The Dragon King's Substitute Bride (Morgan and Tsuneo) novel Chapter 13

CH13

Morgan

By the time Tsuneo was back in bed, my face was still burning. Maya was ecstatic to see me, embracing me despite how filthy I was. I hid the bag of gold in the closet and let Maya run a bath in Tsuneo’s bathroom. She hadn’t brought clothes with her, but I didn’t ask. None of the clothes

were mine anyway.

Instead, my mind kept turning back to the fact that I was naked in his bathroom, and he was in the other room. I put up a privacy spell on the bathroom door, but it didn’t make me think about it any less.

That will be the last time you thank me, wife.

The steam stung my eyes, blurring my reflection on the polished surface of the walls.

“Takes a certain sort of man to bathe in a mirrored bathroom,” I mused.

“All the bathing chambers are like this. Even yours has changed. It’s a good omen.”

I sank into the hot water as my stomach filled with butterflies, remembering the deep, velvety

sound of his voice. I should still be upset, but it was hard to gather the anger together. He’d

apologized sincerely. The look in his eyes when he apologized was so different than when he’d

looked ready to kill me earlier.

“Maya.”

“Yes, Your Majesty?” She paused, rolling up her sleeves.

“This queen thing…What exactly does it mean?”

“Every king needs a queen,” she said.

“For children?”

She laughed. “It’s very rare that the queen gives birth to the king’s heir.”

1 frowned and looked up at her. “What?”

“It’s just too great of a risk. The king usually has a few concubines.”

J frowned. “Tsuneo has concubines?”

1/4

CH13

She blinked, grabbing the washcloth and pouring soap onto it. She smiled warmly.

“You’ve learned his name… While you were in the human realm?”

I shook my head. “Doctor Shang.”

She hummed and shrugged before starting to wash my back.

“What’s that mean?

“He’s… a bit eccentric.”

1 cocked an eyebrow. “Eccentric?”

“Well, he’s not married. He turned down all candidates… Some say he’s… unnaturally attached to the crown prince.”

I blinked and laughed. “People think that he’s in love with Tsuneo?”

“Well, in so many words.”

I scoffed. “No,” I smirked. “Do people think the crown prince has feelings for him?”

“No one would ever dream of it.”

The look on her face said she was lying, and I couldn’t help but laugh. I could imagine them both. cringing at the thought. I was

ing to have fun with that when his father came. She finished washing my back. I washed the rest of me, and I leaned back to let her wash my

Maya finished washing my hair and pouted. “You cut your hair again.”

hair.

“Sue me.”

I’d always hated it long. It got in the way; I woke up with it in my mouth, and the thick waves always tangled past a certain length.

Maya sighed. “But all the hair ornaments will go to waste.”

“You can have them.”

“Your Majesty, don’t joke like that.”

“I mean it.”

2/4

CH13

I got out of the bath, much warmer and more relaxed. I grabbed the towel and pushed a comb through my hair. I looked myself in the mirror and frowned. I looked almost the same as always, but there was something that had changed. I didn’t know if it was in my eyes or something else,

but it didn’t matter.

Maya came up behind me with a bright smile and a blood–red and gold robe covered in images of a dragon.

“Seems… a bit much.”

“You are staying in His Majesty’s chambers, and after your escape earlier, you’ll need to make a

statement.”

I scoffed. “Playing politics like a noble. Just what I wanted….”

I shrugged and let her put me in it. It wasn’t nearly as heavy as all the layers I’d had on before.

“I take it back. This is much better.”

She laughed. “The queen’s clothes are more ornamented, but you’re in the crown prince’s chambers as his wife, so you’re wearing his clothes.”

My face heated, thinking of the look in Tsuneo’s eyes when he’d called me wife. She tied the robe. shut with a long golden cord and put a circlet of gold on my head. I supposed she couldn’t just let me not wear jewelry.

I sighed and walked out of the bathroom, wondering how Tsuneo could manage to just lie there for hours without actually falling asleep. I settled into the seat at the writing desk and took a deep breath. The walls trembled. I felt their approach in a way I couldn’t explain. There was more than just his father. Among them was at least one woman. I had a feeling I knew who it was. The heavy footsteps echoed at the back of my mind, and I reclined, taking a deep breath. I glanced into the bedroom. On a whim, I grabbed my sword and held it in my lap.

Then, the doors swung open, revealing the group. The old man, Tsuneo’s father, was in front. We met gazes. He flushed, and before he could speak, I narrowed my eyes.

“Do you make it a habit of entering my husband’s room without knocking?”

His eyes bulged, and the door swung closed in his face. Maya gasped. She looked at me with wide eyes. They tried the door again, and I smiled. How had he managed to keep it a secret all this time with people just barging in?

When a knock sounded on the door, I willed the door open. His father looked like he couldn’t