The Unwanted Royal Marriage

13. The Dark Realm.

Meera's pov

"Tuu...tumm??" Adhyay asked shick evident on his face.
"Hi Adhyay!" said Abhimaan bhai, which shocked him more.
"Hi!" he said with shock evident. 

"You're the Queen of the Dark Realm? I thought it was ruled by a king," Adhyay asked, his voice laced with genuine surprise.

What should I tell him? The truth was far from simple, and I wasn't sure he could understand the weight of it all.

"Yes," I replied, my voice steady yet edged with sorrow. "The former king of the realm was Mr. Francesco Berlusconi. He was the father of my best friend, Aria—the friend I lost because of Anup." I paused, the memory of that night still raw, the horror of what he had done etched into my mind. "She was my everything, my closest friend, like a sister. But Anup...he took her away from me, in the most twisted way, all because of a vendetta tied to her family. I had to watch as he destroyed her."

Adhyay's eyes softened, a hint of understanding dawning, but I pressed on.

"With no heir to inherit the throne, Mr. Berlusconi took me in, taught me how to survive, how to face the darkness that had taken her. He trained me to carry on, to be the strength that Aria could no longer be. When he died, he left everything to me—the realm, the legacy, the fight. He entrusted it all to me, as if Aria herself were standing beside him, guiding his hand."

I looked at Adhyay, the weight of my story filling the silence between us. "So here I am, ruling it as he would have wanted her to. Not because I chose this path, but because it was the only way forward. I'm here to do what she couldn't, to honour her memory and fulfill her father's wish. And maybe, just maybe, to find some peace in the chaos."I replied

With that, all his men dropped to one knee, their heads bowed low in solemn recognition. One by one, they pledged their loyalty without a single word spoken, as if they finally understood their duty, as if they knew in their bones that I was the rightful leader of the Dark Realm. They weren't just mercenaries or hired hands; they were a part of something bigger—a force, a family bound by loyalty and vengeance.

They had been Francesco's men, protectors of the realm, and now they were mine, ready to follow my lead as if it had always been so. In their eyes, I could see a flicker of respect and maybe even hope, as though they recognized the burden I carried and were willing to share it with me. For the first time, I truly felt the weight of the realm settle on my shoulders, and with it, the realization that I wasn't alone. These men were my subordinates, yes, but they were also my strength, my army. Together, we would carry out the legacy, one step at a time, bound by loyalty, shadows, and the promise of retribution.

"You are the Queen! And I promise I'll be your subordinate in every mission we carry out," Adhyay declared, his voice steady and filled with conviction. "This mafia association... it's what made me strong enough to face monsters like Anup."

Hearing those words stirred something unexpected within me—a glimmer of happiness, a rare warmth in the dark world we shared. I hadn't expected his loyalty or his willingness to stand by me so openly, to support me without question. It made me feel understood in a way few others could.

Tomorrow, we were supposed to meet to discuss the details of our marriage, a formality I'd once thought would be simply transactional, a matter of duty and alliance. But standing here now, I felt a flicker of something more—admiration, perhaps even hope. I was already impressed by the way he handled himself in our line of work, his sharp mind and his unwavering determination.

Maybe, in this world of shadows and violence, he was the one person who truly understood the weight of what I carried. And maybe, just maybe, we could build something real together—two people bound not just by loyalty to the realm, but by a shared strength that might make us unstoppable.