How the Abandoned Queen Made That Man Kneel - Chapter 2
10 years.
The span of time she had devoted her body and soul to Charlen, trusting him, was a full 10 years.
During that time when other young ladies would have had countless diverse experiences, Katharine focused solely on studying day and night to become the perfect queen someday.
Wanting to appear even prettier to him, she of course wasted precious money cultivating her already perfect appearance to be even more beautiful.
She gave him all of her firsts that could never be exchanged for anything else.
The result of her efforts to be such a devoted wife and queen was a notice of broken engagement.
And then she was backstabbed once again with the terrible betrayal of a proposal to her younger sister.
“It’s as if an angel has descended from heaven! My one and only beloved daughter Rose. I’m so happy I’m about to cry…”
“Oh Mother. Stop crying. It’s a happy day.”
Draped in a voluminous silk wedding dress and adorned with jewels like scattered ice flowers all over her body, Rose looked like a freshly bloomed iris.
Completely enchanted by her own reflection in the mirror, she smiled shyly, but also kept glancing at her sister standing in a corner of the room like a discarded toy.
“Hey, Katharine. Why are you just standing there blankly? Come here and help out. From now on, your sister is not just your sister, but the queen of this country.”
When Charlen chose Rose as queen, the stepmother’s previously shadowed face blossomed as if it had never been gloomy.
Until Katharine’s engagement was broken, she must have been greatly disappointed that she could no longer enjoy the benefits of being the queen’s family.
But her own daughter.
To be precise, the daughter born between the late Viscount Roberfon and the new stepmother, Rose, became the protagonist of that glory, so it was an unexpected stroke of luck.
It’s unclear why Charlen suddenly decided to take Rose as his queen, but it was certain that it was an unforgivable act towards his former fiancée Katharine.
But Katharine, who was merely the daughter of a noble, had no power to confront the man who was the highest authority in this country.
Unaware of Katharine’s crushed and crumbled feelings, Rose was simply absorbed in admiring her own reflection in the mirror.
“Sister. I heard it’s the tradition of the Khan royal family for siblings to be bridesmaids for the queen. So I was wondering… could you do it?”
Rose brought up the topic apologetically while fiddling with the red diamond necklace that had belonged to Katharine until recently.
Rose had always been that kind of sister.
She was so timid that she had grown up confined to the mansion until this age, so she was ignorant of the ways of the world and didn’t know how to read others’ emotions.
She liked what she liked, disliked what she disliked, and was stuck at the stage of learning step by step what was right and wrong behavior, like a young child.
To say she was just immature would be an understatement, as she often carelessly said hurtful things, so it would be a lie to say Katharine didn’t dislike her.
When Katharine remained silent with a hardened expression, Rose finally lowered her head sullenly.
“I’m sorry. I guess that would be a bit much? As you know, I don’t have any other friends to ask.”
Katharine let out a laugh of disbelief.
Rose seemed to take Katharine’s laughter negatively and suddenly burst out excitedly:
“I had no choice! How could I possibly refuse when His Majesty the King ordered me to become queen?”
“Rose. I didn’t say anything.”
When Katharine cautioned her in a stern voice, Rose hesitated and closed her mouth.
Katharine continued speaking with a quiet sigh:
“I know. I know that becoming queen wasn’t your will. I know we don’t have the right to refuse. But don’t you think it’s a bit problematic to act and speak like this when you know full well what I’ve been through?”
“The truth is, I’m scared. I’m doing this to try and shake off the tension a little. I’ve never left home in 20 years. And now suddenly I have to live in the unknown world of the royal palace. I’m not sure if I can handle it.”
“That’s for you to figure out now.”
Katharine coldly detached her sister, who was clinging to her arm and whining annoyingly.
She was too exasperated to indulge her sister’s tantrums any longer.
At that moment, her stepmother crossed the threshold and approached.
She had been coming up the stairs to inform them that the carriage had arrived, and seemed to have overheard their conversation in the hallway. As expected, she became a staunch ally to the daughter she had painfully given birth to.
