|Queen's Point Of View|
"Did you send the soldiers to get his parents?" I ask my husband.
"I did. They will be here soon. But it's still a question, why on earth you don't want me to kill that bustard? He did enough damage for us, to the royal family and to the whole kingdom!" he exclaims. "Our Zoey was supposed to get decently married to that kid, Patrick. Now it's all crushed! No one would accept a marked omega! What do I do with my kingdom when there's no alpha successor?!" he is breathing heavily by the time he's done talking.
"Calm down, love. First, I am not sure what awaits us in the future. Second, we should be keen now. We shouldn't let anger take the maximum of us. I am sure the news has already reached every corner of the kingdom. There's nothing we can do about it. We will talk with that alpha's parents, and to answer your question, I didn't want to kill him... him... our daughter's mate." I calmly explain though it hurt me inside. I've been crying for hours till now, but there's nothing I can do by crying over spilt milk.
"Our daughter's mate!? Mate!! Are you insane? That peasant is NOT our daughter's mate! We don't even know if he's a pervert or not!" he storms over to the stage where the three thrones lay, his, mine and Zoey's. He sits on his throne, shivering in rage.
"He's not a pervert. I can assure you that... well, I think so! Because I know his parents! They are the bakers who send the monthly supply of bread for us, for the royal family, to eat! And you know my favourite cookies, right? That person's family makes them!" I say.
"This doesn't have anything to do with a damn cookie!"
I sigh and walk toward my throne. I sit on mine, which is next to his and don't say another word. I know that it'll be useless at this point. And even I am surprised at how I am coping with what happened. It isn't a small thing. A random man just stole my daughter! Ruined our kingdom's future!
The doors to the hall open, and two soldiers enter. Following them are the baker and his wife, who have their heads hanging low, and they probably have heard of the news. I grip the armrest of my throne as I watch them.
They are simply bakers who are wearing worn-out clothes. And their son... claimed my only daughter! I feel angered by that thought, but I do my best to stay calm and collected. The two of them walk forward, and the soldiers stand aside.
"You may pay respect." one of the soldiers say.
"Your highness." the two of them chant and kneel on the floor in front of us, not daring to look at us. I've known the baker's wife for some time. I don't remember her name. We aren't close friends, but we have talked a bit about this and that. And I know that they used to live in a really decayed house. I gave them some money around ten years ago, which helped them to repair the house and buy new stoves for the bakery. And their cookies made me happy for years. But now...
"Do you have anything to say?" I ask.
The woman trembles and slowly shakes her head. She tries to talk but helplessly stops. So the baker speaks after a few seconds.
"We-we heard w-what happened y-your highness. I- I-I am shocked as well-" he tries to speak further, but my husband stops them.
"Bullshit. Didn't you send your son today so he can do that sin?!" he barks.
"N-no. Not even in our dreams." the baker denies the claims.
"Calm down, will you? I will talk with them." I whisper to my husband, who huffs and rests back. He let me do the talk.
"Do you have any idea how big the sin your son has done?" I ask.
"W-we do, y-your highness." the woman says. "If-if there's any way w-we can u-undo this. We'll do anything... B-but I beg you t-to spare my son's life." she cries out.
"Spare?" I scoff. "Your son literally marked my only daughter! And she is an omega! Do you think it can be undone?! If we can do that, you won't be here! There's no way this can be undone! My daughter won't have a future because of that idiot! Our future plans are all ruined! My daughter's love life is completely ruined, thanks to yours! And you want us to spare your son?! I am really at the edge of asking the soldiers to beat your son to death!" I express my anger.
"No!" she cries out. "Please don't do that! I beg you, your highness! You can take my life! You can take away all our possessions but spare him!"
The baker consoles his wife, but it doesn't do anything well. Honestly, I have no intention of killing their son, but he deserves to be punished. At least crippled... but still... he's my daughter's mate. Ugh. The thought's killing me alive.
"You may go back to your village now," I say.
