Chapter 2

The next morning, Emery decided to tour the royal palace to familiarize herself with the place. Her maidservants gladly accompanied her even though she insisted to be alone. Wearing her white royal robes trimmed with gold that dropped down to her ankles and traced the slender shape of her hips, she secured her dagger on her thigh before leaving her chambers. It already became a habit for her to keep at least one dagger anywhere she went.

"I've heard that the royal garden looks like a paradise. I want to see it in person," she demanded.

The head of her maidservants, Lila, took the lead and guided her. Walking past a few halls, they reached the path adorned with flowers. Though they were not yet in full bloom, butterflies flew above them as if they were the prettiest of all. Just when the garden was finally in sight, Lila stopped in her tracks and started to get cold sweat.

"Y-Your Highness, I... I think we should come here n-next time," she stuttered.

Even though she could not see the face of the queen because of the veil, she was still scared that she'd lose her head knowing that Emery had quite the short temper. She took a step backward when the queen continued to walk, ignoring the words she just said.

"What is it that you seem to have seen something ominous?" Emery asked with an eyebrow raised.

When she looked ahead, she saw the king and the royal concubine having the moment of their lives, making it almost impossible for anyone to intrude between them. Such a petty thing did not matter to her at all since she held no special feelings towards the ruler of their kingdom. Her sudden appearance may cause a disturbance between the two, however, Emery did not care at all.

"Why worry over something so trivial, Lila? I am here to only enjoy the sight of the garden and this pond that surrounds it. We will not cause any unnecessary commotion," she said.

Lila was still indecisive if she stops the queen or not. She, then, cocked her head to the side and mouthed to the queen that they would just go back to the Inner Palace. However, Emery had already walked towards the garden, ignoring her signals and leaving her no choice but to follow her.

Royal Concubine Hazel's smile vanished upon seeing a woman wearing the queen's royal robes walking towards them. At first, she thought that it was somebody else who resembled the queen but when Emery got closer, she confirmed that it was indeed the queen. She was surprised to see her still wearing the veil even after the king had been in the queen's chamber the other night before going over to her place.

"Have you not lifted her veil, my king?" she asked.

King Lawson flashed a smile and cupped her cheek. "I have no intention of doing so."

Since the two of them were standing near the pathway leading to the shaded area, the maidservants bowed in respect. However, Emery walked past them and headed to the gazebo to have a better view of the place without acknowledging their presence. Asking the maidservants to serve her some tea, she looked at the garden filled with not only flowers of different colors but also hedges of different shapes.

After a while, Royal Concubine Hazel stepped foot in the gazebo.

"Would you please give us some time alone?" she asked the remaining maidservants.

Emery nodded at Lila to give them permission to leave her side for a while. She heaved a sigh because she knew that the subject of their talk would be about the king's affection-a topic she did not really want to speak about.

"I'd ask the king to lift the veil, Your Highness," she started.

Emery did not know if the royal concubine was simply being humble or was insulting her but the feeling of insult somehow emerged more. She felt like it was the roundabout way of saying that the royal concubine's wishes would be granted by the king because of his love for her. It made her giggle that caused Royal Concubine Hazel to creased her forehead out of confusion.

"You do not have to go out of your way to ask for such favor. But if you wanted to earn the praises of the people here in the palace, you are very welcome to do so," she responded.

One of Emery's most hated things was false acts of good deeds and it seemed that very moment, Royal Concubine Hazel was playacting. Her voice may sound so calm and collected, however, her eyes that stared at the royal concubine were as sharp as a well-polished dagger.

"I have no knowledge as to why you seem to hold a grudge against me, however, my offer still stands. You may approach me anytime and I shall willingly help."

After saying those words, Royal Concubine Hazel stood and left the queen alone. Emery could not help but scoff at her pretense, disbelief plastered all over her face. However, an idea sparked in her mind just when she was about to take a sip from her cup of tea.

Her eyes darted back to the figure of the royal concubine until she vanished from her sight. She would not be able to take it if she was to act friendly towards her, but maybe, just maybe, if she dared challenge her, Lady Hazel might become a useful pawn in her plans.

"Your Highness, His Majesty wants you to meet him at the Court Palace," Lila stated with her head lowered.

Emery's eyebrow rose as she pondered over the reason why she needed to go to the court. She was sure that she did not do anything suspicious that would catch the king's attention.

"Did His Majesty tell you why he summoned me?" she asked out of curiosity.

"No, Your Highness. He said nothing," Lila replied.

For her curiosity to be satisfied, she followed her head maidservant’s lead on their way to the royal court. On their way, Lila was quite worried about the queen so she said, “Your Highness, no matter what happens inside the court, I do hope you would extend your patience.”

Emery simply nodded but she was relieved that her veil masked her facial expression that moment because if her maidservant saw how she rolled her eyes and twitched her nose, she might get an earful of a sermon from her.

