She Belongs To The Devil

Chapter 41 - Back To The Past - II

Finally, after the 9th day of their marriage, King Dragomir paid a visit to the Queen's quarter. Lillian was pre-informed about his visit by Agnes. And she was very happy that finally her husband was coming to meet her.

"Maybe he was just too busy with his duties. After all, he is the King of this huge nation. He cannot give more time to me, that is all." Lillian was trying to convince herself that the King was not deliberately avoiding her. She wanted to believe that she was wanted and loved.

Agnes had assigned two personal maids to the Queen, Ida and Esther, to look after her everyday needs. Lillian asked her maids to make her look beautiful and presentable in front of the King.

And when King Dragomir arrived inside her chamber, Lillian greeted him looking her best. She lightly bowed her head and spoke softly, "Your Majesty! I have been waiting for you."

"I'm sorry that I could not visit you a bit sooner. I had to make preparations for the announcement of the new Queen to the public." This was the first time that King Dragomir had laid eyes on the Queen.

And this apology and one look from her husband was enough for Lillian to forgive him for not seeing her for so many days after the marriage. She smiled softly and said, "I understand, my King."

Upon hearing her addressing him as 'my King', Dragomir's eyebrows twitched and he averted his gaze away from her.

And Dragomir stated the true purpose of his visit. "Two days from now, I will be holding a public ceremony to instate you as the Queen of this Kingdom. I wanted to personally invite you to your crowning ceremony. I hope this political marriage will make the bond between our Kingdoms even stronger."

"Of course, Your Majesty." Lillian slightly bowed down her head and put on a smile on her face.

And without asking any personal questions like how she was doing in this new environment or if there was anything that she needed in particular, the King turned around and then left her all alone again.

Lillian was quite fast to pick up his gestures and specific words that he used. He was still refusing to look at her directly as if he could not bring himself to face her. And he especially emphasized that this was a political marriage. It was clear to her like a day that he had no feelings for her. At the end, she had been used like a tool for his own personal gains.

Time passed by but Lillian still tried her best to win the love from her husband. She thought that if she was persistent enough, then one day her stone-hearted husband might reciprocate her feelings.

One year passed by, but the interaction between them would always be minimal and it would only happen when it was absolutely necessary. Other court members and power-houses of the Kingdom were starting to talk ill about Lillian, saying that she was incapable of producing any heir to the throne.

But how could she, when she had not even spent a night together with her husband?

---

The memory was fast forwarded about a year. Adeline could see Lillian in the mirror again. This time, her belly was huge. She was 8 months pregnant.

It turned out that the night they spent together happened after the King was given immense pressure by his high ranking officials. And he was just fulfilling his 'duty' of giving an heir to the Kingdom. There was no love whatsoever for the Queen. But Lillian had still hoped that their child would bring them closer together.

When Lillian was resting in her room, Dragomir came to her room unannounced. He tried to smile at her but failed miserably.

"How is your health?" Dragomir inquired in a monotone.

Lillian smiled at him and replied in her soft tone as always, "I am good, Your Majesty."

King Dragomir nodded and then kept quiet for quite a while. He was not able to look into her eyes properly.

"You look troubled Your Majesty. Is there any problem?" Lillian noticed that he was trying to say something to her but he was, for some reason, unable to.

Dragomir finally looked into her eyes and then started speaking in an apologetic tone, "After I married you, we were enjoying a period of peace in the Kingdom. There were no wars and people were living happily."

The King held her hand in his hand and tried to flatter her, "It was all possible because of you. You agreed to marry me and brought peace between our people. But recently, the internal conflicts are rising. There are just too many powerful clans inside our Kingdom and they are continuously trying to stir up conflicts."

"That is sad to hear Your Majesty. Do you need any type of assistance from me?" Lillian would be happy to help her husband if he was in any kind of trouble. She had always wanted her husband to open up to her and if there was something that she could help him with, she would.

King Dragomir took a deep breath in and then spoke with an emotionless expression, "I have discussed with my council about the current problem. And we reached to a conclusion that this problem can be solved by taking three Royal Concubines from the larger clans."

Lillian's heart sunk when she heard the emotionless sentence coming out of the King's mouth. She pulled her hand away from the King's grip and clutched her gown trying to contain the overwhelming emotion that she was feeling.

He just came and declared to his pregnant wife that he would be taking concubines. He did not even feel that it was necessary to discuss such sensitive issue with his wife first.

Lillian felt a lump in her throat and her breathing became irregular as if she was about to choke. She tried hard not to break down but the pain was just too much for her to handle during the peak of her pregnancy.

She looked into the King's sapphire eyes with her eyes full of tears and screamed, "How can you be so heartless? Am I not enough to produce your heir? How can you be so casual about taking concubines, that also not just one but three?"

Lillian had never raised her voice in front of the King. She had already accepted her fate that she would not get the love that she desired. But she was too distraught when he said that she would now be sharing her husband with other women.

King Dragomir felt sorry for the Queen but he truly believed that taking concubines was the only peaceful solution to the rising conflict. "I am sorry that I broke the news so suddenly to you. But I am doing this for the wellbeing of my Kingdom and my people. You know I care a lot about my people."

Lillian mockingly sneered and spoke in her sorrowful voice, "People… then what about me and your child that is growing inside of me? Are we not your people? Do we not even deserve a drop of your love? And on top of that, I am 8 months pregnant. I will be giving birth to your child in a month and you are putting me through this hell…"

The tears that Lillian was holding came rolling down her cheeks like a flowing stream of water. She could not hide the stinging pain in her heart anymore.

But the King had already made up his mind and the tears from his wife could not shake his resolution.

Tears rolled down from Adeline's eyes as well. She could not even imagine seeing Theodore with any other woman. And she understood how Lillian was feeling. Until now, Adeline had never questioned her father's strategy of resolving conflicts. Yes, by taking many wives and concubines he was able to maintain peace in his land. But what about the peace inside the Palace… inside his own home?

Within a week, Lillian went into her labor. The child was born prematurely because of the stress and sorrow that Lillian went through because of her unloving husband. And because the child was born in a stressful situation, he was… not breathing.

The midwife who was overseeing the childbirth took the child in her hand and tried to wake the child up. Lillian was in extreme pain but she was noticing that she had not yet heard her child crying. She looked over at the midwife and asked, "What's wrong? Is my child okay?"

The midwife had pitiful eyes and broke the news politely, "Your Majesty, the child is not breathing."

Lillian felt like her heart was smashed into million pieces by a large boulder. But rather than crying, she immediately sat up and asked for her child, "Give my child to me."

The midwife did not protest. She obediently handed over the child to the Queen.

"I need a moment alone with my child." Lillian was shaking like a leaf but had determination in her eyes. She was not giving up on her first child like this.

The midwife was however worried to see the Queen like that and did not think it would be a good idea to leave the Queen alone. "I will be staying with you Your Majesty" she insisted.

Lillian had no strength to argue so she let her be. She placed her child on her lap and started to perform some healing spells. Lillian was already a prodigy in witchcraft. But how much ever she tried, whatever spell she tried, her child remained cold on her lap.

And then something clicked in her mind.. There was a way; she could save her child if she tapped into the forbidden magic.