Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Knight's Claimed Bride : Kabanata 51 - Kabanata 60

Rebecca's POV I stood in front of the mirror, adjusting the collar of my dress for the third time. My hands wouldn't stay still. Maddie had helped me pick out something appropriate—presentable. "You're fidgeting," Maddie said from the doorway, arms crossed. "I know," I muttered, dropping my hands. "I can't help it." Maddie walked over and gently turned me to face her. "Becca. Breathe." I did. One slow inhale, then out. "Better," Maddie said. "Now go. And be careful. If anything feels wrong—anything at all—you leave. I don't care if it's the Queen herself pouring the tea." "I will," I promised. Maddie squeezed my shoulders once, then stepped back. "I'll be here when you get back." I nodded and headed out. By the time I reached the palace gates, my stomach was in knots. The guards waved me through without question. Apparently, being the Knight Commander's wife came with certain perks, even if the Knight Commander didn't remember marrying me. I made my way through the familia

Gideon's POV Mora met my eyes, unflinching. "Rhys Ashford helped me." I stared at her, my mind racing, trying to process what she'd just said. Ashford. The knight I’d trusted for years. The man who’d stood beside me through battles—Rebecca’s friend. Or so she had thought. "You're lying," I said, my voice low, dangerous. "Am I?" Mora tilted her head slightly. "Ask yourself, Commander. Who had the most to gain from your memory loss? Who wanted Rebecca back?" My jaw clenched. Mora's lips curved into a cold smile. "Rhys and I... we had an arrangement. I wanted you. He wanted her. Simple as that." The Queen stepped forward, her voice sharp. "Continue." Mora's gaze shifted to the Queen. "We both wanted you dead, Your Majesty. For different reasons, perhaps, but the goal was the same." She paused. "Rhys knew what you'd done to Rebecca. How you'd made her suffer. How your ridiculous laws against love potions left her with no choice but marriage.” My chest tightened. "He believed," M

Gideon's POV The hours crawled, each minute stretching impossibly long. I stayed beside Rebecca, watching the shallow rise and fall of her chest. The healers moved around us in near silence, checking her pulse, adjusting blankets, murmuring to one another in low, tense voices. Maddie hadn’t left either. She remained at Rebecca’s side, holding her hand, her eyes red and swollen. "She's still breathing," Maddie said for the third time in an hour. Like she needed the reassurance. Like saying it out loud would make it more true. "She is," I said. But barely. Her skin was still too pale, her breathing too shallow. The antidote had stopped the poison from spreading further, but the damage was already done. Now it was just a matter of whether her body could fight back. The door opened behind me. I turned. The Queen entered, her expression composed as always, but there was something different in her eyes. Fatigue, maybe. Or calculation. "Commander," She said quietly. "A word?" I nod

Rebecca's POV The visits started the next morning. Alaina came first, slipping through the door with a basket of fresh bread and a worried smile. She sat beside me for a while, talking about nothing important—the weather, the gardens, how the palace kitchens had been in chaos since the tea party incident. "Everyone's been asking about you," Alaina said. "The whole court knows what you did." "I'm sure they have opinions," I muttered. "They do," Alaina admitted. "But most of them are... impressed. You saved the Queen's life." I didn't know how to respond to that, so I just nodded. After Alaina left, the knights’ wives began trickling in. They came now with small gifts and softer voices, concern written openly on their faces. There was no polite distance, no measuring glances meant to weigh my worth. Only relief. Only care. “We heard what happened,” one of them said gently, setting a bundle of flowers beside my bed. “You scared us,” another added, her mouth tilting into a fond,

Rebecca's POV I didn't need a truth serum after all. The thought struck me as Gideon and I walked through the corridors, his arm steady around my waist. All that work, all those careful measurements and ingredients, and in the end, the Queen had just… told me. No coercion. No magic. Just raw, painful honesty between two people who'd been enemies. I couldn't stop thinking about what she'd said. About being alone. About everyone wanting something from her. I'd felt that betrayal too. When I found out about Rhys. When the person I'd trusted most had been working against me the whole time. That hollow, sickening feeling of realizing the ground beneath you was never solid to begin with. But the Queen had lived with that for years. Decades, maybe. Every conversation calculated. Every smile measured. Never knowing who wanted the woman behind the crown versus the crown itself. My mother had done that to her. My mother, who I'd thought of as kind and brilliant and good, had betrayed her