LUNA: Alpha’s Soulmate from Another World

What should I do now? That was the question that kept spinning in Luna’s head since the psychopathic emperor left her in an unfamiliar room with the maids who were watching her with judging eyes. Luna was so nervous and scared that the orders that the man had given to the maids to prepare her felt like a signal that something terrible was going to happen to her.

The mating ritual.

Of course, Luna was not stupid. She knew what the word ‘mating’ meant, and to make matters worse, the psychopathic emperor was a man with a wolf’s soul. Luna shivered at the thought of having to mate with a madman who slaughtered many people over trivial matters. That was what gave her motivation. So, after breakfast, Luna told the maids that she wanted to walk around and explore the palace, which was immediately agreed upon without any hesitation on their faces.

Seeing all this, Luna smiled triumphantly inside. Unlike their cold and annoying master, the maids were gentle and kind to her. Besides the judging looks, there were also worried glances accompanying them-honestly, Luna didn’t know why they were looking at her with concern-but she chose to ignore those looks and focus on her plan.

Luna walked around the palace, memorizing its structure-every door, window, and hallway intersection. She also counted the guards stationed at every corner, which was quite a lot. After finishing her tour inside the palace, she explored outside the palace.

She wandered through the palace’s front garden and then to the back garden, which one of the maids said was the emperor’s private garden. Hearing that information, Luna wanted to be mean and destroy the garden, to ruin the pride the man felt for his beloved garden. However, she abandoned that thought when she saw the garden’s beauty, which exceeded the beauty of any painting on canvas.

Luna clutched the skirt of her light blue dress and walked to one of the flower bushes. She bent down and examined a red flower that looked like a rose, or was it indeed a rose? Luna reached out, touching the petals that were so soft, and a fragrant aroma immediately wafted around her. It seemed the flower she touched was indeed a rose, but different from ordinary roses, its scent was more robust, and if Luna looked closely when the petals were hit by sunlight, they appeared translucent, more like crystal.

Luna murmured in awe and walked to the next flower, which looked like lilies but was more considerable. Then she went to the next flower and the next until she finally felt exhausted, at which point one of the maids suggested she sit in the gazebo while sipping a cold drink.

Luna agreed with the idea and walked to the pavilion. She saw a pair of beautiful chairs with a table placed in the middle of the pavilion, surrounded by small waterfalls-like curtains. She walked over a small bridge before finally arriving at the pavilion. Carefully, she sat in one of the chairs, not forgetting to grumble because the blue dress she was wearing made her uncomfortable. She then let the maids prepare cold drinks and snacks for her. Luna took that opportunity to look around the area. Bordering the back garden was a very dense forest and a very high wall. There was no way out for her if she wanted to escape through the garden.

The main gate could have been a better option, and the palace’s side gate was also heavily guarded. Luna sighed heavily; if only there were a secret passage in this palace, it would be much easier. And even if there was a secret passage, it was unlikely that the psychopathic emperor would tell her about it.

After relaxing in the gazebo, Luna returned to the emperor’s residence, and here she was. Sitting stiffly in the drawing room, listening to the maids explain their desire to make Luna as beautiful as possible. The few hours spent together made the maids open up more to her and act more friendly. One of them even expressed gratitude for her presence in the life of the increasingly troubling psychopathic emperor. Luna could only smile wryly at this.

Luna watched the sky, now tinged with orange, indicating that evening was approaching, which meant there was less time to devise a plan. She stared at her untouched lunch plate. Twice, the maids had reheated the food and asked if the menu was not to her liking. Of course, Luna said no because she wasn’t actually hungry and felt nauseous looking at the food in front of her. Her stomach churned with anxiety that wouldn’t subside.

She had repeatedly asked for the food to be removed and even permitted the maids to eat it. Still, they refused and insisted she eat, especially since she needed a lot of energy for the mating ritual later that night. Luna snorted loudly at this.

After a long silence, “Do you know when His Majesty the Emperor will return?” she asked. She placed the teacup in her hand on the table and looked at the maids standing in a row on the right side of the room. One maid stepped forward. Luna guessed that this maid was more senior and would become her head maid.

