That was one of the things that Emery feared the most—being framed. A lot of things swirled in her mind but the one that weighed the most was the thought that King Lawson would not give her the benefit of the doubt. That was something she thought was likely to happen so he could remove her title just like what he told her that very morning. She stared at his back until he turned in her direction and their gazes locked. Still wearing an indifferent expression, he asked her, “What do you say for yourself, Emery?” Feeling a huge lump in her throat and her numbing tongue, Emery could not even say a word to deny the accusation or even defend herself. “Your Highness, I think this is the best time for you to speak up,” General Kyan stated. However, when he looked at her, he was quite shocked to see her still puffy and red eyes that reflected her terrified reaction. His attention shifted to the slender fingers of the queen and saw that she was shaking. It was his first time to witness the
Emery could not make out whose voices she was hearing but as she waited, she did not expect to see the royal concubine with her maidservants. Raising an eyebrow at her, she tried to ponder the reason why she was visiting her. “Your Highness,” Royal Concubine Hazel greeted as she curtsied at the queen. “It may not be much but I brought some warm clothes for you to wear. After saving me in the lake, I came to repay the kindness you have given me. I shall speak to His Majesty and–” However, even before she could finish what she had to say, Emery cut her off. “Do not speak me out of this, Lady Hazel. The reason why I am in this situation is that His Majesty believes I am behind the incident of your almost abduction the other day. I would be more grateful if you stay out of this until he finds out the truth himself.” Emery felt a bit sorry upon seeing the dejected expression of the royal concubine. But her pride just could not let her accept the help she was offering because it seemed l
With the queen’s stubbornness still on his way, King Lawson could only try to lengthen his patience as much as he could to wrench every information he wanted from her. And to prepare himself, he thought that it could take a month for him to have Emery confess. For sure, it would be another torturing experience for him. Sighing, he said, “Keep in mind that before you lose your head, you would have to stay in this place and starve for a week or probably more than that. I won’t let you off the hook so easily, especially since there are several other assassins you are working with.” Emery giggled. “Do what you want, Your Majesty, and prove that you are becoming a tyrant just because of your affection for a woman.” “This is not about Lady Hazel but it’s about your actions that are a threat–” “A threat?” Emery scoffed. She looked at him with her glaring eyes and shouted, “I could have killed you and that woman a long time ago if I wanted to! But instead of doing that, I exposed that rott
After a few days since his last visit to the dungeon where Emery was, His Majesty was still annoyed at her words so he never went back. And he was indeed true to his words, no food was given to her with only the exception of the herbal tea and water. But aside from dealing with her, the king was yet to resolve a problem that involved the ministers. Inside the Court Palace, His Majesty and the ministers were once again gathered to discuss the matters that were halted the other day. However, this time, the tension within the hall was doubled compared to the time that the king got mad. To break the silence, Prime Minister Korun stepped up with his head lowered. “Your Majesty, we have heard that you held the queen captive with the accusation that she planned to harm the royal concubine,” he stated with his usual calm voice. Before he could speak for the next second, the king intervened. “What do you have to say, Prime Minister Korun? Do you think that my judgment is simply ridiculous?”
The king did not say anything but simply stared at Emery with his poker face and an icy gaze. He was just not in the mood to take her jokes lightly. Plus, letting her get on his nerves would only worsen his day after what happened back in the Court Palace. “You are indeed jealous,” Emery still teased. “But anyway, if you promise me to believe the words I say, I am willing to answer any of your inquiries. Is that a deal?” “It is a deal.” Clasping her hands together on her lap, she stared at him in the eyes to prove that the words she would be saying were true. She needed to convince him this time since she failed to hide the fact that she was an assassin. Thus, she had to make sure that his knowledge of her remained shallow, or else, she would be doomed. “I do not know if Lady Mica mentioned this to you before but she is a friend of my mother. She helped her in many ways but my mother was unable to repay her since she left the capital upon knowing that she was seriously ill. It’s th
King Lawson did not like the tone of Emery’s voice when she asked that question. He felt like she was telling him that he actually needed her to settle some serious matters. And such a feeling was something he wished to disappear. “It seems like you do not need it at all,” Emery added as if tempting him to say the words she wanted to hear—the words of begging for help coming from his very mouth. Meanwhile, Emery was getting more and more hyped up as she watched him look away from her. It was a sign she thought that showed how the situation was starting to be humiliating for the person whose pride was as high as the mountains. A grin was still plastered on her lips, waiting for the king to actually ask for her help. And as every second passed, she could see his agitation grow. A great sight for her indeed. “You should just show up in front of your people and announce that you are not following your father’s steps. It is easy that way,” she teased. “But then, it would be hard to make
