To say that Giselle was nervous was an understatement.
She'd woken up extra early that morning, bathed herself (much to her personal maidservant's disapproval) and slipped into yet another expensive, but less extravagant afternoon outfit—a silk emerald green blouse and burgundy-colored skirt that stopped some inches below her knees.
She had even insisted on doing her own makeup as her maid, Heather was her name (though she was very reluctant to tell her,) stood beside her with a usual disapproving but resigned look. Heather worked quietly but efficiently; airing out the room, picking Giselle's shoes and laying out her schedule on the table. Usually it should be her lady-in-waiting who would be performing some of these duties, but Giselle hadn't picked one yet so Heather attended to the brunt of her personal needs.
"Thank you Heather, that would be all."
Heather curtsied and left the room, closing the door behind her with a click.
Giselle glanced over the schedule, taking note of her etiquette class postponed till later in the evening. A tinge of disappointment surged through her but it couldn't be helped. As much as she was looking forward to Madame Maeve's sharp remarks and occasional wise words, Fabio did say he would introduce her formally to his family today.
The red-haired woman exhaled nervously, glancing at her reflection in the mirror.
She wondered what Fabio's family would have to say about her. Even though she'd never met them before she was still irrationally worried that they would instantly hate her for not being the person Fabio was betrothed to all along.
A knock on the door roused her and she put the schedule down.
"Come in."
It was a footman, a young boy in official palace uniform. Fabio no doubt sent him.
"His Majesty requests your presence at the pavilion, milady." he said with a short bow.
Giselle vaguely remembered being shown that part of the palace by Maeve on one of their breaks after ballroom etiquette class.
She inhaled deeply, trying to chase away the nerves.
"Alright, lead the way."
The footman led her toward the opposite part of the palace; an area she rarely ventured aside from that one time she did. This part of the palace was where the throne room, ball room and Court Hall was located, with other official or otherwise off limits places like Fabio's private study, library and the Royal Treasury.
They got to the pavilion sooner than she'd hoped; it was a rather large external building that was partly connected to the palace, with a wide, domed roof and glass walls with creeping ivy plants decorating its exterior.
Giselle climbed up the short steps and caught sight of Fabio talking to a shorter woman and well-dressed gentleman beside her.
The woman gaze met hers and she broke into a surprisingly welcoming smile.
Giselle wasn't expecting such a reaction—maybe a bit of disdain or at most, outright disapproval of Fabio's choice—but the woman seemed… nice.
"Oh, you must be my beautiful sister-in-law! How lovely to meet you!"
She walked up and hugged her firmly, patting Giselle's cheeks in a manner that made the red-haired girl speechless. The woman was slightly shorter, with a small almond-shaped face, warm brown eyes and similar jet black hair like Fabio's. She also smelled like and looked like the picture-perfect omega; an overly sweet scent and smaller stature than her husband's, who looked decidedly alpha.
Everything about her looked like the ideal noblewoman, down to the lace ruffles of her velvet dress.
She held Giselle's hands in hers.
"My, my! You are indeed a sight to behold, just like the people of Montegnera are saying!" She exclaimed.
Behind her was Fabio with an unreadable look on his face. Giselle only glanced at him shortly before turning her attention back to the Grand Princess.
"Pleased to meet you, your Highness and your Grace." she said with a deep curtsy to the Princess and her husband.
The woman waved her off, "Please, none of that formal language with me. I'm Leandra, this pea-brains younger sister. This is my husband, Javier," She gestured to the man beside her who flashed Giselle a polite smile. "And you must be the beautiful Genny that Fabio just won't stop talking about."
The air in her lungs froze solid at the mention of her sister's name.
Giselle was speaking before she could even think.
"Oh, it's Giselle actually."
The words hung stiffly in the air as soon as it left her lips. Then it dawned on her. Fabio never told his family what really happened. In fact, no one else knew that Giselle was not his betrothed, he probably just let the entire Court, the entire Kingdom continue to believe that Giselle was always meant to be his bride.
There was an awkward pause but Leandra seemed to recover from the confusion almost immediately.
"O-oh I must've heard wrong from my brother then. Apologies, Giselle. That's a beautiful name by the way."
Giselle could only smile, hoping it didn't come off as a grimace.
She pointedly didn't look up to meet Fabio's gaze as she could already feel how murderous they were.
"Once you are formally introduced in Court, you have to come visit for afternoon tea." Princess Leandra was saying, "We'll have a fun time and I could give you some pointers to pick out the best ladies-in-waiting."
Javier, her husband, laughed beside her.
