Don't let her.

"Marissa." You speak to her slowly and carefully, "You cannot kidnap Vessa."

She gives you an icy glare, "I can."

You sigh, "Yes, I know you can in practice, but I can't allow you to go around and doing what you want with court nobles. If there's even the slightest chance of you being found out...and there is..It would cause a scandal. At best."

"Fine." she scoffs, "I'll leave your precious little cow go, but don't fuck her." She turns and stops towards the door, "I'm going for a walk."

You sigh and let her go. Fortunately, it seems as if you staved off a near disaster. Vessa may be the only person able to save you from Marissa, should her antics begin to spiral out of control. On top of that, Vessa has been quite kind to you and you know that she's only looking out for what she thinks is your best interests. These thoughts bother you as you attempt to sleep.

The next day, you wake up to an empty bed. It seems as if Marissa hasn't come back. You would be more concerned, but a quick check out the windows tells you that you're late for court. You quickly pull your clothes on and rush to the Throne room. Lord Gilbert seems to be distracting the court with minor proceedings that don't require your attention when you barge in through the door. The court goes quiet and looks at you. The first thing you notice with a breath of relief is that Lady Vessa and Queen Marissa are present. It would seem as if Marissa hasn't gone against your word and it seems her punishment for your little fight last night was to make sure you slept in.

"My apologies everybody. I seem to have overslept." You step up to your throne and sit.

Marissa gives you a dangerous grin "Well, dear husband..." The sarcasm in her voice makes your heart sink. "Perhaps if you weren't fucking that servant girl...What was her name? Sarah? Maybe you wouldn't have slept in so late."

The entire courtroom explodes into various murmurs and poor Lord Gilbert looks like he's about to have a heart attack on the spot. Everyone seems surprised, except Vessa who just watches you remorsefully. Count Erwin steps forward, "Is that true, Your Majesty?"

You're sure you have an absolutely shocked expression on your face. Your face is hot as you contemplate your answer briefly. "What I do in the privacy of my bedroom is my business..."

The murmurs get much louder. You know that you have basically admitted to sleeping with Sarah, but considering they statement came from Marissa. It would be nearly impossible to refute it regardless of what you said or did. " Let us change the topic to court and not my private matters."

It takes several minutes for the gossiping to die down and in the meantime you turn to Marissa and whisper, "What are you doing!"

"I'm mad. Darling Husband. You should expect an angry wife to lash out and get ****." She has a smug look on her face at the uproar she has caused.

You sigh as the court finally quiets down a little and you turn the attention of the men of influence in your presence towards matters of the state.