"Father..."

The door opened and the King walked in unescorted. He looked awkward as he looked around the room before settling his gaze on her.

"Anna, how are you?"

"I’m...I’m okay. Not a single scratch, as you can see! Why did you...why are you here?" Anna was used to seeing the Queen regularly, after all they had tea every other day. The King was not so regular.

He walked up to the bed and sat down beside her. Anna slowly lowered back into the bed, watching him with cautious eyes. This was the first time she’d truly looked at him closer, and she found that she couldn’t place what beast type he was.

The Queen was a white cat, just like Princess Orchid. But the king?

Anna looked closely. He was very dashing, and looked young despite having two adult daughters.

In the real world he’d be a silver fox...

Is he a Fox? Maybe?

Noticing her piercing eyes, the King glanced at her. She immediately turned her attention away and straightened her back.

"My apologies, your majesty." She said.

"It’s just us. Call me father,"

The tension in her back loosened. "O-of course, father. To what do I owe this visit?"

He laughed briefly. "You make it sound like you’re not happy to see me."

"No! That’s not it...I just..." Anna didn’t have much original memories of the king and queen. So she didn’t know how Princess Orchid interacted with them on day to day basis, aside of course flaunting their orders and being a pain in their neck. "I’m just surprised to see you."

He nodded. "I understand. We haven’t had a conversation in so long."

Anna nodded, fidgeting with her hands on her lap. "So, how are you?" She asked with an awkward smile.

"I’m doing good my dear. You? You followed the soldiers on their expedition."

"Ah, I um...I needed to find a new specimen for this hypothesis I’m working on." The words had left her mouth before she realized not only how they sounded, but also how natural they came out.

She chewed on her lips, a conflicted look in her eyes. I’m sounding like her...fuck.

The king, oblivious to her internal turmoil, placed a warm hand over hers. "Did anything happen?"

Anna looked at his hand over hers. Warmth bloomed in her chest, like the times when the Queen hugged her.

A father’s touch. One that she had been deprived of in her previous life.

So warm...so gentle. I think I’m gonna...

"Nothing." She snapped her head up and looked at him. "Nothing happened at all, father."

He didn’t look convinced. "Not even with Leon?"

Anna got the feeling of a teenage girl coaxed by her father to tell him the name of the boy that was bothering her. And a couple days later, that boy turns up dead on the news.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Anna forced a smile. "Leon is an excellent General. It’s been so long since I saw him in action and...despite his corruption at stage two, he’s still sane."

Mostly.

The king frowned. "Anna, I didn’t ask for a report."

"What...what do you want me to say?"

"Did Leon hurt you again?"

"No. No he didn’t." 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

"Did he threaten to hurt you?"

The lump in her throat shot back up, bigger and thicker. She shook her head. The back of her eyes burned and she felt like a kid caught with their hand down the cookie jar.

"I don’t...he didn’t..." she stumbled over her words. Her hands grew cold and she wrung them together. She felt like she’d done something terrible to warrant his anger and soon he’d snap t her.

"Anna," the King said in a soft tone. "Talk to me as your father and not your King. Did Leon hurt you?"

Above the King, AI Orchid materialized. She stared at Anna with cold robotic eyes, as if daring her to speak.

"There’s nothing to fear, my dear. I’ll have the council revoke his treatment and he will be executed as he should be. Before the day is over, even."

Anna looked at his face. He looks really worried...does he know something? Does he know why....

Wait a minute.

If Leon has always been hateful towards Princess Orchid and she still remained married to him all this while...why?

Why didn’t she use her power and get rid of him? Why did she stay with him?

"Anna," the king called.

"Y-yes?"

"What is it?" He moved closer to her, taking both her hands in his. "I know you feel some kind of love for him. But there are plenty other men out there. You won’t miss one, trust me. You’ll still have four. And if you want a replacement, leave it to me."

Oh shit! Um...what do I even say to that?!

AI Orchid continued to glare at her.

"How is the settlement?" Anna asked, diverting the topic away from Leon.

"Don’t change the topic."

"Father...I hurt people."

He looked at her like he couldn’t understand why what was a problem.

Oh, right. I’m Princess Orchid now.

"Just tell me, did anyone die?"

The king was silent for a few seconds. Then he smiled. "Don’t worry your head about it. Your spores were released far from the settlement anyway, only a minute amount of it reached the people. They’ll be fine in a few days."

Anna exhaled a breath of relief. Thank goodness! I thought I’d killed someone!

"Now about Leon,"

Anna got to her feet. "Father, there’s nothing you need to worry about! Allow me to tame that beast of a husband? Please?"

"But he could—"

She took his hands and looked up at him with pleading eyes. "Please, father. Trust in me."

He sighed. "Very well. Since you love him so much, I’ll step back. But if anything were to happen to you,"

"I know. Thank you, father."

Anna wondered what would happen if she told him right now what Leon had done.

She didn’t.

He got up and left, not before glancing at her one last time as if he expected her to open up. Once he was gone, Anna collapsed into the bed.

"Why didn’t you say anything?" AI Orchid asked.

"Because I need to ask you this. Why did you marry Leon? Surely you must have noticed he hated you?"

"He loved my sister and she loved him back."

Anna sat up and turned to her. "What?! I thought you loved him? and he loved her?"

"No." AI Orchid perched on the bed. "They were always so happy together. It was revolting. Absolutely disgusting. I couldn’t bear seeing them together and so stupidly happy. So yeah."

"So yeah?! You’re saying that like it’s nothing?!"

"Yeah. It is nothing. She doesn’t have him, I do."

"Yeah and he fucking killed you?! How does that make what you did any better? Do you even hear yourself?!"

"Why are you yelling at me? Is that going to change anything?"

Anna screamed with frustration. "Why am I— oh my fucking goodness you’re a dumb ass bitch! One thousand year genius my ass! You know what, Leon was right. He should have killed you a long time ago! You disgusting homewrecker. You had others, you had fucking Drax but no! You wanted your sister’s lover! Who on earth does that? Why?!"

"She’s in a coma. Duh. It’s not like she can do anything."

Anna’s jaw dropped.

Just when she thought she’d seen the worst of this woman. Just when she was starting to feel the slightest bit of pity for her. Just when she decided to do things with a little more grace and empathy. She got reminded of just the rotten bitch that Princess Orchid was.

"You deserve everything that happened to you."

"And now it’ll happen to you if you’re not careful."

"Me? Oh no. I’m going to divorce Leon. He deserves that much instead of being trapped in a marriage with the woman he hates."

AI Orchid laughed. Her voice was voice and clinical, cutting through Anna’s anger like a hot knife to plastic. "Divorce? Oh, you didn’t know?"

"Didn’t know what?!"

"When a member of the royal family gets married they cannot divorce their spouse until at least three years of marriage have passed. And even then, getting a divorce is difficult. I mean it’s a royal marriage. What message will you send to the kingdom that so dearly values marriage?"

The world tilted and Anna’s vision tunneled. Her ears filled with a ringing sound. Everything around her turned into a blur of shapes of colors. Her knees wobbled and she fell, grabbing onto the closest object which happened to be the bed.

Three years.

They’d been married for two.

Anna thought of Leon, the hatred in his eyes for her, the way he’d held Princess Lotus so gently, the way he openly expressed his hatred for Princess Orchid.

"You’re a monster." Anna hissed.

AI Orchid grinned. "You’re just figuring that out now? Talk about slow."