Despite the underlying threat he was receiving from the emperor, the prime minister still wore a poker face as he approached them. With half an inch thick of documents in his hand, he did not hesitate to hit the emperor with it right on the top of his head.
“You have the audacity to do such a lewd thing in the office when you are supposed to be working!” he yelled, forcing Emery to push the emperor away from her.
She stood with her head low and her hands wrapped around her dress because it was on the verge of falling. Besides, she did not want to be scolded as well, especially that even the emperor was silenced and simply sat on his chair without daring to look back at the prime minister.
“And you!”
After that short conversation, Emery felt like Castor was avoiding her. He simply spoke to her if he needed her help with something, but other than that, he paid her no attention. She thought that it probably had to do something with the mark on his neck and with the way he told her before that it does not look fine, she must have crossed a line without even noticing.Hence, when the two of them stood at the entrance of the Whitmore Mansion to wait and welcome the participants, she cleared her throat.“Sir Castor, I’m sorry for what I said a while ago,” she said.“It’s okay. It’s not really that much of a big deal.”With her mouth slightly pouting, Emery stared at the empty
On the day before the announcement of the successful candidates who would be competing for the second stage of the competition, it was still a puzzle to Emery as to how she got swept up and was now in a carriage heading out of the capital. She never got to ask the emperor about the details of this short trip since things had been quite busy so she had no idea where they were headed to.And worse, she hated the fact that inside the carriage were not only her and the emperor, but they were with King Lawson and Lady Emily. It would have been so much better if the other two were in a separate one, however, the other two carriages were simply decoys just in case some unprecedented attacks would occur.If there was one thing that would describe the atmosphere around them, it would be uncomfortable. Even if she wanted to get out and s
After five minutes upon leaving the villa, they slowed down and eventually stopped when they came upon a lake. However, it was no ordinary lake like Emery had seen before because this one was frozen solid yet majestic in sight.As she dismounted from the horse while holding on Castor’s hand, they slowly approached the lake.“H-How is this possible?” she asked, her breath turning into plumes of mist that lingered for a moment before dissipating in the chilly air.“Even I do not know,” Castor chuckled. “That’s why this is considered as one of the mysteries in the empire since even the scholars cannot fully explain how this lake remains frozen almost all throughout the year.”
The smile that was drawn on Emery’s lips immediately vanished upon seeing the grim look on the faces of the emperor and king. It was as if she was just caught doing something that she was not supposed to do. When Castor got down, she held his hand to dismount as well, pretending like she was not affected by the situation. Besides, defending herself might sound like she truly was guilty of something. And if there was one thing she badly wanted to happen, it would be getting devoured by either the earth or sky right at that moment.The tension around them was unbearable and it was something Emery did not dare face. She looked around with the hope that Lady Emily would be there to help her get out of the situation, but much to her disappointment, the lady was not in sight.She was about to say something, however, the emperor
Lady Emily did not bother following Emery and just went about her way, looking for something she could get for the emperor as well. Though she was not that lucky to find anything else besides wild rabbits. After wandering about for half an hour, she stumbled upon Emperor Claus who immediately had a white-tailed deer behind him.“Where is Lady Emery?” he asked. “I thought you were with her.”“She dashed off and told me not to follow her,” she replied with a small smile before shrugging her shoulders. “I guess she did not want to share the lynx she is about to take down.”“Lynx?”“Yes, Your Imperial Highness. Though I doubt she would be able to catch it
As the two continued to look for the end of the snow that fell off the mountain, the temperature seemed to be dropping in each hour that passed. It may not be that alarming yet but if they would still be stuck after the day ends, it would surely become a problem.“When’s your wedding with Queen Emily?” Emery suddenly asked out of nowhere.“What? Wedding? Where did you hear that from?” he asked with his brows almost meeting at the center of his forehead.“From her obviously. And stop acting like you do not know about it if you do not want to get stabbed.”“I do not know why you believe her words that easily, but haven’t I told you before? You are the only on
The next morning, King Lawson and Emery returned to the forest and were relieved when Castor’s group managed to create a pathway to the other side. Since they only had a few hours left before their designated date of return to the capital, all of them took one last visit to the frozen lake. But this time, King Lawson escorted Lady Emily while the emperor was together with Emery. At first glance, he immediately noticed that she was lost in deep thoughts. It was hard for him to tell what she was exactly thinking, but he just hoped that after that trip, she would still choose to stay with him.With them separated from the others, Emperor Claus thought that this was the perfect time to say the words he badly wanted Emery to hear.“Milady,’’ he called her attention, holding her hand and kissing the back of it. &ldq
For the rest of the day, Emery stayed in her room and did not allow any visitors unless there was something urgent. She simply sat near the window where she could overlook the capital city—Elescaster. If indeed her wedding with the emperor would push through next week, she would not just rule over the city but the entirety of the Varmore Empire. Sitting on the throne alongside Emperor Claus would not just be the beginning of her revenge, but also the start of becoming a ruler once more. It would be a rough road and each day, her life would be at stake given that a lot of people—both in the court and the public—do not approve of her just yet.Touching the seemingly on flame ring given by the emperor, Emery heaved a sigh. She got up from her seat and instructed Marianne to send a letter to the prime minister as soon as possible. This decision of hers may put her current positi
