#7 The talk of the town

Lilly was overjoyed to finally be free of the God-awful outfit she'd been wearing; soon they were in their bedroom, she broke contact with Matt, much to his dismay,
and walked into the dressing room to change into more comfortable clothes. When she returned much to her surprise, Matt had already slept off.

The next morning...
The maids in the castle are having a conversation in the kitchen “I can’t still believe this king Matteo married a human, It was pretty unusual because it has never been done by a king before, but I guess nowadays things are changing.”
The head maid barged into the kitchen and shouted; “what do you think you are doing? saying to the maids, the king is waiting in the dining room to be served food, do you want to keep him waiting?''
Lilly woke up to the sound of birds chirping happily in their nests, to her surprise the king was out of bed. After she had a quick shower she wrapped herself with a towel around her body and picked up her clothes.
When she had finished dressing up, she headed out to check on the king, on getting to the dining room, the door opened and his smooth and bold skin was the first thing my own eyes came in contact with.

The way his face was made with the pronounced cheekbones and perfect jawlines, managed to take my breath away every single time I saw them. You can’t blame me. Slowly I walked over to where he stood at the table and he pulled a chair out for me like a gentleman.
In a rush, the maid barged into the dining room and served the king and his mistress Lilly, the head of the maid apologies to the king for taking the time in preparing the meal.
The king replied saying; “I am not angry, since this is the first time it’s happening, mistakes are bound to happen sometimes, you can leave. “Thank you! Thank you!!, my lord,” said the maid, as she continuously dowed her head.
Lilly replied; "Matt, I never told you this but I was supposed to be the next in line to rule over Rozzano," Matteo replied; "well I noticed you were from a royal or of elite background, with the way you carry yourself. That is why I chose you, because your character intrigued me",
Lilly replied; "my character what do you mean?" Matteo replied; "You were different from all other girls, very different. Your outfit choice, your no-nonsense behavior, the fact that you love to be independent, your beauty, and your fish-like eyes.

You didn't seem as power-hungry as the others, which was exactly what I was looking for. I also wanted someone who could confidently express themselves because it is what I needed. You were natural, you didn't wear any makeup, and you still looked great, even now managing to look stunning."
I felt as if my heart was going to stop beating, with the way my heart was pounding so fast, it felt like it was going to burst out of my chest. "You were one of them, rare and I wanted rare.
I also believe after all these years, you are all I deserve and desire. " At this I blushed, I could not hold my facial expression, "I didn’t need you to be cursed for me to know that I already found true love. Why did you choose to leave the throne?"
Lilly replied; " Well, I felt my life was on the line, if I was to ascend the throne, I just felt there was more to life than just being a queen with so many responsibilities." Matteo replied; "But you are now the queen of Giovanni. I hope you don’t feel like you can’t fulfill your dreams." Lilly replied; "I am not bothered by the fact that I am the queen, you are my dreams which came to pass that is why I'm happy.
Matt, I have been thinking for a while now, Why didn’t you protect your sister during the war?" After the words slipped out of my lips, his whole demeanor changed, his shoulders became tense and he looked defensive.

"I think that's enough questions for today" He walked out of the room in an instant, leaving me alone in the dining room in my thoughts, confused as hell.
"Did I say something wrong?", I thought to myself, he just left me in both confusion and hurt. What the hell just happened?
She was just finishing up with her food when footsteps bounced off the walls of the chambers, "My lady?", the maid’s voice sounded from the other end, The maid walked in happily with a list of the queen’s activities, unaware of her mistress's damp mood,
"you are going to have a meeting today with some elites, here is the pamphlet...", Lilly cut her short. "I'm not going out today, I'm not in the mood", she pushed the remains of her food away and attempted to go back to bed.
The maid finally looked at Lilly and saw that she was in a sour mood as no smile was evident on her face, "What's wrong my lady?", "It’s nothing you should be concerned about", she said, looking through the pamphlet, "Are you sure?" the maid asked again.

"Yes, I'm certain." The maid looked uneasy as if she wanted to say something but was afraid of the repercussions, fortunately for her, Lilly noticed and made it easier for her to speak up. "What is it?".
The maid replied; "With all due respect my lady, today is your first official day as the Queen so you have a lot to do", the maid said sheepishly. "Why can't he do it?", she refused to acknowledge his name or refer to him as her king as she was mad at him for this morning.
"The alpha king has gone out for some business", the maid said while Lilly was shocked by this information. "When is he returning?", she had to ask, how could he do this to her? When he knew she was not cut out for this.
"I honestly don't know", The maid sighed, "You are meeting with the council, you have to take your role as the head", “Aaaahhhh” Lilly screamed inwardly, how could she I lead them when I don’t have an interest in these things?
This means she has to be present for every meeting, every event, and every occasion. Just the thought made her shiver in disdain. "Fine, I'll get up. But I get to wear this outfit I have on", she said grumpily as she stood up from her sit, "Deal", the maid agreed and left with a curt nod.

She was certainly not enthusiastic about meeting the elites, “how could he just leave like that?” She thought to herself. Honestly, she was not seeking approval or friendship from any of the elites, she just wanted to go for the meeting and come back to this empty castle in one piece,
although she was trying to stall the inevitable by moving as slowly as possible. Once outside the doors to the throne room, I could hear different voices, most of them were talking about me, saying things like, "How dare that child let us wait on her like this?",
“Who does she think she is?”, “Has she no manners?”, “She is unfit to be the Queen, a Queen is never late”. Not like I cared honestly, how they felt about me was their problem, not mine.
Once the doors opened, the chattering stopped and the room became silent. Ignoring their glares, I walked over to the throne at the front of the room and sat on it.
We sat in quiet as we had a staring contest between ourselves,
me versus them, the sickeningly elegant women who despise my guts, and I’m sure half of them want me dead.