“His Majesty will return after dinner, Miss. I was just informed to prepare you before His Majesty arrives.” Luna frowned. When was this woman informed? The maid had been by her side all morning and hadn’t spoken to anyone. Luna brushed aside her confusion as there were more pressing matters to think about.

“Oh. He won’t be having dinner with me?” Luna asked, surprised, because if she thought about it, she had felt calm and peaceful all day. Was the man giving her space to adapt? Or giving her a chance to be free before being forever confined? Creating an illusion for her that life in the palace as the man’s empress and soulmate wasn’t as evil as she had thought.

“No, Miss. Tonight, His Majesty is scheduled to attend a dinner banquet with the councillors and ministers.” Luna shrugged indifferently and decided to grab her untouched lunch plate.

“That means I have to eat now and prepare. Is that correct?” The maid nodded. Luna gave a small smile and then began eating the food she had neglected since noon, making the maids breathe a sigh of relief.

“Would you like the dessert to be changed, Miss?” another maid asked, seeing Luna staring at the dessert cake with a disinterested look.

“Oh, no need; I just want to finish my meal quickly and get ready.” Luna smiled wryly and resumed eating slowly. Every bite felt heavy as if adding to the burden in her already anxious heart.

An hour later-she deliberately slowed down her eating-Luna began to prepare herself.

Luna was directed to a bathhouse with a spacious bathing area and showers coming from statues adorning the corners of the bath. While she was being cleaned in the tub, the maids scrubbed her skin quite challenging, making her feel a stinging sensation whenever her skin came into contact with the water and soap. This made Luna feel as though they were trying to erase her identity as if she were a blank canvas ready to be filled according to the emperor’s wishes.

When they were finished, the maids immediately braided her long brown hair. They also painted her lips red with lipstick, making her look less pale and more lively. Then, pink powder was applied around her breast area, which successfully made her feel embarrassed as it revealed her nipples, hardened by the cold air. Next, lavender-scented oil was applied to her jawline, around her neck, and down to her collarbone.

The maids said the lavender oil was necessary in the area where the psychopathic emperor would place his claim mark to reduce the pain. Luna rolled her eyes discreetly upon hearing this. Did they think the lavender oil would act as a lubricant to make the man’s fangs pierce her neck more smoothly? Such a bizarre theory. Just say that the psychopathic emperor wanted to smell lavender on her body. Thinking about this made Luna want to run around the palace so that what the man smelled would be sweat instead of lavender.

When the preparations were complete, and Luna was dressed in a thin nightgown that honestly served no purpose as every inch of her body was visible through it, the maids placed her in the emperor’s bedroom, sitting her on the bed like a bride waiting for her groom before leaving the room and closing the door tightly.Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

Luna remained silent for a moment, making sure the maids had really left, before getting off the bed and hastily removing her transparent nightgown. Then she walked to one of the doors she believed to be the psychopathic emperor’s dressing room, opened the large wardrobe that stored the man’s clothes, and took out a piece of men’s clothing in a gothic vintage style. “It’s better to wear this than that damn chemise nightgown,” she muttered to herself.

Fortunately, the top she wore was large and long enough, its lower part covering down to her knees. She didn’t have time to look for pants, and judging from the emperor’s body size and height, any pants she found would surely be too big and loose at the waist.

With that thought, Luna left the dressing room. She looked around the bedroom and cautiously opened the door. She peeked through the gap, seeing that the maids were still on guard in the chamber area, waiting for their master to arrive. Luna closed the door again and carefully ran to the balcony area. She looked down and groaned inwardly at the great height from the balcony to the ground, then looked to the right and left. Her eyes blinked, and a smile formed on her lips. Another balcony was visible on the right side. It belonged to an empty room next to the emperor’s chamber.

Luna carefully calculated the distance and risk, and then, daringly, she climbed onto the balcony railing. She glanced briefly into the room and saw the door handle moving. So, setting aside her fear and hesitation, Luna jumped to the other balcony. She groaned as her body hit the balcony floor upon landing, and she felt her head slightly bump against the balcony railing, but she couldn’t waste any time.

…