|Victoria's POV|

Thank goodness, After a strange wave of emotions, one of Mustafa's guards rushed in to tell him that his minister urgently wanted to see him.. This made him leave quickly.

I nervously played with a piece of my dress, lost in thought.. A little while later, I decided to head to my room. 

As soon as I opened the door, I found my aunt sitting there, looking both angry and upset.

"Auntie" I said with a small smile as I walked over to her "What’s wrong?"

"Sit down; we need to talk" she said seriously, her gaze fixed on me.

An uneasy feeling washed over me, and I was sure my face was pale... I nodded and sat quietly beside her, waiting for her to speak.

"I saw what happened from the window" she finally broke the silence with a shocking statement "Are you serious, Victoria?"

"I swear I—" I began to explain, but she interrupted me.

"Victoria, let me remind you... my only job for all these years has been to protect you and make sure you’re okay" She turned to me "Whenever you started to drift away, I was always there to pull you back.. I don’t care about the throne or ruling Scotland; your safety is what matters most to me" She gave me a warning look "Your personal life and feelings are yours to handle, but you need to understand that you’re stepping into a dark and dangerous world"

"I’m not sure, Auntie" I said, looking down at my hands, feeling anxious "I feel lost.. Mustafa means so much to me; everything about him is beautiful and perfect.. When I'm with him, I can talk freely and feel happy, but I'm scared of what might come next.. I’m afraid I’ll regret my choices.. Right now, I’m standing at a crossroads with two paths before me—one led by my heart and feelings, and the other by duty and responsibility"

"My dear" she said, placing her hand over mine "Everything will become clear in time.. Think carefully, so you don’t regret anything" She gave me a reassuring look before leaving.

I sat in front of the mirror, brushing my hair before bed, reflecting on the past few months, trying to find peace between my mind and heart.

As I lay in bed, my mind raced.. That first kiss had been perfect, yet I felt a heavy weight on my shoulders.

The next morning, I didn’t wake up early because I was tired... Eventually, my aunt came in, saying she didn’t like having breakfast without me. 

So, I got up, got ready, and joined her for breakfast... We talked about various things, avoiding the events of the previous day.

Then the door opened, and Sebil entered, bowing before us "Sultan Mustafa requests to see you.. your highness"

Hearing his name made my heart race, and the memories from yesterday flooded my mind.. I glanced at my aunt, who calmly continued sipping her coffee, as if she hadn’t heard anything.

"Okay" I said, standing up and adjusting my dress. 

I wanted to check my reflection in the mirror, but I didn’t have the courage with them around.. Taking a deep breath, I headed to Mustafa's chambers.

When I opened the door, I saw Mustafa standing in front of the mirror, while servants adjusted his clothes.. When he noticed me in the reflection, he signaled for them to leave and turned to me with a small smile.

"Good morning, Victoria" he said, his tone calm and serious, something I wasn’t used to.. He seemed to be changing.

"Good morning" I replied with a smile, standing awkwardly in the middle of the room, unsure of how to move closer "Nisa said you wanted to see me"

"Yes, I did" he sighed and took a step closer "Look, Victoria, I can see that you might not be comfortable right now.. So, I’ve thought a lot about this" He took my hands gently "Your comfort is the most important thing to me.. I promise that what happened yesterday won’t happen again, and I will give you all the space you need.. The most important thing is that we don’t lose our friendship"

I looked into his eyes, unsure whether to feel happy or sad.. It was such a strange mix of emotions.

"Mustafa, I’m really glad you understand" I said, forcing a smile "You know I’m in a position that makes it hard for me to—" I struggled to find the right words.

"You don’t need to explain, Victoria" he said with a gentle smile, releasing my hands "I just want you to be happy and safe"

---

|3rd Person POV|

-In Scotland-

“Your Majesty, are you sure?” Francesca asked with concern, looking at Queen Caroline seated before her.

“This is the only solution; there’s no other choice” Caroline sighed, turning her gaze to the window “This is about to change history, but in a positive way”

“May God help us” Francesca replied, glancing at the paper in her hands before looking back at Caroline “What about the rumors, Your Majesty?”

“I told them to spread it everywhere” Caroline said, a small smile forming on her lips “Tomorrow, when Charles leaves his meeting, the crowd will gather and show their disdain” She stood up and clasped her hands together “Come on, Francesca, don’t delay...Get this to Gregor”

Francesca nodded, turning to leave the room... Inside, she felt a mix of hope and dread... This could either elevate them to greatness or plunge them into the depths of hell... the hell of King Charles.