y/n] did so, tentatively at first, though more confidently as they continued along the grand hallway. Eventually they wound up in an office-like room. Olli sat down at a large leather chair, and [Y/n] at a sofa on the left wall.

"I received a challenge," Olli said calmly, staring at a piece of paper on his desk. [Y/n] stared at him in confusion. A challenge... wasn't that a battle that determined status? Someone wanted to fight Olli for the throne? "I'll let you read it," he sighed, passing the piece of paper over to [Y/n].

'I, Draka, hereby declare a formal challenge against King Olli, four days time from now, in the colosseum. If King Olli refuses to hear my challenge, the rules state that King Regent shall take over his position. I assure no foul play will commence, and will undergo the necessary examinations to ensure the fairest fight can take place. I shall not challenge to the death. I shall not carry weaponry, though my terms suggest that the King Olli may choose his preferred weapon if he wishes. I shall not come bearing armour and I wish that King Olli does the same. If any of my terms are protested, I wish to hear from the King in under six hours time after arrival. Regards, Draka.'

[Y/n] stared at the note for a little while after reading it. "The challenger makes the terms?" she questioned.

"Yes, but I can protest them if I wish. His terms work for me, however. In fact, he's put himself at a severe disadvantage. It wouldn't have been unreasonable for him to ask for armour in absence of his weapon, though made sure I would be exempt from any armour myself. Had he made those the terms, I would've agreed also," Olli hummed. He looked over at [Y/n]. "You raised some fearsome young men."

"Could he really defeat you?" [Y/n] asked worriedly.

"No. I have improved since my last challenge 200 years ago — people still believe I'm as strong as I was then, though," he laughed, though the sound was slightly unsure. After a moment of silence, he cleared his throat. "I've decided to teach you some basic self defence, also," he hummed, his eyes staring off into the distance - or at the wall. Whichever sounds more dramatic.

"Self defence...?" [Y/n] echoed, furrowing a brow. "Might I ask... um... why?" Olli paused, realising her question didn't really have a set answer. Self defence certainly wouldn't help her against the boys if something were to happen to him, but it wasn't like something was going to happen to him, so his concern was mostly unwarranted. He quickly thought up an excuse.

"Well... if you ever leave the kingdom - of course, accompanied by me - we might run into fae. The chances are, they won't lay a hand on you, but if one found you whilst I wasn't looking then at least you'd have the know-how of how to defend yourself," he shrugged. [Y/n]'s eyes lit up, which made Olli feel slightly guilty. He hadn't exactly intended to follow through on his offer of letting her leave the kingdom, but her apparent excitement at the idea did inspire him to perhaps follow through with the idea. One day. Though [Y/n]'s expression quickly changed as she once again became confused.

"Wait... humans have never had a problem with fae," she said calmly, "are you sure they target us?" Olli shook his head.

"No, fae love humans. So much so that they often integrate themselves into human society to be with humans. You've likely met one, too. Some fae would still see you as human, but you have the partial scent, healing and immortality of a vampire," Olli explained, "and, not to mention, you would be in the company of the king of the enemy. They'd target you from the get-go," he sighed. [Y/n] slowly nodded her head.

"I see... I keep forgetting about the whole 'non-human' thing," she smiled awkwardly, rubbing the back of her neck.

"I... I do apologise for stripping you of your mortality," Olli said quietly, "looking back, there were several alternatives that would've been more beneficial to you. Some were opposed, however." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "There may still be time for a change. I'll have to confer with Rayne over the permanence of your current state, and whether any form of magic or science can undo or alter it." [Y/n] slowly nodded her head. It was hard to understand everything, sometimes. It was like she'd been plunged in a whole new world of magic and supernatural beings, except - somehow - they'd been here this whole time. By what Olli was suggesting, she may have even come face to face with them and had no idea. "Anyway," Olli said, more brusquely this time, "we should get going."

* * *

They'd trained for two hours — [Y/n] slumped forwards, hands on her knees, panting heavily with beads of sweat on her forehead. Her whole body ached and her heart hammered against her chest like some lunatic frantically knocking on the door of their ex lover, begging them to take them back. This was certainly more intense than those ab workouts she'd watched and followed online. And Olli, who'd moved perhaps 5x as much as her, was completely unfazed. Well... he was the king, so it wasn't too much of a surprise, but still. Break a sweat, would ya? Give a girl a sense of accomplishment, please.

"You're..." Olli placed his hand on his forehead, "you've got a long way to go. A good start would be how you stand when you're out of breath," he sighed, walking over to her and straightening her up, pulling her shoulders back. "Not only is hunching forwards hindering how easily you can breathe, but you're also making yourself ridiculously vulnerable. Say you've finished and won a fight - you hunch forwards, but your enemy has an ally in the background waiting for you to lower your guard. While your vision is obscured and your stance is restricted, they quickly plunge a blade straight into your exposed spine," he muttered. [Y/n] sighed.

"I can... hardly... breathe..." [Y/n] huffed out, her arms and legs wobbling from the effort of just standing. She'd defended herself from faux attacks over and over again, and the adrenaline was now wearing off. Her knees buckled and she began to fall. Lethargically bracing herself for impact with the floor, [Y/n] tensed, though said impact never came. Instead she found her arms and legs dangling over the strong hold of the king, who sighed as he began to carry the girl out of the huge hall they'd trained in. The warmth and security of his hold was all that was needed for [Y/n]'s eyes to slowly shut and for the girl to drift off to sleep.

"Hands full already?" a voice sounded from behind the silver haired man. He stopped in his tracks, turning around to face the man who'd spoken.

"Didn't I tell you to wear a clean lab coat when you come here?" Olli huffed, his gaze scrutinising the bloodstained lab coat Rayne adorned.

"Yeah, but I didn't listen," Rayne shrugged, walking closer to the pair of them. "Training? Why are you doing that?" Rayne questioned. "A gnat like her won't fare in the real world, whether you train her or not," he shrugged.

"Did I ask for your opinion, doctor?" Olli riposted, his glare sharpening. Rayne shrugged in response, his gaze lingering on [Y/n] for a moment longer, before he looked back at Olli curiously.

"You're not working very hard to save your King Regent," he hummed. Olli tilted his head slightly.

"Why should I? He's certainly getting what he deserves," Olli said calmly, "and he'd never do the same for me."

"I still don't understand how the hell you two like one another when you both clearly dislike one another," Rayne sighed, "you know Nyais would kill you in a heartbeat if he could, and he knows you'll never be there to support him if he were to fall into a state of peril," he continued. "You could easily have him executed and feel no remorse. You don't even agree with the ideals he'd put in place if he were to become the next king. And to top it all off, you keep secrets from one another like conspiring governments," Rayne rolled his eyes. Olli stiffened a little at the last 'point' Rayne had made. His words implied that he was aware of the secrets on both sides, which concerned Olli deeply.

"Our friendship is of mutual benefit—"

"Have fun telling yourself that," Rayne rolled his eyes. "You know who's benefitting, Olli. It sure as hell ain't you." Rayne turned around and took his exit, his bloodstained lab coat melodramatically flaring out as he strode off. Olli stared off in his direction, wondering what had made the man act so strange. It wasn't like Rayne to show too much emotion, but just then he'd seemed ridden with it.

Just what on Earth had happened? And why had he even come here? He didn't know if he wanted to find out, so he continued to carry [Y/n] back in the direction of her room.