Odette didn't understand why she had to do those. Wouldn't it be easier to just let her be a maid? She would certainly be of use immediately.
However, since this was an order from the Masked Alpha, she dared not to object. If he wanted her to be useful after learning medicine, magic, and the military, then so be it.
Thus, she nodded, full of determination, "I will not disappoint you, Your Majesty! But uhm…"
"What?"
Odette looked around her surroundings. This room was truly too good for her, who used to live in a shack inside her pack domain. She wasn't allowed to live in a den due to her not having enough body warmth like other wolves.
"Where should I sleep in the future, Your Majesty? This place… I don't think I deserve to stay here," Odette said.
"This is your room," the Masked Alpha stated. "You don't need to move unless you want a better room."
"N-no, this room is already too good for me, Your Majesty!"
"Then, you don't need to worry," he finally walked towards the window and said before leaving, "You're not the one I'm searching for. So, you're free to do whatever you want."
With that, the Masked Alpha leaped out of the window, leaving Odette in a daze as she just realized that she missed asking the most important question.
"I forgot to ask his name…" Odette muttered. She doubted that she'd have any chance to talk with His Majesty from now on, so she decided, "Alright, I guess I will just refer to him as 'His Majesty' for now."
**
The Masked Alpha leaped out of the dark cloud, a portal that separated his kingdom from the real world. He didn't like going in and out unless necessary, because his presence would immediately trigger the dark beasts in the forbidden forest and make them run rampant.
But still, he had to go, because he had to search for her, the fated mate that always eluded him for thousands of years. He knew she was out there, somewhere in the forbidden forest. They always met in that same forest, over and over for the past thousands of years.
Yet, this was the first time he ever made a mistake. He truly believed that Odette was the 100th incarnation of his beloved until he was proven wrong.
'She has her voice, her scent, her face, even the determination in her eyes are similar. But how come she has no birthmark?' the Masked Alpha pondered as he paced through the dark forbidden forest. 'Have my sense become dulled after thousands of years?'
That question lingered in his head, and he had to admit that he felt fear. The man who never experienced fear in his life was terrified by the idea that he couldn't detect his fated mate anymore after her 100th reincarnation.
'She must've been out there, somewhere. I just have to find her and take her back,' the Masked Alpha told himself. As he walked through the dark forest, he stumbled upon the carcass of the dark bear he killed a while back before saving Odette. He remembered how Odette cowered under a tree, scared to be eaten, and the corner of his lips raised only for a second before he frowned again.
He found her cute. He always found all of her incarnations cute, but Odette roused a strange sense of nostalgia, which made it easy for him to find her.
But he was mistaken.
She wasn't his fated mate, and he had to keep searching.
The Masked Alpha's red eyes lingered on the spot where he found Odette and muttered, "Where are you, wife? Are you eluding me because I've made a mistake you can't forgive?"
**
Odette woke up early in the morning. At least it was supposed to be morning, but she believed that she had slept for at least four hours after His Majesty came to her room.
She got up and cleaned after herself in the bathroom since she was fully healthy now.
Odette stared at her reflection in the mirror, and pondered, 'Who was he talking about last night? I'm not her? Who is her?'
Odette had no idea, but she was an only child, so she had no sister who looked like her.
Besides, His Majesty had lived for thousands of years, surely they had never met before, right?
'So, what is my purpose? How can I be useful to him?' Odette was in deep thought. 'Wouldn't it be enough for me to be a maid for the rest of my life here?'
As she continued thinking about her purpose in life, the door was knocked, and the cat maids announced, "Your Grace, we've prepared your breakfast. Can we come in?"
"S-sure!" Odette combed her long strawberry-blonde hair in a hurry and tied it in a low bun knot behind her head, a sign that she was ready to start the day.
The cat maids served her food as always, and though Odette had been asking them to eat together, they always refused, stating that they didn't have hunger in the first place.
Odette too, had no hunger after she was 'dead', but the cat maids always told her to eat every day, as it was His Majesty's order.
After she was done eating, Ruru said, "Your Grace, Sir Zircon has requested your audience. Will you allow him to come here?"
"Sir Zircon? Oh, His Majesty's beta?" Odette asked as she remembered His Majesty mentioning a man named Zircon if he wanted to learn about the kingdom's military.
"Oh, that's right!" Ruru nodded. "He said there is an important thing to discuss."
"Irida, the doctor, and Ymir, the wizard, also want you to come to their places, Your Grace. You can also invite them in here if you want to," Rori added.
"Did His Majesty tell you all this?" Odette asked.
"Well, we… overheard," Ruru replied slowly. "Since His Majesty wants you to meet them, we've arranged everything for you!"