ADEBIMPE (Episode 26)

The Queen’s POV

She had spoken the truth.

I smiled faintly. “Good,” I said.

She looked confused.

“A woman who fears losing herself will never lose herself,” I explained. “The palace is full of women who learned posture but forgot purpose.”

I stood and walked slowly around her.

“Your first lesson,” I said, “is this: Royalty is not how you walk. It is how you carry people when they are not watching.”

She listened like her life depended on it.

Adebimpe’s POV

The Queen taught me how to sit not stiff, not proud, but present. How to listen more than speak. How to respond without anger even when insulted.

“Not every battle deserves your voice,” she said. “A queen chooses silence the way others choose weapons.”

Later, I was taken to meet the palace tutors.

They taught me history dynasties, wars, treaties. My head ached with names and dates. I had never studied like this before.

I stumbled.

I mispronounced words.

I forgot titles.

And every mistake felt heavy, like proof that I didn’t belong.

During a break, I retreated to the garden and cried quietly.

Adebimpe’s Inner Thoughts

They are polishing me, I thought. But what if I break under the pressure?

I remembered scrubbing floors barefoot, humming softly to myself. Life had been hard but it was simple.

Now, even breathing felt supervised.

“Why do you cry alone?”

I turned.

Prince Adewale stood there.

Adewale’s POV

I had watched her change from afar.

The way her smiles came slower now. The way she hesitated before speaking. The way she sometimes flinched when servants bowed too deeply.

She was fighting a battle no one else could see.

“You don’t have to be perfect,” I told her.

She looked up at me, eyes red. “Everyone expects me to be.”

I shook my head. “No. They expect you to be real. That is why they accepted you.”

I took her hands gently.

“You are not replacing who you were,” I said. “You are expanding.”

Adebimpe’s POV

His words steadied me.

That evening, my lessons continued how to host guests, how to speak during council gatherings, how to stand beside a king without shrinking or overshadowing him.

The Queen corrected me firmly but kindly.

“Again,” she would say. “And again.”

By nightfall, my body was tired, but something inside me had shifted.

I wasn’t pretending anymore.

I was learning.

The Queen’s POV

As she bowed to leave, I stopped her.

“One last lesson today,” I said.

She turned.

“Never let this palace erase your compassion,” I told her. “Queens who forget suffering become cruel. Queens who remember it become legends.”

Tears filled her eyes.

“I won’t forget,” she promised.

I believed her.

Adebimpe’s POV

That night, alone in my room, I removed the jewelry and stared at myself again.

This time, I saw both girls.

The maid.

The future queen.

They were not enemies.

They were becoming one.

And for the first time since my life changed, I whispered with confidence 

I am learning how to wear the crown… without losing my soul.

Continue reading Episode 27