“Come on in, Sarah. Make yourself at home, even if that’s already where you belong.” The King told Emelyn with his nose buried in his documents, talking in a serious voice as he looked up at her.
The young princess couldn’t help but feel a bit annoyed by Frederick’s behavior. He called her a bit earlier today, sayijng that he needed to speak with her. Yet when she came, he seemed whether a bit eager or outraged by her presence. The soon-to-be-queen didn’t like it when people questioned their words. Trying not to show it out loud, Emelyn cleared her throat and kept a poker face, arching her brows as she stepped inside.
The young woman gestured to a seat by the table, facing the King, asking him in a way if she could sit there for the meeting. Frederick immediately agreed, nodding his head as Emelyn sat down and took her seat, staring right into his eyes with an indifferent expression. The woman knew that’s what a Queen would do.
“So, Sarah, do you have an idea of what I could want to talk to you about today? As you’ll become a Queen in two weeks, you will have to anticipate the conversations so you can be mentally prepared for any situation and not get caught off guard. Shoot up your guess.” The King spoke directly with a slight smirk as he scratched his beard. He knew how to get a reaction out of her, so he took that to her advantage.
Emelyn raised her left eyebrow and pursed her lips, thoughtfully. What would such an important person want to tell her, or suggest about? Did he discover about the OBMO in her Chambers anyways? She hoped noy. He would’ve been furious to seek a traitor in his palace, and he would’ve probably killed her or kick her out. So that option could be removed, fortunately for the young princess. She knew that if someone else than Anastasia in the royal family figured out, she would be in big trouble. There weren’t any queens since Frederick killed her a while ago out of jealousy for all her wealth.
Yes, the only big deal was Edward and Frederick. As now, she needed to guess what he wanted to tell her, she knew she couldn’t overreact at the single thought of being figured out.
“I suppose you want to share with me the obligations of being a queen and the reminders of being the best for our people, right? Your Majesty would like a great queen to control the empire...” Emelyn supposed, trying not to act like she was playing, yet she was serious.
“You’re not wrong, that’s a part of it. Yet I mostly want to discuss the perks of being so powerful. The lands you can earn, the amount of people licking your boots and the fear you earn!” Frederick took a deep breath and exhaled sharply, as if he distinguished the power in his words. “Power is all that matters. You want to be wealthy, and in Kordania, you only want your happiness. It’s yourself against the entire world, Sarah. And you’re lucky, because you’ve been picked to be the queen, isn’t that fantastic!”
The King’s ecstasy wanted to make her throw up. She couldn’t believe how he could be so selfish, so cruel. Everything he did in his life was for himself, for power, to make himself feel better that he had it all. So that’s why he took Mayain. That’s why her life was torn apart, because of this king’s self-seeking. Emelyn felt a wave of anger and desperation rush through her and she clenched her fist. This man. He broke her, without a single hesitation. The soon-to-be-queen didn’t know what to do. Neither say. Was anything appropriate enough in the situation? No. All she wanted was to scream in his face and to throw him out the window.
So, the King kept on speaking, and “Sarah” sat there in silence, watching him as she kept her frustration inside her. She acted like it didn’t bother her and that she was agreeing with him, yet her hands were joined under the table to keep herself from slapping him. The young princess had mixed feelings; she was desperate, hurt, angry, frustrated, mentally challenged, and broken. She kept herself from asking him THE question she craved from asking him from the start, yet she knew that would’ve been weird. Would that have been making him angry? Probably, and she didn’t want to make the King himself angry with her.
“Sarah, do you understand what I am saying? It is particularly important for you to understand that in the concept of power in wealth in Kordania. We want the best queen with the best resources, and everyone believes you can do this.”
“Of course, I understand. I will make sure to treat Kordania with the best I can do. No, I’ll do even do more than this, I will do everything, Your Majesty. You can trust me with this, Kordania is in good hands.”
All that faking, all that act, Emelyn already wanted this to stop. Everything she said positively about the king’s way of seeing the world was the total opposite of what she saw in the world herself. It wasn’t because she went into that trauma that she saw the world in the same way than Frederick did. Instead, it straightened her thoughts with the idea that everyone needed to be treated equally, and that the world belonged to everyone as well.
The King clapped his hands and whooped in excitement, smiling mischievously at the young woman. He stood up and stocked his arms behind his back, pacing around the room as his gaze never left Emelyn’s. Feeling a bit nervous, she grinned nervously and stood there in silence, watching him as he walked across the room. And then, the atmosphere darkened suddenly, and she felt herself swallow nervously. The soon-to-be-queen wanted to convince herself that she was fearless, yet she knew deep down that this wasn’t quite true. The single feeling of being alone with Frederick himself in this room made her stress out.
