Roselyn was sitting in the garden enjoying her cup of tea. She just watched absent-mindedly as a bird tried to feed its chick. This garden was giving off a good vibe coupled with the cool air and serene environment, a big contrast to what she was used to back in Arcadia. The garden back in Arcadia could not hold a candle against this.

Her mind drifted to her father and she wondered how he was faring. And though her father was always strict to her, it was unlike him to force her to get married to some random Lord. She didn’t understand why he wanted her to marry someone she didn’t like. And to add salt to the injury, he had gone as far as to denounce her as his daughter and the princess of Arcadia.

That thought brought back tears in her eyes. She averted her gaze and stared at her hands in disbelief. Never in her entire life had she ever thought that her father would go as far as to denounce her just because she refused to get married to a random Lord. Wasn’t he the one who told her to do what always made her happy? Why was she even crying when her father just stayed in the palace with nothing to care about in the world? That at least strengthened her resolve. She wiped the tears with the back of her hand and took another sip of her tea.

She was determined to win this out this time. And she was going to do what made her happy. Her mind drifted to Alexander and she still couldn’t believe that he had finally accepted to marry her. This was all she wanted in the world. This was what made her happy. Having Alexander by her arms all night long was what she wanted, and now that her wish was close to coming true, why did she feel a void in her heart? Why did it feel so wrong and scary at the same time?

"Here you are dear," her mother’s voice resonated in the garden pulling her back to reality. She smiled meekly at the approaching figure of Queen Felista. Her mother had now changed into a simple white dress that made her look nowhere close to the queen she was. She looked like a naïve little girl. The thought made Roselyn chuckle darkly. She is your mother for heaven’s sake, she screamed in her mind.

"I’ve been looking for you," Felista said and took a seat opposite to Roselyn. She placed her hand on one of her knees and gave her daughter that stern look.

"What mother? You are making me nervous," Roselyn said. She always knew when her mother wanted to say something serious or dreadful. Queen Felista let out a deep breath before she took Roselyn’s hands in hers.

"Don’t ever think for once that your father never loves you dear. He just acted that way to protect his ego as a king. You know how proud he is..." She bit her lower lip at that statement. Roselyn could see that her mother was battling with all kinds of emotions. And that she had chosen to stay with her than go with her father brought a warm feeling in her heart. The last person she expected to understand her was the one who really stood up for her. How ironic!

"I don’t blame father. I understand why he did what he had to do but still, I don’t know if I’ll ever forgive him," she said in almost a whisper and a tear fell down her cheek. She bit her lower lip to suppress her feelings. Being rejected by your own father, your own blood was not something she could take lightly. It would take decades if not ages to accept it and move on. But with Alexander and her mother by her side, she knew it would be alright.

"Please find a place in your heart to forgive your father. He just acted rationally because he didn’t want to hurt his pride. I can assure you he’s already regretting it," Queen Felista said. She could see the hurt in her daughter’s eyes. Henry had done so much of a damage to his own daughter. She just hoped that he would fix this soon. But as prideful as he was, would he really accept his mistakes and apologize? That, she was uncertain.

Roselyn just nodded at her mother’s words even though she knew it would be hard to do what she had said. Easier said than done! Her gaze settled on her mother, the woman that had brought her to this world, who had breastfed her, and raised her to the woman she was now. Her father played a part as well but she didn’t want to even think about him. That was painful enough to bring back painful memories. This was her fate, and she had to accept it. Life had really dealt her a bigger blow this time.

"Mother?" She called softly before her gaze bore into the silver eyes of Felista. "I know I’ve not been the best daughter for you. I lied to you about so many things earlier and that’s why I want to tell you now. I want to be open with you since you are the only one I can trust. Just promise me that you’ll not be hurt by what I say," she said looking at her mother with that expectant face.

"You can tell your mother everything," Felista said gripping her hands tighter and squeezing them. This gave Roselyn the courage to talk. She wanted to tell her mother anything but the truth. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

"I’m sorry I lied to you and Father about our relationship with Alexander. The truth is that Alexander never loved me in the first place. I was like a damsel in distress, always forcing myself on him when he didn’t even spare a minute of his time with me. So it caught me by surprise when Her Majesty said that Alexander wanted to get married to me. I am not sure about this, and I’m still not." She finished and waited to see her mother’s reaction and the look that welcomed her answered it all.