chapter 11

For years, the people believed that the curse had been broken. The new king and queen ruled in harmony, their love seeming to defy the fate that had haunted every ruler before them. The kingdom prospered, and the people whispered that at last, the cycle of loss had ended.

But fate does not forget so easily.

One fateful night, a truth that had been buried in silence came to light. The queen—who had stood by the king's side through war, who had been his strength and his equal—never truly loved him.

She had admired him. Respected him. But love? Love had never been part of her heart.

It was a marriage of duty, not passion. A partnership, not a romance. She had stayed not because she could not bear to lose him, but because it was the right thing to do—for the kingdom, for stability, for power. And that was why she had survived.The curse had never claimed her, because it had never needed to. It only took those who truly loved their kings.The revelation broke something inside the king. He had believed he was different. He had believed that love had saved him from the fate of his ancestors. But now, he saw the truth—he had never escaped the curse at all.

It had simply never needed to strike.

His love had been real. Hers had been an illusion.

The kingdom still saw them as the perfect rulers. To the world, they had defied destiny. But the king, now hollow inside, knew the truth. The throne had never truly been free of sorrow.In the end, the curse had never been one of magic or gods. It had always been about love—the pure, consuming love that had doomed every king before him.

And perhaps, he realized, the true curse was not that kings lost their beloved.

The true curse was that kings could never be truly loved in return.

The king, once triumphant in love and rule, now sat upon his throne in silent torment. The truth had unraveled before him—his queen had never loved him, and that was why she had survived when all others had perished. The realization left him hollow, but it also sparked a deeper question: Was this truly a curse of fate, or was there something more sinister at play?