If he tore her kingdom apart ruthlessly without a single hesitation and an ounce of regret, who knew what he could do? Emelyn knew she was overreacting, but at the same time, this man was the one who decided to throw her off this selfishly and pretend Kordania had great values. The worst thing was that she said that she agreed with them just to please him, yet she obviously wasn’t. The King’s expression grew a bit sadistic, as he looked amused for an odd reason.
“Alright, Sarah, let’s get to the point here. I’m incredibly happy to notice you agreed with my view of the world, as I’m certain you’ll become a great queen. Now, I want you to tell me your opinion about my decision eleven years ago to burn Mayain down in pieces and to gain their lands. Be honest or lie because that’s what a queen would do.” Edward’s father soke seriously as he kept on pacing around the room, staring right at her.
Emelyn felt relieved that he was letting her the choice to lie, yet she knew she had to say the truth. And that “truth” would be a lie- telling him that she agreed with it and that act was perfectly legal and acceptable as in what a king would do. Yet every time she thought about saying this, the young princess felt a wave of guilt at the thought that she was simply saying this and considered saying it. Yet “Sarah” had to tell it. So that’s what she did, not without an ounce of guilt.
“Oh, I may not understand what happened exactly eleven years ago, as I was peacefully living my life in Pyril from there...But as I noticed we share the same opinions, Your Majesty would understand that I totally agree with your actions. To be honest, everything that you have done and said makes me a huge fan of yours. I think that’s why your people obey you so much- they follow along your great choices!”
His Highness laughed and nodded vigorously, sending a grateful gaze to Emelyn at the same time. The fact that he was satisfied with her lies wanted her to disappear some more, and she was feeling ashamed for talking about Mayain like that. Yet if she wanted to tear Kordania apart later, she knew she had to gain the hearts of the royal family as well as their servants and their people, so she could break them all easily. The main target was Edward, naturally, but Frederick’s positive opinion of her would help with it too. The King sighed softly and closed his eyes with a dreamy look on his face, enjoying the sound of victory.
“Oh, you are such a smart girl...Since all that power and that importance makes me feel this great, and that we all believe that this is the most important value in society, well...” He started with a serious grin and a slight frown, “You know, I’ve considered invading another kingdom. Now that there are Pyril, Wron and Kordania left, I’ve thought that we could share our view with another kingdom, shall we? But since you come from Pyril and your family lives there, Wron will be our target. What do you think about it?”
Emelyn’s eyes widened, as her jaw dropped in shock. The King was considering starting another war, and destroying other lives, tearing apart everyone there? He was basically lowering the global population by doing this, and the woman was everything but okay with that idea. Yet since he asked her opinion, she knew she had to fake it. Once again, just like she always did. Frederick proposed that he wouldn’t go to Pyril since her “family” was there, but Emelyn knew that wasn’t empathy. He only wanted to look a bit good, as he simply enjoyed that they “shared” the same opinions.
After a while of silence, “Sarah” regained her composure and closed her mouth, straightening her expression as she looked indifferent, all sudden. She narrowed her eyes and bit her lips, staring right into the King’s eyes with a hint of pain. Going through that would remind her of all that pain she used to have and that she kept inside her. All that burning wound in her heart protected by her thoughts, Frederick contributed to brutally remove the band aid on it, turning the knife in it.
“I think it is a great idea if you want to achieve some great power, Your Highness. Since everyone believes that power is the key and that you pass first, gaining Wron is important to share your opinion with the world, as well as your point of view. I do not need to share mine with yours, since we both know we believe in that, yet if that’s your goal, you might want to achieve it.”
Emelyn was feeling proud with her answer since she didn’t necessarily explain her thoughts about it openly. Fortunately for her, the King seemed satisfied with her answer, his expression growing proud and royal, with a hint of arrogance. He clicked his tongue and nodded his head, letting out a small snicker as he muttered to himself quietly.
“Oh man, I love that girl, she sees things just like I do! Anyways, Sarah, I’m glad we’re both on the same page, but now is the time to go. I’ll go ahead and gain my rights and my power for the world’s sake, and everyone will know my name! They’ll scream it with tears of joy, and everyone will be on their knees and throw gold and flowers at me!”
The soon-to-be-queen remained silent and shifted in her seat awkwardly, blinking a few times. Frederick’s words were disgusting her, truly, yet she knew she couldn’t just show him. Instead, she stood up and nodded with a forced smile, looking away nervously. The King used that opportunity to walk closer to her, and as he passed by her, her whispered in her ear:
“Show me what you can do, Sarah. You and Edward will be the ones ruling Kordania next week, and I want to be proud of my son as well as you. So, show me your real queen material, and tore these Wronans apart and show them who’s the boss, alright?”
Trying not to show how affected she was, “Sarah” nodded her head and walked off, and as soon as she left the room, she heard an explosion to the South. Her heartbeat quickened when she noticed the gravity of the situation. Wron was to the South, and the war had just begun.
And this time, she was the one who would be controlling it.
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