Page 30 of The Alpha King’s Hidden Mute Mate

"Are you kidding?" I gestured angrily at her.

"This is His Majesty's order." She tilted her head, her smile deepening. "He said the wedding is short-staffed today. Wants you to help serve plates, arrange chairs, that sort of thing. You understand—a mute maid won't say the wrong thing at an important occasion, right?"

My nails dug into my palms.

Short-staffed. Ha. This palace had over three hundred servants, and she was telling me they were short-staffed.

But I didn't resist.

Not because I didn't want to, but because I suddenly realized something—if this was Zane's order, if this came from his own mouth, what good would resistance do? Would he believe me? When had he ever believed me?

I silently picked up the dress and pulled it on. The rough fabric scraped against my skin, reminding me of who I really was. A mute orphan. A tool unworthy of a name.

Leah leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed, watching me change. Her gaze lingered on the marks on my neck for a few seconds, her smile deepening.

"Oh, right," she said, as if suddenly remembering, casually, "His Majesty just promised me. Once you have the baby, he'll officially name me the only Luna. Then you can quietly stay in your corner and be a proper breeding machine."

My hands froze on the belt.

I looked up at her.

Her expression was calm. No guilt, no shame, just a matter-of-fact composure. As if she wasn't saying something cruel, just discussing the weather.

"Don't look at me like that, Mia." She sighed, her tone almost pitying. "I'm doing this for your own good. You think you could be a proper queen? Can't even speak, don't know basic social etiquette. Standing beside His Majesty would only embarrass him. I'm helping you escape all that."

I clenched the belt tightly.

I wanted to rush at her, grab her hair, and slam her pretty face into the wall. But I didn't. Because I suddenly realized—every word she said, Zane agreed with. Otherwise, he wouldn't allow all this. He wouldn't—on his wedding day to her—make me a servant.

"Hurry up," she turned and left, tossing back one last line. "The wedding starts in an hour. Don't keep His Majesty waiting."

The wedding was held in the palace's main hall.

I stood in the corner, holding a silver tray with filled wine glasses. I wore that gray maid's dress, hair thrown into a messy ponytail, indistinguishable from the other uniformed maids around me. No one gave me a second glance.

The main hall was decorated lavishly. Massive crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, refracting rainbow light. Red rose petals covered the entire aisle. Ornate chairs on both sides filled with well-dressed guests. The air smelled of champagne and fresh flowers, and that nauseating atmosphere of false joy.

Zane stood before the altar.

He wore a deep red ceremonial coat with a golden wolf-head badge at the collar, hair combed neatly back. He looked... still so handsome. That untouchable, unreachable kind of handsome, like an iceberg, like a sculpture, like something not of this world.

Then the music played.

Leah appeared in the doorway.

She wore a white wedding dress, the train at least three meters long, covered in pearls and lace. Her golden hair was styled in an elegant updo, topped with a small diamond crown. When she smiled, she looked like a perfect painting.

She walked toward the altar step by step. Toward him.

The guests gasped in admiration.

"Truly a match made in heaven," the maid beside me whispered.

"Yes, His Majesty has finally found his true love."

My knuckles went white around the tray.

True love.