To Bewitch a Devil

Lyra placed the flowers by her side and took out the small box. Inside of it were four-diamond hair clips, placed side by side.

Lyra’s lips widened; “Say! Is the Commander in love with me?” She asked with a chuckle. Her eyes were wide with excitement as she stared at the beautiful clips.

The girls in the room were all quiet as they knew who the gift was for, but because they saw that Lyra was excited, they kept quiet. If they told her the truth, she might be annoyed and punish Pen for seducing the Commander, and besides, Pen was going to return the gift anyways, so it was better she took it.

Lyra pushed her hair behind her ears as she brought the flowers to her nose;

“Hmm, these were freshly plucked. So thoughtful.” She chuckled, looking at the hair clips again. Turning to the servant boy, she smiled;

“Tell the Commander that I most appreciate his gift. It was very thoughtful of him.”

The boy nodded and bowed before walking away.

Lyra sighed with a chuckle as she shook her head;

.....

“Does he not know that I am to be queen, why is he sending me gifts? Does he want to get on the bad side of the King?” She asked, feigning annoyance, but her eyes couldn’t leave the hairpins. She had heard of how handsome the Commander was. He was most handsome after Zavian, but she did not think about him since the rumors had said that he did not want to marry.

But now, she had caught his fancy. Lyra couldn’t keep her smile away;

“Is it not pretty?” She turned to Pen and asked. Pen looked at the hairclips and smiled faintly;

“Yes, your highness. They are beautiful.”

Lyra chuckled and closed the box. “Come look for my bonnet, ” she said to Pen and walked out of the room, humming a song with the gifts in her hand.

Pen followed her to her chambers and right beside her bed was the bonnet.

“My Princess, your bonnet.” She took the bonnet and gave it to her.

“Oh, I did not see it there.” Lyra chuckled, taking the bonnet from her. “You can go now, shut the door after you leave.”

She said as she turned to the mirror. Pen watched her place the flowers on the table and move to test the hairclips before she turned around and walked out the door.

Pen stood outside the door after she shut the door and could not move. Her mind replayed what just happened and she did not know what to do. Lyra was clearly mistaken about the gift, but she could not tell her who the gift was for. unless she would be in trouble.

Lyra loved when to be worshipped and if she told her that the Commander had noticed her, a common slave, when she was there, she would become wicked to her, and punish her unnecessarily.

What would she do? The boy would tell Azriel that she had accepted the gift and he would think that she was now interested in him. Should she tell him that it was the Princess that received the gift and not her?

No, she could not. If Lyra found out; she would still be in trouble. It was best she kept quiet.

Pen breathed out and walked to her room, and as she opened the door, the girls turned to her.

“Oh Pen! This is bad!!” Sarah exclaimed as she walked in. Pen went to her bed and sat down, a low sigh leaving her lips.

“If Lyra finds out she wasn’t the one the gift was intended for, she would really be mad. You know how she is. What are you going to do?”

She asked Pen as they came to her side;

“Nothing. I cannot do anything. If I tell her I would be in trouble, and if I tell Azriel and he tells her, I would still be in trouble. So I can’t do anything. Whenever the gift is delivered, we would send them to her. We just have to keep this up, there’s nothing we can do.”

Pen said, and they looked at her in shock.

“This is bad. If she finds out that we fooled her, we would be in trouble.”

Sarah said and Pen shook her head; “Don’t worry, If she finds out, you all can pretend that you knew nothing about it, then that way, only I would go down for it.”

“Pen!!” They called, looking at her sadly; and Pen smiled;

“It’s fine, if we delay it, the days that I would get punished would be fewer, so please let’s just keep this up, okay?”

She pleaded with them and they looked at her.

“Fine! Just don’t get into trouble.” Sarah spoke and Pen nodded.

“Thank you.”

...

Azriel walked out of the bathroom when he heard a knock on his door. Going to it, he opened it. Outside stood the servant he had sent to Penelope, and strangely there was nothing in his hands.

He had sent three gifts in the past few days, and all three of them were not accepted. He was surprised to see the boy back empty-handed.

“My lord, I have delivered the gift. She asked to tell you that she appreciates the gift.”

Azriel frowned when he heard him;

“She accepted the gift and said that?” He asked, confused. Even if she accepted it, he could not believe she said that. Something felt wrong.

“Yes, my lord. She was very happy to receive it.”

Now he was confused the more. “Are you sure you delivered it to her, Penelope?”

Azriel asked and the boy nodded, “Yes, my lord.” He was not sure to who he delivered the gift, but he could not tell Azriel for fear of getting punished. He had guessed, and he prayed she was the right person, or else he would be in huge trouble.

Azriel was silent for a few seconds, then he acknowledged the boy and sent him away. Shutting the door, the frown on his forehead deepened. Did she suddnely have a change of mind? He asked himself. He was so sure she was not going to accept the gift, what changed?