Chapter 1

The people of Silex Kingdom had been worried for quite some time when they had heard of the rumor that their king was not welcoming a queen in his palace. Now that the war had ended and they experienced peace for almost two years when their new king was seated on the throne, they believed that the next heir would become just like the ruler who brought peace and security. Thus, receiving news about the king leaving the seat of the queen empty was rather bad news.

However, on a day when the sun hid behind the cottony clouds, the kingdom of Silex rejoiced for their king had finally found a wife.

At the gates of the royal palace, Emery Trigon was waiting for the cue of her entrance. As the daughter of the kingdom's prime minister, she was the perfect candidate to take the role of the queen, which she didn't like at all. Before stepping to the capital city, she believed that she will enter the palace as a maidservant because that was the perfect cover-up for her mission. But only seven days before her departure from the Arcana headquarters, she was informed of the truth that she will be wedded to the kingdom’s savior.

She complained and pleaded to change plans, however, the Arcana was insistent on their original plan, giving Emery no choice but to follow.

"How long should I wait just to marry the king?" Emery asked. Her patience was not that long because she still held a grudge against the betrayal she received.

Her dark eyes were blazing with impatience as she turned her attention to her maidservant. However, her attention was caught by a woman behind her after hearing her clear her throat.

"A lady must keep her composure at all times despite the circumstances," Lady Hazel stated. She was supposed to be the crowned queen if only Emery did not return to the capital. Losing her supposed to be queen position, Lady Hazel’s father went on his knees in front of Emery, asking her to let his beloved daughter be the royal concubine. And since their family posed no threat at all, Emery gave her consent.

Lady Hazel was favored by the maidservants for not only having an angel’s beauty also for the reason of her having a kind and caring heart. And for a year now, she had been the king’s only sanctuary within the chaotic state of the palace.

Emery raised an eyebrow at her, thinking of a way on how to respond to her. She debated with herself if she should be friendly with her or not, and since she was in a bad mood, she chose to be verbally aggressive.

"A concubine should know when to shut her mouth. Do you hear me, Royal Concubine Hazel?"

Reiterating her position from that time on, Emery flashed a smile at her which the concubine did not even see before turning back to her position since the gates were being opened. Her maidservant fixed her red veil that shall be hiding her appearance from the moment she enters the palace and until the end of the wedding.

Lila tiptoed just to clip the veil on Emery's braided, black hair to secure it because the soon-to-be crowned queen was rather taller than the average height.

She, then, whispered, “Your Highness, a lady must learn to be patient.”

The soon-to-be queen rolled her eyes at her statement. When the horn was blown, Emery walked with careful steps on the aisle that led to the king's side. She minded every step she made because her burning red robes reached the floor and if she stepped on it, she will surely become the laughing stock of the palace. At the end of the aisle was the throne made of gold. Its sides were carved with wolves—the predators that best represent the current king.

As Emery walked past the ministers, her eyes darted to her father who was standing near the stairs that led to the higher platform where the king was. She was not fond of him or even happy to see that one of her parents was still alive. She only got to meet him after she entered the royal palace and she found him hateful during their first meeting. She wouldn't even address him as her father because of his absence during her growth. She considered him as that selfish old man with both gray hair and annoying facial hair, who cared nothing but only his high position.

She walked ahead and took careful steps as she got up on the staircase. Before standing by the king's side, she bowed thrice which symbolized respect, submission, and obedience. The gong hanging from two poles of the same height as a soldier was hit twice, a cue for the two to drink from the golden cup of wine as a symbol of being one. After the drinking of wine, the two bowed facing each other before the king faced the witnesses of their union.

"Emery of the Trigon clan is, from this day on, the queen of Silex!" the king announced as he raised the golden grail.

Taking a small sip from his cup, his ministers followed. After such, Emery stepped forward and bowed before the king’s people. After the solemn ceremony, the festive presentations prepared by the ministers started. Emery and the king sat side by side on the throne overlooking the whole place.

"You have my permission to take off your veil," King Lawson stated without glancing at his new queen. He seemed bored at the event despite the extravagant preparation done by the palace servers.

However, Emery simply replied, "I do not have such privilege to show my face to you, Your Majesty."

It was not her being too weak in front of the king but if she was not careful enough, she might get into his bad side. That would be too much work for her so she had two choices to choose from—to be on his good side or by simply being neutral. Moreover, taking off her veil herself would be seen as vulgar and disrespectful to the eyes of others because only the king was allowed to lift the veil of his queen.

"Then, never raise your veil until I do so," the king responded, sounding indifferent of the queen’s response.

He never wanted to be married to any woman from the Trigon clan, especially that his affection was supposed to be solely for the lady who was now only his royal concubine. However, the insistence of his officials forced him to take Emery as his queen instead, bothering him almost every day that it was not a good idea to simply marry a woman born in a family of humble birth. And for the sake of peace in his court and after speaking with Lady Hazel, he adhered to their wishes.

"I heard you were raised outside the capital. Is that really true?" the king asked after a while.

