"This story is in Seclusion atm" Continue Dreaming ~ ELOD

Chapter 23 - The Morning After (Version B)

Upon hearing that her mother and all the maids have left she felt relieved that she fell back down on her bed. Sleeping peacefully right next to her was her one and only husband. She stares at him, mentally etching down in her brain every feature on his face. The one that she dreamed about marrying since she was young is finally her husband, but just for three short days. This wasn't how she imagined her wedding night to be like. But at least she is somewhat married to him at the end. In legal documents, they were still not husband and wife but spiritual and physical they are.

She never imagined that it would hurt so much the first time they were together, he even said so himself that he didn't know what to do either. Is it just an instinct that what normal lovers will have when the time is right? YueLing only once heard gossip when she was much younger from the older maids that prior to the wedding night there were elder eunuchs and maids that would show the bride and groom some forbidden books and teach them what to do. At that age she didn't have a clue on what they meant but now thinking back to it, she understands. She is curious about what the forbidden books are all about and she wanted to learn more about how to properly be with her lover.

But she has no time to go look for the answers because she only has three days left to spend together. If she was to be someone else's bride in the end she wants to at least have all these sweet moments to relive on, in her future days if she was still alive. If she dies then at least she has no regrets. When her thoughts of being someone else's bride took over her mind she was scared and frightened. The thought of someone forcing her over her own will was brutally suffocating her. The next thought that came to her mind was being violated by an unknown man, which brought her to tears.

In her mind all she thinks of all the 'What If's;

"What if I decided to end my life on the night that I'm being forced to marry the demon? Will all the pain go away? Will he come back and harm my loved ones and the kingdom? What if I do marry him but not let him touch me? Will that work? What if he tries to touch me? Can I threaten him with my life to stop him?"

She can think of hundreds of 'What if's" questions to calm herself down but the pain still exists.

"If only I could freeze time, and have it on repeat from the day I was born till the last day I had left. If only we had confessed our love for each other earlier and had married before this incident, would it have changed the outcome? Why is fate playing us like this? Why did fate give us the chance to meet and fall in love then just to rip us apart?" she thought to herself.

But is it really fate that is playing with them or is this all created by someone or something?

~~~~~

In the morning court, all the officials were waiting for the arrival of the king. The biggest problem for discussion today was the incident from last night. When the king arrives, everyone kowtows and greets him. Everyone stays in their kowtows position after the king has commanded for them to rise except General Yin and the queen's father. Everyone begs for the king to send the princess to the demon in exchange for the safety of the kingdom. In reality, most of these officials don't really care for other people's safety especially the lower poverty class, they all care for themselves. They are all trying to save their lives and sacrifice the princess to do so. If they were to exchange places with the king right now for sure they don't want to sacrifice their own loved ones. But there is always that one odd one that will sacrifice anything just to save themselves.

The king did not say much on this topic as he doesn't want to accept the fact that he has to throw his precious princess to the demon. "Is there anything else aside from this topic that is needed to be discussed? If not then the court is dismissed!" he loudly commands before he retires to the queen's chamber.