My eyes narrowed as soon as they fell on the old man who had walked out from the bush with a frown on his face. Arjun didn’t know who he was which made him more alert, but I pushed his shoulder once more. “Stand down, Arjun. I know him.” I knew I had seen these trees before. Not like all of them didn’t look the exact same.

I glanced at Felix, who was also frowning over at the old man.

“Could you all find another place to fight each other?” I scoffed as the old man glared over at me with a certain intensity and I matched it with my own. Was he angry at me now? Oh, this man was going to get it!

“You have got to have some nerve to be furious at me.” Arjun finally stepped back so I could truly be furious at the old man in front of us, but it was of no use since he waved his hand at me dismissively. “How do you know this person?” Felix asked up and before I could answer his question, the old man was taking over the conversation entirely.

“I was the one who trained her for the arena battle.” I groaned when Felix’s eyes narrowed, and he glared at me. Great, he was reminded of that again.

“Yes, he trained me and then left me to fend for myself!” There were some situations that were unforgettable and for me, one of those circumstances included the old man being gone when I needed him to get me out of that marriage fiasco.

The old man scoffed before he turned around to leave. Arjun and Felix stood rooted to their place, but I followed him. I had so many things to say to him. I thought he was going to help me out and his idea would be foolproof, but I had been the fool.

Sensing me coming after him, he glanced at me with distaste. “You are of no use to me anymore. You’re a King now, and I don’t need a King.”

I frowned when he walked over to his chair by the fire.

“Wow, I didn’t know anyone lived in the forest.” I heard Arjun’s voice, but I didn’t care about that at the moment. All I knew was that this man had used me and that he didn’t care what happened to me now. Not like I was in any trouble though, since I was being treated fairly well by not just the Queen but also everyone else. But this was not the life that I had wanted. Yes, yes, I realize how whiny and ungrateful I sound right about now.

“What use is he talking about?” I looked back at Felix, who glanced from me to the old man. His question had overtaken the direction of the entire conversation since the old man preferred to prioritize his questions over answering mine.

“Oh, did your friend not tell you?” Felix frowned when the old man stared straight at him. I knew he was going to say something stupid, but I couldn’t stop him even if I tried. “She wanted to humiliate the Queen by challenging her to marry her in front of everyone in the arena.”

I groaned when I heard a loud gasp which came from Arjun, but dealing with him was secondary. Felix was my top priority as I went over to him. “Look, he was the one who planned everything. I just went along with it because...” I trailed off before glancing at a surprised Arjun. Turning back to my friend, I sighed while whispering. “You know how I hate the Queen.”

Felix’s eyes narrowed and he shook his head. “So, you marry the people you hate?”

I glared at the old man, who had snorted from his place by the fire, before I turned back to Felix. “I didn’t want to marry her! Why aren’t you hearing me out?”

“But you did. Didn’t you? That’s all that matters now, isn’t it?”

He wasn’t wrong. I was already married to the Queen, who didn’t feel even slightly uncomfortable with being married to me. Whereas I was here trying to convince my only friend that what I did was not in my control. But wasn’t it something I had willingly worked for?

“Your highness.” I sighed when Arjun called out to me. “Yes, Arjun.”

“Is all of this true? Did you want to embarrass the Queen, and not marry her?” I nodded my head truthfully because everything was already out in the open. The least I could do was to own it. But I could also pass a gag order to the man so he wouldn’t be able to pass this information onto anyone else.

Yes, I did take a few lessons with Elric on how to take care of unwanted rumours. Though, this wasn’t a rumour. This was the truth and it was going to ruin me, for sure.

“You are ordered to keep this to yourself, Arjun.” The man’s eyes widened before he asked a question again. “You want me to keep a secret from the Queen?”

I had to be careful with him as I nodded my head with narrowed eyes. “Yes, Arjun. You don’t want to hurt the Queen’s feelings now, do you? What she doesn’t know wouldn’t hurt her.”

“That’s called treason.”

“Not when it’s your fault that I’m in this mess in the first place!” I pointed a finger over at the old man, who looked amused at being addressed.

“I’m leaving.” I heard Felix’s voice, and I turned to him immediately. Grabbing his arm to halt him, I felt my eyes prickling with tears. “I’m still your friend, Felix. I’m -- I’m sorry for lying to you. I didn’t think it would all come to this.”

Felix looked over his shoulder. His eyes also held the same pain.

Shaking his head, he pushed away my hand from his arm. “I didn’t think so either.”

I watched with a blurring vision as he walked away from me. He never was one to leave me and now he was going to. He wasn’t going to talk to me or even spend time with me. He was my only friend. I felt the hurt of losing a friend all too soon, but it was overshadowed by the laugh I heard from behind me. And I knew exactly who it was.

Gritting my teeth, I wiped at my eyes before turning around to look at the old man. He was sitting there with a smirk on his face, and I just wanted to wipe it off of him with a fist. But my advances were stopped by Arjun, who came to stand before me.

“We should go back, your highness.” I frowned as he shook his head. “I don’t know what it is that happened before you became King, but I do know that you are not a bad person, your highness.” Was he... trying to make me feel better right now?

“This man does not deserve your anger.” His words rang deep since he was right.

Sighing at my situation and my lack of control over it, I nodded my head obediently. “Let’s go then.”

“Leaving already?” I frowned as the old man spoke up suddenly. “I thought you wanted to stay some more.”

Arjun glanced back at the man. “You will be respectful to the King, or I will have you arrested.” My eyes widened in surprise. The old man also looked shocked as he frowned immediately. “On what accounts? I will let everyone know that your precious King only wanted to exact revenge against the Queen.”

I sighed at his words. Of course, he was going to start blackmailing me now. But Arjun’s next words were more surprising than his previous ones. “Who will take your word against the King’s?”

The old man was left speechless as he snorted. “So, you are committing treason as well, young man?”

Arjun shook his head. “I’m a loyal subject to the throne.”

“Even when that throne is being occupied by a liar.”

“You seem like the liar here. One who ended a friendship and used a person for your personal gain.” I didn’t even believe whatever was leaving Arjun’s mouth right now. Was he really taking my side? He didn’t even know the entire story, but he had assessed everything so perfectly from just observing and listening. He didn’t seem so smart before but now I was looking at him in an entirely different light.

As if giving up in having a conversation, the old man waved his hand dismissively. “Fine, do whatever you please. I just want some peace.” He leaned back in his chair, and I turned to Arjun with an impressed expression.

“Well, that was something.”

Arjun bowed his head at me before he gestured me to walk on. “Let’s go back, your highness.”

…......................