'They overheard and still wouldn't tell me about the reason for His Majesty's visit last night?' Odette thought. It was strange how the cat maids kept serving her kindly, but never mentioned anything about the Masked Alpha King.
The only thing they addressed was the fact that they were all dead by now.
'Maybe he forbids everyone to talk about him. I am still an outsider, after all,' Odette concluded and decided to play along for now.
Besides, she had other things to worry about, and that was about her purpose. If His Majesty wanted her to learn a few things before she could be of use, then so be it!
"Please let Sir Zircon in. I'll also meet with Irida and Ymir," Odette confirmed.
"That's wonderful! Then we will inform Sir Zircon about this!"
Odette sat at the table near the window. She stared at the strangely beautiful view of this kingdom.
She continued waiting until there was a knock on the door, and a man walked into her room.
"Good morning, Your Grace. My name is Zircon, His Majesty's beta."
Odette was stunned by the man who bowed to her.
Sir Zircon had long black hair. He was quite slender for a werewolf, let alone a beta, since usually a beta would be of similar strength with their Alpha, maybe a bit weaker, but would still be able to defeat everyone in the pack.
But this man had a soft and slender look. He had a pair of beautiful ocean eyes that were enchanting to stare at. He was tall and still stood upright like a soldier. If she wasn't informed of who he was beforehand, she would've thought that Sir Zircon was a wizard, shaman, doctor, or anything else but a military commander.
Odette had never seen a man so handsome and soft before, so she was a bit distracted by his face.
"Your Grace?" Zircon didn't get an answer from Odette, so he walked closer to her. "Your Grace? Have I done something wrong?"
"Oh—ah! S-sorry, my name is Odette," Odette introduced herself bashfully. She lowered her head slightly to avoid his gaze, as she felt shy for some reason.
Zircon smiled seeing the bashful Odette. This wasn't their first meeting, since they had known each other for supposedly a very, very long time.
But since she had lost her memory, it was better to pretend that it was their first meeting.
"I am requesting an audience because I think you need to learn a thing or two about the kingdom. I'll accompany you for the whole day, so worry not, you can always ask me anything," Zircon said.
Odette nodded. She pointed at the empty seat in front of her and said, "P-please have a seat."
"I dare not do that, Your Grace. Your position is higher than me since you are His Majesty's… honorable guest," Zircon refused. He continued to stand upright in front of Odette, waiting for any question or order.
Odette had gotten tired trying to explain the situation, so she lifted her head slowly to stare at Zircon's eyes for a second, "Can I… ask anything?"
"Yes, Your Grace. You're free to ask anything about the kingdom."
"Then—" Odette gulped as she felt nervous. The first question that had popped into her mind after last night's incident with the Masked Alpha was; "Has His Majesty mated with any female yet?"
Zircon's body stiffened. He didn't give her an immediate answer and seemed troubled with the question before he replied slowly, "Yes, he had. But it was long ago."
Odette was shocked by that answer.
"With his fated mate?"
"Yes, Your Grace."
"Then how come last night he… he…" Odette couldn't utter a single word, because she wasn't sure how to bring it up. Should she say that His Majesty told her to strip down? But he didn't do anything else other than sniffing her nape.
However, Zircon immediately understood her intention, so he quickly replied, "His Majesty's fated mate had died long ago, Your Grace. I don't know why he took you in or what he wants to do with you here, but we're simply following his orders."
Of course, Zircon was lying through his teeth. Everyone in the castle knew exactly why Odette was here, as they had gone through the same cycle a hundred times.
But he had no right to tell her the truth, at least not without his Alpha's order. So he could only apologize to Odette in his heart, hoping that her hundredth cycle would end fast, as he didn't want to see her suffer for too long.
"I see…" Odette nodded weakly. Her heart told her that something was amiss in this kingdom. It felt like everyone was looking at her with pity, but she dared not to question any further, since the cat maids told her that His Majesty's wrath meant that everyone in the kingdom would suffer.
She suppressed the uneasiness in her heart and got up, "Well, since His Majesty wants me to learn a few things in the kingdom, then we should start now!"
Zircon smiled seeing the ever-cheerful Odette.
"I am more than willing to tell you about our military situation, but Your Grace, may I know which one is your forte, military, medicine, or magic?"
Odette paused for a few seconds. She was thinking about her strength that could be of help in this kingdom.
She wasn't good with the military, as she never participated in any battle, and she also wasn't good with magic, because she never had any close contact with one before.
However, she was quite proficient in medicine. In her pack, she did train with the pack's doctor, since brewing medicine was the only job she could do that wasn't dangerous or required certain strength.
Thus, she replied, "I studied medicine when I was in my previous pack. I-I don't know if it can be handy here, but, I can brew some potion…"
"Perfect! Irida would be more than happy to have an assistant!" Zircon responded excitedly. "Then, we should meet her now. I'm sure she's in her clinic, probably grinding some herbs for medicine."