Selene opened her eyes, resembling two bright stars. She couldn't understand anything that was happening, but the truth was that her parents were addressing a man different from Henry… Her Henry.
Someone coughed, grabbing everyone's attention. It was Henry, who briefly choked upon hearing those words, but managed to recover and, at least, no one suspected how much the news had affected him.
Many thoughts crossed his mind, including the fact that if he hadn't given up his claim to the throne, it would have been Selene who would be announced as his future wife, instead of his cousin's. He arrived at this conclusion because tradition dictated that when the woman destined to be queen was born, the pact was made between the parents of the future king and the parents of the girl. This meant that when he was six years old, Selene could have been chosen as his future wife, but everything had changed.
Could it be true or had Selene been chosen for his cousin? This question momentarily stole his peace, but knowing the truth would not be easy or helpful, because now with his cousin as king, he couldn't do or decide anything.
The gazes of everyone present were fixed on the king and the young girl, and more than one felt a twinge of pity for her, as confusion and unfamiliarity with the decision made for her since birth were evident on her face.
"Selene, greet King Frederick of Astor," her mother whispered through clenched teeth.
She had always been an obedient daughter her whole life, the only thing she had defied her parents' orders on was her friendship and love for Henry, but in everything else, they could say she was a model daughter. Truly, she was the perfect woman to offer to a young king, who needed to marry soon. However, for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to bow and greet the man in front of her.
"Selene…" Clarise leaned against her daughter and discreetly gave her a light nudge on the arm.
Selene looked at her, wanting to refuse to greet the man they had chosen for her. How was she supposed to do it with Henry present? What kind of person would she be if she did such a thing?
"Selene, please," her mother pleaded in her ear.
Selene's gaze shifted to Henry, it was brief, and when he nodded, it felt like a stab in her chest. She took a step forward and made a deep curtsy.
"Your Highness," she greeted.
The king approached her, took her hand, and with a stoic expression, kissed the back of it in greeting. But there was a tension and coldness in his movements that did not escape her notice.
"Lady," Frederick solemnly and coldly addressed.
Selene felt her heart grow cold, discreetly searching the room for Henry, only to find that he had left his seat. This made her uneasy and worried. What was Henry thinking of her? Did he consider her a liar? Did he think she had deceived him on purpose? Countless questions raced through Selene's mind, and she couldn't even answer the simplest one because she didn't know about their engagement. Her parents had never told her anything, never made a single comment about her future!
"Come with me," Frederick requested, gesturing to the empty seat on his right, the seat reserved for the future queen.
Selene's tongue felt numb, unable to respond. She simply nodded, still unable to accept her fate. Was this how her parents had envisioned celebrating her eighteenth birthday? It was cruel, and she had never even considered this possibility.
She walked alongside King Frederick and, standing by his side, felt the gaze of all the attendees upon her. The same gazes she had felt on her back since her arrival. Some smiled at her, while others looked at her with pity, making her feel even more miserable than she already was. Her eyes quickly scanned the room in search of Henry, and just when she was about to give up, she spotted him in one of the corners of the grand hall, clutching the brooch in his hand and never taking his eyes off it.
Selene's eyes stung with the urge to cry, but the loud sound of a trumpet startled her, causing her to avert her gaze from Henry and focus on her parents, who were smiling broadly, seemingly oblivious to the pain their decision was causing her.
"Ladies and gentlemen, may I present Lady Selene Russell, the future queen of Astor!" announced one of the royal servants.
Applause filled the room, but what should have been a celebration only caused unease in the hearts of the newly betrothed couple and Henry. No one in the room, except for them, was aware of their true feelings.
The music began to play, breaking the formal atmosphere and offering some relaxation, but the whispers and comments from the nobles and important figures reached Selene's ears like needles, gradually widening a deep wound.
"We must dance," the king, her newly promised husband, whispered in a low tone. Selene longed to run away, to refuse anything they tried to impose on her, and to escape with Henry. But she knew it was only a dream, as defying the king would be met with severe punishment. "My Lady," he insisted, and she could do nothing more than take his hand and ceremoniously step onto the center of the ballroom.
The movements of both were forced and almost static, but they made their best effort to not let themselves be seen as uncomfortable or at least, that's what they thought until gradually the guests began to join the rhythm of the royal orchestra.
