"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 grandson, the rightful heir by birth and blood.
"Henry…"
"I promise you, mother, I will do everything in my power to reclaim what is rightfully ours, what they have shamefully stolen from us. I will regain the crown, have Selene as my wife, and I… I will restore you to your place on the throne," he said vehemently.
Anabel smiled.
"That's my beloved son," she murmured, approaching Henry and caressing his cheek.
"Mother…"
"Go, my son, and do better than your father," she ordered.
Meanwhile, Selene trembled like a piece of paper. She had never felt as humiliated as she did in that moment, but what broke her heart was knowing that her parents allowed all of this. Did they care so little about her feelings to allow this atrocity?
The nurse's gaze only made her feel even more humiliated and miserable than having the doctor between her legs. She didn't even touch herself excessively when bathing or grooming, so having someone so close to her intimacy was overwhelming.
"Miss, please illuminate here," the doctor asked the nurse, who held a lit candle on a candelabra.
The woman approached, and Selene felt a bit of the candle's heat against her left thigh, causing her to flinch to avoid being burned.
Without saying a word to Selene, the doctor brought his hand to her center and without permission or warning, he was already opening her lips for the necessary inspection, which lasted only a few seconds but felt like centuries to Selene.
Tears welled up in her eyes, but she remained completely silent. It was enough humiliation already to let her sobs take over the room. The doctor removed his hand, leaving a slight discomfort in Selene's center.
"You can ask Their Majesties to come in," he said to the nurse, and she wasted no time heading to the door.
Selene hurried to adjust her clothes, as she didn't intend to be seen half-naked by anyone, no matter how important they were as king or queen. She turned her head to avoid seeing them when they entered, but she hadn't counted on the strategically placed mirror in her room that showed her the king's angry face and the queen's seriousness.
"Well?" Frederick demanded in a caustic tone, especially because he could imagine the test result since Selene couldn't face him.
"Your Highness, Miss Russell has not been touched, I dare say, by anyone other than me," the doctor assured, and the king's face tensed even more at the thought that he might be lying.
"Are you sure?" he asked seriously, his eyes meeting Selene's gaze reflected in the mirror. Her eyes were red, and tears continued to silently fall, momentarily moving Frederick.
"Very sure, Your Majesty," the physician confirmed. "I would never dare to lie to you, my lord. My life would be at risk," he added.
"Arrange Lady Selene's basic belongings and we will leave shortly," the Queen Mother demanded of the young woman's mother, and then she left the room, followed by two of her maidservants waiting outside.
Selene couldn't believe the hell her life had turned into in the last twelve hours. She waited for everyone to leave her room and turned around.
"You too, Mom… Leave my room. I'll take care of organizing what I need to bring to the palace," Selene requested her mother, trying to control her emotions.
"You can't treat me like this!" Clarice refuted, as the young woman in front of her bore no resemblance to the obedient daughter she had raised.
"After all this, what you and my dad have put me through, the least you can give me is a moment alone… Possibly, the last moment alone I will have in this room and in this house," Selene pleaded with her mother, as the lump in her throat made it hard for her to even breathe.
"Fine, but… don't take too long, because we can't keep your fiancé and the queen waiting. That would be an offense," her mother warned, then left the room.
An offense?
Selene didn't know whether to laugh or cry at her mother's words. No offense could be worse than what they had caused her, shame and humiliation were two words that ate away at her soul and hurt her deeply when she realized that nothing was more important to her parents than the approval of the royal household.
The young woman had no rush to gather her belongings. It actually didn't sound too bad to stay in her room longer than necessary. However, after witnessing Frederick's demeanor, doing so would only go against her, rather than in her favor. Without paying attention to her tears, she began packing a small suitcase with her most sentimentally valuable belongings, because when she opened her wardrobe, she noticed that her best clothes were no longer there.
"Obviously, they're not here… Yesterday they were ready to send me off to the palace," Selene thought ironically, her heart breaking as she never imagined her parents would go so far as to disregard her wishes and feelings. They had never asked her what she wanted!
She stored her sketchbook, some special pens she used for drawing, grabbed a small painting of herself as a child with her dog Kay, who had been her best friend until she was nine years old. She didn't want to take anything from her parents, and many other things she used daily would be replaced at the palace, so she didn't even consider them. She took a deep breath and walked toward the door, but it was forcefully opened, revealing her mother, who appeared concerned.
"What's wrong?" Selene asked her mother.
"I almost forgot…" her mother said, confusing Selene even more. "Do you remember the brooches I gave you the other day? The ones I asked you to keep as if they were your own life?" she asked, and a chill ran through Selene's body, as she had worn them and had even given one to her beloved Henry.
"Yes… What about those brooches?" she inquired, fearing the answer she was about to hear.
"You must take them and continue to keep them as the treasure they are," her mother requested, and Selene swallowed nervously. "Those brooches were given by the Queen Mother and are part of a tradition in the royal family. As the king's betrothed, you must have them in your possession until you know you are pregnant with the firstborn, and when that happens, you must give the corresponding brooch to King Frederick of Astor. Each of you will have a brooch to wear daily as a symbol of your union and to validate your marriage," Clarice explained, and Selene couldn't contain her discomfort when she realized the terrible mistake she had made.
"I-I-I will take them," she stuttered, offering her mother a smile that resembled more of a grimace.
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
Selene's body tensed like a violin string, her heartbeat fiercely within her chest as if it were about to burst out of her body. It was the strangest sensation she had ever experienced, an unease she couldn't explain as she felt her heart pounding like drums.Why was she so unlucky? Why did Frederick have to arrive at that very moment? Destiny seemed conspiring against her, that had to be it. There was no other explanation. The universe hated her so much that it left her in the middle of that terrible situation.Selene tried to remove her hands from Henry's waist, however, he wouldn't let her go. This action caused Frederick's blood to boil inside him and freeze within Selene."Let go of my fiancée, Henry, and get out of here," he ordered coldly, without even looking at Selene.Frederick feared that by doing so, he wouldn't be able to contain himself, especially when he saw Henry's face; he was silently challenging him, provoking and fueling the enmity that had existed between them fo
A forbidden thought pierced through her like an arrow, and now the desire to know what a kiss like that would be, but on Henry's lips, was born within her. She shook her head, pushing away that insane thought, and went to the bathroom to wash her face with some water, always kept ready by the maids for her.What madness was she thinking? A kiss couldn't leave her feeling so shaken, right? She wasn't like that, she wasn't a woman who fantasized, she wasn't saintly, but neither was she shameless. However…, Frederick's kiss had awakened things in her that she never could have imagined feeling.Selene violently splashed the water, wetting the hem of her dress, but she didn't concern herself with such trifles. All she wanted was to forget what had happened that night, that was for the best. Nobody should find out about that kiss between the king and her.Frederick wasn't feeling much different from his betrothed. The sensations and memories of what he had just done to Selene continued to t