Replacement Bride for the Alpha of the North - Chapter 265

Chapter 265: THE KING’S AFFECTION
When Zaya stepped in, she could hear the laughter, as all the women had been cozying themselves and having a good time. A guard at the door announced her presence and the sound from the garden died down.

All eyes were on Zaya, especially when she was wearing this bright yellow dress with her auburn hair tumbled down on her back. She looked breathtaking under the soft light of the sun.

And the way she carried herself made all of them felt intimidated, as they should. They already feared her because she was a witch after all.

“Dowager Queen Katerina,” Zaya greeted the queen, she bent her knees slightly to show her respect and waited for the queen to say something.

The queen looked at her, disapproving look was very strong in her eyes with the dress that Zaya choose, she glanced at her hair and frowned.

And when the queen didn’t say anything and let Zaya stood up in front of her like a fool, she thought she could give her a little lesson, but obviously she didn’t know Zaya at all and what she was capable of doing.

Zaya clapped her hand to the queen’s personal maid, which shocked everyone.

“Why are you just standing there? You can see that I don’t have a chair, right? Do you want to embarrass Queen Dowager for not preparing this party carefully, to the point you forgot how many people that the queen invited?”

Everyone gasped, even Inez’s face turned pale. No one dared to reprimand the queen’s personal maid, because it was an indirect insult the queen herself.

What Zaya had done was so bold, they were scared for her, but the princess looked calm and compose.

Zaya was unfazed.

“Queen Katerina, from the look of it, you should teach your personal maid some manner. Not only she doesn’t show any respect for your guest, but also to the king’s future queen of this kingdom.”

Zaya was annoyed because she still needed to bring Rowan in this situation, especially after their conversation this morning, she really wanted to disassociate herself with Rowan, yet in this situation, bringing his name would be the most effective solution.

But, of course, on the surface, she looked as graceful as ever.

“Bring the chair,” queen Katerina growled at her personal maid, who immediately went to get the chair for Zaya.

It didn’t take a genius to know that the queen did it on purpose, but Zaya came prepared, she was armed with her anger too, which made her look bolder than usual.

“What a beautiful dress,” one of the ladies said, she tried to ease the tension, but all Zaya could see was the woman that Rowan had fucked.

It was so childish of her to think that the king had been celibate for all those years before they met. Rowan was the same age like Zander and Zenith and there was no way he had never touched anyone.

However, to think she was surrounded by women he had been with, made her stomach churned. She wanted to burn this queen for this humiliation.

Taking a deep breath, Zaya plastered a smile when she sat down next to the queen. She had been standing there, so it was only right if they brought the chair to her.

Queen Katerina was not happy to sit next to Zaya, but she couldn’t care less about that.

“Thank you, lady…”

“Osborn,” she said, she had almond shape eyes and long black hair, she was wearing deep purple color dress that reached her neck. She sat straight and picked her tea cup gracefully.

“Thank you, lady Osborn,” Zaya said. “What am I missing?”

“I am glad that you finally grace us with your presence,” queen Katerina said and when she finally spoke, all the faces of the ladies here became relax, they put their best effort to make what happened earlier had never happened in the first place.

Well, Zaya knew how to play this game. She relaxed herself and let Inez to pout a cup of tea for her. She sipped the tea and liked the taste of it.

Zaya only spoke when she felt the queen’s piercing glare on her face because she didn’t respond to her cheap jab, while the tension returned.

Zaya really wanted to laugh. It was easy to rile them up. Who was the one annoyed now?

“I think I came right in time, the queen personal’s maid must have given me the wrong time,” Zaya said lightly, she stated clearly the time on the invitation.

The queen personal’s maid’s face fell, she tried to lower her head to prevent herself from glaring at Zaya.

“Ah, princess Zaya is already here, so that’s what important, right?” Other ladies tried to smooth the situation, saving the queen from saying anything.

From the look of it, they were trying so hard to please the queen. Bad news for them, queen Katerina would no longer be the queen once Zaya got the title and had her ceremony.

“That’s right,” Zaya said cheerfully.

“Princess Zaya, let me introduced myself, I am Cassia Issa from the house of Issa.” The lady in blue dress introduced herself followed by the rest of them. “Do you mind telling us the story of how you met with the king?”

Zaya contemplated about it for a while, but then her shoulders relax, as she leaned her body back, a beautiful smile tilted on her lips, which made the queen looked at her with anticipation.

This woman was… alarming to say the least. Katerina wondered how her son chose someone unbridled like her to be the future queen of this kingdom. She didn’t suit for this kingdom at all. They should have shipped her back the moment she showed this attitude and her dress…

Katerina faked her smile, as she listened to Zaya’s story about how her king son courted her.

However, there was something wrong with the way she told the story. It didn’t sound like her son at all. Gradually, she was frowning.

“You said that… you went into a battle with him? You fought in the last battle? How could a woman go into a battle?” It didn’t make sense for Katerina for a woman to fight. And even after knowing that, her son still wanted to be with her. It didn’t make any sense at all.

“Yes,” Zaya said proudly.

All of the ladies gasped with that statement. They looked at her with horror in their eyes, which was good.

If they couldn’t respect you just yet, fear would do to keep them in order and warry of you. Zaya didn’t want to be part of their circle, but at the same time, she could use them. These ladies came from prestigious families and she could make use of it.

“He chased after me and courted me every day.”

All of them widened their eyes in surprise, because as far as they knew the king was not a type of man, who would court his women. He was the king after all.

“He said he love me on the first day we went out. He said I am the most beautiful woman in this world and he promised me to be the future queen in this kingdom.” Zaya raised her hand and covered half of her face, as she looked at them all bashfully. “He kissed me when we went to the town for the first time. He brought a bouquet of flower with him.”

All of them gasped, their faces turned very red when they heard that the king kissed her. It sounded very romantic, especially with the way Zaya described the event. She gave them the detail of the event and what happened.

Zaya also told them all the cheesy thing that Rowan had said to her.

“He said that I am a gem. He found a gem when he found me.”

At this point, all of them couldn’t care less about what the queen wanted. Yes, they had slept with the king. All of them, but the king had never showed any affection, not even an ounce of affection when he was with them.

The king was very curt and cold. Once the deed was done, they were kicked out of the room.

Therefore, it was hard to wrap around their head to imagine the way the king treated this princess. They came here with the intention to humiliate her, but in the end, it was them, who were jealous of Zaya.

If only they were favored by the king that way, they would be over the moon. Their status was also not bad, even though it couldn’t be compared to Zaya.

All of them swallowed back their bitterness.

“Are you sure that’s my son?” Queen Katerina opened her fan and hid her laugh behind it. “That doesn’t sound like my son at all.”

Zaya tilted her head. She looked at her with her blue eyes that shone brilliantly under the soft sunlight.

“If my son really liked you that much, I am sure, he will come here to see you if you called for him, don’t you think?” Queen Katerina put down her fan, bared her teeth, which she thought was the same like when she was smiling. “Why don’t you call him here?”

“Sure.” Zaya didn’t see any problem in that.

“Okay.” The queen nodded, but then she added. “My son doesn’t like tea party or anything that related to what women do in their free time, but more importantly, it had been years since his last visit to my palace.”

Shit.