Chapter 2

A thin veil seemed to hang between us. We were courteous, proper, and distant.

He asked if I had been well that day, and I said I was fine. He said the weather had turned cold and told me to wear another layer. I said I understood and thanked him for his concern. Later on, we had a huge fight over the matter of heirs and I stopped seeking him out.

When he came, I avoided him when I could. When he did not, I sat alone, staring blankly into the sky, letting one day pass into the next aimlessly.

He thought I was brooding, but I was simply too tired. Too tired to fight, too tired to hope, and too tired to hate him properly.

On the day of the royal hunt, the autumn sky stretched high and cold. I stood in a clearing in the woods, lost in thoughts, all alone.

Suddenly, Cecily screamed behind me. "Why did you push me, Your Majesty?!"

I turned in surprise and saw Cecily sitting on the ground, her hair loose and disheveled with her face pale.

Jeffrey helped her up, his expression full of anxiety.

When we first arrived in this era, I had already explained to Jeffrey about every kind of court intrigues we might encounter. Pretending to be harmed to frame someone, strategically retreating for a better position, playing hard to get… He listened to all of it intently and found them fascinating.

He had long since known of those tricks, so I thought he would see through them pretty quickly. But… His tone was accusatory. "Kat, what is the meaning of this?!"

I slowly raised both of my hands. "I accidentally tripped just now and my hands are covered in mud. If I push her, there should be marks on her."

Cecily froze. Then her eyes reddened, and she lowered her head in pitiful sadness. "Forgive me, Your Majesty. I must have been too frightened. I fell so hard I remembered it wrong."

Jeffrey gently tapped the tip of her nose. "You can't even remember that correctly? Guess I'll just have to punish you tonight."

That so-called punishment was only another excuse to spend the whole night with her until she could not rise from bed. I watched him leave with Cecily in his arms and their figures were so close to each other.

Meanwhile, I could feel the disgust boiling up inside of me.

At the evening banquet, Jeffrey sat with Cecily snuggling beside him. She was wearing a moon-white gown made of Lawn fabric, faintly outlining her graceful figure.

She carried a cup of wine to me and smiled sweetly as she walked to me. "Your Majesty, I was acting too hastily during the day. I would be honored if you would accept this cup. Otherwise, I will not be able to rest easily."

I instinctively looked at Jeffrey.

This body was allergic to alcohol.

When we had first arrived, I accidentally took one sip of wine made of fruits and went into shock on the spot.

He stayed by my side all night.

He had told me he would never let me touch wine again back then, but at that moment, he was only smiling faintly as he said, "Kat, put yourself in her shoes. Cecily is beneath you in the station. If you refuse to drink, you'll embarrass her. The servants follow power… If you slight her, they will too. We shouldn't let others disrespect her."

I could feel the bitterness in me. I was unable to speak at all. Did he really know nothing of the gossip inside his own court? Or did he simply not care?

I thought of what I had overheard by chance when I passed through the Royal Gardens a few days earlier.

"Look how the king favored the queen back then. But now that Lady Cecily is here, she doesn't even have room to speak. The king spends every night in Cloud Palace now and he doesn't even come close to Peacock Hall anymore," the voice from a woman said.

Another woman started counting. "Let me see… Lady Cecily is gentle, virtuous, well-read, and proper. She's a true noble lady from a renowned house and also the chancellor Nicholas's legitimate daughter. She's noble by birth and backed by a powerful family."

"How could the queen compare to someone like her? Beauty fades in time and she has no family behind her. How could a favor like that last forever?" The other woman commented.

My fingers trembled faintly as I forced down the emotions in my heart.