Henry looked at the couple on the dance floor and internally debated on what he would do with what was happening. His eyes focused again on the brooch he held in his hand and he decided to put it on the lapel of his jacket.
"Henry, invite one of the young ladies to dance," suggested the queen mother.
Henry smiled tensely, but the queen paid him no attention. She was fascinated with the couple moving gracefully and elegantly on the dance floor. Without a doubt, her late husband and she had not been mistaken in arranging the marriage between their son and the Baron's daughter. An elegant, educated, and submissive girl, the perfect match for Frederick.
Meanwhile, Henry searched for one of the less grateful young ladies. He didn't want to make Selene uncomfortable, despite having a broken heart, but he was not willing to let the woman he loved slip away without at least trying something.
King Frederick was focused on the dance and the graceful movements of his fiancée. The initial tension had eased a bit, although throughout the whole time, Selene's gaze had not met his, which confused and attracted him in equal measure. It was not normal for a woman in the kingdom to shy away from the king, but her innocence and shyness were quite attractive. However, knowing that Regina was among the crowd made him impatient. He still didn't know his feelings for her and before clarifying them, his mother had made him aware of his engagement and the pressure exerted by the members of the Grand Council, as he couldn't continue to reign without a wife by his side.
As he spun Selene around, a glimmer caught King Frederick's attention, so he tried to find where it had come from and saw a large green stone sparkling under a ray of light. His eyes landed on a striking and peculiar brooch that the young lady wore on her dress, over her heart. It wasn't a common piece, it was very exclusive, and not just anyone could acquire one. This made him realize its significance, but he made no comments and continued dancing, avoiding eye contact with Regina, who watched the apparently happy couple from the front row.
Henry slowly approached, attempting to overhear anything his cousin would say to Selene or vice versa. He paid little attention to his own partner, while the girl felt incredibly lucky to have been chosen to dance with the castle's prince.
When the king turned slightly and saw his cousin dancing closer than he would have liked, he couldn't help but look him up and down. And when his eyes landed on his chest, King Frederick's body tensed as he recognized it—the brooch, the same one Selene wore on her chest…
He let go of Selene's hands and withdrew from her as if having her close was burning him. She was left confused and observed on the dance floor, while she watched the king move away as quickly as possible and go over to the queen mother, who frowned upon hearing what her son was saying.
"It's impossible!" shouted the queen in response to her son's words."See for yourself and then you'll see how impossible it is. I've told you, mom, not everything that glitters is gold. While you consider her a good candidate to become your queen consort, to me she's nothing more than a prostitute.""Frederick!" exclaimed the queen, astonished at the way her son referred to the young girl in the middle of the dance floor."I don't know what we'll do, but I won't stay without knowing the truth," he warned, and his mother simply nodded, giving an uncomfortable smile to the guests who were curiously watching the scene.The Queen Mother cleared her throat and gracefully approached one of the castle servants. She whispered something in his ear and swiftly returned to her position next to her annoyed son, who couldn't stop glaring at his cousin Henry, who seemed to enjoy the discomfort on Frederick's face.Indeed, Henry not only displayed the brooch in a visible area for Selene to see, but
"You must be the only husband Selene should have."Those words took root in Henry's heart and mind, and his desire to make Selene his own was stronger than any other longing, but to have her, he first had to reclaim his reign. The crown belonged to him by right, just as Selene Russell did.Henry looked at his mother, a strange smile forming on his face, as various possibilities crossed his mind on how to make his cousin's engagement to Selene last less than the announcement. The first thing he had to do was find out the agreement reached between the royal family and the Russell family, that would be the beginning of everything."Mother.""Listen carefully, Henry, you cannot allow them to continue trampling over you. You, my precious boy, should be the one seated on the throne, not the grandson of a whore. A mere concubine!" she shouted angrily.Henry thought the same, he couldn't comprehend how everything had been stolen from him and given to Frederick, when he was the queen's grandso
Selene waited for her mother to leave the room and collapsed to the floor, as it never crossed her mind that an innocent gift, like the one she had given to Henry, could now be something that could get her into more trouble than she already had. Not only her, but also Henry, if the king or the queen were to discover who had the other brooch, she would be completely lost and condemn Henry in the eyes of His Majesty.Selene covered her face with her hands, she had no idea of the punishment they could be condemned to because of their imprudence. She had no choice but to try to retrieve the piece and apologize to Henry.That truth only increased her distress, tears overflowed from her cheeks and she made no effort to stop them when they started flowing from her eyes again, because she had no way out. Selene dreamt that one day women like her would not have to submit to forced and arranged marriages behind their backs, but that they would have the voice she did not have. Now she only had t