“I think Rose has a point. Katharine. I understand your situation, but if you turn your back on your sister as she enters the royal palace, it will only lead to more unpleasant rumors among people.”
“So what are you trying to say?”
“How about you become Rose’s lady-in-waiting for the time being?”
Katharine frowned, doubting if she had heard correctly.
“Rose is still young. It would be too much to expect her to be active as queen right away. In that sense, if you, who are worldly-wise and knowledgeable, assist Rose well, wouldn’t the unpleasant rumors surrounding you eventually fade away?”
It was one ordeal after another.
Katharine was searching for appropriate words and reasons to rationally refute her mother about why she couldn’t be her sister’s lady-in-waiting.
But in the meantime, she instructed a servant to pack Katharine’s belongings and load them onto the carriage.
The sight of even that small luggage, which wasn’t much, leaving her hands at her stepmother’s single command seemed to prove that Katharine had become a useless existence in the Roberfon family.
“Mother!”
“It’s already in the past. Something to be forgotten. You should make a fresh start too.”
“Not a fresh start, but rather a useful stepping stone for Rose, right? That’s how you’ve always treated me, Mother.”
“It’s not for Rose, but to preserve the honor of the Roberfon family. Although the title was inherited by your uncle and godfather, you must carry on the spiritual legacy left by Viscount Roberfon. Because you are the eldest daughter who must take full responsibility for our family.”
I believe in you.
Stepmother, Lady Elizabeth Roberfon, showed an all too warm yet cruel smile as she ushered Katharine into the carriage.
* * *
The palace was in an uproar with preparations for the wedding and coronation.
When the carriage carrying the Roberfon sisters stopped at the entrance of the temple, guards deployed a tight security cordon and escorted them.
The carriage door opened. A familiar man walked down the steps.
It was Charlen, who until recently had sworn eternal love to Katharine, with his blonde hair neatly swept back and dressed smartly in wedding attire.
“Oh, hello, Your Majesty.”
Rose was so nervous she forgot her etiquette and hurriedly curtsied.
“You must be tired from the wedding preparations since dawn. Miss Rose. Have you been well in the meantime?”
“Y-yes, of course.”
“However.”
Charlen, who had been smiling kindly at Rose, suddenly hardened his expression as if cold water had been poured on him and shifted his gaze to Katharine.
“…I didn’t expect to see you here as well.”
It might be for the best that I came here.
Charlen would never allow her to enter the palace as Rose’s lady-in-waiting.
If he, as the king, forbade it, Rose wouldn’t be able to throw any more tantrums and Mother wouldn’t be able to say anything either.
Of course, it wasn’t easy to stand before him while desperately hiding her horribly wounded and bruised heart. It was such a painful ordeal that she thought it might be better to have her chest torn open by someone.
But Katharine raised her head.
She stood up straight, her body feeling like it would crumble under his shameless gaze pressing down on both her shoulders, and opened her eyes more proudly than ever, though they seemed about to burst into tears at any moment.
At least in front of him, she didn’t want to show her stumbling in pain.
Even if it was useless pride, or an act of deceiving herself.
“Rose asked me to enter the palace with her. Especially Mother suggested that I become a lady-in-waiting. Since it’s not an issue I can decide on my own, I had no choice but to come and ask for your opinion.”
“Is what she says true? Miss Rose.”
Charlen tilted his head as he looked at Rose.
Rose, who had been fidgeting with her fingers without making eye contact since earlier, nodded slightly.
“I feel reassured when Katharine is by my side. I just wanted to be with her, so…”
Charlen’s eyebrows twitched. He seemed to pity Rose, who was trembling with her small shoulders.
But the words that came out of his mouth were completely unexpected.
“Miss Rose. How old are you this year?”
“Huh? I’m… twenty years old.”
“At twenty, I think you’re more than old enough to take care of yourself. What do you think the ministers will think if the soon-to-be queen is clinging to her sister’s skirts?”
“Oh… I-I’m sorry.”
Rose’s face turned bright red.
She clearly thought he would sympathize and protect her, but he unexpectedly scolded her firmly.
However, if he didn’t care, he wouldn’t have said such things.
