Claimed By The Tyrant King

"Oh my goodness, look at you. You’re so thin. Once we get home, I’ll have the kitchens prepare the finest meals for you and you’ll become chubby again. Do you see Hannah?" the Queen continued.

"I’m not chubby, Mother," Hannah immediately protested.

"Marek, am I chubby?" she asked.

The crown prince instantly raised his hands as though he wanted no part in a conversation where he would be forced to choose sides, and the ladies couldn’t help laughing.

Rosalind’s laughter gradually faded when she noticed a figure waiting some distance away. She recognized him instantly and her heart immediately began to race. She had thought he wouldn’t survive the day, yet here he was, and when their gazes met she swallowed hard.

Rowan started walking toward them and soon everyone turned in his direction.

"Your Majesty," Marek and Hannah greeted respectfully.

"You can just call me Rowan," he replied.

"That wouldn’t be appropriate" Marek refused at once.

Then Rowan turned to the Queen and bowed his head. She returned the greeting and waited patiently.

"Would you mind if I..." he started, sounding far less composed than he had inside the hall earlier.

His gaze rested on Rosalind and the Queen immediately understood what he meant. "Yes... yes, of course," she said before placing Rosalind’s hand into his.

Rosalind parted her lips as though she wanted to say something, yet no words came out and she simply took a deep breath as Rowan began to lead her away.

"I think they look good together," Hannah whispered as she watched them leave.

"Well, they’re always meant to be together," the Queen replied.

Soon Rosalind was out of their sight as she followed her betrothed. Once they reached a quieter place where they could finally speak alone, Rowan wasted no time pulling her into a tight embrace.

"I’m so glad it’s finally over," he said as he pulled back slightly to look at her. "We can be together now."

Then he smiled softly. "I... I couldn’t have achieved any of this without you, Rosalind. Thank you"

He looked directly into her eyes as he spoke.

Rosalind remained quiet. Although her heart softened at his words, she still couldn’t shake the feeling that this wasn’t truly over. "Is it?" she asked.

Rowan looked at her in confusion.

Rosalind took a steadying breath. "I just found out that we were betrothed, but did you already know about it?"

Rowan hesitated for a moment, but when he saw the look in her eyes he decided to tell the truth. "I did."

Her brows immediately pulled together and she removed her hand from his. "You did?" she asked incredulously.

"Rosalind... everything was connected. There was no way I could have told you that without you asking how I knew, and then I would have had to explain everything else as well," he said.

The hard look in her eyes didn’t soften in the slightest. "You had no right to hide my identity from me."

The words struck him like a blade.

"Rosalind, I never wanted to hide it from you. When you found out who I really was, I already felt like I was losing you and there was already enough going wrong between us. I didn’t want to add something else that would only come as another shock," he explained, but his voice gradually trailed off.

"I’m really sorry," he added quietly, and the guilt in his eyes was impossible to miss as he looked at her with sincere regret.

But this was hurting her far more than anything else. Rosalind had once thought she could forgive Rowan, but now she simply couldn’t continue like this anymore.

Wouldn’t it just keep going like this?

"I hope you know this isn’t working..." she started.

"What isn’t...?"

Even though it hurt her deeply to say it, she forced the words out because it was the truth. "Us... we can’t be together like this, Rowan," she said.

And his entire body went still, as though he had been doused with a bucket of cold water.

"You’re too secretive. You hide things and you lie about them, you control what I should hear and what I shouldn’t hear, and it isn’t meant to be that way... Whether it was going to hurt or not, you should have told me from the start," she continued, taking a breath between her words, "hiding it doesn’t reduce the pain, it only prolongs it, and even if you’re doing it in your own way of trying to protect me, you’re still hurting me."

Hurting her...

That word echoed in his mind as his heart felt like it was being torn apart piece by piece.

He had never wanted that for her, never once wanted to be the reason for her pain.

For a moment he didn’t even know what to say, because everything inside him felt like it was failing him, and watching her cry because of him was the last thing he had ever wanted. "I’ll fix this... I promise," he said.

"But I can’t do this anymore..." Rosalind’s voice broke.

Rosalind hesitated for a brief moment, her fingers tightening slightly as though she was fighting against herself, but she still forced herself to continue because she knew that if she stayed any longer in this cycle of pain and secrets, it would only break her even more. "I think we just need to go our separate ways... find ourselves... we can’t stay together like this right now. Do you understand what I’m saying?" she asked him.

Rowan froze completely, as if her words had physically stopped his breath.

He simply stared at her like he hadn’t fully processed what she had just said.

Separate ways?

After all they’ve been through together?

It felt impossible to accept.

If she left then it would feel like a part of him would die with her.

She was the reason he had done all of this, and now she was asking to walk away?

But still, he understood where she was coming from. He had hurt her again, right when she was just trying to trust him.

And if he put himself in her own shoes, he probably would’ve done the same.

Rowan swallowed his own pain, refusing to to be selfish and hold her back when she wanted freedom. "If you leave... will you come back?" he asked quietly.

Rosalind looked at him for a long moment before shaking her head. "I don’t know," she said, and somehow that hurt more than a definite no.

He held her gaze and it hurt even more to see that there was nothing he could do to take away the pain she was feeling... "I’ll wait for you no matter how long it takes," Rowan said softly after a pause. "Just know I’ll be here."

Rosalind swallowed and nodded slowly, and then she rose slightly on her toes and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek.

Without another word, she turned away, taking with her all her warmth, leaving him standing there alone in the cold silence she left behind.

****

A/N:

I hope you can understand Rosalind’s decision to choose herself in this moment, because even though Rowan truly loves her, he still has a lot to learn about honesty, trust, and how withholding the truth can hurt the very people he’s trying to protect.

His actions were never born from selfishness, but from a flawed way of handling situations, and as the story continues, I truly hope we see him grow into someone who understands the weight of his choices and the consequences they carry.

I still believe there is a future where they can find their way back to each other, but only after growth, healing, and a deeper understanding of what love actually requires.

Thank you so much for staying with this book until now, it truly means a lot to me that you’ve come this far in the story.

I also understand if parts of this journey feel frustrating, especially after everything that has happened, but I want to reassure you that every development has a purpose, and every character is moving toward meaningful growth. I genuinely hope you’ll keep reading and continue to trust the process.