Chapter 42-No longer a princess
The words settle into the room like a death sentence.
Neither of us moves afterward.
The storm outside continues raging against the palace walls, rain striking the tall windows hard enough to sound like stones thrown against glass.
Thunder rolls low through the mountains beyond the kingdom, the fire crackling weakly behind me as if even it cannot survive the weight suffocating this room.
I stare at the wine bottle sitting between us.
Dark glass.
Gold seal.
A cruel reminder.
The office doors suddenly swing open before I can speak.
Veronica walks inside carrying the scent of rain and cold night air with her, dark curls slightly damp around her shoulders from the storm outside.
Her sharp eyes move between Elias and me immediately, taking in the tension thick enough to choke on, the untouched wine bottle, the look on Elias's face.
She sighs instantly.
"Oh for the love of the gods," she mutters. "What now?"
Elias does not even look at her.
"Stay out of it, Veronica."
"No.you need to stop"
She shuts the doors firmly behind her before crossing the room in calm measured steps, boots clicking softly against stone.
Elias finally turns toward her, anger still burning hot beneath his skin.
"Why should I?" he snaps. "The boy refuses to listen to reason and I am tired of being gentle about it."
"The boy?" Veronica repeats flatly. "Elias, he is a grown man and your king."
"He is acting like neither."
"And bashing him fixes what exactly?"
Elias laughs bitterly.
"Perhaps guilt will finally force him to see his wife."
Veronica stops beside the desk, looking between both of us carefully before reaching down and grabbing the wine bottle. Without hesitation, she places it farther away from me.
"No," she says calmly. "We are not doing this."
Elias glares at her.
"You always defend him."
"Because someone has to when you get like this, my love."
The nickname softens nothing.
If anything, it only irritates him further.
"He has not seen his wife in days."
"And?" Veronica shoots back sharply. "You think screaming at him changes the fact that he is terrified?"
Veronica sighs again before rubbing slowly at her temple.
"The man has spent his entire life losing everything he loves," she says more quietly now.
"His mother. His brother. Friends. His wives.
Soldiers. Pieces of himself over and over again.
" Her eyes flick toward me briefly. "And every time something dies around him, people expect him to keep standing anyway. "
Her gaze sharpens slightly.
"And now the woman he loves nearly died in his arms."
Pain twists violently through my chest.
"The last thing he needs right now is for you to turn your back on him too."
Elias scoffs harshly.
"I am trying to force him to stop abandoning his wife."
"And he is trying to survive the thought of losing her."
Elias opens his mouth again, but Veronica cuts him off immediately.
"No. Shut up and listening."
The room stills slightly.
"You are treating Ophelia like some fragile little child who does not understand what is happening around her," Veronica says sharply. "And it is becoming annoying."
Elias's jaw tightens.
"She is forcing herself out of bed..."
"Yes," Veronica interrupts. "Because she understands exactly why her husband is staying away."
That makes Elias go still.
Veronica points toward him immediately.
"She keeps trying to go to him because unlike you, she understands him."
Something in my chest twists painfully at those words.
"She knows him well enough to recognize what this really is." Veronica looks toward me now. "Fear."
The word hangs ugly in the air.
Raw.
Exposed.
"You think she does not see the way you look at her now?" Veronica asks me softly. "Like if you blink too long she might disappear."
I look away.
"She notices everything," Veronica continues. "That woman could read emotions off a corpse if given enough time."
Despite everything, the corner of Elias's mouth twitches slightly before disappearing again.
Veronica sighs.
"She has insecurities, yes. Everyone does." Her eyes narrow slightly at Elias now. "But you do not get to weaponize those insecurities against him. Especially not when you would never allow someone to do the same to her."
Elias says nothing.
"She is not weak," Veronica continues firmly. "That woman is a queen. A damned good one."
Her voice fills with something almost proud now.
"Even sick, she is still working. Still giving orders. Still making sure reports are handled properly. Half the ministers are more terrified of disappointing her than they are of disappointing him."
She jerks her head toward me.
"Do you know how absurd that is?"
Elias exhales sharply through his nose.
