Accusation

Gunther and the rest of the bodyguards were interrogating the maid in the dungeon after Prince Charles had identified her and King Alfred had also permitted them to torture her.

she had been tied to a chair her left cheek was swollen from being slapped a lot and she was crying heavily.

"I won't repeat my question, tell me why you did it and who ordered you to do it," Gunther was getting angrier and more frustrated at the maid who has been quiet since when she was brought to the dungeon, Gunther hate wasting time and hated when others were wasting his time.

"you know I don't hit women but you have been making me do that to you since when you were brought here, it's just a simple question you think your so-called master will care or think about you when you gone," he told the maid who still refused to say anything and sobbing heavy

Prince Eric finally entered the dungeon, as Gunther and the rest of the guards began to pity her, they all knew that Eric was just like his father, very cruel in making decisions and doesn't feel pity while doing so, "has she said anything yet," he asked Gunther who was confused

"not yet my prince," Gunther told him Bowing low with the rest of the guards,

"then try the second option on her," prince Eric told Gunther as the maid's eyes began to widen, with panic writing all over her face, wondering if the second option was her death.

"you can't just walk into Endoria and be threatening the lives of any of its people innocently," the maid finally dared to say something but was still panicking.

"you finally have the courage to say something you should know your king has already in giving me permission to treat you the way I like if I see you as the suspect, let's see if you can still be loyal to that master of yours when I'm dealing with you," Prince Eric told her with an evil smirk on his face before leaving the dungeon.

...

It was time for dinner, every royal from both kingdoms was present in the dining room, taking their breakfast quietly until the Queen started asking prince Eric questions.

"How are you feeling today my prince," Queen Nora asked

"I'm feeling well, thanks for asking queen Nora," he said with a snarky smile.

"Zara my sister..., I heard that you forcefully slept in prince Eric's room last night, even without his consent, isn't that a bit too fast for a Princess who was trained to have morals," Beatrice started to spout, glaring devilishly at Zara, as the rest of the sisters began to murmur even the King seems shocked by the news.

"what do you expect from a concubine daughter, unlike my daughter who was raised to be more of a Queen than a slut," Queen Nora was directing what she said to Prince Eric.

"That's true Prince Eric, I mean... mother Beatrice stammered in agreement with what her mum was saying.

"I may be a concubine as you said but that doesn't give you the right to belittle my daughter in front of me," Zara's mother said trying to restrain the anger within her as Queen Nora began to laugh.

"Really Helena, I'm only giving notice to the Prince so he won't regret it later, having an unwell-trained lady as a queen is the beginning of the kingdom's downfall,"

"oh yes, I trained my daughter to be more of a better person than me and you," Zara's mother snapped at her.

"My daughter knows how to dance, dress, make decisions, tidy things up, and also how to love perfectly, Zara is just like her mother she will do anything to get what she wants," the Queen berated Zara in front of everyone.

"Queen Nora, I expect you to respect yourself and behave more like a Queen, don't you see how extreme your words are getting, "King Alfred yelled at Queen Nora.

"but what mother said is true father, a maid of mine told me that she saw Zara drunk, going into prince Eric's room with no fear, I'm sure the prince can confirm what I just said now,"

"of course, I can confirm, but it has nothing to do with you, she will be my wife and the future queen of Baneria, she has every right to enter my room and behave like a slut only if it is for me," King Edward and his wife looked at him astonished that he was defending the princess when he didn't want to marry anyone before.

"But my prince, a Queen who behaved like her can't rule a kingdom with you, you need a well-behaved Queen, not a type that will end up following high-titled men, ruining your Royal's name, you need me," Beatrice said trying to hold prince Eric hand from the opposite side of the table but princes Eric roughly fling her hand away, as the rest of her sister began to laugh at her.

"I don't need a queen who asks their maids to drug a drink and tarnish the name of her sister, can you do that?" Prince eric questioned looking at her with half-lidded eyes.

"of... Course...not," Beatrice stammered hitting her plate with her cutlery.

"Gunther, can you bring in the maid," Beatrice suddenly turned pale, her eyebrow raised and pulled together, she was unable to eat due to how her hands were shaking.

"yes, your majesty," Gunther replied, leaving the room to go and bring the maid.

"Are you feeling okay, princess," Eric taunted Beatrice who was already half-dead inside.

"Of course," she replied with a shaky smile and a sweaty forehead.

Gunther finally came in with the maid, her face was all swollen and red from excess beating.

"do you recognize her, princess," all eyes were now on Beatrice, waiting for her reply.

