“That’s absurd. There’s no regulation anywhere that states the head lady-in-waiting must attend the wedding night…”
At that moment, a distant memory flickered through Kasallin’s mind.
She recalled something a court tutor had mentioned in passing long ago when she was receiving queen lessons.
Cardinals and priests, as well as the head lady-in-waiting and attendants of the king or queen, traditionally attended the wedding night unless there were special exceptions.
It was meant to offer prayers of blessing to God at the sacred moment that marked the beginning of a new era, wishing for the royal family’s prosperity.
When the inexperienced royal couple might encounter unexpected difficulties, they would also serve to indirectly advise or guide them from behind.
Nobles considered attending such occasions a great honor.
When she first received these lessons, she had simply thought “oh, such a thing exists” and passed it off as unimportant.
She never imagined she would be in the position of a lady-in-waiting.
When Kasallin was at a loss for words, Shallen instructed, “Only those necessary should remain, everyone else leave.”
“Your Majesty. The royal protocols clearly state that attendance may be waived if there are special exceptions.”
“I believe I just explained sufficiently. You have duties to fulfill as a lady-in-waiting. And what exception could there be for you?”
Shallen, who had been untying the strings on his robe, stopped his hands and turned to look at her.
“Just because you were once in a position to become queen doesn’t mean you should act as if you’re something special. You are, to the very end, my wife’s lady-in-waiting. Do not forget your place.”
“Your Majesty!”
“This is the sacred moment when the king and queen unite for the first time. Do not cause a disturbance and remain quiet.”
As if he would no longer deal with her, Shallen revealed his upper body with its well-defined light muscles and walked to the bed.
His face was as dry as a priest entering an important ritual, unmoved by any emotion.
It was excessively arid for the expression of a groom facing his first night with his wife.
“His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen should sit facing each other.”
The cardinal spoke.
Shallen and Rose climbed onto the bed, held hands, and pressed their bodies close together.
What followed was a series of horrific scenes that made her want to bite her tongue and die.
Kasallin’s face turned pale as if she might collapse at any moment, and she couldn’t bear to look straight ahead, squeezing her eyes shut.
“Look at me.”
Shallen’s voice was heard.
Kasallin lifted her head and through the damask curtains surrounding the bed, her eyes met with a man burning with fever.
Without blinking even once, he glared at Kasallin as if he would devour her, slowly reaching his climax.
Making a mockery of the words “sacred union with the queen.”
Until the moment he released his final heat, he never took his gaze off Kasallin for even an instant.
Only when midnight came and Kasallin was finally free, she rushed out of the bridal chamber as soon as the wedding night ended and ran to the bathroom.
She buried her face in the toilet and violently vomited several times, retching.
In fact, she had been in a dazed state as if dreaming ever since receiving the broken engagement notice, but now she felt as if her mind was suddenly clearing.
She had been completely wrong about the man named Shallen Riche all this time. He was certainly not within the range of normal human beings.
‘Shallen resents me. Because I carelessly lost the child in my womb who could have become a prince, he deliberately took me in as a lady-in-waiting to cause me pain.’
If that wasn’t the case, there was no other way to explain his chilling gaze seen through the dark curtains.
Kasallin spent the entire dawn sleepless on the cold bathroom floor.
The night that seemed like it would never end had passed, and the dim sun that rose as always was intensely illuminating the earth wet with night dew.
Her whole body trembled as if she had chills from crouching on the cold floor all night, but if she didn’t sharpen her nerves like this, she felt she would truly collapse.
Kasallin washed away the tear stains she had shed during the night with cold water and changed into a modest but neat brown dress.
As she walked alone down the vast corridor to wake Rose, who would still be sleeping, a familiar silhouette became clear from the opposite direction.
It was Shallen.
“…”
Like sworn enemies meeting on a narrow bridge, the two simultaneously stopped walking with some distance between them.
Perhaps because he had never been in a subordinate position even for a moment, Shallen had a peculiar expression that seemed to look down on people even when he was expressionless.
Even now, he wore exactly that kind of face.
“Did you sleep well last night?”
He offered a greeting as if nothing had happened.
As if applying silent pressure saying ‘Of course you should welcome my greeting.’
Given the situation, Kasallin no longer wanted to act as if she still harbored pathetic anger or resentment toward him while carrying the dregs of past emotions.
Kasallin bowed lightly as a lady-in-waiting would offer morning greetings to the king.
She was amazed that she could do this much when last night’s nightmare was still vivid.
“…It’s rather unfamiliar. There’s no need to be so formally polite as if you’ve become a different person overnight. We’ve known each other for several years, so when there are no watching eyes, you can treat me as before.”
“No. As you said, I am now Her Majesty the Queen’s lady-in-waiting. Since I don’t want to be found fault with in any way, I intend to be as courteous as possible according to court etiquette.”
“You’re subtly being sarcastic while pretending to be polite. Yes. You were always that kind of woman. Pretending to smile properly while saying everything you wanted to say.”
As if this wasn’t the reaction he expected, light wrinkles formed between Shallen’s brows.
He seemed to have expected her to burst out in anger and frustration, pouring out resentful words.
Sorry, but she had rolled around in high society for over 10 years in her own way.
In the stern royal palace where many eyes were watching, she had no intention of easily showing weaknesses. Moreover, the wounds she had received from him were not shallow enough to be resolved by simply getting angry and expressing complaints.
“Being sarcastic? How could that possibly be the case.”