"She nearly died."
"And yet she is still ruling."
Veronica folds her arms across her chest.
"You keep looking at her like she is still some frightened little princess trying to survive court politics." Her voice softens slightly. "But she is not that girl anymore, Elias."
The room quiets.
"You need to stop coddling her."
Elias looks genuinely offended.
"I do not coddle her."
Veronica stares at him flatly.
"My love, you do."
Veronica points directly at Elias.
"You keep trying to lock that girl in a cage because you want to protect her." Her expression hardens. "And if you continue doing that, she is going to fight you harder and harder for freedom until one day she simply takes it by force."
Elias's expression darkens slightly because deep down he knows she is right.
"She is not a the same girl anymore," Veronica says quietly. "So you need to stop treating her like she is ."
The words settle heavily into the room.
"She no longer needs you fighting every battle for her."
Elias looks away first this time.
"And if you keep trying to force her back into the cage because it makes you feel safer," Veronica continues softly, "you will only make her resent the bars."
Silence follows.
Long.
Heavy.
Then Veronica turns toward me again.
"And you."
I already know I am about to be scolded.
"You need to stop wallowing in self-pity before you destroy yourself."
"I still need to find whoever poisoned her."
"And you can do that from your chambers," Veronica replies immediately. "There is absolutely no reason for you to be rotting away in this office like some tragic widower from a bad romance novel."
Elias snorts despite himself.
Veronica ignores him.
"You sitting here stressing yourself into an early grave helps no one." She steps closer toward me now. "No one could have guessed the chocolate was poisoned."
Guilt twists violently inside me anyway.
"You acted quickly," she says firmly. "You made sure she emptied her stomach before the poison spread further. You kept her alive."
Barely.
The word sits silently inside my head.
Barely.
Veronica's expression softens slightly now.
"People get hurt, Achilles. It happens." Her voice lowers. "And if you blame yourself every single time something terrible happens around you, you will spend the rest of your life drowning in guilt until there is nothing left of you."
The storm outside crashes violently against the windows.
Rain.
Thunder.
Wind.
Yet somehow the office feels quieter now.
"You are allowed to be afraid," Veronica says softly. "You are allowed to hurt."
Her gaze sharpens slightly.
"But you are not allowed to abandon yourself because of it."
The words settle somewhere deep inside my chest.
Painful.
Necessary.
Then she turns sharply toward Elias again.
"And you," she says flatly, "are going back to Ophelia's room and making sure she stays in that goddam bed."
Veronica's eyes narrow dangerously.
"If I find that girl walking these halls again in her condition, I will personally chain her to the bed until she recovers."
"She would pick the locks."
Veronica takes a deep breath before saying "Look standing here tearing each other apart accomplishes absolutely nothing." Her voice softens again. "You shouldn't hold him to impossible standards, Elias."
"He is king."
"He is human."
The words hit the room hard.
"You expect him to carry grief perfectly." Veronica shakes her head slowly. "You expect him to survive loss perfectly. To love perfectly. To rule perfectly."
Her eyes narrow.
"And you would never say half the things you said tonight to Ophelia herself because you know exactly how cruel they sound."
"Ophelia is just as capable as her husband," Veronica continues. "She rules an empire. She commands armies. Ministers listen when she speaks." Her expression softens slightly. "And yet somehow the moment she gets sick everyone suddenly starts treating her like she is made of glass."
The fire crackles softly behind me.
Veronica exhales slowly.
"She is hurting right now, yes." Her voice gentles. "But she is still strong."
Then her gaze shifts toward me again. Veronica points toward the office doors.
"Now." Her tone leaves no room for argument. "You are going outside to clear your head. Walk in the rain. Sulk dramatically beneath the storm clouds if you must."
Elias snorts quietly.
"But afterward," Veronica says firmly, "you are going to your chambers and sleeping in your own bed tonight even if I have to drag your miserable body there myself."
Before I can answer, she starts gathering the papers scattered across my desk.
"You will find these in your chambers later," she says calmly. Veronica holds the stack of papers against her chest before looking between both of us one final time.