The doubts

Tanya stood in the middle of the guest palace lounge as she watched over the servants who were decorating the lounge. Tanya was working on the task Prince Malek had given her of preparing the wing that Prince Zayer would be staying in. She was proud of the work they had done so far. The palace was coming together nicely it would only take two more days before they finished, just in time for the prince who was scheduled to arrive in four days.

As the servants worked Tanya would occasionally catch them staring at her. Something she had unfortunately been dealing with for a while now. She knew exactly what they were thinking as they stared.

Their stares reminded her of her conflicting emotions. She had continued to think about the gossiping servants amongst each other about her from a few days ago.

She still didn't know what to do. On the one hand she still really wanted to obtain Malek's love as she still had feelings for him. Not to mention she didn't want to give up on her goal to become empress. However, on the other hand, she was starting to ask herself if she was doing too much? Should she give up? It seemed everyone else thought so.

"Why can't she just leave?"

"It's embarrassing to see her this way.

 The hurtful words just kept replaying in her mind.

"How are the preparations going?" a familiar voice asked her suddenly bringing her out of her thoughts.

Tanya turned around in surprise to find Prince Malek standing a short distance away.

 "Your Highness." She said as she bowed before him. He didn't greet her neither was looking at her as she spoke to him.

Instinctively she adjusted her hair and looked down at her dress to see if she was looking proper for him. Despite the gossiping servants' comments, she was still overdressing.

 "I've already set the wing with the colours and materials Crown Prince Zayer is said to like," she told Malek what she had done so far.

Malek scoffed as he looked around the lounge inspecting her work.

Tanya was hoping for some acknowledgment from him for what she's done so far, however, he didn't say anything. Which didn't surprise Tanya, he never complimented her for her efforts. Ever.

 She was used to him never saying anything but she held onto to a small hope that he one day would come to appreciate her.

Nonetheless, whether he would complement her she loved putting all her effort into tasks she was given to do. She always made an extensive effort in everything she did, never doing things half-heartedly.

Tanya noticed Malek seemed more irritable than usual. Something was bothering him. Unbeknownst to her Crown Prince Malek was upset over the meeting he had had with his father a few days ago.

He had left his father's meeting room feeling grumpy.

The Emperor had embarrassed him in front of Hardik and the army general with his comments about him not being a competent candidate for Emperor.

Not to mention he once again brought up the topic of Celeste and his decision to demote Tanya. He always talked as if only he and he alone knew what was best. It annoyed him how his father constantly criticized and reprimanded him. Nothing he did was ever good enough. However, despite feeling annoyed he knew coming to see Tanya would be somewhat amusing.

Seeing her embarrassingly try to get his attention and to impress him. He knew Tanya was obsessed with him. Though Malek hated her obsession, there were times when he somewhat enjoyed the attention. He liked to internally mock her.

"Your Highness," the two then heard a voice say interrupting them.

 "Who is it?" Malek asked as they turned to see who had come. It was Great Master Hardik who was making his way towards Tanya and Malek.

 "Oh, it's you cousin," Malek responded sounding annoyed.

Tanya's eyes met Hardik's and immediately looked away from him as she remembered her encounter with him that day. "Good day, Master Hardik," she said in greeting to him.

"Lady Edom," he greeted her back.

She couldn't bring herself to look back at him since she was embarrassed about her last encounter with him.

Hardik's attention quickly turned back to "We have to get working on what His Majesty requested of us," Hardik said with a sense of urgency

"Make sure it all comes out nicely," Malek ordered Tanya as he turned away to leave with Hardik.

"Yes, Your Highness," Tanya accepted the order.

"I don't think Lady Edom has ever messed up anything she's planned before," Hardik defended Tanya.

"Oh, is that so?" Malek replied sarcastically and rolled his eyes.

As they walked away Tanya watched Malek. She thought of the interaction she had just had with him. He didn't smile at her or keep eye contact as he spoke to her. He was irritable and annoyed

He just made her a concubine so as not to hurt her reputation.

When she first heard it, Tanya had refused to believe this statement but now she was considering it. Tanya never thought about it before, but she was starting to see that Malek really detested her.

It's not that she hadn't noticed before and wanted to force herself onto him. She just thought that if she tried harder by changing herself to fit his tastes, he soon come around to her. Malek encouraged her to believe this as well as he often told her if she changed he might look at her. She loved him so much and just wanted him to reciprocate.

 However, she was starting to see that perhaps she may have blinded herself to the reality of the situation. That it was highly unlikely that Malek's feelings would change.

However, if he didn't like her at all and would never like her at all…then what? Tanya's thoughts troubled her as she continued to work. You can't force someone to love you. Hardik's words rang in her mind.

In any case it was only a few days remaining until the prince of Asyire arrived she would decide what to do afterward.