King Theron didn’t ask her if she was fine. No, he didn’t even say a single word all throughout the deed, but he tried to be as gentle as he could be to her. He finished fast, the bare minimum, and he didn’t last long. He pulled away without a sound, not even asking her if she was in pain or if she needed something. He only straightened up the bottom part of her nightgown and covered her body with the quilt. Afterwards, he moved out of bed.

All throughout, Lady Clarisa didn’t open her eyes, simply letting hot tears roll down from her eyes.

The young king put on his robe and sat on the chair, massaging his temples. “I will stay here for some time. You can rest.”

Though King Theron felt guilty about his cold treatment of the young lady, he still wanted to look out for her best interests and decided to stay for a while. Only several minutes had passed since he entered her bedchamber and finished the deed, and he was worried that if he left in a hurry, his concubine would become a topic of palace gossip—that she was unable to satisfy the king as he left her bedchamber only after a short time.

As he was the King, no one would dare say a word about him, but they would viciously point fingers at her, the new concubine. Though he didn’t love her, he didn’t dislike her as well. He wanted to at least show that he respects her and their marriage.

King Theron left his seat and stood by the open window, staring at the night sky and wondering if Esther was doing the same at the moment. ‘I am sure she must be lonely but didn’t wish to show it to me. I wish I could go to her right away.’

He spent the next half hour standing there and thinking about his beloved. His lovely wife still didn’t show up in the palace, and he was missing her terribly. He hadn’t gotten to see her for many days. Now that he had fulfilled her wish, she should hurry to come back to him and be together like before.

After another half an hour, he closed the window since he realized that the evening breeze was entering the chamber and he didn’t want his concubine to feel cold.

“I am leaving now.”

There was no reply from her, and regardless if it was because she had fallen asleep or if she didn’t want to answer, he didn’t mind it. The moment he came out of the Vermillion Palace and saw Sir Galien waiting by the carriage, he said, “I need a horse.”

Sir Galien knew what it was for and simply ordered the coachman to untie the harness of two horses from the carriage. He also ordered a servant to bring horse saddles and a warm outer coat for the King.  A few minutes later, two horses were seen galloping away from the royal palace.

When King Theron reached Esther’s manor, the Queen’s guards bowed towards him without a mention of the Queen not receiving guests.

He let out a bitter chuckle. ‘Seems like she has finally given me permission to come to her.’

Contrary to expectations, he didn’t enter the white mansion. He went towards the same tree from before and sat with his back resting against it. Like last time, his gaze remained stuck at a particular window of the mansion.

Sir Galien was confused as to why his king didn’t go inside the mansion when the Queen had tacitly permitted him. If not to see her, then why was he here? “Your Majesty, you should go inside—”

“I don’t deserve to go to her, at least not tonight,” he said calmly and continued looking at the window of her bedchamber. He was sure that particular person was behind those curtains, and though he wanted to see her, he was glad for the existence of those curtains..

‘I want you to know that wherever I go, the end of my journey will always be you.’

—–

A flustered butler knocked on Esther’s door and entered with a worried face. “Your Majesty, King Theron is here.”

“Hmm.” Esther nodded as she knew he was here. She could sense his presence around the manor.

“But…”

“What happened?” Esther asked.

“His Majesty is staying outside despite no one stopping his entry,” the butler informed her. “His Majesty is sitting by the tree outside your window.”

Esther understood. “You can leave.”

The butler left and Esther went towards the window. From the small gap between the curtains, she saw his lonely figure sitting on the grass. She felt emotional as she knew why he was there and had a guess on why he couldn’t come to her.

“Theron…”

She always knew he loved her more than anything, and she was the same. With each passing incident, she could feel their feelings for each other getting stronger.

“This too will pass. Nothing will ever separate us,” she let out a brittle smile. “I believe. I will continue to believe.”

—-

King Theron woke up by dawn, not realizing when he had fallen asleep. Just as he was about to stand up, he realized a thick soft blanket was covering his body. He smiled as he knew she must have come to see him and covered him with it as her sweet scent still lingered on the fabric.

For the first time in days, a smile appeared on his face. His wife finally came to him and he could not be happier than this.

He carefully rolled up the blanket and handed it over to his guardian knight, who then handed it over to one of the Queen’s servants. King Theron asked for his horse to be taken out of the stable

“Your Majesty, won’t you go see the Queen?” Sir Galien asked. He was finally able to let out a sigh of relief seeing the small smile on his king’s face.

“Once she returns to the palace,” the young king said and climbed on his horse. With that same smile on his face, he rode back to the palace full of expectations, knowing his wife would return to him soon.

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