Author's Note: I meant to write this shortly after "His Queen," but alas. I am 2 years too late lol. Same principle here, only this referencing a specific assault scene from Chapter 32. A minor tribute to a scene that made me love Hadi even more than I already did.
Her Queen
Hadi was not one to disobey her king. Even when Kail was the crown prince, she obediently served his will without question. He was a wise and just leader; she was proud to call him her prince, and now, king.
But Yuri was her priority.
Perhaps it was partially guilt. After all, originally Hadi and her twin sisters tried to murder the innocent concubine, under the impression that Yuri was their brother's murderer. But when the truth of Tito's death was revealed, Hadi, Ryui, and Shala's burning hatred for the strangely-clothed girl evaporated faster than water on burning sand.
In penance, they vowed to protect Yuri, their beloved's Tito's friend, and over time, grew to love her as dearly as they loved each other.
Yuri was Hadi's princess, her very own mistress, and her loyalty would not waver.
Because, no matter what the political landscape said otherwise, Yuri was also her queen.
So, it was only natural she did what she did, on the night of King Kail's coronation. It was only natural after hearing Yuri's cries for help, pleading her king to stop his advances. Yuri's frightened screams stabbed Hadi through the heart.
She froze in her tracks, listening, horrorstruck, wondering if she dared…
We cannot disobey our king, was the nervous whispered consensus of the servants.
Even Ryui and Shala looked apprehensive, biting their bottom lips and looking to their older sister for guidance.
Hadi found herself utterly speechless, incapable of movement or decision-making, until…
Hadi! Hadi! Yuri calling her name was all it took.
Her feet moved without thinking and she burst into Yuri's bed chamber.
Normally, the sight of two people in the throes of making love would have been humiliating, but Hadi did not care. Frightened as she was by the king's wrath, protecting Yuri came first. Always.
She threw herself to the floor, and begged her king to stop. She knew she was audacious, daring to tell a man, a king, to actually stop his pleasure with no other reason short of a life-or-death situation.
Yuri's face was streaming with tears, her eyes wide, terrified, and Hadi's heart tightened at the sight, as they called out to each other, with their king, Yuri's own beloved, between them.
Hadi knew Yuri loved Kail. But in that moment, Yuri's love was overwhelmed with fear.
A king should never treat his queen so cruelly.
Amazingly, as if he could hear her thoughts, King Kail stopped his advances, looking at the sobbing Yuri as if seeing her for the first time. Wordlessly, he let her go, placing her in the arms of the relieved Hadi.
And as Hadi walked away, comforting her dear Princess Yuri, she wondered if the King would punish in the morning. But it didn't matter.
Hadi would gladly give her life for her queen.