Upon her arrival at the court, the ministers bowed at her presence as she entered the two huge doors. The king motioned her to come and sit beside him which she obliged.

"The ministers are complaining over the fact that I did not lift your veil and even left you during the night of our wedding," he told her. It was loud enough for the ministers to hear him causing them to mumble to each other.

"Your Majesty, we simply wanted assurance that an heir to the throne would be born," the prime minister claimed as to voice out the other minister’s opinion about the matter.

His claim was supported by the other ministers, which only made the king scoff at such a statement. Emery simply sat beside him without saying a word so she would think carefully of what to say despite the feeling that her presence seemed to have made no significance in their meeting at all.

"An heir, huh," the king mumbled as he leaned back on his throne and rested his chin at the back of his hand.

Emery turned her head towards him and the king did the same. He smirked as he reached out to her and held the edge of the veil as if teasing her of removing it that very moment.

"I abided with your wishes to marry this woman, who knew nothing about the palace and grew up outside the capital. She never even had any contact with her father just until a few days ago. Still, you wanted to ask for more."

King Lawson stood on his feet and grabbed the weapon lying just beside his throne. A swift sound of metal being unsheathed filled the courtroom. And the next thing he did was point his sword at Emery and claim,

"Before I lift this woman's veil, bring forth five ministers. In exchange for hearing your additional atrocity, I shall have five heads to commemorate this occasion!"

This time, the king's voice was firm and absolute that the ministers froze in their places and no one dared speak a word. It was exactly what he wanted to tell them that he holds the power over them and not the other way around. All of his subjects bowed their head and stood quiet.

"Your Majesty, do allow me to speak on your behalf," Emery interrupted. This made the heavy tension lighter compared to the last seconds.

She thought that the reason why she was summoned was that the king wanted to scare her as well, which did not really work. Instead, she planned to use this opportunity to gain the support and trust of the ministers so they could be of use to her in the near future.

King Lawson sat back on his throne and motioned Emery to speak whatever she wanted to tell. Though, he did not expect that she would step in at the moment when the tension was at its peak.

"I do understand your sentiments of wanting to have an heir, however, I humbly ask for your patience. His Majesty and I only came to know each other on the day of our wedding, thus, we are taking our time to deepen our relationship. Please, do understand."

Emery even bowed before the ministers to show her sincerity, but behind her veil, a smirk was plastered on her lips as if she knew that her plan would actually work. After a minute of silence, she saw the ministers exchanging meaningful looks as they nodded with each other-a sign that the queen’s words did convince them somehow. Seeing how her words had an impact, Emery sat back on the side of the kind.

"You do know how to run that tongue of yours," he commented. The queen could only bow her head towards him as a response.

With that matter already resolved, Emery was sent back to the Inner Palace. She waited in her quarters as her eyes stared at the horizon with her fingers consecutively tapped on the windowsill. When she heard the doors opened, she turned on her heels and saw her maidservant.

"Your Highness, the letter has arrived," Lila stated as she handed a neatly folded paper to her.

Emery opened the letter with eagerness and a smile was formed on her lips.

"A careless rat inside the palace, huh" she whispered to herself.

Emery walked towards the corner of her room and lifted the wooden cover of a hidden chest where she kept her combat apparel. She left the letter on top of her apparel before hiding the chest again from the sight of other people.

"Lila," she called out, "when will His Majesty visit me here in the Inner Palace?"

Lila bowed her head and with her stuttering voice, she replied, "Your Highness, His Majesty announced that he will be spending his nights at the quarters of Royal Concubine H-Hazel."

With a fake voice of a hurt wife, Emery cried, "Oh, how lonely am I to be left alone by His Majesty? Was I not his queen? Yet why does he seem to care more about his concubine?"

In her mind, she was actually happy that she did not have to deal with the king in such a matter. It was actually a relief for her since their situation gave her the opportunity to act without attracting the attention of the king. Now that her first mission within the palace had arrived, she was more than excited to catch the culprit who secretly collects weapons. Before their plan materialized, Emery had to put them to a stop.

"Such grief I could not bear! Lila, I wish to be locked in my room 'til His Majesty begs to have an audience with me."

With those last words, Emery kept the door of her quarters shut for the reason that she was in grief. She demanded to not be disturbed no matter what so she could recover as fast as possible.

"We should really refrain from acting while we are out of the people's sight. It's certainly tiring," the queen commented.

Lila smiled and replied, "But we must always keep our guard up, Your Highness. They say that even the walls have ears."

When the night came to visit, the queen prepared for her first task. Her dress and hair ornaments were laid on the floor as she changed into her dark combat apparel. Putting on her mask, only her dark eyes were revealed.

"Lila," she called out to her maidservant who was just standing outside her quarters. She made sure her voice was loud enough for the other maidservants to hear what she was about to say. "I wish to sleep early so do not let anyone in."

After leaving that command, she snuck out from her window and climbed onto the roof.

"Now, we'll go and surprise that rat."