Royally Unfaithful

Chapter 8 A Queen

Jocelyn walked down the hall leading to Queen Theona's room while following the steps of a maid in front of her. The hall is decorated with beautiful paintings typical of Europe in ancient times. A painting of King Hernandez is installed alongside paintings of other deceased Spanish kings. In the painting, King Hernandez looks so dashing—handsome, and strong. His sharp eyes showed the power he had. However, he smiled sincerely like a normal father.

"Queen Theona is waiting for you," the maid who had escorted her stood at a large door at the end of the hall.

Jocelyn looked at the door closely. Her heart skipped a beat when she realized that she would meet Queen Theona—Queen of Spain.

“Thank you,” Jocelyn said with a serene smile. She took a deep breath and walked forward to knock on the door.

"Come in, Jocelyn."

Jocelyn swallowed her saliva. Then she walked into the room.

A room with a simple design in white with accents of gold and pastel purple welcomes her. Queen Theona was standing at the window—looking up at the night sky from the Palacio Real de Madrid. She stood firm, even though her face was pale. The traces of tears were still clear on her face, but she still smiled serenely.

"Come here, Jocelyn." She extended her hand towards her.

Jocelyn bowed to pay homage to her.

"Why did you do that?" She smiled sarcastically, "aren't you also sick of all this?"

Jocelyn looked confused, "what do you mean, your majesty?"

Queen Theona turned her head, “I often feel disgusted with my life which is full of royal rules. Now my husband died, and I will get a new title. All of this will still bind me even if the man I married is gone, Jocelyn. Do you understand?"

Jocelyn shook her head, "I'm sorry, but I don't understand."

“You will be trapped in this kingdom. Your life, your sorrows, your happiness—everything will be governed by this kingdom. Aren't you afraid?"

Jocelyn blinked. "Afraid of what?"

"To Lucas? On the monarchy? In parliament?”

Jocelyn stepped closer to Queen Theona and then stood beside her.

For as long as she could remember, her mother had looked very tough at her father's death. She can stand at the door of the funeral home while welcoming every guest who comes to visit. She cried for a few moments, but she seemed fine. However, there was a moment when Jocelyn saw her crying in her own room. There was a time when she saw her mother sitting pensively in front of a photo of her father.

Jocelyn had seen all of this before, and she knew what Queen Theona was hiding from those around her—just like Liam.

"Are you all right, your highness?" Jocelyn asked quietly.

She didn't know where she got the courage, but now her hand stretched out to touch Queen Theona's arm. “Liam looks tough in the main room. He stood over King Hernandez's corpse staring at it for a long time. But I know that the loss of his father very saddened him. I've been through this before, so I know…” Jocelyn muttered. She smiled sadly when she remembered how devastated she was when her father died.

"Liam?" Queen Theona raised an eyebrow, "Have you noticed Liam? Then what about Lucas?"

Jocelyn blinked. Unknowingly she bit her lower lip in panic, "Lucas is also almost the same—"

"Wrong." Queen Theona turned her head with a mocking smile. "Lucas is busy taking care of his coronation ceremony as king to succeed his father."

"I don't understand, Your Highness," Jocelyn lowered her head.

“This kind of thing has happened many times, Jocelyn. You don't have to lie to me just because you want to defend Lucas. I know that Lucas doesn't care about Hernandez's death because he is more interested in his coronation ceremony.”

"Forgive me, your highness."

"You don't need to apologize. As a future queen, I summoned you to tell all of this. In a few months, you will also become queen, right? Almost every woman in Spain covets this position, but maybe you are starting to understand that not everything that looks beautiful is beautiful too—one of them is being a queen.”

***

Jocelyn agreed that almost every Spanish woman wanted her position—engaged to prince Lucas Alevandrov Felipe Hernandez. However, not everyone knows that being in her position is not as fun as others think.

"She is Leiza Anderson, my father's mistress," Liam muttered while looking at a woman who was now standing near King Hernandez's casket.

Jocelyn turned her head and looked at the woman closely. Even though she was not young anymore, Jocelyn could see the brilliant twinkle in the woman's eyes. She was beautiful—very, very beautiful for a woman her age. However, hearing about the woman's relationship with King Hernandez surprised Jocelyn.

