“Rin…I appreciate your concern, but this is my job…” Ren said calmly. “Can’t you just send someone else?” I asked hopefully. “This is my job and I intend to fulfill my role and responsibilities. I won’t shrink back and send someone else in my place,” Ren said before he gave me a pointed look. “Ren…” I whispered his name, not knowing how to convince him otherwise. “You do your job, Rin…and I’ll do mine,” Ren said firmly. “When are you leaving?” I asked. “In a few days…” Ren replied without hesitation. My head felt light, and I was certain that I was about to faint. I closed my eyes and concentrated on breathing. The situation had gotten much worse than I could ever imagine. Firstly, there’s a war…again. Secondly, the war was at my hometown. To be precise, it was between my hometown and the empire. On top of all of that, Ren is going to war…There’s got to be a way that I can stop Ren from going to war. If that was not an option, then I will have to resort to my own back up plan.
“Don’t worry so much about it. As always, just smile and stay close to my side. If anyone asks anything, I’ll do the answering,” Ren instructed before he smiled reassuringly at me. “Ok. Thank you, Ren…” I replied. “No, thank you…for going through this with me…” Ren thanked me and I was sure that my heart just skipped a beat. …It didn’t occur to me when Ren invited me to the gala that it would be such an extravagant event. Clearly the standards for birthday celebrations in the palace were very different from what I had in mind. The day of the gala had finally arrived and to prepare me for it, the maids along with Auntie started dressing me at a little past noon. “Doesn’t the gala start at dinner time?” I asked in confusion. “It’s going to take until then to dress you up appropriately for it,” Auntie replied.“Really?” I asked in disbelief.“Really. Every year the dowager empress’s birthday celebration has a theme. Of course, the theme is chosen by her and everyone, especially the
I had to say that the way her face softened when she laughed was quite unexpected. Plastering the best smile that I could muster on my face, I tried my best to stand my ground. It was absolutely evident that she saw me as nothing more than a baby-making tool to produce her great grandchildren. She continued to observe me starting from my face before her eyes travelled slowly down my body. When she was done, she started frowning and her lips were set in a grim thin line. “It’s been a long time…and still no signs of pregnancy?” the old woman said softly but no one would miss the edge of her voice. “It’s all my fault, grandmother…” Ren replied before bowing to his grandmother. “Ren’s probably been working too hard…there were issues that he had to handle…” the emperor chimed in to help protect his son. It was clear from the way he spoke that if this didn’t go well, he would also be blamed for the fact that Ren and I have not been able to start a child. “I never asked for your explan
Ren looked thoughtful for a moment before he replied to my question.“Maybe…” Ren replied before smiling warmly at me. Once again, I couldn’t tell if he was serious or if he was just messing with my head. I sighed and decided to let it slide. “You do realize that if you keep sleeping with me, you’ll eventually have my child, right?” Ren said after a moment of silence, and I knew that it wasn’t a question. I nodded slowly at him. Of course, I knew. “What about you?” Ren continued asking. “What about me?” I asked, feeling quite confused. “Do you look forward to seeing the face of our child?” Ren asked softly as his eyes watched my face intently. Is he asking me if I want to have his child? Having a son that looks like a younger and cute version of Ren would be nice. I’ve never seen him as a baby or a child before so…“…I guess…” I whispered. “I think having a daughter would be nice…” Ren said after a moment of thought. “A daughter?” I asked, unable to hide my surprise. I was m
Instead, I wrapped a robe around myself before heading towards the door to see what was going on. Slowly, I slid the door open a crack to see a nervous-looking maid standing in front of my bedroom door. “Good morning, what is it that you need?” I asked politely. “Umm…excuse me, My Lady…but there’s an urgent message from the emperor to the crown prince…” the maid said before she bowed low and extended the letter in her hand towards me. I opened the door wider so that I could reach out for the letter. After taking it in my hand, I told the maid that she could leave and thanked her. She seemed very relief to be excused. My attention immediately went to the letter that was in my hand. It must be something urgent…Quickly, I returned to the bed and nudged softly on Ren’s shoulder. If it’s a letter from the emperor, then I should give it to Ren as soon as possible. It could be something very urgent about work and I was afraid that Ren would get into trouble if he didn’t respond. Perhaps,
We went as far as to submit fake evidence to prove that he had taken my virginity. Of course, the emperor and everyone else was under the impression that our relationship started on that night. The truth was far from it though.“What are you implying?” the emperor asked suspiciously. I had a feeling that no one in the room, including the emperor, had missed the hidden implication behind Prince Kin’s accusatory words. Nervously, I glanced over at Ren and saw that he hadn’t reacted at all to his brother’s words. “The crown prince is always busy working and Lady White Lotus is always busy working at the hospital. That’s what I’ve heard and apparently it seems to be true. With the two of them being so busy, you can’t blame me for questioning if the two are really in a relationship at all…” Prince Kin hypothesized. “That’s what I’ve heard as well, emperor. It is also true that Lady Kamiya is still not with child…” the empress quickly supported her son. I glanced over at Ren again and s
My mouth hung open in shock as I wondered what Ren was going to do. Why did he just apologize to me? What is he about to do?!I could feel everyone’s eyes on me and the hold that he had on my arm tightened. Without warning, Ren lifted up my arm slightly before his other hand pulled the sleeve of my robe up my arm, exposing my entire arm for all to see. I gasped in shock at the sudden motion of my sleeve being yanked and then my entire arm was exposed up to my shoulder. I gasped loudly before I realized that I wasn’t the only one that gasped. Apparently, the other ladies in the room were also shocked at Ren’s action. It was a moment later that I realized that everyone had an expression of shock on their faces. At first, I was slightly confused; however, when my eyes drifted to my naked arm, I immediately understood their reaction. On the skin of my arms were various love marks that Ren had left from the night before when he sucked and kissed my arm and then my shoulders. Of course, t
Shin’s gentle express hardened a little at my words and that made me realize that this must be a difficult topic for him to talk about as well. “Yes, he will be…” Shin replied flatly. “Are you going with him?” I asked. Shin looked at me with a curious face. He probably wondered why I was asking this. “Yes, I will be going with him,” Shin replied. This might come as a shock to you but…“Please take me with you!” I demanded loudly before bowing low until my forehead hit the table in between us. There was a long moment of silence as Shin seemed too stunned at my words and action to figure out a response. I could feel his eyes on me as I kept my head bowed low. “Umm…please raise your head. Bowing to me won’t do the trick like it did with Ren…” Shin said with a small laugh. Yeah…I didn’t think I could convince Shin that easily either. Slowly, I lifted my head and looked at Shin once again. “Please, take me to war with you,” I requested once again. “Is it because you want to visit