Royal Pain || z.m. [Book 2]

•seventeen•

Genevieve gulped once the limousine came to a halt in front of the Wellington castle. The dark stone building made her stomach drop and twist into knots. The princess now also felt the castle had an eerie aura to it. Unlike the Genovian castle, where the stone was of ivory pigment, this castle was built with grey stone.

The chauffeur came to her side of the door and pulled open the door, signaling her to step out. The princess slipped out of the vehicle and stood up straight, as she smoothed out her dress. Her heels clicked against the pavement as she walked towards the front steps.

Genevieve gracefully climbed up the marble steps as she tried to calm herself down by taking in deep breaths and then releasing them. The doorman bowed his head as he welcomed her and opened the door for her.

"Thank you." the princess replied softly with a nod of her head.

Genevieve looked down both ends of the long hallway as terrible memories of when she was last here flashed into her mind. Her head began to slightly pain but she shook it away once she heard her name being called.

"Princess Genevieve." it was Savannah, and she approached the royal curtsying. "It's a pleasure to have you here again." she sweetly smiled.

"Thank you." the princess smiled back.

"Queen Aria is waiting for you. Let me take you to her." she turned around and began to lead the way.

Hearing such a grand title in front of Aria's name made Genevieve feel even more overwhelmed about the situation. She still couldn't wrap her head around the fact that she had become queen of Wellington.

Princess Genevieve was led through the long hallway which eventually brought them into the vast foyer. Eyeing the grand staircase made her stomach churn. Her breaths began to waver but nonetheless, Genevieve followed Savannah up the steps.

After walking down another hallway, Savannah turned towards a large white door and pushed it open. They were outside and what seemed to be a large terrace decorated with many plants and flowers. Few feet away, Genevieve's eyes fell on a blonde woman's figure who was dressed in a marigold coloured dress. The female turned her face towards the two women and revealed herself as the one and only, Queen Aria.

A wide smile formed onto Aria's glossy lips as she strutted her way over to Genevieve. Genevieve began to feel sick but tried her best not to think too much about it.

"Hello Genevieve."

"Hello your majesty." Genevieve squeaked slightly bowing down.

"You can go now Savannah." Aria ordered.

"Yes your highness." Savannah bowed her head and walked away.

After Savannah was out of sight, Aria opened her mouth to speak. "It's nice to see you again."

"Likewise." the princess timidly smiled. She had never felt more intimated by Aria before.

"Listen," Aria sighed. "I'm truly sorry about what happened last time you were here. You got hurt and then you lost your baby... I swear I didn't mean for any of that to happen. You must've been through hell and back but I'm sorry I won't be able to exactly know how you felt, since I've never been in that positon before."

Genevieve wanted to accept her apology but she still hadn't developed enough trust towards Aria to do so. But she began to believe maybe she was overthinking it, so she nodded. "Thank you, I accept your apology."

"And as for Zayn," Aria started which made Genevieve clench her jaw. "It was very, very wrong of me to sleep with him. Especially after your loss. But I have to say," she chuckled. "Between the both of us, we can agree he's pretty good in bed, huh?"

Genevieve's face remained still as her hands clasped together tightly. Anger began to boil through her small frame but she remained calm. "That's my husband you're speaking about, your majesty."

Aria raised an eyebrow seeing the princess' serious expression and finding it absolutely amusing. "Right, my apologies."

Genevieve looked away and stuck her gaze on a rose which was grown on a plant a few feet from her. She was trying her hardest to hold herself back from physically hurting Aria. She wanted to leave already. She couldn't bear being in the presence of the new queen for a minute longer.

"Why don't we head inside?" Aria spoke up and began to walk the opposite end Genevieve came in from.

Genevieve followed Aria into a dimly lit hallway which only had two lamps hanging from the ceiling quite far from each other. The princess gulped having that sickly feeling return to the pit of her stomach again. She looked over Aria's shoulder to find a door at the end of the hall with iron bars running across it. As they came towards the end, Aria stopped in front of the door. Genevieve noticed the lock was undone and hanging from one of the bars.

"Um what is this place?" she asked softly.

"We're currently in the south tower of the castle." Aria smiled. "It's usually deserted but when I came here recently when I was exploring, I felt like bringing it to use again."

"What are we doing here?"

Aria rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Ugh you ask too many questions." She turned around and pushed open the door walking stepping inside with Genevieve following closely behind.

Genevieve let out a gasp as she looked around the small room. Her heart began to beat faster and felt her eyes tearing up. The princess was terribly frightened. Aria had brought her to a room which was dimply lit from an old fashioned, cracked lantern. Some sunlight peered into the dark room from the small windows carved high up into the stone wall. But what terrified the princess the most, was the two chains ending with cuffs hanging from the wall ahead of her.

"Aria, what the hell is this?" Genevieve asked, her voice cracking as she tried to hold back her tears.

Aria paced the room and then stopped in front of the scared princess. Her face held no soft expressions like before, but instead it was stern as she glared at Genevieve. Ignoring her question she began, "You already know how much I fucking hate you Genevieve. And it seems as if I can never get over that hatred I have towards you. Jealousy is a real bitch, but I don't care. I know I've done stuff which are sinful, degrading and illegal. I've committed adultery and murder but I don't fucking care. I have so much power now that no one can charge me for any of those acts. But you, you are the cause of all of this! I've been losing my mind trying to destroy you Genevieve. And I don't fucking get it," Aria let out a dry laugh. "You just seem to be miraculously avoiding your death every time I plan something. So I tried to ruin you by sleeping with Zayn, but did that work? No, of course not! I'm sure he's the most perfect husband and you accepted his apology in an instant! Because that's how disgustingly you're both in love with each other!"

"That's not true! I was angry at him Aria! I was loathing him for hurting me so deeply but I'm not selfish. Once his father died, I put my feelings aside and was there to comfort him. Since then we never spoke of it. In fact, we won't ever bring it up between us again."

"Oh god." Aria rolled her eyes in sheer irritation as she stepped towards Genevieve. "Just shut up." she whispered as she retrieved a syringe from the pocket of her dress and in one swift motion pierced it into the princess' shoulder.

Genevieve gasped as her breaths began to strain. Her eyes were widened as she looked at Aria in shock and pain. Her vision began to blur and she fell onto the cold hard floor. Her body violently shook and the room spun around her. Her eyes landed on Queen Aria, who was looking down at her with a malicious smile curved onto her lips right before her eyes fell close and darkness overcame her.

Sorry for the short and crappy chapter BUT OMFF SO DO YOU THINK GENEVIEVE IS DEAD?? :O

I also want to take this time to mention that it truly bothers me a lot how this story rarely gets any comments. Can you believe, if I'm lucky the most I get is one comment only! Please don't let it be like this :( I have so much drama and big things happening but you guys never react and that only makes me feel as if I'm doing a shitty job as a writer. You guys make me lose motivation to write. That's the only reason why I take forever to update Royal Pain. Please don't be a ghost reader. Comment whatever you want. :)

- B1DL