"Pardon, your highness? N-no. What about our son?" the woman asks.
"I told you to go back! You will lose your monthly orders from the palace, and your son will be sentenced to prison for life. He won't be able to see outside the palace ever again. Not even the roads. Do you understand? This is the kindest I can be to you. Now leave before I change my mind." I point at the guards to escort them out.
"B-but wait- your highness! I want to see my s-son. Can I? Only once- for once. That's all I ask. Please consider." she begs.
I sigh in frustration. This is a whole other drama.
"Alright. Guards, take them to the cell to talk with him for a limited time." I order the guards again. The two of them escorted the baker and his wife out of the hall, and I got a deadly glare from my husband. "What?" I ask.
"You seriously think lifetime prisoning is enough?" he asks, his voice calmer than before.
"Our daughter will live in agony if her mate dies or gets injured. You know about the mate bond more than I do. It’ll be hard for her. So please understand." I say.
"You are right, but... if Zoey doesn't accept that low-life idiot, I will break that idiot's legs, okay?" he asks, giving me a warning look.
"Yeah. Whatever. I will go see Zoey now. We should stay by her side when she wakes up. Or else she'll panic." I say as I stand up to leave.
|Micah's Point Of View|It feels like I've been in the cell forever. The lump that has formed at the back of my throat never leaves, and the guilt in the pit of my stomach keeps on eating me whole. The guard who lashed at me is outside my cell, guarding as if his life depends on it. And I am not complaining.What the hell did I even do... I marked the Princess of my kingdom, and... it feels so unreal.I know I've fucked up.The royals will, at any time, order someone to kill me. They won't spare me... but I hope they won't harm my parents. They don't have to do anything about my silly act. They are innocent.I hear a door open, the creak of it and the sound of it scraping against the stone ground. I feel a dreadfulness taking over me, wondering who it might be. It might be the person who's going to decide whether I live or not-- but I only see the dejected faces of my parents in my eyesight."King and Queen allowed his parents to meet him." a new guard says to the guard who's been kil
NEXT DAY |Princess Zoey's Point Of View| The silence in my room remains as it is. No one dares to speak a word, but their gazes linger on me. I clench and unclench my hands in order to not to freak out, but it seems in vain. The doors open, and my mother arrives in a hurry. She sees that I am awake and smiles softly. She walks to my bed as I look at her through my tired eyes, silently asking how on earth she's smiling when I am like this. "I am happy you are okay. You were unconscious for one day, but it turns out you were only sleeping in exhaustion." she soothingly says, trying to caress my hair, but I slap her hand away, much to everyone's surprise. "Don't act all sweet like everything's in order. Nothing is right." I say. "I-I know, sweetheart. But be grateful for your good health. We can slowly talk about this." she assures. "What did Prince Patrick say? Does he know that I got marked by a stray?" I ask. Mother sadly nods, and I look away. The worse has happened. What migh
|Princess Zoey's Point Of View|"I- I know it's unfortunate, but we can be like before! This is just a mark-" I try to explain, reaching out to him, but Prince Patrick slaps my hands away, his eyes burning in rage. I've never seen him like this before. Isn't this all because of that commoner..."How do you expect me to be with you when another alpha has claimed you? Are you dumb or something? Zoey! You are a marked person now! I can't simply ignore that fact and be with you!" he explains.The tone of his voice he used for me hurt me. I can't believe it."I am sorry if I said something wrong, but this can't be undone! That's why I am saying this." I exclaim, tears threatening to leave my eyes."Well, what happened, happened, didn't it? And I won't have to pretend anymore," he says."What pretend?" I ask in confusion."That I am in love with you. That I care for you." he sighs. "It wasn't hard at all to pursue you and get you to fall for me. You were too easy. Do you think I love you? I