"Don't let Lea drag you into one of her crazy adventures!" He said between laughs, "She'll have you causing trouble in the palace from day one!"
Leandra slapped his shoulder playfully with a faux annoyed look on her face.
"He's just as troublesome too! We're a terror in Court." She joked, "Can't go a week without a scandal either. We do have room for one more, if you're interested."
Giselle chuckled at their antics, positively enthralled by the couple. They seemed like genuinely good people, especially Leandra who was like a ray of sunshine compared to her brother. Speaking of the devil, she made the mistake of meeting his darkened gaze and the laughter died in her throat.
Fabio grunted, "Unfortunately for you lot, she won't be taking you up on that offer. Giselle doesn't have the luxury of playing pranks on Court members or whatever it is you're up to these days."
Giselle wanted to roll her eyes and scoff at his overt seriousness but Leandra beat her to it.
"Well, Giselle can have fun once in a while, can't she? Unlike you with a stick up your ass."
A surprised snort escaped Giselle but she tried to mask it with a cough. Leandra was almost too vulgar to be a Grand Princess and she absolutely adored her already. She fervently thanked whatever gods were listening to give her such a lovely human as a sister-in-law; at least she now had only a lesser evil to deal with—the Royal Court.
If Fabio was angry at his sister's words, he didn't show it but arched a thick brow at Giselle.
"Thank you for gracing us with your presence, dear sister. Now if you will excuse us, I would like to have a word with my wife."
Giselle's heart sank.
Although Fabio didn't seem like a violent man, it definitely didn't stop her from picturing a million ways which he could make her life here even more miserable. He was the King after all.
Leandra rubbed her shoulders, pulling her in for one last hug.
"You know what, fuck waiting until you are formally presented."
Giselle almost gasped at her outrightly profane words. Her eyes instinctively flashed to Fabio to find him already glaring dangerously at her. A cold chill settled in her chest.
She swallowed and looked away.
"Language, Lea." Her husband chided but with a fond smile.
Leandra tutted, "Let's have lunch today! I'll be in the lower gardens this noon. Do you have plans already?"
"No–"
"–Yes," Fabio and Giselle spoke at the same time.
Their eyes met and Giselle shuddered at the intensity of his stare but this time she didn't look away. He didn't have autonomy over her wishes, no matter what had led to their ill-fated union and call it stupidity or stubbornness but Giselle wanted to show that somehow.
"Excellent!" Leandra exclaimed, "I'll see you then, hun. Come with a big appetite—Maggie makes the best teatime snacks."
With one last hug and a familiar pat on the shoulder from Javier, the enigmatic couple left in a chatter.
For the first time since yesterday, Giselle was completely alone with Fabio in the same room.
The walls of the pavilion were opaque glass yet she couldn't help but wonder if anyone outside could see them.
Fabio didn't say anything for a moment, just paced the well-furnished room slowly with both hands in his pockets. Giselle had eyes; he somehow looked even more devastatingly handsome than he was yesterday with his long dark hair in a low bun and his usually stubbled chin was well shaved.
All that handsomeness evaporated the moment he turned to face her with a look of barely disguised fury.
"You have a lot of nerve, omega. It seems you have no idea how delicate our situation is or you simply do not care." His voice was calm, almost to calm.
He towered over Giselle by quite a lot since she was of a smaller stature; she's found herself inadvertently looking up to meet his gaze.
"You didn't tell your family." Giselle stated quietly.
Fabio cocked his head, lips tugged up in amusement, "Tell them what? That I'm fated to live the rest of my life stuck to a liar and a pretender?"
She sucked in a harsh breath, swallowing dryly.
Fabio drew closer and she thought she imagined his pupils darting to her lips for a second.
"Every aspect of my entire life has been carved out for me and I fucking hated it, so much," he was saying, "But the one part I never hated was Genevieve and look at how that turned out."
A bitter taste filled Giselle's mouth.
"But did Genevieve feel the same? Why did she run away then?"
King Fabio recoiled as though her words slapped him in the face.
"My Genevieve is three times the woman you would even think of becoming!"
He advanced and Giselle flinched on instinct, stopping him in his tracks.
He didn't know how to feel at the manner his own mate fled at the sight of him. Internally, his wolf whined but he shoved it down and silenced it.
With a deep sigh, he kept his distance instead but didn't relent with his biting words.
"It would be in your best interests to be careful and keep your mouth shut, Giselle."
Giselle's stomach was in endless knots but she tried her best not to let her face show it.
