Chapter 10 · The General's Vow

Chapter 10

Barely half a month had passed before a single piece of news took over the entire capital: Edward was going to marry Princess Aurora.The announcement spread through every street and alley like wildfire, and no matter where I went, I could not escape the sound of people discussing it.Some said Edward was a fortunate man. By winning the Princess' hand, he had finally lifted himself out of obscurity and would never again be known as nothing more than the insignificant illegitimate son.Others insisted that Edward and Princess Aurora were a match made in heaven, two souls perfectly suited to one another.The poem he had written years ago, praising her courage for agreeing to a diplomatic marriage in service to the kingdom, was still recited on people's lips to this day. So it came as no surprise that the Princess fell for him at first sight when she returned.And then there were those who pitied me, the abandoned wife who had toiled thanklessly to keep the household running, only to be cast aside so that her husband could become the hero in someone else's love story.Every whisper landed like a needle driven straight into my chest.I knew exactly what I had become: the laughingstock of the entire capital and the pathetic woman whose husband had thrown her away to buy himself wealth and status.The wedding day itself arrived with breathtaking spectacle.Drums thundered, flutes trilled, and the whole city seemed wrapped in a blanket of celebration.Edward rode at the head of the procession on a tall, spirited horse, dressed in an impeccable suit, his face radiant with smug satisfaction as he accepted the cheers and congratulations of the crowd.Aurora sat inside an ornate palanquin draped in flowers, a vision of royal grandeur so dazzling it was almost hard to look at.Their wedding was so obscenely lavish that it made the modest ceremony Edward and I had shared look like a pauper's meal next to a king's feast.According to what people were saying, on the day of the wedding, the normally dignified and elegant Princess Aurora actually grabbed Edward by the ear right there in the middle of the ceremony.She scolded him with a sharp, commanding voice, dripping with a kind of twisted possessiveness."Edward, you listen to me," she snapped. "From now on, don't you dare mention Charlotte again. Not half a word. If I ever find out you're still thinking about that bitch, I'll tear your eyes out myself!"And Edward, that hypocritical, self-proclaimed romantic who always acted so deeply devoted, bowed and scraped before her like a fawning lapdog.He smiled and cooed, "Of course, Your Highness. Don't you worry. You're the only one in my heart. Charlotte? Who even is she? I've already forgotten she ever existed. You're my life, my heart, my everything. How could I possibly be thinking of anyone else?"This was the man I had once loved. This was the depth of feeling he had wept over, the helpless devotion he had claimed left him no choice but to break my heart.In the face of power and profit, even the most solemn vows become nothing more than a joke.To please his new prize, he could trample his old love without a second thought. He could grind our entire past beneath his heel and use it as stepping stones to his own wealth and status.The sheer disgust of it made me want to vomit.Not that it mattered to him. The very next morning after the wedding, Edward rode the tide of Princess Aurora's connections straight into the heart of the court.The King appointed him Royal Procurator, and overnight, he became the most powerful new figure in the capital, a man everyone had to treat with deference.He had finally gotten everything he ever wanted. By latching onto the Princess, he had broken free from the stain of being an illegitimate son and fulfilled every last one of his ambitions.

Chapter 10