It made her feel sick. Katharine felt nauseous from the sense of betrayal and humiliation.
“I understand it as a refusal, as expected. Then, I entrust Rose to you.”
Feeling like she might lose her mind if she faced Charlen any longer, Katharine turned towards the carriage.
“When did I say you could leave?”
Katharine stopped in her tracks.
Strangely enough, in Charlen’s blue eyes, inexplicable hesitation and strange excitement were mixed together, flowing down like old ink.
“Do you have something to say?”
“Come to think of it, Miss Rose’s words do have a point. Katharine. From today, you will be the queen’s chief lady-in-waiting.”
Katharine shook her head slowly, doubting her ears.
“You know you shouldn’t do this.”
“It’s a royal command. Stay in the palace and help her until Rose establishes herself as queen. It’s for the stability and future of the Khan royal family.”
“Your Majesty!”
“If you insist on defying the order, there’s nothing I can do, but the consequences will be entirely yours to bear. Choose wisely.”
In the Kingdom of Khan, the king’s command was absolute.
Defying it would not only lead to a fall in reputation in high society, but also have a negative impact on the family, which was already declining due to her father’s absence.
Katharine bit her lower lip until it turned white.
* * *
The royal wedding was held solemnly and grandly in the chapel.
Rose, wearing a sparkling crown, held Charlen’s hand tightly as she walked on the carpet showered with flower petals.
Gone was the appearance of her sobbing that becoming queen wasn’t her will. She was smiling broadly as if she owned the world.
Katharine, who had been pushed from the protagonist of the play to an insignificant supporting role overnight, could only watch the two people moving towards a bright future.
And in the blink of an eye, night fell.
The moment had come for Charlen and Rose to officially spend their first night together.
“What should I do… I’m so nervous my heart feels like it’s going to jump out.”
Katharine looked at her sister, who was stamping her feet with flushed cheeks in her hands, with indifferent eyes.
To others watching her, it might seem too calm for someone who had to face the man who had announced their broken engagement and left, now as a lady-in-waiting.
But no one present noticed that Katharine’s fingertips, which were removing the pins from Rose’s hair, were trembling pitifully.
Thankfully, the room was dark.
Katharine quietly wiped away the thick tears rolling down one cheek as she retreated to a corner with the other maids.
“His Majesty King Charlen Riche is arriving.”
“Oh my. I’m not mentally prepared yet.”
Rose stood up and adjusted her appearance.
Charlen entered the bridal chamber, emanating a fragrance as if a spring garden had been transplanted, presumably having just bathed.
Katharine was about to quietly withdraw with the maids.
At that moment, Charlen suddenly spoke.
“Come to think of it… Wasn’t it the duty of the queen’s chief lady-in-waiting to witness the king and queen’s first night?”
Katharine froze.
What did he just say?
*
Save yourself from story hunger — the novel below will blow your mind!
I’ve also read this one twice already. The female lead is kinda soft and gets embarrassed easily—not really my type, but the plot is definitely worth reading. Hurry up and read it, y’all!
Intro
When Shen Yuan encountered Su Jin again in his previous life, she had already become the Prime Minister of the current dynasty. As for him, the former top young master of the capital, he had long since fallen into the abyss, becoming a singer on a pleasure boat.
After a song ended, he was redeemed and sent to the Su Residence.
Su Jin respected and cherished him, gave him a roof over his head, and bestowed him with warmth. Shen Yuan fell deeper and deeper, but before he could express his feelings, Su Jin passed away.
Shen Yuan died to follow her in death, but instead, he returned to when he was fifteen years old.
At that time, he was not yet engaged, and Su Jin was just a poor scholar.
Shen Yuan gritted his teeth, casting aside all his pride, and thought of ways to coax and entice her every day.
The colder and more indifferent Su Jin was towards him, the more proactive Shen Yuan became.
He was not afraid of being mocked by the world, only wanting to marry his Wife-master early, to hold her hand and never let go for a lifetime.
[Note: This story will not specifically point out the male lead’s reincarnation time point; it’s all in the details. Whenever you feel that the male lead is acting strangely, he has most likely been reincarnated.]
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
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