Unveiling Betrayal

"Your Majesty, outside, there is disgraceful gossip circulating about Your Majesty the King." The report from the palace maid caused Raqueena, the Queen of the Aetherian Kingdom, who had always radiated wisdom and grace, to suddenly harbors a sharp glint reflecting her hidden emotions. The candlelight in the room highlighted the sparkle in her eyes, adding drama to her angry expression.

Raqueena remained silent momentarily, letting the news create a tense silence. Then, with a calm yet authoritative voice, she asked her loyal servant sharply, "Who delivered this news, and what is the evidence?" Instantly, the Queen's question made the servant nervous and fearful. "I-I apologize, Your Majesty. I couldn't bring concrete evidence, as the news is circulating among the servants."

"Anna, have you ever heard the saying 'Loose lips sink ships'?" Anna, Raqueena's faithful servant, bowed while nervously gripping her dress. "For this time, I forgive you, but remember! No more reporting gossip unless you bring evidence to me!"

"Thank you for your mercy, Your Majesty. I promise not to do it again," Anna concluded, and when Raqueena waved her hand, she promptly left Raqueena's chamber. Despite appearing to defend and trust her husband more than the rumors circulating outside, it didn't mean Raqueena was without unease. Tonight, after her servant's departure, King Henry usually came to the royal consort's special chamber to spend the night together. However, this time, even though the night was late enough, the king had not yet arrived.

Raqueena continued to gaze at the majestic and luxurious water clock hanging in her room. The clear liquid moved slowly through the funnel, creating a soft sound that broke the silence. The beautifully carved clock hands continued to move among the hour markers, reflecting endless seconds and minutes.

As the night grew later, each drop of water falling from the funnel seemed to mock Raqueena, as if reminding her of the moments that had passed without the presence of the king. With the increasing choking anxiety, Raqueena finally took action.

The woman with hair as black as the night and skin as white as snow gracefully glided through the halls of the palace, full of splendor and the glittering lights of hanging candles. The candlelight highlighted every step as if guiding her toward a room she perhaps shouldn't be visiting.

As Raqueena approached her destination, the troubled queen began to hear voices and suddenly felt a warmth in her heart.

"It's just the wind. Yes... surely the wind," Raqueena murmured, trying to dismiss all the negative suspicions filling her mind. However, as Raqueena stood right in front of the door to the king's chamber, the sounds of a woman's sighs became clearer, and in the next moment, even the moans of a man she knew well could be heard.

With anger reaching its peak, Raqueena roughly pushed open the slightly ajar door of the king's chamber, as if deliberately catching him in the act. Raqueena fell silent for a moment, frozen at the threshold. Her heartbeat seemed to stop, and the room felt oppressive. Her eyes swept across the room, but her focus was on the king's bed.

"What is this, Your Majesty?"

Instead of panicking or appearing guilty like a caught adulterous couple, King Henry smiled. He even seemed relaxed as he reached for his scattered robe on the floor.

"Have your eyes gone blind, Raqueena? Isn't it clear that we are currently enjoying a hot and passionate night?"

Raqueena's face paled upon hearing King Henry's confession, her eyes wide in disbelief, and her mouth agape. She remained silent for a moment, as if feeling slapped in the face. Her anger erupted. Raqueena wanted to scream, cry, and destroy everything until finally, words could come together. She looked at King Henry with fiery eyes. "Beast!" Raqueena uttered with a trembling voice.

On the contrary, King Henry, without any emotion, delivered a blow to Raqueena's face, causing her to fall to the ground. Not content with that, the next moment, King Henry even spat on Raqueena's reddened face, the aftermath of the blow.

"Commoner! A lowly woman like you is not worthy to insult a King! Do you know what punishment could befall you for insulting a king?"

Isolde de Alaric, King Henry's cousin and the woman who had just enjoyed the night with the king, descended from her bed, only wrapping herself in a blanket to cover her body. She gently caressed the king's shoulder as he gripped Raqueena's chin.

"Don't be too harsh on her, Your Majesty. Please remember that Your Majesty the Queen is currently carrying your seed. A seed that will become an important asset to this kingdom, Your Majesty."

