Chapter 10

There was a slight knock on the door, followed by the sound of the door opening and Cara's face came into view.



"Good morning, Your Highness. This is honey water, to help alleviate your headache," she said and Jasmine turned around to meet her gaze, a smile etched on her face as her eyes twinkled due to the thought she had.



"Thank you very much, Cara," she said as she collected the mug from her and sipped it slowly as it was hot.



Cara glanced at the woman, her brows knitting in confusion. She had hurried over, thinking that the effect of the vodka must've taken over and the Queen would still be asleep. But to her surprise, the Queen was very much awake and in a good mood.





But what surprised her the most was that she didn't make any effort to have her bathe or dress up and it was almost time for breakfast. Jasmine never missed any mealtime, even when she was sick as she saw it as an opportunity for her to see her children.



"Your Highness, it's almost time for breakfast."



Jasmine turned to her assistant, her smile even widening to Cara's surprise and confusion.



"I know, Cara. There is something important I have to tell you," she said as she looked at Cara.



"You see, from now on, I want to have breakfast, lunch, and dinner on my own. I want to eat them right here…."





"But your highness, you're not unwell," Cara cut in, wondering if the alcohol was still affecting the Queen.



"I don't have to be unwell to decide to not eat with the king anymore, Cara. Anyway, I want my meals to be brought to me here and right now, I'm famished. Bring me my breakfast," she said and Cara sighed, wondering if the Queen was willing to go all the way.



She had violated two of the customs already and now she was about to violate the third. It was custom for the King and Queen to eat together and now she was refusing to eat with him. At this rate, the members of the council might find out and summon the Queen or worse, move for her dethronement.



"What are you still doing here? Breakfast! Cara!" Jasmine yelled and Cara swallowed hard as she left. One thing with Queen Jasmine that she was sure about was that she could never be persuaded, once her mind was made up, it was over.



The other maids and Guards watched in awe, not daring to say it out loud, but all thinking the same thing, that their Queen had gone crazy. Last night, she had caused a ruckus and now, she wanted to eat alone.



Matt glanced at the wall clock for the umpteenth time, wondering what was taking Jasmine so long. She was always the first to arrive at the dining table.



A sigh expelled from his lips as he glanced at the children who had been staring at him. He could see that they were hungry. He was too and would love to start eating, but it was custom for the family to be together during mealtimes.



"Your Highness, when can we start eating?" Little Matt questioned, his lips in a small pout and Matt sighed.



He was just about to give an answer when he saw Cara approaching the table.



"Where is the Queen?" He barked.



"Your Highness, the Queen will not be joining you all for breakfast, lunch, or dinner,0 she says as she bowed slowly.



"What do you mean by that?" He barked and Cara swallowed hard. Jasmine had told her to go to the king and tell him that she wouldn't be joining him during mealtimes anymore.



"Her Highness instructed me to inform you that she would be having her meals alone, from now on," She explained.



Matt scoffed. So that was how it was going to be, he thought but said nothing and began to eat, urging the children to eat. Fortunately, they didn't ask why she wasn't there as he didn't know what to even tell them.



Cara bowed and walked back to the Queen's room, seeing as the king said nothing.



To her surprise, the Queen wasn't in the room and when she asked the maids there, none of them could tell her of the Queen's whereabouts. They only knew that she had left in a hurry.



Jasmine had been eating but was still reeling from anger over what had happened and resolved that she wasn't just going to stop there. She stood up immediately, deciding that she was going to confront him about what had happened because knowing him, he was probably not going to say anything to her.



She walked into his room, ignoring the greetings from the guards. To her surprise, he wasn't in his room and she frowned as she glanced at the wall clock. Could it be that he wasn't already eating and had been waiting for her?



She was just about to leave when she caught sight of an envelope peeking out from under his pillow. She slipped it out and read the handwritten address for the mansion on the back of the light blue envelope.



There was no sender information, but the cursive was pretty and she knew that it was written by a female. She held the card for a long time, debating whether to keep it back where it had been or read it.



She really wanted to keep it, but she felt that she had to know if there was another woman.



"Fuck it!" She muttered as she flicked the card open. The first thing she saw was the small, wallet-sized photo taped to the bottom right side of the card, just right under the sender's address.



Her brows knitted with confusion as she glanced at the sender's address. It was a place she was very familiar with. But what really bothered her was the photo. Her hands began to tremble as she forced her eyes away from the photo to read the note on the left, written in the same cursive as the one above.



She stared at the note on the card through a film of stinging tears, gasping heavily as she tried to breathe.