"The entire Kingdom believes you are my first choice. If a scandal suddenly surfaces about your sister absconding her duties for some… nobody… there will be hell to pay," He growled, "And I will make certain that you and your family suffer terribly."
Giselle couldn't help but gasp at his words.
"B-but I already promised to do whatever you asked! W-why—why are you so cruel?"
He smirked wickedly.
"That's the thing, I don't care what you think about me, Giselle. No matter how innocent you pretend to be, no matter what tricks you play, I will always see right through them. You can fool the Court and the Kingdom, but you can't fool me. And I must warn you against spreading your wings in Court…"
His eyes fell to her heaving bosom, carefully held up in a voluptuous bundle by the sweetheart neckline of her dress. Giselle could hear him audibly swallow. His voice dropped to a lilting baritone.
"... Wouldn't want them to see your true colors now, would you?"
His hands seemed to reach out of their own volition to play with the stray strand of red hair directly above her chest.
Giselle huffed in annoyance and stepped back, leaving Fabio's hand hanging limply in the air.
"Thank you for your warning, my King." She said with a deep curtsy that felt more like a mockery to him. "Good day."
For once she left him speechless and strangely wanting something more.
***
Later that day around noon, Giselle honored Leandra's invitation to visit her for tea at the lower gardens.
It was a bright and sunny midday with blue birds chirping and a cool breeze blowing through the trees.
As Giselle munched on a vanilla-flavoured muffin, she couldn't help but think of her mother's baking back home. Her mother loved baking when she wasn't busy with social duties and she always loved watching her family enjoy her food. Tears came to her eyes at how homesick she suddenly felt.
Leandra was right. Her lady-in-waiting, Maggie, did make some of the best teatime snacks but nothing could ever beat her mother's cooking.
"So tell me, sister-in-law," Leandra said with a mischievous smirk, "How are you enjoying married life? I hope that knucklehead I call my brother is treating you right."
Images of last night and the previous one flashed before Giselle's eyes. She nearly choked on her muffin at how vivid it was—his firm, calloused fingers squeezing painfully around her thighs as he moved feverishly inside her—and how badly she wanted it to happen again.
"I–I…yes… he's treating me just fine…I guess."
He'd just threatened her earlier but that was by the way. Just a King being a King, Giselle mused.
Leandra stirred her tea, a relaxed smile on her face, "That's lovely, I know Fabio might be brash and arrogant but he's actually really n–"
Giselle let out a loud, piercing scream, clutching at her side, shocking the Princess silent.
"G-giselle—what–what's wrong?"
The red-haired girl's eyes were dazed and unfocused. She gasped for air, the half-eaten muffin discarded on the grass.
Panicking, Leandra reached for her but Giselle was falling before she could reach her.
"Oh my goodness, Giselle w-what—"
Another scream, this one more agonizing and outdrawn shook Leandra to her core as she looked on in shock. Giselle fell to the ground, scratching at her chest and stomach with noises that were like a wounded animal.
Leandra didn't need to call for help; servants had already heard the commotion and even some guards were roused from their station, running over to form a small crowd. Even some nobles visiting the palace watched from the windows, confused from their morning activities.
She screamed again, this time clawing at her throat as if gasping for air.
"Restrain her! She'll hurt herself!" The servants scampered to obey Leandra's instructions, trying to pin down the still screaming woman.
"What's wrong with her, is it her wolf?" Leandra's lady-in-waiting, Maggie said with a worried expression. "She's screaming her throat raw! W-what should we do?"
"P-please! No! No!" Giselle was screaming, fighting against those restraining her.
"Your Highness, should we send for the healer?" A female servant asked, "She is not stopping, perhaps she needs to be sedated?"
"Yes, please." Leandra said, "Hurry!"
Some servants rushed towards the medical bay while the rest, mostly male servants and some guards, struggled to carry her as gently as they could. One male servant even placed his palm on her mouth, muffling her screams. Leandra didn't stop him. They have already caused enough commotion as it is.
"Follow me through this secluded entrance," Leandra walked ahead, leading the servants through an enclave in the lower gardens, "We don't need the prying eyes of nosy nobles."
Maggie fell in step with her, looking back from time to time to check on the writhing figure of their future Queen.
"Leandra, do you know what's going on?"
The Grand Princess was furious and seething and every effort to mask her feelings enraged her even more.
"Any soulbound omega who is yet to seal their status with a mating bite is doomed to feel the pain that comes from infidelity." She stated plainly, her lips in a grim line.
Maggie's eyes widened, finally understanding.
"Y-you mean…his Majesty…" She whispered.
"Is a fucking idiot and is dead to me?" Leandra spat. "Yes."