17.

The next morning, I was seated in front of the vanity mirror as the maid got me ready for the consulate meeting. When I woke up, Chase was already gone. But he left a message for me to get ready for the meeting with the elders. My heart couldn’t stop pounding and I had no idea how it would go but a part of me knew it wouldn’t go all that great.

First and foremost, I was engaged and ready to be married to Chase’s nephew a week ago, the marriage didn’t hold and I was given the brand on my wrist. Then I married a king instead of a prince. No kingdom would want a branded for a queen.

Secondly, Chase already had a betrothed which the kingdom approved of, and bringing a stranger into the kingdom as queen was not how things were done, and even I knew that.

‘Are you going to keep this up?’ Nia asked with an eye roll.

‘Keep what up?’ I asked, feigning confusion.

‘Keep giving yourself a million reasons why you shouldn’t be here. You’ve been beating yourself up since you woke up this mornin