Despite her reluctance, Lady Saira attended to the King’s daily needs like she was his personal servant rather than one of his wives. She began the very day she had been ordered by Theron. The personal servant of the King dutifully explained to her about her duties. She would be attending to the King from dawn—from waking him up, preparing his bath, choosing his clothes, arranging meals and overseeing the cleanliness of his bed-chamber, up to serving him until he retired for the night.
However…
Theron never slept in his bed. He would always drink heavy liquor and fall asleep in his chair, leaving the empty bottles and stained carpets in a mess. Lady Saira could do nothing but suffer in silence, generally ignoring the King unless she received his direct orders. What she truly felt was a mix of despair and anger—his well-being didn’t concern her, and she did do anything more than what she had been told to do.
She could not help but resent the King for keeping her from fulfilling her promise to her previous master, and till the end of her life, she would not forgive this man.
As she wasted away in the King’s palace, not even once did Theron pay attention to her. He treated her as if she didn’t exist, the same way he treated the ordinary servants around him.
A month after that night he shared a bed with Lady Clarisa, shocking news dropped from Vermillion Palace, delighting the entire Kingdom of Megaris. It was incredibly happy news for the royal family, and everyone was happy but the King.
The First Concubine, Lady Clarisa, was expecting her second child.
Theron couldn’t care less. He never wanted to have another child, and that night was a mistake. But now, he had to pay for it.
The King’s closest advisor was talking to him in his study about the situation within the kingdom.
“…because of this, the noble families are convinced that Your Majesty favours Lady Clarisa and they are expecting her to take the position of Queen. After all, she would be giving two heirs to the royal family and she is also the birth mother of Prince Keiren, His Majesty’s eldest son, the successor first in line to take the throne. Since they are confident that the position of crown prince belongs to the First Prince, then Lady Clarisa is meant to be the next king’s mother, and only she deserves to be the Queen of Megaris.”
Theron scoffed. “Deserve?”
“I am sure His Majesty is aware, that the nobles are unhappy with Queen Esther being of common birth. They are actually in favour of her sudden disappearance. Since Lady Clarisa is expecting a second child, it makes her more deserving especially since among your current wives, she has the most prominent background. Moreover, the members of the royal court are supporting this due to the Walter Duchal Family’s influence.
“Even now, they are preparing to demand for Lady Clarisa to ascend the position of Queen and pass this proposal during the next royal court session. On the other hand, Lady Yavia’s family, the Edin Marquis Family of Hatha, is displeased with this because the King has been treating the Second Concubine poorly while the First Concubine is loved enough that she’s now expecting another child. They might threaten us with breaking the trade treaty with us. We can not lose the support from them as the kingdom is still in need of various supplies after the poor harvest last winter.”
“What do you suggest?” the King asked.
The advisor thought about it and replied, “It’s fine to make Lady Clarisa the Queen and—”
“That is not possible,” the King interrupted him.
The advisor knew this would be the outcome and then suggested, “Then, His Majesty needs to get rid of their assumption that the King only favours the First Concubine.”
Theron glared at him and the advisor who tried to keep himself calm as he continued, “It will solve the issue with Lady Yavia’s side as well because we can not lose their support for the sake of the kingdom. It will send the message that all the concubines are fairly treated for His Majesty. If your other concubines gain your favour, it will lower Lady Clarisa’s authority over the royal harem. We cannot let her dominate over your other wives.”
Theron scowled at his adviser who remained calm.
“Either you give a single wife power or you share that power among all your wives—there are only two ways, Your Majesty. I hope you will think about it. I will excuse myself then.”
The King dismissed him afterwards.
Feeling frustrated over these things, Theron leaned back in his chair with his eyes closed.
After a while, Lady Saira entered the King’s personal study and informed him politely, “Your Majesty, your meal is ready.”
Theron didn’t bother to look at her as he headed towards the dining hall, Lady Saira following him like a servant.
Throughout the meal, not a single bite could make its way down his throat. He didn’t want someone else to become his Queen, and neither did he want to acknowledge his other concubines.
Thud!
Clank!
He slammed his hand on the dining table and the spoon in his hand fell down to the floor.
It startled Lady Saira and the other servants in the room, but seeing his dark expression, none of them dared say anything.
“If only I could remove all the annoyance in my life…” He glared at Lady Saira, and she understood she was included in the annoyance of his life.
She lowered her head as it was not her fault. He was the one to bring her into his life when she never asked for it.
“Get out of here!” he shouted in anger.
Lady Saira didn’t wait for a moment even and left the dining hall right away. Her behaviour angered the King even more—that this lowly servant of his didn’t even bother to beg his forgiveness and left just like that. The next moment, each and every item on the dining table was thrown on the floor.
Standing outside of the dining hall, Lady Saira heard the King’s thrashing but she controlled herself from feeling anything. She hated and feared him, but she didn’t want him to see that. The woman couldn’t help but miss the Queen.
‘Your Majesty, if you were here, the King would never act like this. I am sure it would hurt you to see him waste away. I am sorry that I am powerless to do anything. Your absence has destroyed everything precious to you, Your Majesty. You have left behind wounds in our hearts that may never heal…’
Crash!
The door of the dining room slammed open and King Theron stormed out with an icy face.
