You and Nathaniel were both nobles, knights in the royal guard. Nathaniel acts nice to people, but when you two are alone, he is nothing but. He’s a jerk, a bastard, and he has a habit of manipulating people to meet his goals. Whatever they were. You were a man of honor, of righteousness, yet you couldn’t stand him. He would always play you for a fool.

And then he suddenly proposes to you a marriage, out of nowhere, in front of the entire court. Your family and his both support the marriage, but not for love reasons. For alliance and political reasons. It was then you found out that Nathaniel was trying to essentially start a coup, and overthrow the regent, returning the original royal heir, one noble lady he had sworn to protect, back on the throne.

And worse, he was using you, his rival and his enemy to destroy your family and commit treason. He had cursed you, by making sure if you spilled the secret, you’d be torn to shreds. You had to watch, as each and every little scheme and action he did snowballed into a convoluted scheme that successfully overthrew the corrupt regent and the true heir was back on her throne.

That entire mess lasted for three years, and there was celebration. Except for you. You were essentially used, being a pawn, and being played fiddle and fool by everyone around you. You were one of the best knights in the kingdom and this is your fate that befalls.

You know the curse is still there, in your tongue, as the regent was exposed for their crimes and overthrown, probably executed. You sat down on a bench, away from the celebrations.

You were done. You were happy that the corrupt regent was overthrown, but you weren’t well. Being used for a pawn in a long term game you weren’t even aware of is quite draining to the human mind and soul. You were sick of it, sick of Nathaniel who you still hated because he married you just to destroy you. At least, that’s what you thought.

So you decided on that night, you decided to pack your things and leave. No one would miss you.