129. ROYAL SLUT

Evelise’s POV. A week later, I did everything in my power to stay far away from Soren Masuda. It was safer that way. Just because Oran had introduced me as his mother didn’t mean I had to act like one. I avoided every hall he might walk through, every courtyard, every meal. Distance was my only shield. Oran didn’t care in the slightest. He never even asked. Meanwhile, the entire palace buzzed with stories about Soren. Women threw themselves at him shamelessly, noblewomen, servants, even a few married court ladies, they were so desperate to be the one warming his bed, easing the tension of war from his body. Yet he turned them away, one after another. Some were banished for trying too hard. The rejection only made the hunger for him grow louder. I told myself it wasn’t my business. I stayed away, like a good little queen. But on that hot afternoon, as I rested in my private garden with my eyes closed and the sun warming my skin. I heard whispers drifting over the rose hedges.