The Queen Nobody Wanted, the Engagement Everybody Hated, and the Walk That Hurt More Than Any Battle**
Aerin chose Mira.
He just didn't get to keep her.
The decision had been easy, actually.
Too easy.
They were standing in the rose garden when he said it, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck.
"Mira… I don't think I'm good at many things," he said, staring at the gravel. "But I'm good at knowing how I feel."
Mira smiled softly. "That's already better than most kings."
"I choose you," he said simply.
Her breath caught.
The Harem Alarm chimed.
Warm. Certain.
They didn't kiss.
They didn't need to.
For one shining moment, everything was right.
Then the council ruined it.
The council chamber was packed.
Foreign envoys. Advisors. Generals. Cassian leaning against a wall like he already knew this would go badly. Elira crouched in the shadows, silently radiating hostility.
Lady Merrowin stood at the center like a storm in silk.
"We have received formal royal offers," she announced. "Not just proposals — treaties."
Aerin frowned. "I already made my choice."
Halbrecht winced. "Yes. And unfortunately… so did three other kings."
The doors opened.
A woman entered who made everyone else feel smaller.
Not because of size — but because of presence.
Princess Valessara of Thryndel walked in like the floor belonged to her. Long silver hair, piercing eyes, a perfectly tailored black-and-gold gown. Her smile was sharp, practiced, and utterly devoid of warmth.
She looked at Aerin like he was a mildly disappointing purchase.
"This," she said, glancing around, "is the wealthy kingdom?"
The Harem Alarm buzzed.
Aerin blinked. "Um—hello?"
She turned to him slowly. "You're shorter than I expected."
Cassian coughed to hide a laugh.
Mira stood very still.
"My father," Valessara continued, "is High King of Thryndel. We control three trade seas, two mountain passes, and the northern oil routes."
Everyone stiffened.
"By marrying you," she said, "I secure your oil. You secure my protection. Everyone wins."
"I didn't agree to that," Aerin said weakly.
Valessara smirked. "You will."
The Harem Alarm began to wail.
The council pulled Aerin aside.
Merrowin's expression was apologetic.
"If you marry her," she said, "no one can threaten you."
"If I don't?" Aerin asked.
Halbrecht exhaled. "Every nation with a navy and greed will."
Aerin turned.
Mira was standing by Cassian.
Watching.
Waiting.
Aerin's hands trembled.
"I choose Mira," he said again.
Merrowin closed her eyes.
"I know," she said softly. "But the kingdom chooses Valessara."
The Harem Alarm went silent.
For the first time ever.
Not chiming.
Not buzzing.
Just… dead.
Valessara was announced as future queen that night.
The palace gasped.
Mira didn't cry.
That hurt more.
Elira snapped a knife in half.
Cassian stared at Aerin in disbelief.
"You're really doing this?"
Aerin looked like he might throw up.
"I didn't choose her," he whispered.
"That won't matter," Cassian said quietly. "It never does."
Valessara wasted no time.
She criticized the food.
Insulted the servants.
Called the council "provincial."
And referred to Aerin as "my asset."
"You walk strangely," she told him at dinner. "Like a peasant."
"I… am a peasant?" Aerin offered.
She sighed in disappointment.
The Harem Alarm buzzed angrily whenever she entered a room.
She ignored it.
"I am above superstition."
"Even when it screams?" Aerin asked.
"Yes."
Mira avoided the palace for days.
When she returned…
She was on Cassian's arm.
Aerin saw them in the courtyard.
Laughing.
Too close.
Cassian looked uncomfortable.
Mira looked… determined.
They walked past Aerin.
Valessara on his arm.
Mira on Cassian's.
Their eyes met.
For one second.
Aerin's heart broke quietly.
No one else noticed.
Elira had made a decision.
A violent one.
She crouched in the rafters above the east wing ballroom, perfectly still, breathing slow, a dagger balanced between her fingers. Below her, servants rushed about preparing for the royal engagement gala — flowers, silk, chandeliers, white tablecloths that would soon be ruined by wine, tears, or blood.
Preferably blood.
Valessara's blood.
Elira's eyes followed the future queen as she walked through the hall like she owned it.
"Move those roses," Valessara snapped. "They're common."
A servant bowed so deeply she nearly fell over.
"I said white lilies, not pink! Do you think I'm marrying into poverty?"
Elira twitched.
Her grip tightened.
The Harem Alarm, hanging from the far wall, gave a tiny nervous buzz.
Elira glared at it.
"Be quiet," she whispered. "I am helping."
Aerin sat in his chambers staring at nothing.
His reflection in the window didn't even look like him anymore. The oil boom had brought tailors, stylists, foreign envoys — and now, a fiancée who treated him like a decorative tax shelter.
"You should smile more," Valessara had told him that morning. "It makes you look less… provincial."
He hadn't smiled since.
Cassian knocked softly and entered.
"You skipped training."
Aerin shrugged. "I don't see the point."
Cassian hesitated. "Mira and I—"
"I know," Aerin said gently. "You don't have to explain."
Cassian looked like he wanted to argue, but didn't.
"She's trying to survive," Cassian said. "So are you."
Aerin nodded.
"They laugh together," Cassian added quietly. "But she still looks at you when she thinks no one's watching."
Aerin closed his eyes.
"Please don't tell me that."
In the gardens, Mira and Cassian walked together.
It wasn't fake.
It wasn't perfect.
But it was real.
"I don't know if this is fair to you," Mira said, staring at the roses.
Cassian shrugged. "I don't know if anything here is fair."
She smiled faintly.
"You make it easier."
They stopped near a fountain.
Cassian offered his arm.
She took it.
From behind a bush, Elira watched.
Her knife twitched.
"Traitor," she muttered.
The Harem Alarm buzzed in distress.
Back in the ballroom, Valessara was planning.
"I want gold trimmed into the carpets," she declared.
"Gold is expensive," Merrowin said calmly.
"So is insult," Valessara replied. "And I am easily insulted."
She turned to Aerin.
"You will walk three steps behind me during the ceremony," she said. "It shows respect."
"Respect for…?"
"Me."
Aerin nodded.
Detached.
Empty.
The Harem Alarm buzzed like it wanted to scream.
Elira watched from above.
"This is wrong," she whispered.
Elira chose her moment.
The engagement gala began.
Music played.
Valessara stood in the centre of the hall, glowing in jewels.
Elira crept through the curtains, dagger ready.
Then—
A waiter tripped.
Right into her.
"OH MY GOD," he yelled.
Elira fell.
The dagger flew.
It embedded itself in a cake.
Valessara turned.
"What was that?"
Everyone stared at the cake.
Elira lay on the floor, tangled in curtains, glaring at destiny.
Cassian rushed forward.
"Elira?"
She growled. "I was busy."
Merrowin sighed.
"No murder at the gala," she said. "It's tacky."
The Harem Alarm chimed in relief.
Valessara sniffed. "Pathetic."
Later that night, Aerin stood alone on a balcony.
Mira passed by on Cassian's arm.
They didn't stop.
They didn't speak.
Their eyes met.
And that was worse.
Behind them, Elira sharpened her blade again.
"This story is not over," she whispered.
The Harem Alarm hummed quietly.
Waiting.