His smirk deepened. He brushed his thumb over my lips, and I playfully sucked on it before he pulled away and placed his hand on the small of my back.
“You are the most beautiful woman on earth.”
A lump formed in my throat. “Are you serious?”
“Yes. And I’m the luckiest man to have you.” He cupped my face. “Thank you for loving a scarred man like me.”
“You’re perfect, Gleb.”
I kissed him, lingering against his warmth.
After a moment, he said, “That novel you discussed with Nate... I read it.”
I blinked. “You did?”
“I wanted to talk about it with you. So you wouldn’t have to discuss it with another man.”
I laughed. “You’re so jealous.”
He shrugged. “Should we talk about it?”
“Erm... I actually haven’t finished reading the book,” I confessed. “I can’t seem to concentrate on books when I’m not mentally okay, and the last few weeks have been a bit rough. But since you’ve read it all, just tell me what happens.”
“I’ll spoil the story for you.”
“I don’t mind,” I said, a small smile tugging at my lips.
He sighed. “Alright. So, where did you stop?”
“Nate of blessed memory actually spoiled it for me up to the part where the king reveals to Naoni, the female lead that he’s avictim of rape, too, and that’s why he kills women after marrying and having sex with them.”
“Well, I won’t do justice to the story if I tell you, because there are so many plot twists, but the ending wasn’t exactly happy.”
“I know it ends tragically,” I replied.
“The king eventually took a mistress, citing Naoni’s inability to bear children as the reason. He claimed that his throne was at risk and that he only took a mistress because he needed an heir. Yet, he spent almost every night with his mistress, who bore him three sons.”
He paused for a moment, clearly caught up in the narrative. “The queen was heartbroken, having always believed in the king’s genuine affection. She repeatedly sought his favor, but he remained indifferent. So she focused on politics, enduring the shame of being barren. The mistress didn’t make life easier for her, either, but the queen endured. Even when she had several chances to cheat on the king, she refused.”
“What happened next?” I asked, leaning forward.
He continued, “The king went off to war three years later, and before he returned, there was a fight between the queen and the mistress. The queen had ordered the mistress locked in the tower. When the king arrived, he was furious and demanded she be released immediately, but... she was already dead.”
“What?!” I exclaimed. “Did the king blame the queen?”
“Yeah, he was so angry, he ordered her execution. What he didn’t know was that their sporadic, intimate moments had resulted in the queen being pregnant.”
“While she was about to be executed, the queen confessed her pregnancy, but the king was still blinded by his rage. He thought she was evil, a fornicator who had probably slept with one of his men. He insisted she be executed anyway. Even his mother begged on her behalf, but he refused.”
“So the queen asked for one last request, as is the right of every criminal before their execution. Her request to speak to the king was granted,” he said, a hint of sadness in his voice. “She was released and escorted to the king and the council. The people watching chanted her name, no one wanted her dead. Many loved her more than the king.”
I was captivated, hanging on to every word.
“‘I want to thank you for granting me the privilege to make my last request,’ she said to the king.Then, in one swift motion, she grabbed the pin she used to hold up her hair and struck the king with it. Before anyone could react, the king was on the floor, bleeding.
“Did he die?” I whispered, the tension thick in the air.
He shook his head. “The author never told us. We never hear about the king again. But the queen, now in power, ruled in his place. The sons of the king’s late mistress became the villains in her story. She regarded the mistress’s sons as bastards and hers as the heir to the throne. I wish there was more to the book.”