|Princess Zoey's Point Of View|I immediately stand up when I see Prince Patrick. He bows his head in respect and glances at me with his infamous smirk, which I never saw during the period we dated. And seeing him in front of me, not even the slightest bothered by the breakup and remembering the lies he has told my parents... it makes my blood boil."Are you going now, honey?" my mother asks me, looking at my half-touched plate."Yes, mother. I think I better go now." I say, looking straight into Prince Patrick's eyes."I'll ask a guard to escort you down there," she says."No need. I will ask myself."I leave my food and walk past Prince Patrick without sparing a glance at him. But before I leave the dining room, I hear his voice ask my parents where I am going. Like he cares! Self-pretentious bitch! Aaa!It is pretty surprising, indeed, how I used to love him so much, but now I am loathing after him. But still, a small part of my mind doesn't want me to hate him...I walk down a cor
|Princess Zoey's Point Of View| I play with the two rings in my hands. One is slightly bigger than the other, and I curiously put the smaller one on my right hand's middle finger. It fits perfectly. So I let it stay there. I realise my scent is slowly fading away. The ring is working well. That is when I hear a little shuffling sound from the cell and take a sharp turn to look behind me. I spot that the peasant has moved a bit, just enough for the light to reach his face, and now I can finally see how he looks. ...I thought commoners were ugly, that they looked tired and plain. But the person in front of me is far from plain. Without realising it, I am looking at his face, observing his features, wondering how a mere peasant like him has developed such features. There are wounds and cuts scattered everywhere on his face, but still– I flinch when he stirs in his sleep, and his eyes open slowly. But his attention is on the hay beneath him. I make no sound but compose myself to look
|Princess Zoey's Point Of View| A few days passed since I met the person who marked me, whose name is Micah. I tried my best to ignore that I was marked and forget that he existed. But the more I did, the more I remembered it. The more I tried to forget him, the more I remembered that he was in an underground dungeon. Also, as I am wearing a pheromone stopper ring, and he is wearing a similar one, it felt like we are wearing a pair of couple rings... During that one week, I engaged myself with my duties, mostly taking care of the budgets and checking records of every part of the palace. I did that to engage my mind in the work so I would stop stressing about shit. Plus, the fact Prince Patrick didn't visit my kingdom was good news too. But... During those days, as I walked down the corridors, my eyes always caught a familiar person... It was Micah. Though I was trying my best to forget about him, he was always there. He was given labour work in the storerooms, where he was assigne
|Princess Zoey's Point Of View| Next day. I pace in my room, and my mind wanders everywhere. After Prince Patrick blabbed shit during last night's dinner, my parents didn't say anything. And that itself makes me feel uncomfortable. But one thing that makes me happy is the fact that the idiot Prince won't visit us again. He'll be gone for the best and never comes back. I sigh and sit on my bed. There are still a few things left unsolved. What might happen to me? To the future of the kingdom? And to that peasant? Is he going to spend the rest of his life in prison? Seriously! I will die in guilt. And... will my parents consider what Prince Patrick said?! Aaaaah. These twists are eating me whole! I hear a knock on the door, and before I ask that person to come in, it opens. And my friend, Duchess Winter, comes in. She immediately closes the door behind her and walks toward me, looking worried as ever. "I've never hated myself this much. I am so damn sorry! I had to go out of the kin
|Princess Zoey's Point Of View| But it happened every single night for one week. Maid Pamela had to form up different lies and go check on that damn person who made me worry over him. She came every night with news like, "he's asleep as usual, your highness.", "he's having a meal, your highness.", "he's dozing off in the cell, your highness." And I can sleep peacefully after knowing that he's doing good. But... one little problem. No. One BIG problem. WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING!? "I think you shouldn't go today." I finally say to Pamela, who gives me a concerned look. She has come to my room to know if I want to know about Micah. But... this is completely nuts! I should stop this before it gets out of hand! She smiles; "Your highness. I know you are hesitant about everything you do now—especially things regarding... that commoner. Your... former relationship ended badly. And I know how Prince Patrick treated you at the end because I heard your argument. He hasn't loved you, and that