"Your majesty, she's unknown. what I mean is, she had her back to me, and I couldn't see her face.
Carl stood up from his seat, slamming the table in anger, making Jerald and Lilith, flinch, backing away slightly.
"Lilith can you describe exactly what you saw, I mean, do you think, it's a young or an old lady, how did her voice sound?" Jerald inquired, seeing that Carl was riled up.
Lilith nodded, then she said, "From the way the way she spoke, and the way she dressed, I presume she's a young lady from a noble family."
"Young lady from a noble family?" Carl and Jerald repeated at the same time, glancing at each other.
They both thought of which lady from a noble family, would have a grudge against Zara.
Jerald's mind immediately went to Gwen, she is the only one he knew of that has a grudge against Zara, considering the past events.
He glanced at Carl who was deep in thought. "My king, do you know of any noble lady that has a grudge against queen Zara?"
Carl sighed, before replying, "None that I know of."
"What about lady Gwen?" Jerald implied. he knew Carl and Gwen were very close, and Carl might not like anyone slandering Gwen's name, but he had to bring it up because Zara's life was at stake.
Carl looked at Jerald in disbelief. "Why would you even bring Gwen into this, you know she's not that kind of person, no, she would never do a thing like that."
Jerald nodded, but he was still not convinced. He turned to Lilith and said, "Would you recognize the person's voice if you were to hear it again?".
Lilith thought for a while, then it dawned on her that the voice did sound like Gwen's voice. "Oh my God, what if it truly was lady Gwen? I would be in trouble, if she were to find out that, I told the king about it," Lilith thought, then she said, "It's been a while, I'm not sure I would recognize it anymore."
Jerald gave her a suspicious look, before dismissing her. Although he still had thoughts of questioning her.
"Your majesty, you don't have to worry, I'd keep investigating it," he reassured, and Carl nodded, not saying a word.
Jerald decided that he still had to bring Gwen's matter up, although in a way that won't look like he was accusing her. "My king, what if lady Gwen had something to do with it, just what if?" he muttered.
Even though he did not say it directly, Carl still understood the meaning behind his question. And he wondered why Jerald was suspicious of Gwen and kept hinting that she was the one. However, knowing who Jerald was, Carl knew that he would never say something without reason, so he said, "If that be the case, I won't show her any mercy, regardless of whether she's my friend, or not...
TWO DAYS LATER
ZARA'S POV
I paced around on the balcony, worriedly. " Zara, you have to calm down," Lia tried to persuade me, but my mind was in a state of unrest. Carl just announced in front of everyone, that he's going to wed Princess Nadia a day after tomorrow, so I have to be worried.
"Lia, I can't calm down. what if Carl meant what he said about marrying Nadia, how do you expect me to watch the man I love marry someone else," I muttered, still pacing around.
"Queen Zara, I don't think it's that bad. Besides he's only marrying her because he made a deal with King Neil," Myla reasoned, and I saw something akin to happiness, flicker across her gaze, or maybe I'm seeing things.
"Myla, you are not helping matters, just keep quiet," Lia scolded.
I Ignore their outburst and decided to go in search of Carl.
"Zara, where are you going?" Lia yelled after me.
"In search of Carl," I yelled back.
...
After searching for some minutes, I finally found him in the garden with Nadia, and what I saw almost reaped my heart out.
Staggering backward, I tried to catch my breath, as I watched Nadia and Carl kiss.
"Goodness, what is going on here," I heard someone say, but I ignored the person.
"If I say something now, they would say I talk too much, but I'll say it anyway,'" Gwen muttered, coming to stand in front of me.
"They are not even married, but yet, they are getting intimate. first, it's a kiss, next, only the Lord knows," Gwen blurted out, making my mind wander to Carl and Nadia, doing other things.
I quickly removed the thought from my mind and I felt a drop of tears trickling down my face, as I tilt my head to look at Carl and Nadia again.
"Zara, there's no point in crying, you should think of how to cope if supposedly, Nadia were to replace you in Carl's heart, just like you did me," Gwen advised, before walking away.
I cleaned my tears, taking one look at Nadia and Carl, before walking back to the chamber. "What you see might not always be true," I told myself, but I was finding it hard to believe as the image of Nadia and Carl keeps replaying in my head...
Meanwhile, Gwen pretended to be strong and not affected by the matter in front of Zara, but when she reached her chamber, she screamed and broke things in anger.
"Princess Nadia, I think I need to speed up my plans for you because you seem to keep getting bold."
"Roxanne," she called her servant, and Roxanne, walked into the chamber, taking a quick glance around, before taking her gaze back to Gwen.
"Milady, what happened here?" She inquired.
Gwen scoffed. "Roxanne, forget about what happened, it's time to make my final move. one that would destroy Nadia."
Roxanne nodded, then she said, "What do you want me to do?"
An evil glint appears in Gwen's eyes. "I want you to go to Draco, tell him I said it's time, he'd understand. And after that, you are to take princess Nadia to meet him at dawn, by the lake."
...
Back to Zara's pov
I sat on the bed, pondering on what I saw. Maybe I shouldn't let it bother me. I'm sure there is an explanation. Yes, there must be an explanation.
With that in mind, I decided to stay in the chamber and wait for Carl, so he could tell me what happened.
Moments later, he walked into the room.
"Carl," I called, hastily walking toward him.
He turned to look at me, but he avoided my gaze.
"Is something wrong? Is there something you want to tell me?" I asked, now standing before him.
He sighs, still avoiding my gaze. "Zara, I... I," he stuttered and did not say anything else
"You what?" I asked, urging him to continue.
"I'm sorry Zara," he said instead.
"Sorry, for what Carl?" I inquired.
He shut his eyes tightly as if battling with himself, like what he was about to say would hurt me.
"You can tell me, Carl," I said, getting slightly impatient. I wanted him to just come clean and tell me why he kissed Nadia, but he was hesitant, making me more restless.
"Zara, I'm going to marry Princess Nadia," he tells me.
I was stunned and stared at him in disbelief. "No, you are not Carl. Remember you told me that, you would play along in the meantime, until you find a solution, right?" I muttered, searching for answers in his eyes.
He sighs again, before saying, "It's not that Zara."
"Then what?"
"I changed my mind and decided to marry her for real. it will benefit both me and Everton," he replied.
My heart started to beat fast against my chest, and I became scared. I prayed inwardly that he was playing some kind of trick on me, and refused to believe what he was telling me.
"No Carl, I don't believe you, tell me the truth, why are you doing this?" I questioned.
He stared at me with a face void of emotion, and said, "I already told you, Zara, it will benefit both me and Everton."
"Does that mean, the kiss was real?" I asked, taking him by surprise and I saw something akin to guilt flash across his gaze before they were replaced with the same void ones.
"Answer me," I screamed when I saw that he was hesitant.
"Yes yes, it was real. I kissed her because, I wanted to because I like her, Zara, I like her."