Ascension of the Monster Queen

Nessa sighed as she finished preparing the king's breakfast, then looked at Tina, who smiled at her before leaving the kitchen, heading to the king's room, but on her way there, she noticed the prince approaching her and sighed.

He said, "Good morning."

"Good morning, your highness," She replied as he looked at the tray in her hand and sighed.

"Are you going to the king?" He asked.

"Yes, this is his breakfast," She responded.

"I see, heed my warning and don't get too close or you'll get hurt, and there's no need to look after him anymore," He said, her brow furrowed.

"That's the job you assigned me to do and I will do it, excuse me, your highness," She replied then walked away and he smirked.

Nessa lowered her head, knowing it was dangerous to leave the king alone, and despite asking Tina to keep an eye on him, the girl was still very uneasy.

"Your highness," Nessa said as she knocked on the king's room door.

"Come on in," He replied, then she entered and he smiled when he saw her, but then she noticed another bottle of medication by his bedside.

"Good morning, your highness," She said.

"Good morning, Nessa," He replied, then she placed the tray of food before him and he smiled.

"Your highness, did you drink this as yet?" Nessa asked then he looked at the bottle and sighed.

"No, I haven't," He responded and she sighed.

"Good because this is the wrong bottle; please don't tell the prince; he'll be upset; I'll exchange it; I'll be right back," She said then he sighed.

"That young man has too much stress on his mind right now, don't worry, I won't tell him, go on," He replied before she gnashed her teeth and walked away with the medication.

Nessa went to the garden where no one was, opened the bottle, and sniffed it.

"Miss notice, can you tell me what's with this?" She asked.

[Sure, it looks like the brown sinus medication, but it isn't; it's only similar in color and contains a magical toxin.]

"I see, thank you," Nessa said.

[You are welcome, master, but you know you can replace it with actual sinus medication, and the prince won't suspect anything because they look the same.]

"All right, I'll do that," Nessa said as she went to the kitchen to look for a sinus medication.

When she did find one, she discarded the one containing the toxin and made the actual sinus medication look exactly like the one the prince brought for the king.

After she finished, she returned to the king's room with the medication and he smiled at her as he ate his breakfast.

"What did the prince say to you when he came to give you the medication, Your Highness?" He smiled and looked at her when she asked.

"He doesn't know what else he can do to help, he's doing his best and so on, he wants me to recover as soon as possible, do you think I'm getting better, Nessa?" He asked.

"What do you think, Miss Notice?" Nessa inquired.

[Master, he appears to be improving as a result of the potion you mixed into his medications; he will be fine if you use more; I say it will take him a few more days after that before he is himself again.]

Nessa smiled after hearing what the system had to say.

"Your highness, you look much better than before, so yes, I believe you are getting better," She responded, and he smiled.

"That's much better to hear, Nessa, I want to live as well, I want to see my kids and my people grow," He said as she clenched her fists.

"You will get to see all of that, don't worry," She replied then he took his medications and stretched off.

"Thank you Nessa, I'm feeling quite sleepy today," He said as he lowered his head.

"You don't have to thank me, and don't make me repeat myself," She responded, and he laughed before she took the tray and he lay back on the bed.

"I'll be right back," She said.

"All right," He replied, then she left to take the tray back to the kitchen.

When Nessa returned to the kitchen, she noticed Tina drinking coffee and patted her on the shoulder.

"Is the king doing well, Nessa?" She asked.

"Yeah, I think, he will be just fine," She responded and Tina smiled brightly.

"Do you really believe that?" Tina asked, and Nessa nodded. The girl leapt from her seat, hugging Nessa tightly and Nessa patted her on the back.

"You really admire the king, don't you?" Nessa asked.

"Yeah, he is great, I would say he kind of took me in when he gave me this job, the father I never had," She responded.

"Well, you're lucky he's here, and he's lucky to have people like you around, kings and queens don't trust just anyone, and have you received anything from his children recently?" Nessa inquired.

"No, did you contact them?" Tina asked.

"Yes, I did, but have yet to receive a response; if only they could come home," She responded, and Tina sighed.

"Have you checked the prince's office?" Tina asked.

"No, not for return letters; he's in there the majority of the time now, I won't get a chance to go in there that easily," She responded.

"Leave it to me, I'll get this done, you just keep an eye on me, I know this could get me in trouble, but for the sake of the king, I'll do it," Tina said, and Nessa smiled.

"All right, when do you intend to do it?" Tina smirked as Nessa asked.

"At night, before you leave, if his children find out they will return home; I'm sure they tried to contact him, but maybe, just maybe..." Tina responded.

"The prince made certain that their messages were never delivered?" Nessa inquired, and the young lady nodded.

"That's a good point; it's possible he did stop the messages from reaching the king, so the children wouldn't get involved," Tina said, as Nessa smiled and poured herself a glass of wine.