"no... No," she answered, darting her eyes away from the maid which made the maid shocked.

"Oh, I guess you can't recognize her, due to the excess beating she has been facing, can you introduce yourself so your princess can recognize you better?" Eric asked the maid

"My name is Priscilla and am a maid working in princess Beatrice's courtyard," she describes herself with tearful eyes.

"nonsense I know all the maids working for my daughter, I've never seen you before," the Queen summed up, glaring evilly at the maid.

"I'm not lying your daughter asked me to poison Princess Zara, in exchange for a huge amount of money," Priscilla defended herself, she wanted to mention the Queen but was scared she might get hurt.

"How dare you accused my daughter, I'll make sure you get punished for lying about the princess," the Queen threatened the maid.

"Gunther," prince Eric called out

"yes, my prince,"

"have one of the guards working at princess Beatrice's chamber come here," the prince ordered.

"my prince..., why are you still pressing on this issue," Beatrice asked, hoping the prince can stop all his investigations.

"I want to clear up your name, don't you want that,"

" There is no need for that, everyone already knows I'm innocent and I can't do such a thing,"

" here is one of the guards, my prince," Gunther entered with a guard standing beside him.

"do you walk at princess Beatrice's chambers," Prince Eric verified.

"yes, my prince,"

" do you know this maid standing here," Prince Eric asked pointing at the maid

" yes my prince, she also works for Princess Beatrice.

"that's a lie, my prince you need to stop this investigation,"

"Can't you see that you're embarrassing yourself, you're a royal but you wanted to tarnish the image of another royal, is that how a well-behaved Princess should be," King Alfred huffed at her.

"you shouldn't be attacking your daughter this way," Queen Nora said after her daughter began to cry.

"I should be attacking you instead, for not teaching your daughter how to behave, I'll make sure Beatrice gets punished for what you've done," King Alfred yelled at her which caused her to keep shut.

"I have lost my appetite," Beatrice muttered angrily walking out of the dining room, dinner has been quiet since then.

....

When we were done with dinner, I went to my bathroom, took my bath, and put on my nightgown before my mother came in.

"I'm I disturbing you, child," she asked me with a concerned look.

"no mother you're not disturbing at all, you can come in if you want," I assured taking a seat on my bed so she could do the same, which she finally did.

"I'm sorry for what happened to you," my mother told me

"you shouldn't be, it's not your fault," I ensured her

"you know I was a year younger than you when your Father asked me to be his concubine, I didn't accept to be his concubine at first because just like every other young girl, I had dreams and yes, I did have someone I loved and I wished to be with forever, maybe we could have had a poultry farm and a small farm to support ourself or a cow in a barn that we could get milk from," she told me with downturn lips and vacant stare.

"So what happened to those dreams," I inquired curiously, which made her chuckle giving me a one-sided smile and realizing a sigh.

"at some point in life, I realized that dreams are only meant for sleep, it doesn't happen the way you want it, I ran to him the day your father came to take me, all to find him on the bed with another woman, they looked so good together, while I looked so stupid, hoping on childish things that can only happen on fairytale stories," my mother told me with watery eyes, she still manage to put a beautiful smile on her face after telling me what she has been through, I had to hug her right so she won't see me crying.

"I'm sorry you had to go through all this alone,"

"You shouldn't be it's not your fault, ok," she tried to assure me making me face her so she could clean off the tears that abruptly came out from my eyes.

"Have you ever regretted being dad concubine," I questioned giving her a focused gaze.

"of course not, I was able to feed and help my family, and I'm also given what I want," I was a bit shocked by her response and the way she started to laugh over it.

" but it wasn't true love," I told her, trying to make her understand my point

"Nothing is true, except you want it to be true, and that includes love, besides, I've been blessed with you and your cute brother, I don't want anything else in the world apart from you two, and both of your happiness," she told me placing a hand on my cheek.

"I'll never wish for any of my children to go through what I've been through, and neither do I want you to marry in a way you don't want to be married, do you want this marriage," she gave me an intense look, waiting for my reply

"I don't know what I want mom, besides, he seems like a good man," I told her what I was thinking about him, after today's dinner my perspective about him change to a good one.

"If you don't want this you can tell me now," I can't tell her because I knew it will get her into trouble with dad, the door of my room opened, revealing Prince Eric's face.

"I'm sorry if I'm disturbing you two," he said turning to leave.

"no, you're not disturbing anyone, I was about to leave anyways," she let out, stopping Prince Eric from getting closer to the door, as she gave me a reassuring nod before leaving.