The Royal Mark-Chapter 206: Edelweiss
Three weeks ago Prince Christopher informed Lexi about the white flowers that his mother planted and wanted to use for the marking ritual. Queen Yvonne is not a werewolf and the concept of a wedding ceremony is quite important to her that’s why she instructed Lexi to make it as grand as possible.
Fortunately, the former queen’s garden has different kinds of white flowers that she could use in the aisle and altar for the goddess of the moon during the marking ritual. The plants didn’t have flower buds yet when she came to the gardener and was advised to come back three weeks later to see if the plants would grow flowers for the season.
"My lady," greeted the old gardener. "I was planning to go to you if ever you will not come back. I have good news for you. The plants are starting to grow buds and are just perfect timing for the occasion. They will surely bloom two or three days before the ceremony."
"Great! Do you know what flowers will be ready by then so I can inform the one I tasked to decorate the area?" Lexi asked since she is not well-versed about which leaves belong to certain flowers.
"Yes, milady, there are gerberas, hydrangeas, roses, mums, and lilies. We also have edelweiss but the prince’s pet keeps eating them when it comes here. I can’t shoo it away, the prince specifically instructed me to let it be and also ordered me to keep it hidden from everyone else since it is quite frightful and may attack others or worse, it may destroy the whole garden and I will lose my job here. So forgive me milady if I would not be able to supply you with edelweiss," the gardener casually uttered.
"What pet?" Lexi was a bit confused if the gardener was talking about Chris or a different prince. She has known Chris since her childhood and she is sure that he doesn’t have any pets.
"Hmm, I think he said it is a licus? Telus? Telecus? I can’t remember. But the prince said that it was one of a kind and worth more than my life and the life of my whole family and relatives. That’s why I make sure that it’s safe whenever it visits the garden to eat the edelweiss," the old gardener answered.
"What do you mean it visits the garden? It doesn’t live here?" Lexi probed further.
The gardener shook his head and replied, "No, milady. It only goes here once weekly. After it eats all the flowers it will leave and come back when the new buds bloom. So I planted more edelweiss since it is growing and I thought that the current plants might not be sufficient anymore when it becomes a full adult and might eat the other plants. I don’t want to lose my job here."
"What does it look like?" Lexi asked more as she was getting really intrigued by that pet of Chris.
"It’s like a wolf with wings. It’s probably a mixed breed between a wolf and some kind of eagle that’s why the prince is very fond of it," The old gardener mentioned.
Lexi’s eyes grew wider upon realizing what the gardener meant. "It is here now?"
"It could be, milady. The edelweiss flowers bloomed yesterday."
"Where is it? Show me," Lexi eagerly implored.
The gardener’s expression turned into panic. He was informed by Prince Christopher that the creature was aggressive and he must not allow anyone near it or even see it for it would attack anyone on sight especially when disturbed while it’s eating.
"B-But milady, the prince’s pet is not very fond of anyone except for the prince and me since I feed it, with other crops and it also likes chicken a lot. It might attack you and I don’t want you to get hurt," the gardener reasoned.
But she knows Chris very well. He would not tell her to go to the garden just to give Queen Yvonne flowers since he hated the bitch. She knew the moment he told her to check his mother’s garden that there must be something in there that he wanted her to see.
Something that could help them in winning the war. Plus, she already has an idea who is the creature that the gardener is talking about.
Lexi walked forward and started looking for the Edelweiss flowers. The gardener tried his best to convince Lexi to stop and not look for the said creature.
The former queen’s flower garden is separated by many walls and gates. It was like a secret garden in a huge maze making the garden look like a house without a roof with rock and stone walls.
But the gardener was not able to stop Lexi as she kept walking looking for the spot where the flowers were.
"I could do this all day mister, but if you would tell me where is it then it will save us both time and energy!" Lexi exclaimed with an annoyed voice, scaring the old man.
"A-Alright, milady. I will tell you but promise me to not go near it. We will peek and then go, okay?" The gardener said.
"Okay," Lexi nodded and the gardener quickly led her to the right spot.
And just like what the gardener suspected earlier. The creature was peacefully munching on the field of Edelweiss flowers that he planted. Lexi’s eyes widened and a smile appeared on her face.
"BENDY!!!" Lexi shouted, causing the old man to panic since the pterolycus stopped eating and looked at Lexi who emerged from hiding behind the bushes.
"Milady! Please come back here. It is not too late, as long as you will not approach it, it will just go back to eating," the gardener even gestured for Lexi to hide back in the bushes but of course, Lexi is not herself if she would obey him.
She shouted once more, "Bendy! Come here, buddy! Do you remember me?"
The pterolycus took two steps forward while tilting its head, examining what or who Lexi was. The gardener begged her the moment Bendy moved until he could no longer take it and pulled Lexi’s hand but Lexi was stronger and released her hand from the gardener’s grasp.
"Don’t be shy! Come here, give me a hug!" Lexi urged but Bendy just stood still on its spot.
Lexi picked a handful of Edelweiss flowers and started walking towards Bendy. The gardener ran back behind the bushes and started praying to the goddess of the moon.
"Oh gracious goddess, please save the lady, please save us!" he exclaimed.
Lexi heard the gardener’s plea and chuckled as she continued to approach Bendy.
"Oh my goodness, milady!!!" the gardener screamed when Bendy started moving towards Lexi who stopped moving in the middle of the garden and opened her arms wide, preparing to hug the not so little anymore pterolycus.
"MILADY! RUN!!!" the gardener shouted when Bendy gained more speed.
"Be quiet! Shut up! You’re getting on my nerves!" Lexi said while her eyes were still focused on Chris and Elsa’s mythical winged wolf pet.
Bendy jumped onto Lexi sending her to the ground. Lexi heard the gardener scream but what happened next made the old man shut up.
Bendy ate the Edelweiss flowers from her hand and after swallowing everything, the creature started showering her face with licks, making her laugh.
The gardener slowly emerged from hiding with quivering legs as he tried to approach the two.
"Milady, are you alright? It didn’t hurt you did it?" he asked when Lexi sat up.
"Well, my ass hurt since I hit the ground but other than that, I am fine. I took care of him after he hatched from an egg when my brother and I took him to Zemaria. Since he hatched before he was about to be gifted to the prince’s fated mate, the prince asked me to watch it before that day came," Lexi explained as she rubbed the belly of Bendy who was now on the ground submissively showing its belly to her.
"Oh, that’s why it knows you."
"Yes, but you are correct when you say that it is dangerous. It will surely attack others. But you and I are familiar with it, so we shouldn’t have any problems. You can go ahead and resume your work. I will stay here for a while since I miss this cutie," Lexi uttered after noticing that there was something attached to the pterolycus’ collar.
"Alright, milady. I will go since I can see that it is very fond of you as well. I am no longer worried," the gardener said before bowing and leaving Lexi and Bendy.
She immediately took the piece of parchment when the gardener was no longer around the premises, and read the content of it. There were two pages of parchment and at a glance, she saw Prince’s Andrius name and her mate, Baahu.
Her heart ached in an instant as she felt the overwhelming longing she was feeling for Baahu. She hugged his letter as tears freely fell from her eyes. Bendy rubbed its head on her arm causing her to hug the winged wolf as she poured her sadness and loneliness onto the creature’s shoulder.
