The Substitute Queen 👑

Chapter five

Celeste

Breakfast was an eventful one to say the least.

The dining room was enormous, like everything else in the palace so far , a long table stretching beneath windows tall enough to flood the whole space with morning light, high ceilings, gold accents catching along the edges of the room. Guards stood posted quietly near the doors, and maids moved along the far wall with trays, refilling glasses, clearing what wasn't needed, present but somehow invisible in the practiced way of people trained to be exactly that.

The table itself nearly overwhelmed her before anyone else even sat down. Platters of food covered nearly every inch of it , soft rolls still steaming, eggs done three different ways, thick cuts of ham glazed and glistening, bowls of fruit she didn't have names for in colors she wasn't sure were natural, small pastries dusted with sugar, pitchers of juice in shades of orange and deep red. At home, breakfast meant whatever was left after the family had eaten, taken standing at the kitchen counter if there was time at all. She stared at the spread a bit too long before catching herself.

Roman was already seated at the head of the table, a folder of papers opened beside his plate, though he closed it the moment the door shut behind her.

He didn't stand, but the glance he gave her was slightly less clipped than the night before.

"Sit," he said, gesturing to the chair across from him.

She'd barely settled before the door opened again, and three others came in, loud enough that the whole mood of the room shifted with them.

"So this is her," said the one she assumed was the younger of the two men, grinning as he dropped into the chair beside Roman. Lean, sharp-featured, dark hair pushed back carelessly, sleeves rolled like comfort mattered more to him than appearances. "Roman, why didn't you say she looked like that? You made it sound like a chore this morning."

"Theo," Roman said, in the tone of a man very used to saying that name as a warning.

"I'm just saying." Theo turned his grin at Celeste instead. " Theo, Your Majesty, I'm the Royal Gamma of the pack. It's genuinely a pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty. And can I just say, "You're really beautiful."

"Theo," Draven said flatly, not even looking up from buttering his toast.

"What? I'm being nice."

"You're being Theo," said the largest man at the table, settling into his seat with the easy weight of someone built like a small mountain, broad along the shoulders, close-cropped beard, dark steady eyes. "Ignore him, Your Majesty. He does this to everyone. It means nothing."

"Excuse me, it means a great deal, I'm very sincere…."

"He's stupid," Draven said, finally looking up, entirely unbothered. "Truly. Don't waste a single thought on it."

The general , Corin, judging by the insignia on his collar , huffed something that might have been a laugh, and Theo threw both hands up like he was the injured party. Celeste felt herself smile despite herself, quick and involuntary.

"Please," she said. "Call me Celeste. All of you. I don't think I'll ever get used to the other version."

"See," Theo said, pointing at her like he'd won something. "She likes me already."

"She tolerated your comment," Corin said. "There's a difference."

"Corin. General," he added to Celeste, more gently, like an afterthought meant just for her.

"And I'm Draven. The Royal Beta." He inclined his head, warm despite the dry humor a moment ago. "Forgive us for missing the wedding yesterday. There were matters here in the pack that couldn't wait, unfortunately. We've been looking forward to today all morning, though."

"It's a pleasure," Celeste said, and meant it more than she expected to.

Roman said nothing through most of it, focused on his plate, though she caught the corner of his mouth twitch once when Theo got shut down a second time. It was strange, watching him like this , looser, less guarded, clearly comfortable around these three in a way he hadn't been around her at all.

Conversation drifted easily after that ,Theo needling Draven about something from the week before, Corin adding dry commentary here and there, Celeste mostly listening, still adjusting to the sheer size of the food in front of her and the fact that no one here seemed to expect anything from her except to eat and exist.

Roman set his napkin down first, folding his papers under one arm as he stood. "It's time for the meeting, let's go."

That was all he said. Draven and Theo rose almost immediately after him, still bickering lightly, clearly part of whatever meeting he meant.

Corin lingered half a second longer than the others.

"For what it's worth," he said, quietly, "he's not always like this, just give him some time."