King Henry fell silent for a moment, contemplating Lady Isolde's words.

"If you remove her now, I fear that the blessings will also leave you. But if you let her unborn child be born, then the blessings sheltering you will remain. Isn't that what the holy Sage of the kingdom has said?" added Lady Isolde, this time causing King Henry to immediately release his grip, albeit in a very rough manner.

"Heartless! Are you deceiving me? Was this planned from the beginning that you would make me like Licorice?" exclaimed Raqueena, who, despite still being in a prone position, used her tongue to defend the remnants of her dignity.

"Licorice? ... yes, you can call it that. Although I don't agree that you compare yourself to that sweet plant, I can't deny that the blessing of eternal sanctity you possess is indeed comparable to Licorice."

Raqueena, dominated by anger and disappointment, spontaneously took an unexpected action. She grabbed the silver pin that adorned her hair so beautifully. Her eyes stared sharply at King Henry and Lady Isolde as if saying, "You won't get anything from me."

When King Henry thought that Raqueena would attack Lady Isolde, reflexively shielding Lady Isolde as a form of protection, it was then that Raqueena smiled sarcastically before making a surprise move by thrusting the slightly pointed end of the silver pin towards her abdomen.

"Madwoman!" exclaimed King Henry, who then shouted orders to several guards stationed outside to immediately summon the royal physician.

Meanwhile, King Henry urged Lady Isolde to leave immediately before the royal physician arrived and assumed various things, as they were aware of the circulating rumors. While waiting, King Henry was in a panic, trying to stop the bleeding that was occurring in Raqueena.

"Are you panicking? What are you afraid of? Afraid that the blessing will disappear and be replaced by disaster because you will be accused of murdering your queen? Or..."

"Stop talking, you wench!"

Even though she was on the verge of death, Raqueena could still smile satisfactorily as she watched how King Henry struggled with this unexpected situation. Raqueena was even enthusiastic about provoking King Henry further by pulling out the silver pin lodged in her abdomen, causing the bleeding to worsen.

"How about that? Are you a..." Leaving the smile and the unfinished words, Raqueena closed her eyes, losing consciousness.

"You damned woman!" cursed King Henry, who suddenly felt a bit relieved when the palace doctor arrived.

Although surprised and with many questions in his head upon seeing the stab wound on Raqueena's abdomen, the doctor restrained himself from asking and remained focused on providing treatment.

"Thank the heavens, Your Majesty, the Queen can still be saved," said the palace doctor. This news slightly eased the tight grip of anxiety that had been choking him.

"What about the baby?" asked King Henry immediately. It was evident that he desperately wanted to loosen the noose of anxiety around his neck and dispel the nightmare that had been haunting him.

"Luckily, for God has truly blessed the unborn child carried by Your Majesty the Queen."

The palace doctor's final response seemed to completely release all the choking anxiety within King Henry, and in return, King Henry rewarded him with a golden chest. This made the palace doctor forget his curiosity about the peculiarity of Raqueena's stab wound.

Shortly after the palace doctor left, King Henry approached the bed where Raqueena lay. Gently, he caressed Raqueena's face.

"Raqueena, it seems that God is still on my side. And the special blessing you possess also appears to be destined only for me," whispered King Henry into the unconscious Raqueena's ear.}

However, thanks to the whispered words of the man who had once been her entire world, Raqueena began to exhibit subtle signs of consciousness.

"Are you awake, my beloved Queen? I wonder what suitable punishment awaits you once you fully regain your senses," inquired King Henry, a malicious glint in his eyes as he intentionally plunged Raqueena into a deeper abyss of despair and helplessness.

His tone took on a darker edge as he continued, "Ah... an excellent notion. I shall confine you within these walls until the fruit of our love graces the world with its presence. Only after our offspring is safely delivered shall I lead you towards the ominous gates of death," concluded King Henry, his triumphant laughter echoing through the chamber. Meanwhile, in her unconscious state, Raqueena's closed eyes betrayed the silent cascade of tears that fell, a poignant expression of her inner turmoil.