Stolen by the Rebel King
Chapter 200: Headless Chicken

Chapter 200: Headless Chicken

"Good morning, Your Highness. I have breakfast for you!" Maisie cajoled softly as she gently crept into the room with a plate of Daphne’s favorites. The queen had been sleeping in her private rooms, with the curtains pulled shut. It made her room look as welcoming as a mausoleum, which suited Daphne just fine.

She felt like death anyway.

"Please eat something today. This isn’t good for your body otherwise," Maisie said worriedly as she spotted the lump of her lady under her blankets. "Your Highness, are you sure you don’t want me to open the curtains? It’s a beautiful day."

Maisie wasn’t there for the disastrous Spring Parade so she didn’t see what happened, but rumors were flying thick and fast throughout the country, claiming that she was a witch who made a deal with the devil to enslave a dark creature. Eyewitnesses swear they saw her wielding fire and water at the same time, drowning innocents and destroying the floats as though they were wet paper.

Maisie didn’t need to be a genius to know that it was utter nonsense. Her queen would never resort to sabotage to win! But somehow, everyone else in the kingdom seemed to believe otherwise.

Maisie had nearly come to blows with a vendor at the marketplace when he claimed that her queen was a no-good slut that enslaved men to get her way, only to realize that many held the same opinion.

No wonder her queen was intent on hiding herself away in her own room. Maisie’s heart ached for her. It just wasn’t fair, but somehow, King Atticus wasn’t doing anything to stop the vicious rumors surrounding his wife.

"Just leave me here to die," Daphne groaned, her head buried in her pillows, her blanket covering half her head. Her bed was a sanctuary, and she never wanted to leave its safe confines.

"How could you ask something like that of me?" Maisie gasped and hurriedly put down her tray, checking on Daphne. "Do you want me to get Healer Sirona to take a look at you? Or maybe you’d like to take a walk in the gardens for some fresh air? The flowers are―"

Maisie bit her tongue to stop herself from speaking. Her queen didn’t need to be reminded of the Spring Parade!

"... No thank you, Maisie. I wish to be left alone," Daphne said quietly. The very thought of going to the royal gardens and seeing Vramid’s flowers in full bloom caused her gut to quaver, as though she had eaten year-old bread.

"But..." Maisie wanted to protest, but eventually, she acquiesced to Daphne’s request with a disappointed nod. "I’ll leave your breakfast here then. Please eat it! If you want to eat something else, please let me know, Your Highness."

Daphne made a non-committal sound, and Maisie eventually left the room. She glanced at the tray. Her stomach gurgled in hunger, yet strangely enough, she could not muster the willingness to eat.

She had no appetite.

The one person that she wanted to meet had not paid her a single visit since she moved out of their shared room.

Perhaps Atticus had finally decided that enough was enough. How could any king have a queen that was rejected and feared by the entire kingdom? Daphne wouldn’t be surprised if she found herself jilted a week later, with a priest coming in to undo their vows.

She blinked back tears and buried herself under her blankets. Meanwhile, her baby griffin woke up to help itself to her breakfast.

Oh, why was she so foolish? She kept replaying the weeks leading to the spring parade in her mind, wondering what she could have done to change the outcome.

If she had not asked Prince Nathaniel for the flowers, if she had not said those words to Atticus, if she had let Atticus arrest Nereus from the very beginning... Would anything be different?

Francessa Seibert was making things difficult for her, but her points of contention were valid. Despite all of Daphne’s earliest efforts to make the parade go smoothly, she made a mistake with her float’s concept, and then the situation escalated beyond her control.

And now here she was. Huddled in the blankets like a scared child. It was pathetic, but after the past few days, Daphne believed she earned the right to wallow just a bit.

Just as Daphne was about to drift back to sleep, she heard something knocking on her window.

That wouldn’t be strange, if not for the fact that her new room was two floors above the ground.

Unless... Atticus! He finally wanted to see her!

She quickly dashed towards the window, accidentally toppling Zephyr and her plate of food to the floor. Zephyr let out a disgruntled squawk, but it continued to peck at the fallen sausages. Daphne barely spared it a second look while she pulled the curtains away, fully expecting to see her husband’s smiling face.

Instead, what greeted her eyes was a decapitated chicken.

Daphne stumbled backward, startled into a scream. Her breath came out in panicked gasps as her eyes registered the gory sight. The head was missing, but the perpetrator helpfully left a trail of blood from the rest of the body all the way to the very end of the window sill. Daphne realized that blood was still flowing from the neck of the dead chicken, and she felt her legs wobble.

Was this a message from the citizens? Did they hate her so much as to harass her even when she was staying in the palace? No, they wouldn’t have access. Unless...

Was the castle staff responsible?

Suddenly, Daphne felt the walls closing in on her. She eyed the fallen breakfast tray with trepidation. Was the food poisoned?

"No... no... this cannot be..."

Zephyr, sensing her distress, immediately toddled over and began screeching at the window at the suspected threat. Upon seeing the body of its less fortunate brethren, it proceeded to fling itself at the glass panel with enough force to smash it into pieces!

"Zephyr, no!" Daphne lunged for Zephyr. She only managed to pull him back after it had grabbed the body with its beak, staining itself with blood. The chicken fell to her floor with a dull thud, right on top of Daphne’s feet, its blood drenching her feet.

"Your Highness! I heard you scream!" Maisie rushed back into the room upon hearing Daphne’s singular scream and Zephyr’s screeching cries. She had been pacing outside the room, waiting for Daphne to call on her.

"How can I help― Oh my goodness!" Maisie shrieked, horrified by the sight of her queen covered in blood and a dead chicken on the floor.

"Maisie, call Jonah," Daphne said breathlessly, "We have an intruder in the castle."

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