The moment suddenly turned intense and dramatic.
The forest lay pale under the moonlight. Nikita was practicing knife techniques with precise control, her thin white dress moving with every motion. The dress was slit down the middle, and through its folds her slender figure appeared faintly in the moonlight.
Suddenly, the crunch of dry leaves made her freeze.
She looked up and saw him.
The cat eyed king stood behind a tree, silently watching her. His eyes held both astonishment and a strange fascination.
The instant Nikita realized his presence, panic struck her. Thinking of her exposed body, shame and fear surged together and she ran. But her speed was nothing compared to his. In a few powerful strides, the king caught her and flung her far away with a violent pull.
Before Nikita could understand what was happening, the king lifted her over his shoulder and carried her straight back to the palace. He threw her onto the bed in his chamber, and humiliation finally broke her restraint.
She steadied herself for a heartbeat and then struck his cheek hard with a slap.
His face snapped to the side.
She shouted,
"How dare you touch me like that? I am not some slave you bought!"
The king stood frozen, one hand on his cheek, stunned. Nikita used that moment to rush out, slam her room door shut, and lock it from the inside.
Outside the door, the king slowly rubbed his marked cheek. In his cat like eyes, rage was replaced by a faint smile. He whispered,
"So much fire in those sky colored eyes. But you do not know, Nikita. That slap only makes me more obsessed with you."
Inside, Nikita leaned against the door, breathing hard. Her thin white dress was still damp with sweat. She muttered,
"Savage king. We will meet again tomorrow. Then you will learn what a real slap feels like."
The next morning, when sunlight spilled across the palace windows, Nikita's anger had not faded at all. She tied up her sky colored hair tightly and stood before the mirror, staring into her sky blue eyes, trying to calm herself.
Just then, a deep yet feminine voice came from outside the door.
When Nikita opened it, she saw a breathtakingly beautiful woman wearing a royal crown. It was the queen of the kingdom.
The queen entered and looked Nikita up and down once. Whether her eyes held jealousy or curiosity was impossible to tell. In a calm voice, she said,
"May I come in?"
Nikita stepped aside to let her pass.
Standing in the center of the room, the queen suddenly asked,
"I want to know something. The king brought you from the forest and spends so much time with you. Who exactly is the king to you?"
Nikita stayed silent for a moment. Then she smiled with clear contempt and said,
"Who is he? Honestly, no one. He is just a savage with no manners. Dragging people out of forests at night and getting slapped is all he seems capable of. Your king is nothing but a stubborn man full of ego. I have no relationship with him, and I do not want one either."
The queen was stunned by the disrespect in Nikita's words. She had never imagined anyone could speak of the king like that. She murmured,
"He was slapped? You slapped the king? Do you know what punishment that carries in this kingdom?"
Nikita met the queen's gaze without fear and replied,
"Do not threaten me with punishment, Queen Mother. Tell your king to scare someone else with those cat eyes of his. Nikita is not his purchased servant."
As the queen left the room, she cast an unusual look back at Nikita. She understood then that this sky haired girl was not merely a captive in the king's life. She was someone who could change him.
When the king learned that the queen had gone to Nikita's chamber and questioned her, he could no longer remain calm. He stormed into the queen's residence and confronted her, his cat like eyes blazing as he scolded her fiercely.
He roared,
"How dare you go to Nikita's room? Who gave you the right to interfere in what I do?"
The queen stepped back in fear and said,
"My king, I only wanted to know who that girl is to you. I am the queen of this kingdom. Do I not have the right to know?"
The king smiled coldly and revealed the truth.
"Sister. You forget that you are queen in title, but you are my sister by blood. I have kept you as queen out of respect. But remember this. The day I marry, my real wife will sit on this throne. She will be the true queen of this kingdom."
The queen, the king's sister, stared at him in shock.
The king continued,
"Who Nikita is to me is my personal matter. But right now, no one else is worthy of her place. And who my future wife will be, I believe you can already guess."
He left abruptly and headed straight toward Nikita's chambers, his mind filled with thoughts of her sky blue eyes and that fearless slap.
As he walked back through the palace halls that night, he had no idea that another side of Nikita was about to reveal itself to him.
It was deep night. Silence ruled everywhere. As the king passed through the palace corridor, his gaze fell on the massive tree near the forest. He stopped.
Nikita was sitting there, but she was different.
She sat comfortably on a high branch, moonlight pouring over her sky colored hair and giving it an eerie glow. But the most shocking sight was what she held in her hand.
A blue snake.
While ordinary people would flee in terror at the sight of a snake, Nikita played with the venomous blue serpent as if it were a childhood friend. It coiled around her neck and shoulders, as though it were part of her own body.
Then the king noticed something else.
When Nikita smiled, two slender, sharp vampire like fangs glinted at the corners of her lips. She was not an ordinary girl. Since childhood, she had possessed this strange beauty and power, hiding it from the world.
The king watched from behind the trees, holding his breath. His cat like eyes widened in disbelief. Now he understood why Nikita never feared him, why she carried herself with such dominance.
Nikita stroked the snake's head and whispered,
"I know, my friend. The people of this world are strange. That king thinks he is clever, but he has no idea who I truly am."
At that moment, Nikita's sky blue eyes suddenly turned toward the bushes where the king stood hidden.
Had she sensed him?
A mysterious smile appeared on her lips, and even a man as fearless as the king felt a faint tremor of fear in his chest.
When Nikita's gaze locked onto him, the king made no attempt to hide. He stepped forward slowly. Nikita remained seated on the branch, the blue snake still in her grasp, her vampire like fangs faintly gleaming.
The king stopped before her.
Nikita said nothing. Her sharp gaze remained fixed on him.
After a brief hesitation, the king raised his hand and placed it gently against her cheek. Nikita startled, but did not pull away.
The king leaned closer, his eyes locked on hers. He placed his lips softly on hers. It was a tender touch, without force.
For a moment, time seemed to freeze for Nikita. Even the blue snake went still.
The king pulled away just as quickly, said nothing, and turned to leave, a strange satisfaction glowing in his cat like eyes.
As he walked away into the distance, a melancholic song drifted from his lips. It sounded like an old folk tale, about a king who had finally found his lost princess.
As the song faded, a single tear rolled down Nikita's cheek. She climbed down from the tree and ran to her room, slamming the door shut and locking it.
She slid down against the door, her heart pounding. The warmth of the king's lips still lingered on her cheek.
Touching her lips, she whispered,
"Why did you touch me? Why is there such magic in your song? I am not a princess. I am only…"
Her chest felt heavy with a strange mix of anger, fear, and an unfamiliar attraction. She could not understand how her vampire fangs and the mystery of the blue snake seemed to fade in importance after that single touch.