My Madelyn

AARON POV

“What do you like to do?” Charlotte asked, her high-pitched voice piercing my ears. I tried not to wince as I pointed towards the flowers we’re passing. “I enjoy gardening,” I muttered unconfidently as she made an unimpressed face. She gazed at the flowers for a bit before letting out a horrendous snort and cackling.

She shoved her hand in her corset, taking out her hand fan as she slid her other arm through mine. I looked down at her as she batted her eyelashes at me innocently. “No husband of mine is going to be digging in the dirt, especially if they’re a king. I mean, flowers are pretty and all, but a king shouldn’t be doing servant work! He has more important things to worry about, not spending his time doing something as frivolous as planting flowers,” she said obnoxiously.

She knows this is only a trial date, but I can’t stand it when she calls me her husband. A shudder runs through me as we continue walking, my eyes following her form as she tugs me along. I can’t help but want to break her heart, tell her how much I hate her, and can’t stand her.

Yet, I can’t. I know my parents will give me a lecture for the ages, and she’ll go crying back to her father. “Well, don’t you agree?” she asks, bringing me out of my head. I don’t give her an answer as she huffs in annoyance before tugging me further through the garden.

She doesn’t talk for a while, something rare for her, before she stops me again and asks, “What’s your favorite color?” My eyes dart around quickly, spotting the roses nearby as I turn back to her.

“I quite enjoy looking at red,” I murmur as she makes a disgusted sound. “Red is the darker version of pink. It’s a rip-off color, and pink is for girls, not boys. You need a new favorite color. One more manly,” she says while gesticulating before dragging me further down the path.

My face is expressionless as I try to fight the urge to snap at her. I don’t like her, and I never will; she’s too controlling and demanding of me, and no one wants someone like that as a queen. I’m only tolerating her for my parents, who desperately want me to get married so I can take the crown from them.

Of course, I want to lead the kingdom, but this wife business is doing a number on me. Ever since this escapade to find a queen started, my body has been aching in the worst ways. Achy back, swollen feet, everything, but they don’t care about my pain.

We’ve been walking for the last hour, and I just want to sit down, but according to Charlotte, sitting is for people who are weak, and kings should always save every seat for their queen. She’s a spoiled brat, to put it lightly.

“Are you even listening?!” Charlotte all but screams in my ear as I stare at her in shock. She gives me an annoyed look as I slowly school my expression back to normal. “What were you saying?” I ask calmly as she sighs and stands in front of a flower bed.

I cringe internally as she kicks over a flower that recently bloomed. My stomach clenched as I looked at the broken flower on the ground, but there was nothing I could do about it as she straightened her back and stared at me with a smug smile. She pulls out a small mirror, checking her appearance before discarding it harshly onto the ground and sticking out her left hand for me.

“Propose,” she orders as she sticks out her hand for me to slip the ring I don’t have on her. The only movement in the garden is the sway of the flowers as the wind rustles past lightly. I stare at her like she’s crazy as she waits confidently for me to get down on my knee and give her the title of queen.

Her chin is pointed up towards the sky with her eyes closed; she looks ridiculous. Instead of bending to her will, I just stand there in shock, my eyes wide. Neither of us moves from our positions for a long time before Charlotte finally opens one of her eyes to see me standing there, confused.

She slowly brings her head back down, her hand coming to her side quickly as she marches towards me. Her face is getting redder the closer she gets; whether it’s from embarrassment or anger, I can’t tell. “

You were supposed to propose!” she screeched as her hands clenched into fists. “No, I wasn’t,” I fired back quickly as her breath became heavier. “You’re supposed to make me queen! You were supposed to buy my ring ages ago! How dare you!” She screams.

I scoff, crossing my arms over my chest as I get close to her face. “Can’t you see, Charlotte?! I have no interest in making you the queen of my kingdom. You just aren’t fit for the title,” I say cordially. Charlotte’s eyes go wide before she falls on her ass and starts kicking her feet in the dirt like a toddler.

“This isn’t fair!” she screeches. The dirt from the ground sprays all over her dress as I wince from the sheer volume of her screams. A few gardeners tending to the flower beds glance our way before looking away.

I can feel myself getting hot with embarrassment as Charlotte finally gets up from her spot on the ground. “Who else will you marry?! “Most definitely not, Duchess Abigail!” she implies, outraged.

I’m taken aback when she mentions Abigail. She was another one of the many prospects my parents brought me. Like all the other girls, they believed I’d love her; they were wrong. Ever since her manipulation stunt, her reputation has basically been ruined.

Despite that, I draw the line at Charlotte bringing up Abigail to make a childish point. Charlotte and I are practically nose to nose as I look in her eyes seriously.

“Who I marry is none of your concern, Princess Charlotte. Using another woman’s name in anger to prove a point is childish, and I will not tolerate it,” I say harshly. Instead of crying again like I thought she would, her face gets all red, and she starts screaming nonsense at me.