Fate just had its way of playing with the lives of people, especially Emery who seemed to be its favorite to play with. Emery gave birth to twins, one boy and one girl. She thought that having them would finally mend her relationship with King Lawson that was on the verge of being broken once more, however, she was wrong. Rather than having a stable relationship, it became more chaotic when King Lawson came back from a three-week trip to another kingdom for a diplomatic meeting. Her heart broke as she watched him return with another woman. It was not just an ordinary woman, but the younger sister and seemingly exact replica of Royal Concubine Hazel. She received the king’s utmost attention with the reason that King Lawson felt guilty of letting Lady Hazel be killed. Hence, his only way to redeem himself was to treat her younger sister better. Emery let it slide, thinking that her twins needed more attention from her since their father barely spent time with them. However, even in he
The people along the main street of Elescaster City halted whatever they were doing upon hearing clops of horses’ hooves getting louder and seeing a group of men passing by at a rather fast speed towards the direction of the palace. They had to clear the streets in order to avoid getting stomped. Several of the men were clearly foreign soldiers judging by the unfamiliar armor they wore. However, they only grew curious of the other two leading them since they wore a hooded cape that hid their faces from anyone. It took them several minutes to reach the main gates of the palace, halting their horses to get their identities checked. The two people at the front removed their hoods, revealing a young boy and an older woman. With only one look at the younger one, the guards could tell that it was none other than the twin of the empire’s Crown Prince. His hair was as dark as the night, which was contrary to his pair of eyes that resembled the golden sun. The guard bowed their heads in his
In the midst of the wide gladiator stadium filled with spectators both from the noble and ordinary families, two women faced off against each other, their swords at the ready. Right at the side where a large throne stood was Emperor Claus overlooking the open ground with Castor right next to him. The other knights stood at different posts around the stadium to make sure that no outsiders would dare interfere with the duel.The rows of seats right below him were occupied by the ministers, including the emperor’s three advisors—Sir Tarkin, Sir Vlachos, and Sir Louvel. As much as these three men were against the said duel as it could put the empire into a state of instability because of Emery’s non-Varmorian blood and lack of influence and wealth, this was also by far the safest option they have to keep the Hagans’ reputation unstained. They were already aware of th
On the day before the duel between Emery and the empress, the former just finished her daily training with Jadeite in the barracks of the knights. She did not want to exhaust herself too much so right after their morning drill, she decided to go back to Euthoria Mansion and have some rest. Jadeite, on the other hand, stayed behind and had sparrings against the other knights. Before she could leave the barracks, Castor walked up to her. “You still have some time to back out,” he said even though he already knew that Emery would do no such thing. “Backing out is not one of my options, Sir Castor,” she replied. Just as she was about to leave, she stopped for a moment and hesitantly asked, “H-His Imperial Highness… H-How is he? He never visited for the past few days so…” “If you are worried, then it is better to go and check up on him yourself,” the knight replied, giving her a pat on the shoulder before heading back inside the barracks. Emery let out a sigh. She did receive a report f
Upon Emery’s return to Euthoria Mansion, she clenched her fist in annoyance upon seeing that the emperor had returned first. He was waiting for her right at the entrance, but even after stepping out of the carriage, she still gave him the cold shoulders. However, even before she could take another step away from him, he held her wrist, stopping her from running away from him again.“Just five minutes of your time, please let me explain myself,” he pleaded.Emery took her hand away from him and the very next second, her hand landed on his cheek with a sharp slap. Those who witnessed it froze in place, not knowing what to do at all because intervening in such a heated yet cold war between the two seemed to be enough to make one pass out.“You shou
The consecutive clashing of blades filled the open ground of the knights’ barracks as Emery and Jadeite continued to fight each other. It had been more than five minutes already and yet the latter showed little sign of exhaustion despite the fact that she had been all over the place like an agile and skilled monkey. Meanwhile, Emery seemed to be so close to falling on her knees as beads of sweat ran down the side of her face. Her heavy breathing pretty much showed that her endurance was not that good.“You have gone rusted, Emery!” Jadeite claimed, wearing her infamous grin.She tightened her hold onto her pair of short swords and sprinted towards Emery. She had tired her out so a head-on and full attack would most likely end the first round of their sparring. Slashing diagonally with her right hand first, Eme
It was early in the morning when Emery finally regained consciousness. She slowly opened her eyes and the very first thing that came into sight was the familiar intricate drawings of her room’s high ceiling. The back of her neck still ached and the wound on her back that was still healing felt like several needles were piercing her skin all at the same time. Groaning, she shifted her gaze to the side and saw the emperor looking at her with a worried look.Only then, she was reminded of what had occurred even before she lost consciousness. That was enough to make her sit up and leave the bed.“Milady!” the emperor called out, rising from his seat and going after her.Emery opened the door of her twins’ room and rushed to the crib. She felt her he
“Different,” Jadeite hissed. “He is definitely different because he will hurt you in another way. First, he just watched his empress trample over you during their wedding reception. What’s next? Watch you die? Is that considered love, Emery? Is that how you define it?”Emery was unable to say a word, hence, Lila stepped between them and pushed Jadeite out of the room to help her cool down her head. Raphael, on the other hand, simply gave Emery a small pat on the shoulder.“Jadeite has a point,” he said. “However, if you truly want to stay here, then I support you for that. I know you are thinking about the kids’ future so you are not to be blamed.”She managed a small smile.
Emperor Claus strode towards her and dropped his sword before grabbing Emery behind the neck. He pulled her close and sealed her lips with his, making the knights turn their backs on them to give them privacy.His kisses were harsh, torrid, and rushed that Emery had a hard time keeping up with him. She had her hands lean against his chest to gain control, however, even if she tried to make him slow down, she failed to do so.His hand slipped around her waist as he deepened the kiss while hearing the almost inaudible moan of the woman he could not have enough of. After several more seconds, he seemed to have snapped back to his senses upon tasting something metallic—blood. He slowed down before breaking away, leaning his forehead against Emery’s and looking her directly in the eyes as they both tried to catch their breath.