King

"What is it supposed to mean, dear?" King said sarcastically.

"I... I mean that, yeah, I mean that I was shocked to see my handsome husband's face for the first time. But honestly, can't you smile a little? Your smile looks so good."

"Oh, ok." It is the first time he has ever heard someone asking him to smile. Everybody just expected him to be excellent all the time, even if it cost him his happiness.

"What do you mean, for the first time? Didn't we see each other on our marriage day?"

"Waa!! Don't you feel a bit embarrassed saying this? You only saw me once, that too on our marriage day. How did you even manage to look at me that day? I am impressed. How long it's been since our marriage?"

"H...h.how long it has been? I... I know, I certainly do know. But I think I forgot because of the fall. Yeah, that's the reason I forgot. It's just because of it."

"You don't need to overwork your small, tiny, little, child-like brain to think of excuses. It's been 7 months." She smiled at him again.

'How is it even possible for a king to be so stupid, moreover he's my husband? It's hard to believe.' She thought to herself while smiling.

It seems like the death of his parents brought him quite some luck.

"By the way, what were you here for?"

"Oh, my god! I almost forgot. I was here to tell you something, but I guess you need a scolding before that "

"What?! Who will scold a king? Aren't you afraid?"

"Ha! King my foot, you already accepted the fact that your parents died and you can't do anything now. You didn't even try to get a hold of the court in time, leave alone to find the culprit."

King's facial expressions changed after hearing it. Indeed, he was silently waiting for his destiny to give him another unpleasant blow. But what was he supposed to do? He has never had any interest in politics. Neither did he have any love for his parents. Why would he do something for them?

"Is this what you wanted to talk about?" He spoke in a low and cold tone. "Sorry, but I can't do anything. You can take your stuff and go back to your parents. I'll just wait for my end here "

Marie couldn't control herself at this moment. She was already dying from laughter inside. But she tried to stay contained, at least from the outside.

"I know you can't do anything, and neither am I going to ask you to do something."

"Then?"

"I wanted to tell you that everything is alright now."

"What do you mean by alright?"

"I mean, we've found the culprit out and my spies in the court have already told me about the ministers who were planning to create trouble..."

"You had spies in my court!!!"

"What are you getting all worked up for? It is not like the court was ever yours in the first place. Listen to me first or I'll forget the details later. I and the inner guards minister have already settled everything down. All you need to do is to pretend to be extremely sad about the death of your parents and give the world an explanation. The court is going to serve you willingly."

"What do you mean? Who did this? Why?! How did it happen?" The king was more shocked than surprised.

"I finally had a chance to get rid of this 'royal' life. Why did you do it?!! You have no idea what you did. You are no different from my mom! All you people need is money and land. You don't care about anyone at all. Why? Why don't you just take over the throne? Please let go of me."

"Whoa, whoa, calm down King. You hate being a royal member this much?"

"What do you think?" He almost had tears in his eyes. His voice shook in disbelief. He knows that his wife will leave him for good now. No one understands him. Everybody thinks that being a king is great, but what about millions of lost lives to pave the way till here?

"I think you have a great mindset. But where were you planning to go later? Bigger the power, the heavier the responsibility. Who were you planning to give this responsibility to? Did you want to leave your people in the hands of those corrupt ministers? Then what about the people? You want to see them suffer?"

'My mindset is great? My people? Responsibility? Sufferings of my people?' These were the only words that made their way to the king's messed-up brain.

Ever since the time he began to understand his surroundings, all he saw were wars for the power and sufferings of the people. He got his mind very set that being a king means sucking commoners out of all they have and fighting for unlimited power. But today Marie gave him a new way of looking at his surroundings. He got a new perspective to look at his future.

"My people??? Are those mine people? Don't they hate me?"

"Why would they hate you? You never even tried to pick your hand up or tell your parents about your way of thinking. Leave alone doing something good or bad for them. They are all waiting for you to do something for them. They are waiting for you to free them of the restrictions and hard life your parents imposed on them. Even if you don't wanna rule, then at least find them a good emperor, before just vanishing from this world."

"Vanish?"

"I think you need to ponder over it alone. I'll give you time. Now I will go and announce that you are going to mourn over your parent's death for an uncertain time period. Take your time and give me an answer. I'll be waiting." She said and went back.

'I came silently so that no one finds out that I am one behind everything, but now I need to make sure that no one sees me, or they'll think that I am his mother's ghost.' Even after a serious discussion, this is what was going on in her head.

...

When Marie just received the news of her getting married to someone just to save her people, she agreed but had a lot of resentment toward the king because she was not willing to marry a stranger. She was unaware that they forced even the king into it.

After marriage, when she saw his parents' craze, her resentment disappeared, and she felt pity for the king. She was pretty good in politics from the beginning and from her knowledge she was sure that if someday the king had to take over the court, it'll be a mess.

She contacted her parents and her father helped her implant some spies. Those were all loyal to her. Even when his parents were alive, she already found the ministers with ill intentions toward the upcoming king and she made them all leave the palace silently. It would have been a difficult task for her to do it alone but the minister of inner guards was a childhood friend of the king, and he was willing to help the king in every possible way He helped her do it quite efficiently right under her in-law's nose.

After working on it for the whole day, every evening, she would secretly notice the king's moments just to make sure if he really was this innocent. After all, she had to make sure that the country won't have to suffer anymore. He used to go to the fountain every evening and secretly talk to the birds. Instead of finding something suspicious, all she found was a broken heart that needed to be treated, a heart longing for some love.

...

She already knew that the king had no interest in his parents. But it surprised her to see that he had no interest, even in ruling the world. Indeed, he is on the brink of ruling the world. He is so powerful that he can win the world in no more than 2 decades.

Thinking about all this stuff, she finally entered her room. She closed the door behind her, but she screamed as soon as she turned over. The king quickly covered her face.

"I know girls like getting attention, but it's not the right time. Don't shout."

"How the hell did you enter my room? When did you get here? You startled me."

The lighting in her room was way better. Everything was as clearly visible as it can be in a day. There were no maids or guards near her sleeping chambers. She could see the king's face clearly. It is not the first time she is seeing it. She used to notice him straight for hours in the past, but today he looked exceptionally good. Although his eyes looked tired, the small smile and satisfaction on his face made him suddenly look so good that it was hard for the queen to look away.

"I know I am handsome, but there is something very important you need to do other than admire my charms."

"What?"

"Go and wash your face. I heard guards whispering about my mom's wandering soul. I don't want you to be compared with my mom, so go and wash your face."

"Ooh, you really care for me. But being compared to the former queen is not that bad. After all, she was your mother, and she was so good-looking as well. Don't worry, I don't mind it."

"I was feeling bad for the former queen. Don't think too highly of yourself." He said it with a smirk.

This left Marie speechless, and she just went to wash her face. The king laughed at her silently, but from his heart, he was admiring her character. He felt an urge to be competent for his wife. He had this feeling that he needed to make sure that his wife leads a good life and can depend on him.