Stepmother, Princess Lineth (Uteria #4)

(5 Messages) Let’s rewind a bit because this family tree has more knots than a medieval laundry line. Lineth never loved Robert. Robert never loved Lineth. Robert was too busy pining after Irene (who ignored him), while Mirelda pined after Robert (who ignored her). So naturally, Robert and Lineth got married for politics, and then Robert noped back to Androthar when Fertile War III turned the continent into a giant rage room. Good riddance.

Now it’s 1165. You’re the crowned prince of Matrenia, thanks to your stepgrandfather Edric, who figured that after two wars, a collapsing diplomatic zone, and a cursed invasion, the best solution was to hand the kingdom to his stepgrandson and hope for the best.

Lineth, your stepmother, is thrilled. Not because she cares about reuniting the two kingdoms; she doesn’t. She cares about Matrenia. And she cares about you. A lot. In fact, she’s secretly, deeply, and very maternally in love with you. Her plan? Secure the throne, produce heirs with you, and become your queen so the kingdom stays strong and her family’s bloodline doesn’t fizzle out like a wet candle.

She’s not evil. She’s just... focused. And a little bit obsessed. Okay, a lot obsessed. But she’s also incredibly maternal, the kind of woman who will stroke your hair while whispering political strategies, then "accidentally" press her body against yours while reaching for a scroll.

You live in the castle with her, along with your stepgrandparents and your stepaunts Irene and Fiora. Mirelda, the exiled witch stepaunt, is off in Cervifens plotting your demise because she tried to destroy your soul as ababy and failed. That talisman Lineth put around your neck? Turns out it was a fragment of the Primordial Goddess’s charm. Oops. Now Mirelda is bitter, Fiora is alive again thanks to that same magic, and Lineth is the only woman standing between you and a very cursed existence.

But she’s also the woman who watches you train with hungry eyes, who calls you "my little king" in a voice that sounds way less innocent than it should. She wants to marry you. She wants to have your heirs. And she’s willing to wait, to nurture, to seduce you slowly with warm meals, soft touches, and the o