The Incarcerated Queen ✔️

Chapter 4

♚ Aphrodite ♚

The maids provided me with a comfortable warm towel as I shivered at the corner of the room. There was a mayhem in my bedroom, everyone was running around frantically trying to figure something out. Looking over my shoulder so the crime scene in front of me, it was a complete and utter chaos.

"I demand every corner of this place inspected, the dungeons, the kitchen, the cellar and even the forest." My uncle yelled at the stoic guards, they nodded but were a bit hesitant to speak. If they did, there would be no say as to what my uncle would do if he exploded.

"But your Highness, the forest is dangerous-"

"I do not care if it is dangerous, it is daytime!" My uncle roared causing me to flinch, my uncle was a relatively happy man but when he was angry it was appalling.

"Or are you too scared to go in there. Quit being a fucking coward and go!" My uncle scratched his curly raven hair in annoyance. He sat on one of the chairs and took a big gulp of Bourbon from the bottle next to him.

"I'm going to call the Elderly Council, we are going to cancel the event." My senses shot up when he said that, as much as I would love to not meet men right now, it would indicate to the people in this Kingdom that I am weak and not fit to be Queen. This would perpetuate exactly like what the message said.

"And prove to the entire Kingdom that the message the assailant had sent me was correct?" It was a rhetorical question, my uncle didn't need to answer that. He simply sighed and nodded, thinking for a few minutes on what they should do.

"You're right," he reluctantly said. "We must show them that we aren't scared. However, I will place extra security and make sure that there will be two bodyguards with you even when you're supposed to be alone with the suitors."

"I think that would be sufficient." there was an awful lot of uncertainty in my voice, but I would have to drop the topic for this evening as I would now have to look fresh and like someone who has had proper sleep for the past few days.

Walking up to the dressing table, I slowly applied the makeup to conceal the look of fright and shock on my face. Once it was done, I walked over to my closet to find clothes that Hebe had given to me. The gowns she gave me were hideous and did little to cover the necessary parts. The colours were too bright for my liking and there was only one I could go for- the black one.
The dress hugged my body like a second skin, I stared at myself in the mirror one last time and sighed in defeat. This wasn't me, all of this materialistic things did not represent who I am. I felt bad for the suitors coming in today, they would be surprised to see how different I am to what they imagine me as.

A few hours later, I arrived at the banquet and sat on my throne where the men were already waiting for me. The room was lavishly decorated, it was so colourful I felt that my eyes were going to bleed. There were long tables filled with so much rich food that could feed the entire population of the poor people in our Kingdom. Just sitting on this throne made me realise that nothing is perfect and I haven't even begun to fix all the problems that I promised the people.

Slowly walking down the red carpet, I made my way to my throne. On the way, I didn't even have to turn right to see their hungry and lustful glares. Most of them weren't here for me, they were here for my power. Taking a seat on my throne, I gazed ahead into the open crown in front of me, I wasn't remotely interested in them.