“I’m prettier! I’m better! Why can’t you see that, you dimwit?” I sigh in annoyance; I don’t need this to start another rumor again. The last one would have ruined my family’s image if it hadn’t been for my father’s strong authority. I won’t tolerate it anymore.

“Charlotte,” I snap, which makes her quiet down almost immediately. She stares at me expectantly as I grab her arm and drag her along to follow me. A smug smile slowly graces her lips as she lets me lead her away from the garden and to the carriages.

The dirt under our feet quickly turns into pavement as I spot Willis, one of the many drivers for the royal family, cleaning a broken tire. He doesn’t notice us for a while before I step in front of him, snapping my fingers towards him as he looks up in confusion.

I make a gesture towards the carriage as he gives me a look of realization before nodding and placing the broken wheel down. I watch as he hurries to gather a horse for a carriage, as Charlotte still stands next to me, her back straight as she arrogantly looks down at the other workers.

She probably thinks she won and that I’m going to pick up a ring of her choice, but that’s not the case. I’m taking this bitch home; I can’t take this shit anymore. As soon as Willis attaches the carriage to the horse, he waves us over. He holds the door open for me as I help Charlotte into it, her dress hitting me in the face. I ignore the rough sensation of her dress as I scoot in beside her, as Willis pulls off.

Charlotte’s feet are kicking lightly as she stares out the window like a child. Willis glances back as we pass the local jeweler, but he doesn’t stop the carriage as we roll forward. I continue to glance at Charlotte occasionally, watching her sit back in her seat, confused.

She glances at me a few times before her brows begin furrowing. Her face slowly starts becoming red as she clutches her hands into fists on her lap and turns towards me. “You lied to me!” She screamed as she tried to lunge at me. Her hands came towards my neck as I grabbed them and shoved her away.

I backed away towards my door as she clutched her chest in surprise. “You pushed me too! How dare you!” I felt a spark of anger in my chest, but I ignored it, not wanting everything to continue to be tense as we headed to her home. I began looking out of the windows, trying to spot Charlotte’s home.

The ride seemed longer than it should’ve been as Charlotte continued to fume and yell profanities at me occasionally, hoping that I’d change my mind as she went off on all the other women I’ve been with. “We’re arriving!” Willis shouts over Charlotte’s voice so I can hear.

That only eggs her on to be louder as she continues to bug me about all my decisions. Willis doesn’t let this distract him as he slows down the carriage. Charlotte looks ready to bolt out of here and probably start something else. I can already tell from the slight quiver in her lip as I see her parents waiting outside for her.

When the carriage finally stops, she launches out of her seat, kicking the door open before running towards her parents. She almost trips over her dress a few times before eventually crashing into her mother. She’s yelling frantically at them as her mother looks confused.

She glances back to the house, most likely calling out for Charlotte’s father as he steps out. The tall and imposing man goes to stand beside his wife as they listen to Charlotte with increasing shock. I can hear her clearly as she points to me while gripping her mother’s shirt.

I feel my heart drop to my stomach as the three of them look towards me in contempt. “Look, Mama! The prince doesn’t want to marry me! He’d rather marry Abigail!” she screams as her mother gasps in horror and her father’s face turns redder than Charlotte’s.

It doesn’t take long for her father to begin stomping towards the carriage. I see some people coming out of their house, confused about what could be the cause for Charlotte to be yelling like this.

I quickly look forward as Wallis looks back at me in shock. “Wallis, go,” I order firmly as he nods and starts the horses moving quickly. I can hear the angry yells of Charlotte’s father behind us as he tries to catch up to the carriage to no avail.

The neighbors who witness it are also yelling profanities towards me as the two of us make a speedy escape. I already know this won’t be good as we continue down the path towards the castle.

I’m silent the entire time as we go back. I don’t usually talk to the servants anyway, and when I do, it’s for business only. I don’t think Wallis wants to hear about my female escapades anyway. He seems annoyed every time he looks back to check if I’m okay, so I think I’ll be good without pissing him off further.

Without Charlotte here to bother Wallis and me, the ride home seems quicker than ever before. As I hear the familiar sound of hooves against dirt, I can see Wallis let out a sigh of relief before he hops down, detaching the horse from the carriage as I jump out before it tips over.

Wallis doesn’t spare me another glance as I start down the trail back towards the castle. Hopefully, I can hide this from my parents until I find a sufficient lie to tell them. As I get closer to the steps leading into the palace, I spot my parents waiting there, disappointment marring their faces.

There’s no way that Charlotte could’ve caused my parents to get upset, but I know she has. Gossip runs fast through this kingdom. My father’s expression was bordering on annoyance, the closer I got until I was standing right in front of him and my mother.

“We need to talk,” my father said through gritted teeth. I could tell immediately that he was pissed off, but I don’t seem to care right now. I let out a sigh, straightening my shoulders before I nodded reluctantly. “Alright, lead the way.”