“Did I not make myself clear a while ago?” the emperor replied with an icy tone of voice. “I did not summon you yet so just wait.”
After saying that, he turned his back on her and left. It was more than clear to Emery now that Emperor Claus cannot make her the empress. If that would be the case, then she will not just sit in her room and wait for Lady Serena to succeed in whatever she was planning. Though it was hard to tell if the emperor was actually starting to lose interest in her or not. Either way, Emery will do anything to get his attention. Hence, she decided to go to the quarters of the knights.
Upon reaching the barracks, she was quite surprised to see all 12 of them gathered in one place. Unlike before, their quarters was booming with noise as they drank and played cards on the round table, which wa
Emery went quiet for a while, not because of the unexpected questions she received from the emperor, but rather, it was because of the pain that was evident in his voice. She slowly removed the blanket over her and properly faced him. Standing right before him, she looked him in the eyes and for the first time, she saw tears falling down his cheeks. Somehow, there was a tug of pain in the pit of her stomach as she saw his forest green eyes seemingly filled with anguish.It never occurred to her that a time would come wherein she would see for herself that the emperor of a great empire would shed tears in front of her. There may be guilt brewing inside of her, however, she convinced herself that this was something inevitable in perfecting her plan. She had to make him believe that she was in love with him and she was not just after the throne next to him so when the time comes, he would protec
Looking at the intricate drawings on the button, the emperor immediately knew that it belonged to the Shadow Assassins. For whatever reason it was in the possession of Emery now that they had been under a long break until the next empress was crowned, he had no idea how.“Where did you get this?” he asked.“From one of the crime scenes in the Silex Kingdom when the assassinations of the soldiers were still rampant. I made my own investigation and it led to Lady Serena,” she replied with the hope that Emperor Claus would help her in the matter. “What do you think?”“This won’t be enough to prove that she was indeed the one behind it. But I’ll look into this matter after the meeting is done.” 
Lady Athena simply chuckled at the question of the prince.Letting out a sigh, she said, “I no longer have any chance to become the empress. Perhaps, I do not fit in such a position so I will not force myself into something I am not chosen for.”Prince Cornelius may not be fully convinced with the words of the young lady, but he just nodded his head. He did not want to further press her or else, it would make her raise her guard and once that happens, it would be hard to monitor her in the future.After a while, Emery came out fully clad in a silver-colored armor with intricate etchings and designs that gave it a sense of elegance and beauty. The breastplate was a perfect fit on her chest, with ridges and curves that follow the contours of her body. Anyone who wo
In the confines of her room, Emery and Marianne spoke of the unfortunate situation that had befallen upon the family of Lady Daphne. At first, it was a wonder as to why she became a lady-in-waiting under Lady Serena, but it seemed like for a month now, she had been working as a lowly maidservant who only brewed tea for the duke’s daughter.“It seemed like her father gambled too much that they went bankrupt just to pay off his debts. With Lady Daphne no longer belonging to a noble family, she was demoted to being one of the lowest maidservants in the Hagan household. She was supposed to be thrown out to the streets but Lady Daphne begged to just become a servant for her to still have somewhere to sleep. But as of now, she is living in a cheap apartment,” Marianne then handed back the pair of earrings that Emery was supposed to give to Lady Daphne.
That question was more than familiar to Emery as she was reminded of the time that King Lawson accused her of poisoning his former concubine, Lady Hazel. However, this time was different because she was indeed the culprit but until proven guilty, she will remain innocent.“What are you talking about?” she asked, acting like she was confused. Emperor Claus closed the distance between them and tightly held her shoulders as his eyes filled with flames of anger looked at her.“Did you poison Lady Serena?!” “N-No.”He was not satisfied and convinced with her answer, hence, out of anger, he pushed her against the wall with a rather loud thud. Even though she winced in pain, the emperor did not faze.“If you won’t tell me the truth, then I will have that maidservant of yours tortured to confess in your stead.”This time, Emery looked at him with a steady gaze. She made sure that she did not waver and that her voice would not shake.“I am already telling the truth, Your Imperial Highness.”
When Emery woke up, the first thing she did was to face the large window on her far right. Much to her surprise, the room was already dimly lit, with the only source of light being the ethereal glow of the moon, which casts a soft, silver sheen over everything in its path. Feeling the cool air that filtered through the open window brushing against her skin, she shifted on her position to her left. The faint outline of the emperor’s sleeping figure came into sight, making her realize what they had done during the day.She bit her lower lip as she wiped away the tear that escaped from her eye. There may be regret lingering around her as it felt like she betrayed her beloved king, she chanted in her mind that this was all for her revenge. This was one of those sacrifices she had to make in order to make things seem flawless until the time she assassinates Lady Serena.&
Early in the morning, the emperor woke up and found Emery just getting out of the bathroom wearing a bathrobe.“Should I help you wash your hair?” she suddenly offered, making him wary of her.He knew too well that Emery was not the type of person who was very open to showing affection so her action seemed like a trap. Either way, he did not hesitate to accept since this could be the only time she would ask him that. Hence, several minutes later, he was lying on the huge tub with Emery right next to him pouring some water on his head. He stared at her.“Did something good happen while I was asleep?” he asked.“I thought about the things you told me yesterday.” She smiled. “S
After the royal assembly, Emperor Claus had to speak with Lady Eleni regarding the progress of the wedding preparation and coronation of the new empress. Everything was in place and there had been no delays so far, which was a great relief since no one in the empire was more than looking forward to the occasion other than the people themselves. Hence, all the emperor wanted was for the fast recovery of Lady Serena. She may have woken up that morning, however, she could barely walk on her own.Only then, Lady Eleni spoke and brought back Emperor Claus to his senses.“As for the wedding gown, only a few adjustments will be made in order for it to be a perfect fit for Lady Serena–”“Wait,” the emperor cut her off. “That dress is specially mad
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.