The party was perfect, though the guest of honor was still forcing himself to smile. Deep down, he just wanted to leave this hall full of sheeps in wolf's clothing.

If there's one thing his family taught him,it was to never show weakness in front of anyone.

When he was fifteen, an enemy kingdom found out his father , the king , wanted to divorce from his mother.

Knowing he couldn't do that,they sent a concubine to promote 'peace' between the nations. His parents died mysteriously and Accalia assumed the throne.

All of Askarimi's resources were exploited by the enemy nation through that concubine,the population suffered from diseases,famine and exorbitant taxes.

While she focused on making Askarimi a living hell,the young prince was preparing to take back his rightful crown with the support of the nobility.

Once he was nineteen, he executed Accallia and cut all the laces with her birth kingdom,after two years in his rulership Askarimians got back to their feet.

...

When everyone was drunk,Sahil could slip away from that tiresome event full of pushovers and backstabbers. He threw himself at his giant fluffy bed,where he could relax without worry.

Good thing I told Anisa to serve the guests the strongest wine they had in the storage.

"Haa… I'm so tired." He sat hugging his pillow.

Back then, I thought that when Accalia died everything would go back to how it was… to when we were happy. The 'we' no longer existed, only 'I'.

For the first time,he allowed himself to cry. For so long,he had put on a brave face when he was scared ,worried or sad because as a leader he couldn't afford to be weak.

"Who 's there?" A loud noise made him notice that he wasn't alone.

"I'm Adira, your majesty. I was sent to clean,but I didn't wish to disturb your slumber and decided to leave..." A woman said nervously.

"Don't lie. You heard me cry, didn't you?" His heart was beating fast, afraid of the answer.

"Honestly, I wouldn't trust anything my eyes saw now! They've been affected by exhaustion."

"Wait,you saw ?" He ran his fingers through his hair,embarrassed.

"Yes…" He appreciated the honesty,but that just made him more anxious.

What if she told everyone? What if his reputation got tarnished and enemies attacked the kingdom he worked so hard to rebuild?