SMITTEN - Chapter 136

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‘This is it. I will now face the villains in my story and lock horns with them.’

Aisha will not allow herself to be falsely misinterpreted for her own sake and her relationship with King Leandro.

With her head lifted, she walked towards the throne room where the meeting will be held. Her female servants walked behind her, secretly supporting their master.

“I have no ill intentions against anyone. I just want to help. It just so happens that I was at the wrong place at the wrong time. But even with that, it is still with my honest and sincere desire to alleviate the sufferings of the Gaean people. That’s why I did that,” Aisha practiced before facing the wrath of the royal decision-makers of Gaea.

As she neared the throne room, she could hear a loud commotion going on, making her footsteps freeze.

“Where is the King? Why isn’t he here?” One of the royal ministers said, making Aisha’s eyebrows squint together.

She was in the inner court of the Castle’s throne room, where the other lords and ladies, especially servants, weren’t allowed to enter. At that point in time, even Rosalia wasn’t there.

The throne room was uniquely designed in such a way that it was enclosed in another room, separated by an outer court and an inner court.

The outer court was the place where the other lords and ladies that wished to talk with the King could wait, while the inner court was where those who the King wanted to talk to could enter. In the inner court, loud voices from the throne room could be heard.

The people that needed to hear what was going on but were not allowed to enter the throne room yet could also wait. That is where Aisha was.

‘Where could the King be? How can I face this? He said he’ll be there,’ Aisha bit her lips in fright.

She was already used to being alone and defending herself if necessary. But this was another realm. And besides, Leandro made her trust him that he will not leave her.

At that point in time, she wanted to run away. But she still decided to stay, as she resolved to herself that it would not end if she didn’t do anything.

Her hands clenched and unclenched, as she pondered whether she would go inside or just stay there and wait for the King.

As she waited for the right opportunity, the voices of the royal ministers inside the throne room became too loud for her to unhear.

“Could the King be persuading Lady Aisha to retreat and make a different statement from the witness? Is he perhaps helping her deny that she was there and colluding with the criminal, so she won’t be banned from Gaea?” A royal minister, with a rough tone, voiced out his opinion, making Aisha’s eyes narrow at the door of the throne room.

If it wasn’t for the rule of never opening the room from the outside, she would have barged in and defended herself.

“King Leandro didn’t do such a thing!” she thought out loud, knowing nobody’s around to hear her.

But if she would rush things, for sure they would again say something negative about her. It is probably best to wait for the King.

She just held her breath as she unintentionally listened to the ongoing conversation between the royal ministers without their King.

“I indeed saw him walking to her Chamber. They must have been coming up with a plan so she could escape the punishment for her,” one of them replied.

“Of course not. That’s why I’m here, you -” Aisha pressed her lips to prevent herself from cursing them. They were still royal ministers after all.

Fortunately, one of the royal ministers seemed to be in his right mind as he stated, “But what if Lady Aisha wasn’t the culprit? We could be putting an innocent lady in the dungeons.”

Aisha couldn’t help but pull up her sleeves as she stated, “That’s what I’m telling you, man. You can’t just blame it all on the newcomer.”

Her shoulders shrugged up as she suddenly had the strength to stand up and face them again.

She drew in a deep breath, knowing that King Leandro wasn’t inside. She might be risking herself, alone, like a sheep going to a pack of wolves. But she couldn’t sit still knowing that her name was being dragged down.

Aisha pulled up her sleeves and walked towards the door of the throne room itself.

She could give a signal to the royal guard and let them know of her presence, and they would open it for her,

But she heard a voice that made her step back again. “Do not worry. If we see the King siding with Lady Aisha even if she was clearly guilty, we would ask him to step down from the throne since he was no longer capable of distinguishing right from wrong.”

Aisha’s jaw dropped at the sudden revelation. ‘Who has the power to do that to the King?’

Her heart pumped in a frenzy, losing confidence in her innocence. If he can make the King give up the throne, then he must be a very powerful man.

Besides, Aisha knew how King Leandro loved the throne, not just for himself, but so Gaea could have peace and prosperity for centuries. It would be devastating for him to even consider stepping down from the throne. And it was just because of her.

Aisha’s shoulders dropped, as now her desire to fight was weakened. She was fine if they would just fight with her. But with the King? And is it because of her? That thought was too heartbreaking for her.

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“The acquisition of power is a challenge, the consolidation of it greater still, but the mettle and method of testing power’s boundaries ultimately decides if it is fed to excess or starved to extinction.”

― Stewart Stafford