Celeste nodded, unsure what to say to that, and watched all four of them leave before she finished the last of her coffee alone.

After breakfast, there was a woman waiting for her in the east drawing room who introduced herself as Lady Adelina Voss, and made it clear within the first two minutes that she took her position, and Celeste's, very seriously.

She was older, silver-haired, dressed in a severe gray that made the palace's gold and cream look almost frivolous by comparison. She looked Celeste over once, carefully, assessing rather than judging, and inclined her head with genuine respect before she said a single word about posture.

"Your Majesty," she said. "I know this is a great deal, all at once, and I know none of it was chosen by you. I intend to make this as painless as I'm able. But I won't do you the disservice of pretending there isn't a great deal to learn before your coronation."

"I appreciate that," Celeste said, and meant it.

"Sit comfortably," Lady Voss said, gesturing to the chair, "but sit attentively. A queen carries herself a certain way, not because slouching is a crime, but because every eye in every room will be looking for a reason to say you don't belong there. We're going to make sure they don't find one."

Celeste sat up a little straighter, though this time it didn't feel like a correction so much as an invitation.

"We'll begin with the address," Lady Voss continued, opening a thin folder on the table between them. "Who outranks whom in this court, who must be greeted first, who may be acknowledged with only a nod. Mistakes here aren't simply embarrassing, Your Majesty, they're read as insults, and insults in this court are remembered far longer than kindnesses are."

"Understood."

"We'll move to posture, table settings, and the correct response to a slight you aren't permitted to react to publicly," Lady Voss said, glancing up with dry humor. "Which I suspect, given the circumstances of your marriage, you may need more practice with than most brides usually do."

"That's reassuring," Celeste said, before she could stop herself.

Something flickered across Lady Voss's face, not quite a smile, but close. "Reassurance isn't really my role, Your Majesty. But everything I teach you this week is meant to protect you, not to make you smaller. One more thing, before we begin properly , you'll be given a phone and a tablet before the day is out. I understand you didn't have much use of either, previously."

Celeste felt her face warm slightly. "No. I didn't."

"No matter," Lady Voss said, plainly, without pity. "You'll learn quickly. Let's begin."

By the time the lesson ended, Celeste's head was swimming with names, ranks, and rules she was fairly sure she'd forget by the time dinner commenced. She found Sallyn in the East wing exactly where Mia said she'd be, curled up on a queen-sized bed in a medium-sized but tidy room, looking equal parts exhausted and thrilled.

"There she is." Sallyn sat up fast, grinning. "Your Majesty."

"Don't," Celeste groaned, dropping beside her.

"Oh, I absolutely will. Every chance I get." Sallyn nudged her shoulder. "How was it? Being royalty and everything?"

"Exhausting. There's an actual list of who I'm allowed to nod at versus who I have to actually greet properly. How was your day?"

"Better than expected. Everyone's been kind. Fed well, given a decent room." Sallyn tilted her head, studying her for a second. "Honestly? I keep thinking how insane this whole thing is. You. Queen." She laughed, shaking her head. "I'm not going to lie, part of me is thrilled it's you and not her."

"Sallyn."

"I'm serious! Can you imagine Seraphine having to sit through etiquette lessons and actually listen? She'd have had that poor woman fired by lunch." Sallyn grinned wider. "She doesn't deserve any of this. Never has. Everything's just been handed to her on a gold platter her whole life, and she still couldn't be bothered to show up for her own wedding."

"You shouldn't say that," Celeste said, though there wasn't much conviction in it.

"You know I'm right, though."

Celeste opened her mouth to argue and found, quite honestly, that she couldn't. "She is a bit of a b***h," she admitted, quiet, and Sallyn burst out laughing hard enough that one of the other maids poked her head in to check what was funny.

"There she is," Sallyn said, delighted, wiping her eyes. "I knew you were still in there somewhere, Your Majesty."

"Stop that."

"Never," Sallyn said, grinning, and pulled her into a hug instead.