Married To The Tyrant King (II)

At the princess' arrival, the loud talks and chatters in the hall grew into silence and all eyes turned towards the door.

Momentarily, Genevieve felt her heart still. A piercing, vicious stare was emanating from the man at the altar, making her breathless, and she timidly withdrew her gaze.

The announcer's voice quickly broke the hovering silence, "The third Princess of Alexandria, Princess Genevieve Campbell, has arrived."

However, rather than a standing ovation from the crowd, displeased murmurs filled the room. Feeling the unwelcoming gazes of everyone on her, her fists clenched nervously, and she lowered her eyes downwards.

At their hateful reaction to her presence, she felt her resolve weaken once more. Nevertheless, she deeply sighed, praying in her heart. "God, please help me."

With the last courage in her, Genevieve stepped into the hall, walking down the aisle. Sarah had left, and she was forced to walk down the altar all alone. But as she walked, Genevieve audibly heard the critics shoved at her.

"Who does she think she is to keep us waiting?"

"She's so ugly, my eyes hurt just by staring at her. How Shameful!!."

"Why does she look so hideous even on her wedding day?"

"I wonder how much she must have irritated the king that he refused to give her an escort."

Hearing these words thrown at her, Genevieve felt unbothered, being already used to their hurtful words. But then, how could she feel bothered when there was danger right in front of her? Especially when the man's gaze intensely doubled on her.

His gaze felt no less than arrows piercing straight into her heart and each step she took, closer to him, made her fragile heart thunder against her chest. She wished for the ground to open and swallow her up that very moment, but unfortunately, such wish couldn't come true.

With two more unsteady steps, Genevieve reached the altar, and soon she found herself standing before the man rumored deadliest King in the entire continent, making shivers crawl down her spine.

Her eyes quickly lowered to the ground, avoiding looking his masked face, which from a distance looked utterly dangerous.

The priest quickly began, "Today, we are all gathered here for the marriage between His Majesty, King Maximilian and Princess Genevieve."

As the priest spoke, Genevieve got lost in her thoughts, but in the next moment, two long slender fingers reached for the princess' face slowly lifting it to meet the most striking pair of gray eyes, Genevieve had ever seen.

And those fingers….those eyes belonged to none other than the king of Darkshire.

"Y-your M-majesty," Genevieve subconsciously uttered, gazing at the man who had looked nothing like he was from afar.

An intricately designed mask laced his entire face, except for his eyes and lips, which looked as enchanting as the moon. His black inky hair was neatly swept behind and he wore a red dignifying cape. Genevieve was certain that the man before her had the most breathtaking view she had ever seen. She got so lost in her gaze, forgetting he was the said most tyrannical man, not until the king's eyes narrowed down at her.

"Have I become so enchanting that you can't help but stare at me?" Genevieve heard the king's low yet profound voice question.

Frightened, she quickly shook her head, averting her gaze from him, back to the ground. Genevieve, subtly, took a step backwards, afraid he would do something to her.

However, at her actions, the king's lips sardonically curled up as mirth appeared in his eyes.

"Astounds me that the third princess of Darkshire intends to faint from a racing heart on her very own wedding. How wonderful." Genevieve heard his slow, deliberate comment.

"N-no, I-I won't," she innocently responded in fear. He hadn't even touched her yet, yet she felt she was going to die from a heart attack caused by his presence.

After the priest ended his announcement, he pitifully turned to look at Genevieve, who wouldn't?

"Milady, do you take His Majesty to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

At that moment, Genevieve stilled once more and so did the crowd, who turned silent. From the altar, she turned to the right to see her father, the king, seated on his throne, but he wasn't alone. Next to him was the queen and the two other princesses, except for the crown Prince who was away.

However, Genevieve wasn't blind. From beneath the veil she wore, she could feel the king's cold and hateful gaze on her, which he wore from the moment she stepped into the room. He looked at her with intense animosity, as if waiting for her to utter a wrong reply before strangling her to death. So did the crowd who looked judgmentally at her, waiting for her to reply wrongly before blaming her for ruining the alliance.

After a moment passed, Genevieve replied, "Y-yes, I d-do." She couldn't believe she finally reached that heart-wrenching moment in her life.

The priest then warily turned to the king, who looked nothing less than a predator gazing at its prey.

"M-milord, do you take Princess Genevieve, t-third Princess of Alexandria, as y-your lawfully wedded w-wife?" He warily asked.

The crowd held their breath, waiting for his response. They hoped the princess hadn't somehow irritated the king into declining, changing his mind.

However,

"Do you intend on marrying her in place of me?" he wickedly snapped at the priest, whose eyes widened.

He quickly shook his head, "N-no, Your Majesty. How could I?"

The king of Darkshire let out an eerie smile, seeing the man's scared looks. "Of course, you wouldn't. Unless you intend to get your head chopped off and dangled as dessert for wolves."

"But of course, I would certainly take the third Princess to be my bride," he turned to look at Genevieve with a deliberate slowness that made her gulp, "Who wouldn't?"

The threatened priest quickly brought forth the wedding rings, placing it before them.

Unsteadily, Genevieve reached for a ring, warily pushing through his finger under his watchful gaze, where she heard him comment.

"I don't bite, Genevieve. At least, try looking at my finger when putting a ring, else you never know when you might end up putting it in the wrong hole."

She gulped again at his words, without comprehending his words, noticing how he called her merely by her name, which sounded so eerie.

Meanwhile, he swiftly got hold of Genevieve's finger, putting the ring without a waste of time.

Soon the words she dreaded to hear, echoed, "By the power invested in me by the creator of the heavens, I pronounce you husband and wife."

The tensed crowd finally breathed out in relief, giving claps. The alliance was a success, their Kingdom would be stronger and that was all that mattered. Of course, they didn't care about the poor Princess.

So was with the king of Alexandria, who had a contented look of greed on his face. Genevieve turned to look at the queen and two other princesses, seeing triumphant looks on their faces, they seemed happy at her fate.

Right where she stood, a painful clench which she could barely bear appeared in her heart. She couldn't believe it, she was finally married to the king of Darkshire.