The Myriad Misadventures of a Midgardian Queen-In-Training || Loki x Reader

Chapter 59

You recognize the voice, but the tone takes you by surprise. You jerk your shoulder away, and quiet down the sobs just long enough to spit at her, "Go to hell, Rosa."

She tsks, and tries again with a hand under your elbow. "Come on, let's get you up."

"Leave me alone."

"Not a chance."

You let her help you to stand, and lead you up the staircase towards her room.

She lends you a pair of her pajamas. She plops you down on the bed. Somehow, you manage to explain it all— I love you , your family, his dismissal, everything but his confession of the mind-control—without her even laughing once. It feels surreal, how gentle she's being, how kind. You're reminded of the time she spiked your drink at dinner, but somehow this feels more sincere.

Rosa lets out a low whistle once you've finished. "That sucks."

"Yeah." You sniff once, giving her a look of reproach. "Why are you being so nice to me all of a sudden? After all this time? I thought you wanted me gone, like, yesterday."

She's quiet for a long, long time. Just as you're beginning to fear you might have broken her, she reaches into the neckline of her gown, and brings out the chain she's always worn. It's longer than you'd expected—after all, she'd always worn it with the pendant hidden.

But now you see that the pendant isn't a pendant at all. It's a ring.

"I didn't want to come either, (Y/N)." She unhooks the clasp and takes off the ring, dropping it in your palm.

"You're married? "

Rosa shakes her head. "Engaged."

"Wow." You hand the ring back to her. "You came anyway? No judgement," you add hastily. "But...that must have felt impossible."

"We weren't wealthy, my family. Neither was Nico—My fiancé. Nicolas." She stares straight ahead, rolling the ring between her thumb and forefinger absently, as though out of habit. "He made me promise I'd try. For a better life. For a way up in the world."

You wrinkle her nose. "You're still here, aren't you?"

"You think I tried?" Rosa snaps, the familiar fire back in full force. "You've seen the front I put up. Catty. Aloof. Wild. Not queenly at all." She takes a deep breath. "Sorry. Habit."

"Point taken."

"And all this time, I've just been waiting. Waiting for His Majesty to find out and send me home." Her eyes well up, and she swallows thickly. "He married someone else, you know. Nico. I found out when we went home last month." A bitter laugh escapes her throat. "This contest is all I have left."

You don't know what to say to that. Part of you wants to still comfort her. But no matter how vulnerable this new Rosa may seem, there's still a steeliness in her eyes that makes you shy away from displays of affection. Seeing her as a viable candidate for friendship is going to take some getting used to.

Luckily, you don't have to make a decision on whether or not to reach out, because after taking a moment to compose herself, Rosa speaks up again. "So. He dropped the L bomb, huh?"

"Yeah."

"You gonna say it back?"

"I want to. But I'm scared. What if I say it and then as soon as I do, I want to take it back?"

"Close your eyes," she says. You obey. "Over the past few months, maybe the last year, how would you describe your opinion of him?"

You purse your lips. "He's arrogant."