When the ship finally docked, Emery got off the ship and stood at the side for quite some time. It was simply hard to process and overwhelming that she had finally arrived at the land of the known tyrant conqueror, Varmore Empire. As her eyes wandered, the first thing she immediately noticed was the clothing of the people. It was totally different. Back in Silex Kingdom where she grew up, even in Realgar, women wore dresses with long sleeves but in this empire, women showed off their bare arms.
It was a shock for her even though she already expected differences. But what was even harder to look at were the several couples openly showing intimacy in public but the others seemed to show no care at all as if it was a normal occurrence.
“A busy day here, aye,” the owner of the ship commented upon spotting Emery on the s
After a while, the knights started stating their orders and when it was Castor’s turn, he stared at Emery for a few seconds. He stood from his seat, held her hand, and kissed the back of it while looking right into her dark eyes that seemed to pull him into oblivion.“I still do not have the privilege to gaze upon the beauty you hide but may I have the honor to know your name, young miss?” he asked.The other knights teased the two but Emery simply bowed apologetically while looking at him with hesitation. She did not want to embarrass him in front of his colleagues and, not to mention, she was receiving a deadly glare from Basil so she had to come up with something quick.“I… I am still on duty so if you wish to know my name, speak to me durin
“My apologies. Because of me, you had to face the anger of the other ladies even if you were not at fault in any way. I will make sure that no one will bother you again because of this issue,” Castor said.“Thank you but it would be more proper to not approach me anymore, Sir Castor. Who knows? Tomorrow’s rumor might become worse, saying that a married woman is still flirting with a knight. That will not only reflect bad on you but it will further damage my reputation. Please understand.”She turned her back on him, only to stop when the silver button crossed her mind. Since she heard Castor and the other knights talking about the emperor looking for her, she suspected that they could be involved in the matter. Hence, she turned on her heels and faced him again.
“Your Imperial Highness, Lady Serena wishes to see you at the moment. She is currently waiting in the Eldford Hall,” one of the emperor’s maidservants said as she followed him out of the Euthoria mansion.“Tell her that I have some important matters to take care of. If she wishes, I can meet her the day after tomorrow,” Emperor Claus stated before dismissing her.Wearing his casual clothes over a hooded cape, he entered the carriage, only to receive a rather disappointed look from Castor, who was accompanying him in his rendezvous that night.“What?” he asked.“So going to the brothel house is such an important matter that you are postponing another meeting with your e
This made Emery’s eyebrow raise at the sudden turn of events.“What do you mean he wants to buy me? I am not even a slave.”“Whether you are a slave or not, if he wants you, then he will do everything to take you. He is the emperor, Sapphire. A tyrant. A heartless ruler.”Their conversation was, then, interrupted when one of the brothel girls came in.“Miss Diane. The VIP guest wants you and Miss Sapphire to go and see him in his private room right at this moment.”Disobedience was not an option so Diane could only hold Emery’s hand like how a mother would do if they knew their child was in trouble.
“Diane told me what happened in the brothel last night,” Helen said as she was drinking tea while Emery was doing the laundry. “It would be great if the emperor lets you off the hook that easily but I doubt he’d do that. So you should brace yourself since even I cannot do anything to stop him from whatever he wants to do.”“Is he really that scary, Helen?” Emery asked.All she heard about the emperor was that he was a man who brings terror when they least expect it. Others would even call him a devil in the guise of an angel because of his deceiving looks, which was understandable since Emery also thought that he was just one of those handsome yet idiotic guys when she first laid eyes on him.Helen, on the other hand, let out a
As they walked through the large and almost empty hallway, Emery could not help but look around and be mesmerized at the internal design of the palace that even the high ceiling had intricate designs inscribed on it.“I wonder how much was spent to build this palace,” she mumbled to herself.Her attention shifted to Castor when she heard him chuckle.“What?”“Nothing. It’s just unusual to hear someone wonder how much this palace costs.”Emery simply shrugged.“But Sapphire, I was just wondering… what made you change your mind about the of
On Emery’s first day at work in the Euthoria mansion, she woke up as early as five in the morning. After washing up, she left her room and went to the kitchen, where the other maidservants were already preparing breakfast."You’re Sapphire, right? The emperor’s new attendant?" one of them asked.Emery nodded, and a few seconds later, she was handed a tray of freshly brewed tea."Make sure to knock three times before entering His Imperial Highness’ room. And if you find him still sleeping, wait for him to wake up or else he will be mad as hell. If the tea grows cold before he wakes up, come back here and we will give you a new set."
Even after what Lady Serena said, the emperor remained unfazed since he did not display any sign of interest.“Seeing that kind of reaction, it seems like you already know it. What do you plan to do after bringing her here?”“You are already aware of what’s going to happen. Why bother asking?” the emperor stated, still not sparing the lady a single glance.Lady Serena chuckled out of amusement.“Then, what are you going to do if I refuse to let her be crowned an empress? Everyone knows that I am going to be your wife, and nothing will change that whether you love me or not. Besides, even your advisors and ministers agree that only I can take the throne next to you.”
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.