The next day in court, Adric sat on his chair listening to the ministers. He noticed the smiles on their faces like they had something else to say, but he didn’t say anything.

"Your Highness, we would like to know your plans on improving the Kingdom’s defense," one of the ministers asked.

Among the ministers in the court who were in Gwen’s camp, there were also others who served Fidelis with loyalty and now pushed it to his son. One of them replied to the other minister, "We should talk about the coronation now that the Crown Prince is married, not about war. Don’t you think?" The man asked, receiving a glare from a few and a nod of agreement from others.

As they were talking, Gwen entered the courtroom, and when she entered, the ministers bowed, "Your Majesty."

Gwen smiled, "Thank you, I had to come join the meeting today. Since my husband is not here, I should represent him."

"You speak as though the King is dead," Adric remarked, turning his face to give Gwen a smile.

Gwen cleared her throat, trying to bite down her anger. All she knew was that before the end of the meeting, Adric would know his place. She turned to look at the ministers she had sent letters to the other night and smiled, winking at them. She went to sit right on the throne meant for the Queen, with her shoulders raised proudly.

Her puppet ministers took it as a cue to speak, "Your Highness, rumor has it that you did not consummate your night with the Crown Princess and that you both sleep in different rooms. Does this not mean we won’t be expecting an heir soon? Also, did you deceive the entire royal court just so we could crown you king?" 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

"I noticed this when the princess didn’t show up for the rites that there was something wrong. Do you care to explain to us, Your Highness?" another minister added.

Gwen decided to add the icing on the cake by saying, "Calm down, ministers. Adric would never do anything like that. Though we are not very close and we barely talk, I know I have failed as a mother if these were to be proved to be true."

"No, you haven’t. We all know how you have tried your best. The Crown Prince should speak for himself."

Adric smiled at the little drama he was watching, the show put up by no other person but Gwen. "Exactly what do the ministers want to know?" he asked with a grin, his back relaxed on his chair and his leg crossed, with one hand holding up his face as he listened to the clowns of Gwen.

. . .

Oriana groaned, stretching her body on the bed before she sat up. She stifled a yawn before putting her legs down to touch the cold marble floor. Her night was better than every night since she arrived in Avon. Now she wouldn’t worry herself; all she had to do was just answer as Adric’s wife and nothing more. Going to the bathroom, she had a warm bath and dressed up in a simple gown, ready to start her day. When she left the room, she first went to the kitchen to have her breakfast, as she was not in the mood for the constant bickering of the royal family.

After breakfast, she walked around the palace. There she found Walter and Kai sitting in one of the outer sheds while a royal instructor taught them. Walter was not paying attention, but he was busy playing, while Kai had his attention focused on his instructor. Oriana remembered how the young Prince had given away her location to Adric. She sighed and walked away from there, looking at other parts of the palace she was yet to explore. That was when she saw some girls walking in a straight line like dolls, with their beautiful dresses. Oriana wondered what the girls did in the palace as this was her first time noticing—

"Freya?" Oriana paused in her thoughts when she recognized one of the young girls. She almost couldn’t tell because of the make-up. "Freya, it’s you," Oriana smiled when she approached the girl.

Freya raised her face, and when she saw Oriana, tears welled up in her eyes, "Princess," the girl’s voice broke at the end.

Oriana hugged her, "Wow, I’m happy to see you too. I mean surprised too, but..." her voice trailed, "What about Louis? I don’t see him," the princess looked around to see if Louis was standing around.

"They took Pa away. I don’t know where," Freya muttered, hoping that her father was still in one piece.

Oriana furrowed her brows, "Took him? Where? Come, show me." When she tugged Freya’s hand, two maids came to stand in front of her.

"We cannot allow you to take her," the head maid said to her with a hint of arrogance that didn’t go unnoticed by Oriana.

"Why?" she asked, looking at the other girls who were with Freya and noticing how they tried not to look at her face.

"These girls belong to the Queen. Except she gives the order, we cannot let them go," saying this, the head maid added with a loud voice, "Move! We are late!" Then she passed Oriana, almost pushing her.

"Freya," Oriana muttered. This wasn’t her kingdom, and Queen Gwen was not someone she could really talk to. "I will come for you, Freya," she shouted. She needed to do something before anything happened to the girl. First, Oriana decided to look for Louis. She asked around, giving them the man’s description. When she finally found the man, her heart broke into pieces at the condition she found him in.

Louis had a bloodied face, and a part of his hand he couldn’t move properly, but he was still forced to do the heavy labor like others.

"Louis," Oriana whispered his name when she found the man. She sat on her heels, touching his face. "Who did this to you?"

Louis wiped his face, with his eyes almost closing due to the countless beatings, "Princess Oriana," the man’s frail voice was heard. "Freya, Freya...help her," the man used his last energy to talk.

"It’s okay, let’s get you treated first," Oriana tried to pull the man up, but a guard came to stop her. "Get out of my way. This man needs to be treated. Do you want him dead?"

The guard bowed but didn’t move away, "I’m sorry, but he is the property of Her Majesty and cannot leave here."

"Cannot...cannot is all I hear! What is wrong with you people! A man is about to lose his life!" Oriana exclaimed.

The guard replied with his head still bowed, "I’m sorry," he apologized.

Oriana bit her lips. She needed to do something. Turning around, she left the swordsmith shop and made her way back to the palace, going straight to the royal court where Adric was, knowing that he was the only one who could go against his mother.

On getting to the door, she was refused entrance by the guards.

"There is a meeting going on, please come back later." One of he guards said to her.

Oriana, who had already had enough for the day, exhaled. Then she took a step back and shouted,

"Your Highness, your wife is here. Grant me an audience, please!" The princess shouted, making sure that it was loud enough to disrupt the meeting inside.