Useless...
Her grandmother called Rosereave useless, too.
"But-"
"You've taken a liking to him." She sighed heavily and drummed her fingers on the table impatiently.
"Well. I can't blame you. It's perfectly normal to get attached to your first. But a true empress should know better than to get so attached to a man. Look at what happened to your mother."
Her heart stuttered and seized.
The sting of loss cut deep inside her chest.
"But." She protested softly. "Rosereave doesn't make me cry..."
"Tsk." Grandmother clicked her teeth sharply. "He is a concubine. Don't forget that. When you become empress you'll receive a King Consort. And you'll do well to remember that the marriage is not about love."
Marriage was not about love, but duty. They continued tradition and the pure line of the original queen.
"But mother loved father..."
"A foolish mistake, indeed." Grandmother grumbled angrily.