“No. In my eyes, you still seem to be filled with spite. Far from blessing your only sister becoming queen, you can’t even accept it.”
Kasallin’s lips trembled slightly.
Something hot seemed about to burst out from deep in her chest, but she desperately held it back.
“Kasallin. I explained sufficiently at that time. The ‘legitimate’ reason why you couldn’t become queen.”
“Then you must also have a legitimate reason why Rose had no choice but to become queen?”
Perhaps what she most wanted to ask.
When Kasallin unexpectedly brought up the main point, Shallen, who had been speaking fluently like flowing water, suddenly clamped his mouth shut.
“Why can’t you speak? Is it perhaps because you were already secretly interacting with Rose before you announced the broken engagement to me?”
“How dare you speak such nonsense from whatever position…!”
Shallen, who had been speaking calmly all along, suddenly turned authoritative.
Look. Just moments ago he had shown mercy by saying they could treat each other as before, mentioning their years of acquaintance, but now that it was disadvantageous to him, he immediately asserted his authority as king as if he had been waiting for it.
While she felt disgusted by such behavior, it seemed she too couldn’t abandon the habits of the past 10 years overnight.
Realizing that several servants were approaching from behind, he belatedly cleared his throat and stepped back to maintain face.
How had she not known until now?
That he was a low-quality man who was neurotic, impulsive, and quick to raise his fists.
Why had she obediently devoted 10 years to such trash and given him everything precious to her?
“…Let me make this clear once and for all.”
Shallen approached with large steps, still emanating the scent of soap that hadn’t completely faded.
“The queen is an excellent woman with a healthy body and mind, an exceptionally kind and humble character, and a decent reputation. I judged that she had sufficient qualifications as queen and chose her after much deliberation and consideration.”
“…”
“So I hope you will no longer taint the pure and noble relationship between the queen and me with such absurd delusions. If you cross the line once more, I will impose punishment.”
Pure and noble relationship.
Please, at least those words should be true.
If he had already been in a private relationship with Rose while engaged to her, that would be something she could never forgive even in death.
“If you understand, go quickly and take care of Rose. Distinguishing between public and private matters. Isn’t that what you do best?”
Shallen shot out the warning and passed by Kasallin without looking back.
His two eyes, which looked straight ahead as if he had no idea what was wrong, seemed to snap at her that she was now the wife’s lady-in-waiting, nothing more and nothing less.
[This is the timeline separator]“This is wrong, very wrong.”
Rose, sitting at the office desk, flicked through the mountain of documents piled up with her fingers and burst out in complaint.
“This much official work immediately after ascending the throne doesn’t make sense. What about the banquet for me? Where’s the luxurious party with chocolate fountains and abundant feasts?”
She seemed to have great fantasies about court life as royalty and couldn’t accept the current situation.
Kasallin sighed and forcibly put a pen in her hand.
“Instead of grumbling, you should look at one more thing.”
“I want to do that too, but I don’t understand any of it.”
“What don’t you understand?”
“From this to this. All of it.”
Kasallin couldn’t understand Rose.
These were reports with content that wasn’t difficult at all if you just read them carefully.
Moreover, it seemed the administration knew Rose wasn’t yet accustomed to official duties and had compiled and sent only the simplest tasks.
“You can’t just stamp your seal thoughtlessly. You have to consider whether it’s a matter that can be approved. Look carefully. This is a report on trade route changes…”
As Kasallin began explaining, tapping the front page of the document with her pen tip, Rose’s eyes, which many people often evaluated as innocently pure, sparkled even more clearly.
She studied Kasallin’s expression and awkwardly interrupted.
“Um, sister. I’m really sorry, but couldn’t you do this just once for me? Actually, His Majesty Shallen asked to see me today.”
“…”
“Ah, I know. I don’t want to say this to you either, but I have no choice. I’m not in a position to refuse an appointment with His Majesty. If you do it just today, I’ll somehow manage it myself from next time. Really.”
“Rose. A lady-in-waiting is not someone who does the queen’s work for her. If you’ve become the royal family’s mistress, you should do your own work. If you can’t do it right away, then stay up all night.”
When Kasallin spoke like teaching a childish younger sister, for a moment Rose’s face showed unfamiliar arrogance and irritation that had never been seen before, passing like a light breeze.
Conceding a hundred times that she’s human and could get irritated.
But for a fleeting moment, she wore an expression that she couldn’t understand at all why a lady-in-waiting would try to teach the queen this and that.
Before there was time to discern where the fragment of emotion that appeared and instantly subsided on her face originated, a person who couldn’t be more perfect for worsening this situation opened the office door and entered.
“Who is giving orders to whom right now?”
Male lead says he’s pregnant — and it’s female lead’s child
Something seems a bit off about this world.
Wang Zhao thought as she watched a pregnant man walking towards her…
Intro
Female lead finds herself in a world where the men who possess the ability to bear children.
As she navigates this unfamiliar reality, she is caught off guard by the sudden appearance of her boyfriend, who reveals that he is pregnant.
Is this truly her boyfriend?
Why can’t she recall any details about their time together?
She begins to doubt whether the child her boyfriend is carrying is even hers.
Is there a hidden reason behind her amnesia, or could it be a side effect of her sudden arrival in this strange new world?
Just when it seems the protagonist’s life couldn’t become any more entangled, her ex-boyfriend makes an unexpected appearance, raising questions about the protagonist’s past.
__________
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