Have I found it?
Love.
But sothing’s off.
This doesn’t feel right.
I always thought love was supposed to be honest.
Not whatever this is.
Not whatever she’s trying to sell .
If this is love, I don’t want it.
Tick!
The clock on the wall snaps at again.
Each click feels like it’s counting down to sothing I can’t stop.
Like it knows I’m about to cross a line I won’t be able to walk back from.
And my hand...
God. My hand is sowhere only love is supposed to reach.
But my mind keeps fighting it.
Shoving the feeling away.
Refusing to swallow this as love.
Tick!
Sweat drips down my forehead.
Slides past my brow.
Pools on my lashes until the room blurs at the edges.
Love.
I shouldn’t feel this sick.
I shouldn’t feel this torn open.
Was this how Dad felt when he loved Mom?
Did his heart twist like this?
Did his stomach drop?
Did he feel trapped inside soone else’s idea of affection?
Because if this is what love is supposed to look like...
If this is the price...
Count out.
Tick!
Fuck...
I don’t want any of this.
"..."
"Arthur."
She said my na like she finally owned it.
Her smirk deepened, and sothing cold slid into her eyes.
"You did well today."
My stomach twisted. I didn’t know if she ant the touching, the obeying, or the breaking.
"How long has it been since a man touched ?"
She laughed softly, almost to herself.
"Of course you wouldn’t know."
Her fingers trailed across her own skin, slow and deliberate, like she was savoring the mont.
"But the truth..."
She stepped closer until her breath brushed against my cheek.
"You’re nothing but a butler."
That was it—
A reminder of what I was.
A reminder of what this wasn’t.
"I will never let soone like you..."
She paused, letting the silence stretch, letting it hurt.
"...believe you were anything more than a pawn."
I wasn’t the pawn.
Arthur was.
But now, I was Arthur.
She leaned in, whispering like she was sharing a secret I should’ve known from the start.
"The King has grown bored, Arthur; he barely looks at anymore, so I needed soone else—soone he’d see, soone he’d suspect, soone disposable."
Her hand brushed my cheek again, but this ti it felt sharp.
"If he thinks other n are reaching for , he’ll rember why I mattered; he’ll guard again, cherish again, and fight for again."
Her smile twisted. "And you? You were perfect: pretty, loyal, and easy."
My throat tightened.
"Mara—"
Before I could finish, she inhaled sharply, eyes widening with practiced fear.
"Guards!"
Her voice cut through the room like a blade.
"GUARDS!"
"HELP !"
The doorknob behind rattled.
Bootsteps thundered down the hall.
Shouts flared.
She staggered back, pulling the blanket tight around her body, suddenly looking like a damsel instead of the predator she’d been seconds before.
"Arthur tried to force himself on !"
Her voice trembled just enough to sound real.
My hands went cold.
This...
This was the real mont.
Arthur was betrayed.
I was betrayed by my own judgent.
And as the door slamd open and armored n rushed in, spears raised, I realized sothing simple and brutal,
She never wanted love.
She wanted an excuse.
And I had just given her one.
Snapping out of my thoughts, I quickly assessed the situation. I knew I didn’t do anything, I never touched her, I never even leaned close enough to breathe the sa air. But none of that mattered, because in a place like this, a queen’s word weighs more than a butler’s entire existence.
I kept staring at my palm, the sa palm she grabbed.
It was cold.
Empty.
For a second, I’d almost let myself believe it.
That feeling.
That maybe this was love.
I knew it wasn’t.
But sothing in wanted it to be.
I wanted one clean win in this world.
One small victory.
Sothing.
But that didn’t matter anymore.
The guards stord in.
Three... no, four.
All ard.
All ready to put on the floor before I could explain anything.
Is this my mont?
The turning point?
The part where my path splits for good?
I shook my head hard, dragging myself back to the present.
Arthur, one of the guards called, "What’s the aning of this?"
Another stepped forward, "Why are you in her majesty’s chambers while the queen was naked?"
The queen didn’t even hesitate.
"What are you standing there for? Arrest him imdiately."
"..."
After staying silent for a while, sothing inside began to snap clean in half.
"What the fuck are you even saying?" I said.
Then,
The room froze for a second.
The guards didn’t move.
I didn’t move.
Only the queen did.
She lifted her chin, her eyes narrowing like I’d offended her by breathing.
"You dare raise your voice at ?" she said.
Without wasting a second, I countered.
"You set up," I said. "Don’t act shocked now."
She giggled, like I had said sothing funny, even though I never intended to do so.
"Set you up?"
"Arthur, I don’t need to set up a butler."
"You grabbed my hand," I said. "You told to co closer. You—"
She cut off with a sharp laugh.
"A butler claiming the queen touched him?"
She shook her head like she pitied .
"How desperate are you?"
The allegations pilled up, I knew this was inevitable, the way she had been looking at , at Arthur, for the past two weeks, I saw this coming, but still—
None of this happened in the novel.
At least the thirty Chapters I read.
The queen was ant to have a peaceful affair with her lover, letting the king drown in his own misery, but it seems I was wrong, the story has passed the Chapters I read.
"Mara," I said quietly. "Don’t do this."
Then, a guard drew his sword, aiming it’s at my neck, the tip just centitres away from touching.
"How dare you call her majesty that," he said. "You will refer to her majesty properly."
I just stared at her, as I wasn’t angry, not shocked either, but just done.
"So that was it," I said. "I was bait."
"Exactly."
Then,
I stepped forward one inch, not enough to provoke the guards, but enough for her to know I wasn’t scared.
"You could’ve chosen anyone," I said.
Any maid.
Any noble.
Any knight.
She leaned slightly to the side, letting the blankets fall enough to show bare skin, like she was reminding everyone who held the power here.
Then,
Sothing in began to stir up as my hands clenched to a fist.
An emotion, though it didn’t belong to , stirred within, not of my own betrayal—as I never loved the Queen and barely knew her—but a sense of being deceived by the feeling I’d experienced.
This emotion was the remnant of Arthur’s soul; he had loved the Queen, but she betrayed him, and his emotions were mixing with mine, fueling a desire for revenge as her smirk was killing him on the inside.
"Guards," she said calmly. "Take him."
I slowly raised my hands, palms up, showing I wasn’t fighting. One guard grabbed my arm while another reached for rope. In that mont, I learned a mistake I can never repeat: this wasn’t love, and yet, this wasn’t the end.
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[A/N:]Now we are getting started. I hope you enjoyed this Chapter, from the tags and synopsis you will know that revenge is an important the in this story. and of course our MC doesn’t feel betrayed by the queen, but Arthur does, as he had feelings for her, but then again Arthur soul remnants began to mix with our MC soul, causing the him to now have a desire for revenge.
Anything you find confusing or hate please comnt it so I can make changes
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