My Arrogant King Drank A Poisoned Love Potion — And The Cure Exposed His Darkest Secret

Part 2

The grand ballroom rapidly transformed into a bizarre, impromptu kissing booth as the sheer panic began to truly set in.

Tyler’s completely unconscious body was carefully moved to a makeshift dais that had been quickly laid out with thick velvet cushions.

Standing rigidly by his side, I inadvertently assumed the role of the unofficial kiss coordinator for the ensuing chaos.

Consulting his long, official clipboard with a deep frown, Dan loudly announced that the royal from the Western Isles would go first.

Narrowing my eyes suspiciously, I barked out that she had never even spoken a single word to him in her entire life.

Snapping back at me with uncharacteristic venom, Dan ordered me to maintain my station and stop actively interfering with the necessary process.

Crossing my arms tightly over my chest, I watched with deep skepticism as the first blonde noble confidently approached the dais.

Grabbing his arm roughly like a piece of property, she leaned down eagerly with puckered, heavily painted lips.

Stepping forward aggressively, I strictly ordered her to kiss his cheek rather than taking completely unearned liberties with his mouth.

Glaring at me with pure, unadulterated hatred, she eventually relented and pressed a swift, completely meaningless kiss to his pale skin.

Remaining completely and utterly motionless, Tyler offered absolutely no reaction to her desperate attempt to claim his crown.

Practically dragging her away by her expensive silk sleeve, I yelled for the next eager girl in line to step forward.

This agonizing, deeply humiliating charade went on continuously for an entire, excruciatingly long hour.

Noblewoman after noblewoman approached the dais, each one offering a meaningless kiss fueled by raw political ambition rather than genuine affection.

With each increasingly desperate, failed attempt, my fragile control frayed further until I was trembling with barely suppressed rage.

Barking fiercely at a particularly handsy duchess, I ordered her to keep her grasping hands completely off his dark hair.

Panic slowly tightened around my throat like a physical, heavy iron hand squeezing the very breath from my lungs.

What if they never managed to find the right woman to break this horrific, incredibly dangerous magical enchantment?

What if he was tragically doomed to sleep in this terrifying, vulnerable magical coma forever while his kingdom crumbled?

My heart ached with a deep, profound physical pain at the terrible thought of never seeing those striking golden eyes open again.

Suddenly, a remarkably bitter, painful memory from four incredibly long years ago violently surfaced in my racing, terrified mind.

I had been quietly carrying a heavy basket of clean linens past the late king’s heavily fortified private study.

Pausing completely out of sight in the shadows, I had overheard Tyler arguing fiercely and desperately with his tyrannical father.

He had been passionately begging the old king for explicit permission to claim a common kitchen maid named Sarah as his mate.

Threatening him with terrible, immediate violence, his father had promised to banish her forever if Tyler didn’t completely drop the ridiculous idea.

Following through on his cruel threat, Sarah was forcefully sent away to the remote country estate the very next week.

Tyler had changed entirely and irrevocably after that devastating, heartbreaking day when the only woman he ever fought for was taken away.

His formerly easy, genuine smile had hardened over time into something incredibly cynical, sharp, and dangerously reckless.

He had immediately begun parading his endless, highly publicized string of noble women through the palace as if to prove a point.

What if all these noblewomen were just his desperate, ongoing attempt to completely forget the one maid he truly loved?

Stepping away from the dais with a frustrated huff, the absolutely last eligible noblewoman signaled the end of the line.

Checking his long, heavily crossed-out list one final time, Dan gravely announced there was absolutely no one left to try.

A heavy, terrifying hush completely fell over the panicked, murmuring crowd as the grim reality of the situation fully sank in.

Swallowing the bitter, incredibly painful lump in my throat, I finally stepped forward from the shadows into the bright candlelight.

Admitting my terrible suspicion out loud, I told the stunned room that I might actually know who his heart truly belonged to.

Everyone stared at me in complete, utter silence as I carefully explained the old, heavily suppressed rumor about the banished kitchen maid.

Immediately recognizing the extreme urgency, Dan quickly dispatched a fast royal messenger to ride through the night to the country estate.

It took three incredibly grueling, agonizing hours for her muddy carriage to finally arrive at the palace gates.

Looking beautiful but incredibly, deeply confused, Sarah slowly entered the chaotic, overcrowded ballroom under heavy guard escort.

Taking her small, shaking hand in mine, I gently led her straight to the dais where he lay completely still.

Desperately begging her to save his life, I urged her to kiss him and permanently break the dark, twisting spell.

Leaning down carefully over his serene face, she placed a gentle, entirely chaste kiss right in the center of his forehead.

We all leaned forward simultaneously, suspended in a moment of silent, completely breathless anticipation as we waited for him to stir.

Remaining entirely peaceful, he didn’t move a single muscle or draw a single breath out of rhythm.

If the one woman he supposedly fought his own powerful father for couldn’t wake him, then who truly held his guarded heart, and why was every single person in the room suddenly staring directly at me?