Conquering His Cold Heart
Chapter 451 - 451: A Broken Doll

Anastasia's loyal guards were standing in front of her door.

They barely even winked for the whole night fearing that their beloved King might end up doing something that he would regret later.

Both of their ears were also highly attentive to the sounds that were coming from inside the Queen's chamber. After all, the door wasn't the only place that their King could enter the Queen's room. He could also easily use the window.

A soft crackling sound of the fire was coming from Anastasia's antechamber.

Inside, Anastasia was still sitting on the floor, in front of the fireplace, while resting her back on the side of the sofa.

Her hollow eyes were blankly staring at the dark-red flames of the fire. Her breathing could hardly be heard.

Martha and Holly were standing a few steps behind Anastasia with deeply worried look on their faces. Every now and then, they would exchange glances with each other. And then they would go back to staring at the Queen's pitiable figure.

Earlier, when Anastasia returned back to her chamber, her clothes as well as her hands and face were covered in blood. One of her guards had woken up the Queen's personal maids and asked them to take care of the Queen.

Both Martha and Holly worked throughout the night and help the Queen to take the bath and change into warm clothing. And as she was shivering, they also lit up the fireplace to keep the Queen warm.

They did not dare ask what had happened. They silently waited for the Queen to share things on her own, which she never did.

The whole night passed just like that.

Nobody got a wink of sleep.

Birds were already beginning to chirp outside. The dark night was finally giving way to some light.

At last, Anastasia heaved a deep sigh and asked in a monotone, "Martha, will you walk to the window and tell me what you see outside?"

Martha was puzzled by that bizarre request from the Queen. However, she did what she was asked without any questions.

She walked over to the window, slightly pulled the curtain to the side, and peeked through the window. In a low voice, she explained what she was seeing, "The guards are patrolling as usual. I think people are also coming in and going out of the gate."

"And?" Anastasia asked without breaking her trance-like gaze at the fire.

"And…" Martha stretched her neck and tried to see the activities that were happening in front of the main entrance. "And nothing much… Some maids are running around like usual."

"Are they preparing any carriage?" This time, Anastasia's voice sounded somewhat worried.

Martha looked back at the Queen's figure and answered while shaking her head, "No. I don't see any carriage around."

She wondered if the Queen wanted to go somewhere. Thus, she asked immediately, "Shall I ask them to prepare the carriage for you, My Queen? Are you planning to somewhere?"

Anastasia, however, let out the breath that she had been holding and then firmly mumbled, "No." She was glad that Caspian had changed his mind about sending her back to Orsenia.

Martha wasn't sure what she was supposed to do next. The guards had instructed them not to leave the Queen alone, not even while she was sleeping. Thus, Martha just kept on standing there by the window.

The chamber was filled with silence once again.

After a long while, Anastasia stretched her legs, wanting to get up.

All the firewood had completely burned and turned into ashes. Anastasia could feel the cold air creeping through her feet. All that she wanted to do now was go to her bed and curl up into a ball.

Holly noticed the Queen struggling to get up. So, she quickly sprinted to the Queen's side and said, "Your Majesty, let me help you get up."

Anastasia didn't deny the help. She grabbed onto Holly's wrist and pushed herself up from the floor. She grunted a little as her knees were hurting from sitting on the floor for the whole night. And with wobbly legs, she walked alongside Holly and headed towards her bedchamber.

Martha also quickly followed after them and helped the Queen lie down on the bed. She also covered the Queen with the blanket and then suggested, "Your Majesty, I think it would be better if you ate something before going to sleep. It's already morning and you might feel dizzy if you don't eat soon."

Anastasia didn't have any appetite at all. However, she didn't have the strength in her body. She knew that she needed to force some food down her throat if she didn't want to spend another whole week in her bed.

"Alright. Bring something that is easy to swallow," she ordered.

Martha glanced at Holly and then communicated with her eyes that she wanted to be by the Queen's side. Holly was too clumsy to be left alone with the Queen. So, Martha asked her to run to the kitchen instead.

After Holly left the room, Martha decided to sit down on the chair that was near the Queen's bed. Her legs were hurting from standing for the whole night because the Queen never asked them to take seats.

If it was any other time, Anastasia would always be mindful of her maids' comfort as well. But her mind wasn't in the right place to care about anything. She was too occupied repeating the scenes of her fight with Caspian in her head, over and over again.

Martha also didn't mind it since the Queen looked more pitiable than them.

After about half an hour, Holly returned to the chamber with a bowl of hot soup on a tray.

Since Anastasia was facing towards the window and away from Martha and Holly, Martha went around the bed to the other side to check if the Queen had already fallen asleep. To her relief, Anastasia's eyes were wide open.

She was staring blankly as if some deep thoughts had plagued her mind.

Martha leaned a little and politely asked the Queen, "Your Majesty, the soup is here. Shall I help you up?"

Anastasia's hollow eyes focused on Martha's figure. She lightly gave a nod.

Both the maids helped the Queen sit up on the bed and served the soup to her.

However, Anastasia didn't lift a finger. She just stared into the bowl of steaming hot soup as if she had lost her will to eat.

Before she would change her mind, Martha hurriedly pulled the chair closer to the bed. She picked up the spoon and stirred the soup. She then scooped out the soup along with some small chunks of meat and brought the spoon closer to Anastasia's mouth.

As if she was possessed, Anastasia automatically opened her mouth. And a blank expression on her face, she swallowed and then munched the chunks before swallowing again.

The food's taste was marvelous as always. However, Anastasia couldn't taste a thing. She just kept on chewing and swallowing as if she was a puppet.

Both Martha and Holly's hearts ached to see the Queen acting like a broken doll. They were wondering if the King had anything to do with the Queen's current condition.

'Something must have greatly shocked her,' Martha thought to herself, recalling how the Queen had bloodstains all over her body and her clothes.

Though Martha had made sure that the Queen didn't have a single wound on her body, she wondered if it was the Queen's mind that was wounded.

'Did she see something she shouldn't have?' Martha suddenly trembled, imagining the Queen witnessing the King slaughtering someone. 'That would definitely leave a negative impact on the Queen's mind.'

She continued blabbering in her mind as she fed the soup to the Queen.

Anastasia finished the whole bowl of soup without even realizing it. When Martha wiped her mouth, she finally looked down at the empty bowl and blinked.

"Do you need anything else, my Queen?" Martha asked in a soft tone.

Anastasia simply shook her head and curled up inside the blanket again. She finally closed her eyes and hoped that she would fall asleep. She wanted the eerie voices and terrifying images in her mind to stop haunting her.

After a while though, she flung her eyes open.

She looked over her shoulder and ordered Martha in her feeble voice, "Martha, I need to know if the King is alright. Gather information on his whereabouts and anything that needs my attention. Also, while you are on the way out, ask John and Isaac not to stop the King if he wishes to come and talk to me."

"Yes, Your Majesty," Martha immediately bowed and was on her way out.

Anastasia suddenly asked restlessly, "Oh, and… ask the guards if His Majesty ever tried to come in last night."

Although she didn't hear a single noise or the sound of familiar footsteps outside her door for the whole night, she wondered if Caspian came to see her.