Betrothed To The King

Chapter30

Queen Lula left the window and sat on her bed after watching her husband ride into danger. She was scared that she might lose her husband, but at the same time, she knew that it was important to get Pearl back.

She would not say she hated Pearl for any reason in particular, but you could say that she hated everyone around her.

She wanted Pearl to have her baby. She wanted the baby to be born because she had always wanted a baby in the castle. She loathed the life King Archer lived and wished he could mistakenly have a baby, even if it were not from her.

Luckily now, they would have a baby in the castle soon, but she knew that someone in the castle did not want the baby. She could not tell who the person was in particular, but she suspected Zinnia because of the kind of person she was.

***

Zinnia sighted Agent Fox walking up the stairs as she hurried to him.

“You didn’t go with the King? Why!? You would have gone so that you could get information on what will happen?” Zinnia muttered as Fox huffed inaudibly.

“You worry a lot, woman! You don’t have to worry, Zinnia. Pearl isn’t returning. The King of Prussiate made her his slave. Thank God you helped the guards take her away. I thought it would ruin my plans, but I think it made it much easier. King Archer might equally be killed, and I might be crowned King as his personal adviser since his brother does not want the throne!” Fox said with a cocky giggle.

“Come on, Fox! The plan was never to harm the King. I don’t want that at all,” Zinnia sighed as she turned back to see if anyone was coming. “You know how much I love King Archer, so stay clear. I can’t marry you, Fox, you know that. We won’t make a good couple. Let’s just continue the Casanova life we are living.”

“Yeah, if you say so,” he replied, faking a frown as he pulled her close to himself. “You know what is more fun?”

“Tell me.”

“Not having the King and many of the guards around. This means we can have fun any day and anytime, Zinnia. You should be happy,” he said as he pecked her neck softly and moved down to her chest as Zinnia moaned softly.

“Fox, this isn’t the right place to do this. We can just go to your…” she tried saying as she heard a gentle cough. She turned to see Seren, who was acting as if she had seen nothing.

“I was just passing. You both should have fun,” she said as she walked past them with a funny chuckle.

“You see what you caused by not having self control, Fox! You’re just so annoying. God, I’m doomed. The King will definitely hear this!” Zinnia muttered, hitting her palms on her forehead in frustration.

“Zinnia, this is bad. What should we do!?” Fox asked, making Zinnia more annoyed.

“You should know what to do because you caused this mess. By the way, you can’t make her unsee it,” Zinnia said as she walked out of his presence angrily. “God, I hate her friends too!” she muttered as she slammed her door shut.

•

•

The huge, dangerous looking man walked to me with a frown on his face. He was too ruthless to be a disciplinarian. I knew he would surely punish me for not doing much in the planting.

He stared down at the lilies I sowed in disgust as his eyes drifted to me in rage. What next?

“Do you really not know how to sow lilies, or did you do this rubbish intentionally!?” he yelled as he pulled me up by my hair. It hurt so much, but I decided to stay strong and absorb the pain.

Just on my first day as a slave, I already felt like I was losing weight. I would definitely die before the week ran out.

“Are you this dumb? You literally just placed the lilies on the mud, and once it rains, they will all wash away!” he yelled as he pulled me with him. I just hoped this would not go beyond expectations.

He pulled me to a room filled with ropes of different sizes. It looked like a room meant to punish people. He definitely had bad plans for me.

Staring at the ropes and whips in the room made me more scared. I was going to be whipped. This was far beyond my expectations. I had been starved, punished, and would still be punished again all in one day.

He pushed me hard to the floor, and I hit my belly. That was the worst. If they continued maltreating me this way, I would definitely lose my baby.

My belly felt so heavy all of a sudden, making my waist hurt so badly.

Ezra, as they called him, walked towards the thick ropes as he tightened them and walked to the other end, where he got two whips of different sizes. I felt like running at the sight of that and the thought of it being used on me.

“Strip!” he shouted emotionlessly as I fearfully stood up and pulled off my garment and then my pants. I felt so disrespected being naked in front of a man who was not my husband.

I was scared that he was going to violate me and do all sorts of disgusting things. Even if he wanted to do all that, I did not have a choice here because no one liked me, and I had no one to run to. Trying to run away would make them kill me at once.

***

Seren hurried into the room after seeing the disgusting act between Zinnia and Agent Fox. She was shocked that Zinnia could act in such a manner.

At first, it seemed like a dream to her, suddenly barging into such a thing, but it was later confirmed by the way they kissed that they had something together.

Seren paced back and forth in the room, babbling to herself while Rosamund stared at her in confusion.

“Hey, Seren, will you just stop acting up and tell me what is wrong with you?” Rosamund asked as she sat up, staring curiously at the restless Seren, who turned to her and sighed.

“You won’t believe what my eyes saw today, Rose!” she muttered, still not believing it herself. It was hard to believe such a thing was happening, and no one in the castle might have noticed.

“Will you just spill it out!”

“Queen Zinnia and that man that always stands by the King, I don’t know his name…”

“Yes, the King’s personal adviser. Go on.”

“Yes, they are having an affair. I caught them kissing!” Seren muttered as Rosamund stared at her in shock. She knew that Seren did not say things without reason. It was definitely true.

“You’re not serious, Seren! What was their reaction when you caught them?” she asked with disgust on her face.

“They were obviously embarrassed. Zinnia couldn’t say a thing. She just left him and ran to her room,” Seren said as she sat next to Rosamund. “I knew something fishy was going on in this castle, but this was the last thing on my mind!” she muttered as she clicked her tongue in disgust.

“Don’t you think they are both part of the kidnap of Pearl? I mean, this castle is just too large for a stranger to come in and go just like that. Someone from this castle must have helped them escape or something,” Rosamund said as she turned to the thoughtful Seren.

“We have to do our own investigation in this castle while the King and his guards are out there looking for Pearl. It will equally make it easier for them. We already have a suspect at hand, so we will start from them, and we have to be careful because Zinnia might find out about our plans and harm us.”

“Are we going to tell the King about what you saw?”

“That won’t be necessary now. All we have to do is get Sage and ask her questions about Queen Zinnia. Sage will definitely do anything to save her mistress. I see the genuine love she has for Pearl.”

•

Sage lay on her old mattress with her eyes focused on the candle chandelier. She was so lost in thought that she did not notice anything around her.

She was dying of guilt. She blamed herself so much for the situation her mistress might be in. She feared that her mistress might lose her baby or get hurt.

“Who knows how badly they might be treating her? She hasn’t taken her coffee, and being stressed won’t be good for her and the baby!” Sage said aloud as tears rolled down her eyes.

She knew how much Zinnia hated her mistress. She suspected Zinnia so much that she could swear Zinnia had a hand in everything happening.

Yes, she knew Zinnia even before she was married into the castle. They were both workers in the brothel the King often visited for women.

Sage sighed, not wanting to remember her bad encounter with Zinnia. She stood from her bed and made it to the exit as she met Zinnia standing by the door. Just then, Seren and Rosamund showed up.

The looks on their faces got Sage confused.