“Then, the man who stands next to her is Sergio Anderson. He's my stepbrother.” Liam snorted softly.

Jocelyn turned around. This time she stared at Liam in disbelief. All her life, she just found out that Liam has a brother besides Lucas.

"He's two years older than Lucas, but he's an illegitimate child. Therefore the crown prince remains the right of Lucas." Liam chuckles. "Lucas never told you that, did he?"

She shook her head like a fool, "stepbrother?" she muttered.

“There is no king who does not have a mistress. Didn't you study history material?” Liam taunts.

Jocelyn lowered her head to hide that she was rolling her eyes. "There's no material about the king's mistress in the history books I studied!" she said.

Liam chuckled softly. “But that's exactly what happened. Long before my father married my mother, he already had a woman. Then Sergio was born and became their illegitimate son. He's my father's son biologically, but he can't get the name 'Hernandez' because he wasn't born in wedlock."

Jocelyn glanced around. Almost everyone in the room stared at Leiza Anderson and Sergio Anderson with curious eyes. Some glanced surreptitiously at Queen Theona who was standing at the end of the hall.

Jocelyn closed her eyes for a moment when she saw Queen Theona snort softly, then step into the main room.

“Liam,” she mutters.

"Yes?"

"Looks like you need to stop that woman before your mother gets here and—"

“Jocelyn!”

Jocelyn's sentence was cut off when she heard Lucas call her.

"What are you doing here?" He squinted disapprovingly when he saw Jocelyn standing beside Liam.

Jocelyn immediately stepped away from Liam, making him chuckle.

"Watch your attitude. Have you forgotten that today is my father's death ceremony?" he growled.

"Forgive me. Since yesterday you told me to be around Liam when you're not around. That's why I was with him since morning."

"Are you trying to blame me now?" He looked annoyed

"Lucas," Jocelyn touched his arm. She bit her lip nervously when she saw her stepfather—David Alfonso looking at her with disapproval.

Oh s**t. Since when was this man here?

"Lucas, please calm down. We can't fight here," She muttered under her breath.

Lucas took a deep breath. Then he reached out his hand towards her.

Jocelyn raised an eyebrow in confusion, then two seconds later, she immediately accepted Lucas’s outstretched hand—holding it tightly as if she was preparing to do another drama.

“His death was so sudden that we were all shocked. I know this news has also shocked you, too, Leiza.” Queen Theona's voice broke the silence.

Jocelyn looked at the woman with curious eyes—as did several other people in the room. Jocelyn felt Lucas' grip tighten as if he was also holding back his emotions.

"Your Highness," Sergio bowed respectfully.

Queen Theona turned her head and smiled at him. She reached out and brushed his hair gently, "I'm so sorry for the loss you've endured, Sergio." she said.

"My condolences on the death of King Hernandez, Her Majesty the Queen."

Queen Theona looked around. Then she smiled briefly when her eyes found Jocelyn who was standing not far from her. She narrowed her eyes—as if she was mocking Jocelyn.

“My two sons are mourning the death of their father. Don't be formal with me. You may also mourn your father's death." She said while nodding slowly.

Lucas snorted softly. He gripped Jocelyn's hand tightly, almost sinking his nails into Jocelyn's wrist.

Jocelyn bit her lower lip. She looked up and saw Lucas's face, which looked hard and filled with emotion. While a little way ahead of her, Liam was standing stiffly as if he didn't know how to react when he saw the drama I front of him.

"We send our condolences to you and the two princes, your majesty." Leiza bowed her head respectfully.

"I also send my condolences to you and the whole Spanish people. I did lose my husband, but you guys lost your king." Queen Theona smiled briefly and then walked away from them.

Jocelyn lowered her head nervously when she saw Queen Theona’s gaze directed straight at her.

Needless to say, she was indeed walking towards her. Jocelyn could see out of the corner of her eye that queen Theona stopped a few steps in front of her. She smiled with her pale face, then looked at Jocelyn and Lucas in turn before she brought her lips closer to Jocelyn's ear.

“Do you know how to act like a queen, Jocelyn? After seeing what I did, I hope you understand how you should behave someday." She whispered in a fairly loud voice.