CHAPTER 325: THE QUEEN WHO STILL STANDS

Edmund held his breath, his expression turning more serious than before. "I can handle it on my own."

Primrose pressed her hand gently against his chest, forcing him to meet her eyes. "That’s not a good excuse, Your Majesty."

His eyes widened because she rarely used that honorific with him, unless when she was truly angry or when she wanted to speak not just to her husband, but to the King of Noctvaris himself.

"Even if you can handle it yourself, that doesn’t mean these things become invisible." Primrose drew in a deep breath. "You didn’t even record this incident in your report."

Fine, if he didn’t want to tell her about it personally. But at the very least, he should have written it down in the royal archives, because this matter wasn’t just about her, but concerned the entire kingdom as well.

The Emperor of Vellmoria might have only sent spies to watch Primrose for now, but if left unchecked, he could very well send others to investigate the entire kingdom or perhaps he already had. That was why Edmund had been so cautious these days.

"If I write it in the official report, everyone will know what that bastard tried to do to you," Edmund said tightly. "Your name would be tainted."

He was doing it again.

When the tiger tribe had attacked her in Moonshadow, Edmund had recorded the incident in the royal archives. But he had left out two things: how Thevan had tried to violate her, and how she had killed him with her mind-control magic.

She could understand why he had hidden the part about her magic, but why erase the assault? That truth didn’t need to be buried.

"Do you ... think I’m dirty because another man touched me in such an indecent way?" she whispered softly.

Edmund had sworn countless times that he would never see her that way. Yet sometimes, his actions left her doubting.

"I don’t! I would never think of you like that!" Edmund said fiercely, then forced himself to calm, his voice softening. "But others might."

Primrose opened her mouth to argue, but in the end, no words came out. Deep down, she knew he was right.

People were cruel, especially toward women. Even after going through something as traumatic as assault, society always found a way to blame the victim.

"Your clothes were too revealing," they would say.

"You must have seduced him," they would accuse.

"So you’ve lost your purity?" they would whisper.

"I swear on my own name that I have never thought of you as dirty, nor would I ever believe it was your fault," Edmund said, clasping her hand in his, his eyes burning with sincerity. "But my wife ... people are merciless, and I fear I cannot protect you from their tongues if this truth spreads."

[Rumors about her are already running wild in the Vellmoria Empire. If they ever found out she was once assaulted ...]

[I don’t want her to hear any more of those lies. I don’t want her to [I don’t want her to hear it. I don’t want her to cry over lies, and most of all, I don’t want her to believe a single word of it.]

"You don’t have to announce it to the public," Primrose said softly. "Just write it down in the royal archives. So that the generations after us will see me not as a victim ... but as a survivor."

Edmund’s grip on her hand tightened, his throat working as if the words he wanted to say were stuck there. "What if they think otherwise?"

Primrose smiled softly. "Let them talk," she said. "But what they must understand is that after everything I’ve endured, I am still standing as the Queen of Noctvaris ... and I am still loved by my husband."

Those words weren’t just a testament to her own willpower. They were also proof that Edmund wasn’t a lowly man, he was not the kind of husband who would abandon his wife simply because she had once been violated by cruel hands.

He chose to stand beside her, to love her, no matter what scars she carried.

"I’m not asking you to make this public," Primrose said softly, "but ... let’s not bury it either. Some people might see me as something tainted, but I believe there will also be those who understand that I’ve done nothing wrong."

"But in the end, I don’t care about them." Primrose added firmly, "The only opinion I care about is yours."

Back then, Primrose would have lived in constant fear of the crowd’s judgment. She had always been terrified of being hated if she ever made a mistake. But now, with Edmund beside her, she no longer feared the weight of the world.

She believed that no matter what happened, even if everyone else abandoned her, he would stay.

Edmund would never leave her, and that truth alone was more than enough for her.

Edmund’s throat tightened, his heart aching at her words. He cupped her face gently in his hands, forcing her to look into his eyes.

"Then hear me well, Primrose," he said firmly. "I will never see you as anything but my wife, the woman I love, the woman I would give my life for. I don’t care about any rumor at all."

Primrose smiled softly. "Yes, I knew you would say that." She took a deep breath and continued, "That’s why, husband, please don’t treat me as something fragile ... or as someone who can’t bear the truth."

She didn’t want Edmund to keep anything from her anymore, whether it was good news or even the worst truths.

No rumor could ever frighten her anymore, not as long as she knew her husband would always stand by her side.

"Please, tell me what’s happening in Vellmoria," Primrose said gently but firmly. "If you don’t want me sneaking into your diaries, then trust me enough to tell me directly. I deserve to know because I’m not just your wife, I am the Queen of Noctvaris."