Emery nodded in response before answering, "Yes, Your Majesty. As my mother was sick, she decided to leave the capital."

"As far as I know, the prime minister never left the capital. Does that mean that you two saw each other today for the first time?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Emery caught a glimpse of the king's smirk despite the veil hindering her from having a clear view of his expression. She could not really tell what he was thinking but every part of her just screamed that she must tread carefully in dealing with the man before her.

"That only makes you a mere puppet of your clan," he sneered.

Emery shut her eyes and took some deep inhales and exhales to keep her temper at bay. She could feel that the king had no intention of keeping their relationship intimate, which was a piece of good news for her but it would also be stressful to deal with him and his sharp tongue. Still, she needed to stretch her patience for as long as she could just for this day.

"As a wedding gift for me, why don't you spill some of the orders you received from your father?" This time, he laid his glass on the table and faced the queen. His striking amber eyes were beautiful but, at the same time, they seemed to mirror danger. Emery thought that people were just spreading rumors of the king’s different eyes, but now that she saw them in person, she came to admit that they were indeed beautiful.

"Tell me and in exchange, I shall lift this veil. You know too well that if I do not remove your veil, you'd be covering your face for who knows how long?" he added.

He was testing her. He wanted to know if she could be of use to him or not. If he could manipulate her, then whatever the plans of the prime minister would be in disarray. And if she does not give in, then he had of no use of someone like her.

"I apologize, Your Majesty, but I have received no orders from the prime minister. In all honesty, we have not spoken something like that to each other ever since I arrived here at the palace," Emery replied whilst faking her shaking voice.

Of course, her words were not believed by the king. Thus, he concluded that the queen had chosen the side of her family. It was no surprise for him though since he already expected that.

When the night befell the city, King Lawson and Emery were inside their shared chamber. The few lanterns and candles were the only source of light inside, making it even harder for Emery to see. The atmosphere was romantic, especially that the two of them were clad in their best robes and if seen from afar, they would look like the perfect couple.

"Your Majesty, let me pour you a drink," Emery offered to break the silence inside the room.

She was about to fill the cup of the king with the liquor but he held her wrist.

"Do nothing at all. You must be exhausted from today's ceremony so it would be much better for you to just go and sleep."

After saying those words, the king stood and left her alone on their first night together, which should be intimate contact between the newly wedded couple. He didn't even bother looking back at his wife before shutting the doors behind him. King Lawson thought that if he treated her harshly, she would come running towards him and beg for his mercy. And if that time comes, he will use her against her clan who did nothing but try to control the court, especially that Prime Minister Korun was hard to pin down. Thus, he saw Emery as a catalyst to remove the prime minister and other members of the Trigon clan from their governmental posts.

With the king leaving the quarters, Emery finally breathed in relief as she took off the veil and changed into something more comfortable. Sipping from her cup, the image of the king looking at her with scornful eyes flashed in her mind. She stood from her seat with her cup still in her hand and walked towards the window where she could see the sky. The clouds cleared up and the full moon was at its peak of beauty.

"Make wrong decisions and I will be the one to dethrone you," she stated. "King Lawson."

Under the moonlight, she enjoyed the company of the liquor. However, her alone time was cut short when her maidservant announced the presence of the prime minister.

Clicking her tongue out of annoyance, Emery grabbed her veil and used it before letting the prime minister enter the room.

"Father, did something urgent happen?" she asked, pretending to be the meek type of daughter.

"It seems that the king did leave you alone even though this night was supposed to be spent with the two of you together," the prime minister said, disappointment evident in his tone of voice.

Dismay was plastered all over his face but Emery couldn't care less about it. With the king being a doting lover towards his royal concubine, he should have predicted that Emery had no place in his heart in the very first place. That was her thought as she looked at her father.

"He didn't even bother removing your veil," he added.

Though his words seemed a tiny bit harmless as of the moment, Emery could tell that there was something more he wanted from her. And in order to extract a bit of information from him, she switched on her acting mode.

She placed her hands on the floor and bowed, "I apologize, father, for not meeting your expectation. But worry not, I shall do everything I can to get His Majesty's attention. As we only met this day, he had not yet seen me wholly."

Understanding her main point, the prime minister made his daughter lift her head from the floor. He agreed with her, especially that their first meeting was just a while back. If given enough time, the king will surely see the worth of his daughter.

"You are an intelligent woman," he complimented, "so I expect that you'd be able to seduce the king. If you cannot make him speak of his future plans, at least bear his child."

Emery simply agreed with the prime minister's words while rolling her eyes to the sides. She was thankful that her face was covered so she could at least make disgusted expressions. Marrying the king was part of their plan, however, bearing his child was never on her list.

The prime minister decided to leave after telling Emery what his intention really was. Upon his exit, she pulled her veil and threw it on the side.

"This mission is such a handful," she mumbled.

Finishing her liquor in one gulp, she gritted her teeth and narrowed her eyes as she stared out of the window. She wanted to continue to complain about the situation to the Arcana but she could not do it all, now that she was far from their headquarters. All she could do was prepare herself for her first day as the queen of Silex Kingdom the very next day.