30 One Sided Love

"I came looking for my husband, the king. Why? Do I need permission from you to meet him?" Queen Freya responded, raising her chin proudly as if challenging her.

Rachel's heart pounded. Husband! The tightness in her chest reminded her of the difference between them. Although she gained the king's favour, she wouldn't get the queen's title as long as Freya existed. Her lips trembled.

"No, Your Majesty, I did not mean it that way," she said. The queen interrupted her words and walked away with the excuse that she had something to do.

Who would laugh at it? Her assignments were for her to do!

"Did you see her appearance? Her hair is wet—"

Hearing the murmur behind Rachel's heart throbbed. She clutched her dress and sprinted to the king's room, ignoring the shout from her ladies-in-waiting and her maid.

Standing in front of the door, she raised her hand to knock but didn't. Mastering her courage, she moved in.

"Finally, you came! Prepare my bath — Rachel! Why are you here?" Fraser said, shifting his gaze to her. His suit jacket was unbuttoned, and his hair was loose.

"Were you with Queen Freya?" she asked. Feeling a lump rose in her throat.

"What is with this question? I am in a bad mood, so stop these questions," he said, frowning. Throwing his jacket on the floor.

Her eyes streamed with tears. "You don't need to lie to me. She is your wife too—"

"What are you saying? Did you lose your mind?" he yelled.

"Yes, I lost it," she said, tears falling like a river. "I lost it long ago." Rachel wiped her tears and stormed out of the room.

'It's my fault for coming here. It was no wonder he told me not to disturb him when he works. Who knows what he did instead of working?'

Getting inside her chamber, she locked the door and threw herself on the bed, covering her eyes. Tear followed another one till the quilt was damp.

'What I am going to do?' she thought, crying loudly. A knock on the door made her sit on her bed, opening the door, and seeing her maid, Carmen, her eyes filled with tears again.

"Milady, don't cry," she said, escorting her to the chair. "Look, how red your eyes were. Your eyes will swell if you continue crying." Carmen brought a wet towel and wiped her face.

"Why don't you sit in the garden? I will bring tea and dessert," she suggested. Rachel nodded despite having no appetite.

Her chamber had an exit to the garden from the window. She ascended a couple of stairs and went to sit on the bench at the far corner. Fresh air stroked her warm body. Petal flew with the winds dancing their way to the green land.

The scene resembled her first meeting with the king. He was standing under a tree while she watched him.

Her mother and the queen were friends. Queen Lira invited her mother countless times, and she accompanied her many times. That day, she lost her way after sneaking away. She was only six when she met Fraser. He was a ten-year-old skinny boy with strikingly black hair and red, shining eyes. He refused to talk to her like always, whereas she felt sad and complained to her mother.

She liked to play with him, but he never responded to her. Listening to her chat and humming only. Things stagnated till he went to war. She cried that night till she caught a fever.

Years passed, and the love of her childhood grew with her. The day, the previous king announced her engagement with Fraser was the happiest in her life. He was the fourth prince and had no chance to win the throne. But she cared for the prince, not anything else.

The years when he went to war were the hardest. Panicking every day, thinking he would return as a corpse, but to her surprise, the crown prince was the one who died. And Fraser would be the next king.

Her joy didn't last long when he brought the most heartbreaking news ever. His marriage with the Valian kingdom's princess.

She called off the engagement and went to the west, in one of her father's territories, to heal from the despair. For a whole year, she didn't listen to any news related to him, showing enjoyment to her family while hiding the void he left.

When she returned and met him again, the feeling she tried hard to suppress unleashed again. The rumour about his hatred for the queen spread throughout the whole kingdom. Nobles presented their daughters to him, and he kept silent.

One day, she met him at a party. Insisting to have a meeting with him, he agreed.

"What do you want, Rachel?" he asked. His gaze was the same. The placid facade he showed never changed.

Her heart pounded in her chest. "Marry me. You need a wife, and I am ready to marry you. I have loved you since my childhood—"

"I cannot," he said, turning and moving away.

The happiness turned into anxiousness. "Why?" she shouted, running behind him.

She arrived at this point and proposed to him, then why didn't he see her? Her love all these years. Is it in vain?

"I cannot love you or anyone," he answered. The remark chattered her heart, but she didn't want to give up. She didn't want to repeat the pain she passed last year.

"It does not matter. My love will be enough for the two of us," she said, while her maid Camille shook her head to stop her.

"Rachel, you deserve someone better. Someone who will love and cherish you, and that person could never be me. I cannot love and didn't want to love anyone."

"I will let you change this fact…"

Footsteps woke her up from her trance. "Camille, you take more time this time—" she turned her head to see the king's coming to her.

She shifted her gaze away. "Rachel," he called and sat beside her. She distanced herself from him.

"Do not do that. I had and will have no relationship with the queen. I met her by chance and reprimanded her severely," he explained. Rachel gazed at him, but the indifferent look he always carried prevented her from getting any spark of emotion.

"I bought a new ring. The stone is emerald. It is the same colour as your eyes," he said, grabbing her hand and wearing it on her finger.

"How is it?" he asked.

"Beautiful," she replied. Looking at the ring in a daze, her eyes tingled. 'The only thing I want from you is not this, but something without my reach.'

"You are not angry anymore?" he asked, and she shook her head, forcing her lips to smile. Rachel put her head on his shoulder.

Two years had passed, and she failed to get the king's love. She thought living with him would evoke some emotion, but she was wrong. Her love was received by indifference. He cared for her and showered her with gifts. Never did something cause her anger. He respected her and did her wishes.

She thought about how deep her love would be enough for them, but that statement cracked every passing day.

She couldn't wait any longer for his feelings to change and to love her back.

While doubt rose in her heart, she couldn't help to think.

What if he fell in love with another woman?