Beauty was a blessing they said. They would kill to have a pretty face they said.
However, something they didn’t know—or perhaps chose to ignore—was that beauty could also be a curse. It could lure someone straight into their own demise.
Primrose had been admired by men for as long as she could remember. But most of them only saw her through the fog of their own lust. They didn’t see her as a person, just as something they wanted to possess.
And the women? Some of them weren’t kind either. Jealousy turned to bitterness, and bitterness turned into cruel rumors meant to tear her down.
Unfortunately, society had always forbidden a beautiful woman from complaining. The moment she did, they would say she was being dramatic. That she was ungrateful. That someone so "blessed" like her had no right to feel pain.
Primrose had lived through all of that. She was used to being seen as an object of desire, something pretty to look at, but not someone worth listening to.
But after learning that the Marquess had openly painted erotic portraits of her, she had been struggling not to care.
Even though she never saw the paintings, she had imagined them and that alone had damaged her deeply.
She felt like the Marquess had stripped her bare without even touching her.
"Why do you look so scared?" the man in front of her said, playing with a strand of her hair, twirling it like it was some kind of toy.
[No wonder the king adores her and even asked my brother to kill himself.]
[She must’ve pleased him so well. Just look at her lips, so plump and pretty, it makes me want to shove something in them.]
Stop it. Please, just stop.
Primrose didn’t want to hear his thoughts. She didn’t want to listen to his disgusting comments about her looks, about her body.
Yes, Edmund also had lewd thoughts about her sometimes, but his mind was filled with adoration.
He adored her, cherished her, like she was something sacred.
He wanted to worship her, not treat her like a lifeless toy.
But this man ...
The only thing in his head was how to humiliate her.
And no matter how badly she wanted to shut it out, she had to hear all of it.
"Your Majesty," he whispered, touching her lips with his fingers.
"Why don’t you leave your husband and come with me? I’ll make sure ..." he tilted his head, smiling. "to use your body the right way."
"So tell me," he said, his green eyes glowing in the dark, "do you want to come with me?"
Primrose wanted to scream, to fight back, to say no. But her body refused to move.
"There’s an old saying," he continued, slipping his thumb between her lips. "Silence means yes. So if you don’t say anything ... I’ll take it as consent."
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