---
The palace was quiet.
Too quiet.
Elara sat in her solar, the morning light spilling across the marble floor like spilled gold. A tray of untouched breakfast sat beside her—steamed pears, honeyed bread, and rose tea. She hadn't touched a bite.
Valeria entered with her usual precision, her hands folded, her expression unreadable.
"There is news," she said.
Elara looked up. "What kind?"
Valeria hesitated. That alone was enough to make Elara's heart stutter.
"A rumor," she said. "From the southern provinces."
Elara stood. "Go on."
Valeria handed her a folded parchment. Elara opened it slowly, her eyes scanning the elegant script.
> The Queen of Thorne is with child.
> Confirmed by palace servants. The King has taken her to bed.
> The heir is coming.
Elara's breath caught.yes she had been intimate with Kael, but one time didn't get her pregnant she would knew since it had been two months ago their had been intimate, and she had seen her monthly flow, so she couldn't be pregnant.
She looked up. "Who started this?"
Valeria's lips thinned. "It's unclear. But it's spreading."
Elara pressed a hand to her stomach. Empty. Silent.
She hadn't seen Kael in days. Was he avoiding her due to the rumors, did he even believe it.
---
By midday, the rumor had reached the court.
Nobles whispered behind fans. Servants bowed with new reverence. Advisors offered congratulations with thin smiles and calculating eyes.
Elara said nothing.
She smiled when required.
She nodded when expected.
But inside, she was burning.
She hadn't asked for this lie.
She hadn't planted it.
But it was growing—twisting around her like ivy, binding her to a future she hadn't chosen.
She found Valeria in the corridor.
"Quash it," she said.
Valeria raised an eyebrow. "Are you certain?"
"I'm not pregnant," Elara snapped.
"But the court believes you are." So what if they did, she wasn't pregnant and it would be an insult to her name if she kept on lying to the people of the kingdom, just cause the "court" believe her to be.
Elara's voice dropped. "Then let them believe. But do not let it spread beyond the palace."
Valeria bowed. "As you wish."
---
That evening, Elara found Kael in the war room.
He stood over a map of the eastern borders, his brow furrowed, his fingers stained with ink.
She entered without announcement.
He didn't look up.
"There's a rumor," she said.
"I've heard."
"It's false."
"I know."
Silence.
Elara stepped closer. "You could deny it."
Kael's jaw tightened. "Why would I?"
"Because it's not true."
He looked at her then, his eyes cold.
"But it's convenient."
Elara flinched.
Kael turned back to the map. "Let them believe what they want. It keeps the council quiet."
She stared at him.
"You hate me."
He didn't deny it.
"You hate me for ruining your love story."
Kael's voice was low. "You didn't ruin it. You replaced it."
Elara's breath caught.
"I didn't choose this on purpose."
Kael looked at her. "Neither did I."
---
Two days later, another piece of news arrived.
Valeria entered Elara's chamber with a scroll sealed in gold.
"It's official," she said. "Princess Seraphina is engaged."
Elara froze.
"To whom?"
Valeria's eyes flicked up. "Prince Dorian."
Elara sat down slowly.
The room tilted.
Seraphina.
Kael's Seraphina.
Engaged to his brother.
It was a twist Elara hadn't written.
A deviation.
A fracture.
She opened the scroll and read the announcement.
> By decree of the House of Solmere and the Crown of Thorne, Princess Seraphina of Solmere shall be wed to Prince Dorian Thorne in the coming spring. The union shall strengthen ties between our kingdoms and usher in a new era of peace.
Elara's hands trembled.
She hadn't written this.
She hadn't seen it coming.
And yet—it was happening.
---
That night, Elara found Kael in the gardens.
He stood beneath the moonflowers, their petals glowing like ghosts.
"She's marrying your brother," Elara said.
Kael didn't turn.
"I know."
"Did you approve it?"
"No."
"Do you care?"
Kael's voice was hollow. "I don't have the luxury of caring."
Elara stepped closer. "You loved her."
Kael turned to her, his eyes burning.
"I still do."
Elara swallowed, she knew his feelings for Seraphina wouldn't just die that easily but hearing him saying that he, still loves her made Elara heartbreak. In the real world she would have been so happy cause in the real world, she had written Seraphina as her self and seeing Kael still being in love with Seraphina would had made her happy, but not in this world, it only broke her more, seen the man of your dreams in love with another.
"Then why let her go?"Elara said.
Kael's voice cracked. "Because she chose him and you chose me."
Silence.
Elara's heart ached.
She had written Seraphina as the perfect heroine—kind, brave, loyal.
But she hadn't written this.
She hadn't written betrayal.
Or maybe she had.
Maybe the story was unraveling.
Maybe the world was rewriting itself.
---
Elara returned to her chamber and opened her journal.
She wrote:
> The world is shifting. The story is changing. Seraphina is no longer his. And I am no longer invisible.
> They believe I carry an heir. They believe I am rising.
> Let them believe.
> I will not speak the truth. I will not reveal the secret.
> I am the writer. But I am also the queen.
> And I will shape this world with silence.
She closed the journal.
Outside, the palace buzzed with rumors and celebration.
Inside, Elara stood.
Alone.
But not afraid,not anymore.
If the book was changing so was she.
---