The Crown's Entrapment

Clara held her breath as they arrived at the inn they were supposed to have a stopover. It was just about sundown when they came in and settled themselves in their respective rooms. In that regard, she and Gilas had their usual shared room, while Shila had her own room by herself.

Well, technically, they were all supposed to have their own separate rooms, but since when did that ever get applied to reality?

[And only now did you even want to question it?]

Clara sighed as Sheba cackled in the back of her head. It was true, after all. Even before they set off for the Keen Manor, they were supposed to be in their own separate rooms. But then she suddenly got those chills at night which just never seemed to disappear no matter how hard she tried. Gilas took it as his permission to stay with her in the same chamber to keep her warm, and that was their arrangement ever since.

Then again, did she really not enjoy it?

[Exactly,] her wolf scoffed. [You were the one that requested it in the first place.]

[I know,] she admittedly sighed. [I know I'm a hypocrite, and I know I'm prone to making a lot of reasons just to get my own point across. But it's all still valid.]

After all, if she was still having doubts, then surely it was still too early for her to surrender herself to him.

[And there it is… I was kind of wondering when you'd try to reason to yourself again,] Sheba teasingly laughed at her.

Shaking her head, Clara ignored the roiling thoughts of confusion in her head in favor of focusing on what was important. Namely, the fact that Gilas had just offered to go ice skating with her.

[Just offered? He offered that to you hours ago!] Sheba knowingly chuckled. [You still haven't given him an answer?]

[Didn't I already say yes?] Clara exasperatedly asked back. [I'm already doing more than I expected, alright? Can you just quit it with your constant heckling?]

[I won't stop until you admit to actually liking him enough to mate with him,] her wolf scoffed. [It's a work in progress, but I know I'm making good progress. Especially with how-]

Before her wolf could even finish her thoughts, Clara clamped down by promptly shaking her head and pinching her own leg. Sure, it wasn't enough, but she was sure she didn't want the events of last night replaying itself in her head yet again.

"Something the matter, Clara?" f𝐫𝑒𝗲𝙬𝒆𝚋𝐧૦𝘃𝗲l.c𝚘𝘮

Great… Now Gilas had noticed her too… "It's nothing," she quickly replied while forcing herself to put on an innocent smile. "Just something on my mind."

Unfortunately for her, Gilas gave her a soft smirk. "If you say so," he chuckled. "Anyway, we'll be off to go ice skating in the Twilight Lake in a few minutes after I give word to Mother about our departure."

"Of course," she promptly nodded. "I'll be ready before then."

"Be sure to pack appropriately," he reminded her with a wink. "I heard there's a few stalls around the frozen lake as well. We might get lucky again."

"Right," she chuckled. She then waved her hand off to him. "Just go already. I still have a few things to unpack for us."

Gilas gave her a knowing smile before he promptly turned around and left the room. As soon as she knew he was gone, she let out a relieved sigh.

"I just know he was reading my mind back there," she grumbled to herself. "There's no way I can hide things from him like this…"

[As if he even needed the Bond to see right through you,] Sheba teased. [You're an open book, Clara. Even more so than usual.]

Rolling her eyes, she had nothing else to do except to click her tongue and continue with unpacking what they'd need to prepare for the night and for the day ahead. On top of that, she also had to get ready to go out in a few minutes, which meant that she had to wear something appropriate for ice skating.

'Well, there's no better time than the present,' she inwardly sighed.

With a shrug, Clara dug into her packed clothes, hoping that she had something that would both be appropriate and appealing to both the scene and her own sensibilities…

[You're making excuses again,] Sheba teasingly shook her head at her. [Just say it outright. You want to impress Gilas, and you need all the help-]

"Just let me think, dammit," Clara grumbled. "Or better yet, just help me."

***

Thankfully, after just a few minutes, Clara found a decent ensemble to put together just for the occasion. Wearing a simple fur coat over one of the dresses she packed for the party last night, she looked decently prepared for the cold weather while also looking appealing to anybody with working eyes.

[Better yet, you look more appealing to the one man that you still refuse to fully accept,] Sheba teasingly added.

"Fine, I'll give you that one," Clara grumbled in resignation as she stared at herself in the mirror. "But honestly, I'm glad how this turned out."

It wasn't much, but it was still more than enough to work for this date she was going to. And just in time too. She was pretty sure that Gilas would-

"Clara?"

Sure enough, a soft knock and a greeting pulled Clara out of her musings. Gilas had come for her, and he was wearing his own version of casual winter clothes. Well, he was still wearing what he wore earlier, but she could already imagine him getting the closest coat available to him, swapping his outer clothing with it, before then calling it a day.

She turned to him with a raised eyebrow. "Yes?"

"I was just about to call for you," he remarked with a chuckle. "Are you ready to leave?"

Instead of simply nodding, Clara found it in herself to let out a small joke and gesture to her current attire. "Does it look like I'm not ready?"