“Have Tyra see me,” he instructed coldly and walked ahead. “Do not follow me.”
Lady Saira stayed rooted to her place and watched the King leave with a complicated gaze.
—–
Lady Tyra arrived at his personal study as per the King’s order.
She bowed to the man who was busy signing documents on his desk. “Your Majesty, did you ask for me?”
“Arrange consummation dates for the Second Concubine,” was all the King said without lifting his head from work.
Lady Tyra was aware of the matters inside the palace, so she could understand the decision made by the King. That didn’t mean she was not worried about his unstable state.
Though she was concerned, she felt like it would backfire on her if she voiced it out. All she could say was, “I have received your command, Your Majesty.” The King then dismissed her.
Once she left, Theron put the parchment he was looking at down. Because of his tight grip, part of the document was crumpled, taunting him of his frustrating decision.
‘I choose the lesser evil.’
In the reign of King Theron Ivanov, there would only be one Queen and that was his first wife. No other woman could ever take that place, and he vowed this in his name.
—-
When Lady Tyra stepped out of King’s study, she saw the Third Concubine standing outside like a doll without a soul.
Lady Tyra went to the younger woman. “You look pale. How have you been faring?”
“I am fine,” she replied, pulling out a light smile.
The middle-aged lady patted her shoulder. “I know it’s been hard for you, but please bear with it. Though he is taking his anger out on you, trust me, things will get better. Your presence around His Majesty matters a lot. It might sound offensive to you, but I am comforted that at least he has a trustworthy person like you by his side.”
“I will try to be a good servant,” was Lady Saira’s curt response as she didn’t wish to talk more about her situation.
Lady Tyra didn’t insist on it either and left as she had to carry out the order given by the King.
——
The night when the King had to visit his second concubine, Lady Saira went to inform him that it was time to leave. “Your Majesty, the carriage is ready for you.”
As expected, she saw the lonely-looking man sitting in his chair, and tonight, he was drinking more than usual. The empty bottles scattered on the table and floor were twice his normal amount.
Without saying a word, the man stood up with teetering steps. Though his face was devoid of any emotion, his dark eyes looked like that of a tortured animal. Lady Saira could see how this was hurting him inside.
‘It’s not my place to worry about him.’
She shook her head, scolding herself in her mind, and hurried to follow the King who was walking slowly in a daze, as if he didn’t know where he was heading to. She kept with his pace and continued to walk behind him in that quiet hallway while maintaining a distance that was meant to be there between the King and his servant.
Once the King left in his carriage, Lady Saira returned to her chamber that was next to the King’s chamber. She sighed helplessly and was ready to retire for the night.
——
A few hours passed by when she heard a noise outside her room, rousing her from sleep.
“Your Majesty, be careful.” It was Sir Galien’s voice.
As she had worked as an attentive nanny to Little Drayce ever since he was a baby, she had grown accustomed to waking up even with the slightest noise. She stepped out of the bed and corrected her appearance in a hurry to head outside.
In the hallway, she saw Sir Galien and another knight supporting the drunk king, helping—no, almost dragging him towards his chamber. She went to them to offer her assistance.
“Greetings, Lady Saira.” Seeing the concubine, Sir Galien and the other knight gave her a brief bow as she opened the door for them. Before she could say a word, the King recognised her presence and ordered, “Prepare the bath for me.”
His slurry voice held disgust in it, as if he could not wait to wash his entire body. Lady Saira hurried towards the side chamber to prepare the bath while Sir Galien put him in the main chamber.
After a while, Lady Saira returned as she looked at the King who was sitting in his chair, his posture crooked as he reclined in it. “Your Majesty, the bath is ready.”
Hearing that, the drunk king tried to get up from his chair with Sir Galien helping him stay on his feet. As they entered the side chamber, Theron let go of his knight’s support and dragged himself towards the stone pool and stepped inside with his clothes still on his body. He was obviously intoxicated, but he had at least enough sense to support himself as he slowly lowered his body into the hot water with his back against the edge of the pool.
Sir Galien and Lady Saira quietly looked at the King who had closed his eyes. The knight’s expression showed that he was hurting as well to see the King—who was more a friend to him than a master—in such terrible condition. On the other hand, for the first time since she was forced into servitude, sincere worry for the King appeared on Lady Saira’s face.
‘He will catch a cold if he remains in the pool in his drunken condition.’ She looked at Sir Galien. “We cannot leave His Majesty as he is.”
Sir Galien understood it as well. “Let us give him several minutes. Maybe the water will help sober him. I will personally get His Majesty out.”
She nodded as the two stayed within the quiet side chamber. After a while, the King fell asleep in the pool and Lady Saira called for the other servants so that they could help carry the King back to the main chamber. The servants did so, and they also changed the King out of his soaked clothes into his sleeping clothes that Lady Saira had given to them.
Once everything was done and the servants left, Sir Galien came out of the King’s chamber. He approached Lady Saira who was standing outside the chamber all this time.
“Lady Saira, I have a request.”
She looked at the knight with a puzzled gaze.
“May I request that for the rest of the night, please stay by His Majesty’s side and watch over him?” said the knight.
Lady Saira could not say no to it and quietly entered the King’s chamber. She sat on one of the chairs in his lounge and kept an eye on the restless figure sleeping on that large bed.
