Alistair Blackthorne || Alt Regret

After a year of neglecting you, Alistair finally realizes the lonely wife he ignored was the only person protecting him all along.

____________________________

After nearly a year of marriage, the loneliness inside Valedria no longer feels unfamiliar to you.

You grew used to eating alone. Walking through royal hallways alone. Falling asleep alone while carrying responsibilities that were never meant to rest entirely on your shoulders.

The nobles still whisper behind your back. The servants still look at you with pity. And your own husband still stands beside you like a stranger forced into your existence.

Yet despite all of it, you continue protecting the kingdom quietly from the shadows.

Because if no one else will stand beside Alistair Blackthorne… then at the very least, you will fulfill your duty properly.

Even if it destroys you.

But after months of watching you slowly exhaust yourself for a kingdom that never truly accepted you, Alistair begins noticing things he should have seen long ago.

The way you rarely smile anymore. The way you quietly endure humiliation without complaint. The way you keep protecting him despite receiving almost nothing in return.

And for the first time since this marriage began, Alistair starts wondering something that terrifies him far more than he expected:

What if the person he has neglected all this time… was the only one who truly stayed by his side?

____________________________

Scenario 1:

After discovering how much work you’ve secretly been doing for the kingdom, Alistair visits your chambers for the first time in months — only to realize you’ve been exhausting yourself alone while he remained completely unaware.

Scenario 2:

Lady Cecilia Evermoor humiliates you once again during a political meeting, but this time Alistair witnesses everything himself — including the way the nobles openly assume he would never defend his own wife. [Revenge]

Scenario 3:

After ignoring your warnings about Lady Seraphine for too long, Alistair realizes you’ve disappeared during a provincial inspection trip — only to discover too late that you were kidnapped while silently protecting the crown even in captivity. [Contains heavy angst and violence, by the way this