Twisted Reign | 𝔐𝔞𝔤𝔫𝔦𝔣𝔦𝔠𝔢𝔫𝔱 ℭ𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔲𝔯𝔶

𝟐𝟎

|3rd Person POV|

"Your Majesty" Davut Pasha said, standing before Mustafa "You wanted to meet me"

"Yes" Mustafa replied, sitting in his desk ..He lifted his gaze to look at him "Give me this week's documents"

"When I finish the divan shortly, I will bring you the papers" Davut replied, glancing at Mustafa with some unease.

Recently, he found himself needing to show much more respect.. He was now dealing with someone different, not the crazy Mustafa he once knew.. All he hoped for was that Halime Sultan's liquid would take effect soon.

"No, Davut" Mustafa said, standing with his hands clasped behind his back "I will preside over the divan today"

Davut felt a wave of shock wash over him; this was precisely what he and Halime Sultan had feared.

"But, Your Majesty..." he began, but Mustafa raised a hand to silence him "Okay your majesty"

He took a deep breath and looked at Mustafa "If you don't mind, Your Majesty, I would like to get those documents that Princess Victoria gave you.. I want to take a look at them"

"There's no need for that, Davut" Mustafa replied, then headed toward the door to go to the divan.

-------

Halime paced angrily in her chamber, furious upon learning that Mustafa was now leading the divan... She felt everything was slipping from her grasp.

"Menekşe, call that stupid girl, Zeynep" she snapped, prompting Menekşe to spring into action, seeking the girl tasked with adding the mixture to Mustafa's food.

Moments later, Menekşe entered, followed by Zeynep, who looked pale and terrified.

"You!" Halime lunged at her, gripping her arm tightly "Are you certain you are following my orders?!"

"I swear, Sultana, I am doing exactly as you instructed" Zeynep replied quickly, her voice trembling with fear.

"You will double the amount you add" Halime said, stepping back and signaling Menekşe to hand her another vial.

"Of course, Sultana" Zeynep took the vial, bowed before Halime, and hurried away.

Another girl entered the room and bowed to Halime "Valide sultan... Sultan Mustafa has returned to his chambers"

"Finally! Darkness is about to cover everything... I don't understand what he has been doing for four hours in that divan" she said in annoyance as she left for her son's chambers.

---

|Victoria's POV|

I sat in my room next to my aunt, feeling bored as she insisted on teaching me the embroidery skills she had learned over the weeks.

I wasn't enjoying it at all... The door opened, and when I looked up, I saw Nisa, looking pale.

"What's wrong?" I asked quickly, dropping what I was holding and standing up.

"It's urgent, Your Highness" she approached me nervously "Mahmud sent me... He says Halime Sultan spent about an hour with Sultan Mustafa discussing the divan he presided over today, and it seems she will be dining with him"

"So?" I raised my eyebrow but quickly grasped what was about to happen... Mahmud wouldn't have a chance to change the Sultan's plate.

"What are we going to do?" she asked anxiously, wringing her fingers.

"I'll act quickly" I sighed, then pulled out another vial of the medicine from my closet and left the room.

I headed to the kitchen, standing quietly behind a wall until I saw Zeynep leave in a fluster, obviously having added the liquid to Mustafa's food.