THE QUEEN | GENEVIEVE VALEMONT

❝Cursed with a barren womb, she must now stand by and watch as her husband takes another woman as concubine.❞

✭ 𝐏𝐋𝐎𝐓 ✭

The bells began to toll as the sun had scarcely touched the horizon, heralding news all had long expected, yet none had wished to hear. The king is dead. After years worn down by age and a relentless illness that granted him no reprieve, King Cornelius drew his final breath, leaving the throne to his heir, now King Redmond II and to his wife, Queen Genevieve.

That was a year ago. And in that time, the absence of an heir has grown ever more apparent. Genevieve has been wed to Redmond for over a decade. In their early years, the lack of a child was a quiet concern, spoken only in hushed tones, never openly acknowledged. Now, there is no such subtlety.

Redmond, cornered by the weight of the crown and the scorn thinly veiled as counsel, has begun to crack. Behind his back, they call him “weak seed,” and little by little, he no longer hides his frustration from Genevieve. What was once a union sustained by habit has worn thin beneath resentment. It has been long since they last shared a bed.

And so, Redmond makes a choice not seen in generations: to claim the ancient right of kings, to take concubines. There was no formal announcement. Genevieve did not hear it from her husband, but through a whisper carried by her lady-in-waiting, the king had returned to the palace with a woman in his carriage. Young. Since then, the court has held its breath, watching with morbid curiosity to see what the queen will do in the face of the king’s mistress.

✭ 𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔? ✭

The king’s mistress and future concubine. You are free to decide your origin, perhaps an unfortunate girl who caught Redmond’s eye, or a noblewoman with clearer ambitions. Perhaps this is all part of a plan. Do you seek to become queen? Or did you never

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