"The queen is injured!" Fredrick did not descend from the carriage, he leapt from where he was and ran to check what his man had just shouted. His heart hammered hard against his chest, he was afraid, but also deeply angry. An anger that threatened to become a cyclone ready to sweep away everything in its path. Meanwhile, Selene disembarked with the help of a maid. For a moment, she had the desire to run in the opposite direction of the queen's carriage and escape, leave everything behind and start anew in a distant village where no one knew who she was or her relationship with the Royal House. However, her noble, or rather foolish, heart guided her towards the carriage, while the doctor and nurse rushed to help the queen, as they had been in the carriage borrowed from the Russells a few meters behind theirs. Selene held her breath upon seeing the powerful queen, wounded and bloodstained. Her eyes were closed, Frederick carried her in his arms, and for a moment, Selene thought she
The king managed to catch his fiancée before she could suffer a hard blow by falling to the ground."Silly girl, you shouldn't have let your guard down. Now, who will take care of you?" he muttered, forgetting about the maids in the room."I will call one of the guards to take Lady Selene to her room," one of them dared to say, earning a serious look from the King."It's not necessary. I will take care of Lady Selene," he said. "Call the doctor and you, bring some hot soup," he ordered.The maids rushed to fulfill the King's orders, while Frederick walked with Selene in his arms. It felt strange to have her like this, but he preferred to be the one carrying her and not another man. It was not right for another man to lay hands on the woman who would be his wife.The young girl was as light as a feather, he would dare to say. Her clothes seemed to weigh more than her flesh. It didn't make sense. Lord Russell was not impoverished, so why didn't he feed the King's fiancée properly?Frede
Henry clenched his fists tightly, until his knuckles turned white from the exerted force."You have no right…""You're mistaken, Henry. Between you and me, the only one who has no right to see her in any way is you. Selene Russell is my fiancée," Frederick reminded him with delight.The king couldn't forget the brooch he had seen hanging on Henry's chest on the day of the ball, because the meaning of that unique piece could only express the level of intimacy or trust between the two.Frederick discreetly breathed, trying to keep anger from taking over his heart and demanding an explanation from Henry, as he feared that he wouldn't be sincere. The king didn't deceive himself about his cousin, he had always lived in fear that he wouldn't be different from his uncle and would dare to attack his life."I met her first," he refuted angrily."She was already my fiancée, there's no way you can win or have her, Henry. For your own good and the good of everyone, stay away from her, look at her
The Queen mother had fallen asleep at some point between Regina's arrival and the exchange of words with the king, which caused certain doubts and discomfort in Frederick, as he feared that his mother had heard the young lady's indirect declaration. The last thing the King needed was to upset his mother.Meanwhile, Selene in her room dedicated herself to looking out the window and trying to discover any blind spots the castle might have, as she somehow hoped for a bit of peace and to distance herself from everything, but things didn't look easy at all, starting with the guard who was always near her door.Was it possible that her future husband had assigned a 24-hour watcher? Just the thought made her move away from the window and lie down on the bed, surrendering almost completely. She didn't realize at what point she fell asleep, until some knocks on the door and the voice of her lady-in-waiting brought her back to reality."Milady," the woman called from the other side of the door,
The path that Selene had taken successfully led her to an exit at the back of the castle. From the noises coming from the adjacent room, which was separated only by a wall, she knew it was the kitchen, where the kingdom's guards and workers were having dinner, just like the king, the prince, and the guest. She hurried but was so careful that anyone who had seen her would say she was levitating.With her feet outside the castle, she took one last look to make sure no one had seen her or was going to see her, and she ran as fast as she could, distancing herself from the building as much as possible.Selene reached the shore of the lake. She had been curious to see it up close. She walked around it until she reached the wooden bridge. She looked around to make sure she was alone. Her only companion was a goose that passed underneath and honked, catching her attention. She lifted her dress carefully and walked on the wood until she reached the center. She raised her gaze to the sky and ob