Three days passed by in a swift and Emery was ever ready to do her part in catching the culprit. She prepared herself for two days to once again face her father and pretend to take his side before her supposed-to-be death sentence. Though, it was still unclear to her what was yet to happen since the king did not discuss their plan in exact detail. As she waited in her cell, she could not help but shiver because of the thin cloth of her ragged dress that day. Her hair was a bit messy and she made sure that her lips looked paler as if she was drained of blood. She also purposely starved herself for two days to make her acting more believable and convincing. All she was waiting for was the arrival of the prime minister. Not long after, she heard some footsteps so she took some deep breaths before lying down on the cold floor looking like a mistreated mistress. “Look at how pathetic you are right now.” Emery did not like those words especially since it was coming from a person who neve
When Emery returned to the West Palace, she was immediately greeted by Lila who apologized countless times for not being able to help her. It was not much big of a deal since she did not want her to get involved too much that others would also target her. To have a private conversation with her, the two of them went into the king’s exclusive bathroom for Emery to be able to wash up. “I really am sorry, Your Highness. I was locked up just until a moment ago so I was not able to visit you or even bring you out of prison,” Lila stated as she knelt on both knees across Emery. “Stand,” she replied. “It is not your fault since that king prevented you from seeing me. But is it really true that he made an investigation regarding the royal seal incident?” Lila nodded. “It seemed like Vasmir did almost all of the work for His Majesty. But the real culprit who sent the assassins to abduct the royal concubine still remains a mystery.” Emery simply nodded. She was thinking that she could proba
It was already night time but the grandest brothel house here in the Realgar Kingdom was very much alive like it was the peak of the day. Noblemen continued to enter with much anticipation but I cannot truly tell if it was because they were planning to rise against the king or if it was for the women who will soon serve them or probably both. It was a huge party to cover up the noblemen’s real purpose of gathering here in this pleasure house. Thus, it was also a chance for me to test my girls’ ability to gather intelligence without getting caught. Beneath the main brothel, I gathered the 10 ladies I had been training for four years now for their briefing before they would go out there and do their very first mission. “I am reminding you again that all you have to accomplish this night is to gather information regarding the supposed rebellion. Serve the guests with food, wine, sweet talks, lip service, and whatnot but never engage in sexual activities. I forbid you to be in that kind
Emery, then, turned on her heels and started to away. Taking only a few steps, the king finally spoke. “Your accusations against them will be considered treason. To add up to that, you are still the prime suspect in killing the royal concubine. If you turn your back now without proving your innocence, you won’t be able to leave this place alive.” The assassin did not bother listening to whatever he had to say and still continued to leave. With her position as queen taken away from her, she had to pretend to leave the kingdom. She also needed to speak with the Arcana Heads to ask what shall be her next move with all the situations going beyond her control. “Your stubbornness annoys the hell out of me.” King Lawson, whose patience just snapped a few moments ago, grabbed Emery by the arm and dragged her into the tent. He strictly instructed the royal soldiers to make sure that no one would ever dare step inside the tent until he says so. Upon entering, Emery was a bit taken aback when
After the sudden appearance of the queen and Lady Mica, they met with King Lawson inside the tent, and even though he never said a word, his icy gaze said it all. He was not at all pleased with their visit as if this was some kind of vacation trip. “Your Majesty, I apologize for not telling you ahead of time about our arrival. I was simply worried about what was going on in here so I came,” Queen Natalia stated. Clearing her throat, Lady Mica intercepted since she noticed that her son was not convinced of the queen’s reason. “Lawson, that is not the way to treat your new queen. The two of you just got married and did not even spend your honeymoon in peace. At least, appreciate her efforts.” Clicking his tongue, the king shifted his attention back to the reports and said, “Mother, would you step out for a while? I need to speak with Natalia alone.” Lady Mica was about to negate but the queen gave her a reassuring look that everything would be just fine. Thus, the king’s mother left
After a few days of travel along with a few royal soldiers, King Lawson was able to reach the western border. Just like what Vasmir reported, the planes that used to be ablaze were now only covered with the remnants of the war. He could see some of the soldiers cleaning up and gathering the dead bodies but before he could go and see what was going on beyond the borders, he headed to the campsite of the general. Seeing the king wearing his armor, all the royal soldiers got on their knees and lowered their heads. King Lawson simply passed them by and came face to face with General Kyan. Getting off his horse, he entered the tent and the general followed. “I have always regarded you as one of the greatest soldiers that the kingdom could offer. But hearing that you forbid the soldiers to fight alongside the people of the Thorine Kingdom changed my mind. You are nothing but a coward,” the king commented as he took his seat and his chin leaning on the back of his hand. Instead of getting
Emery did not want to force General Kyan into her plan but she had no plans of staying put either. Stepping out of the tent, she walked towards the battlefield but when she felt that the soldiers whom she just led a few hours ago, she stopped in her tracks and faced them. “Our mission is considered as a failure and I apologize for dragging you into a decision I made for myself. But I won’t be apologizing for the decision I made. Our mission has ended, thus, I am no longer your leader so wait for the general’s further instructions.” After saying that, she turned on her heels and scanned the vicinity, hoping to locate where the general of the Damas Kingdom was. It was not hard to spot him despite the wide horizon as her eyes reflected their group backing away with their weapons raised above their heads. The royal soldiers, however, were a bit puzzled at the sudden change of mind of their enemies. And for the ceasefire to be led by the well-known undefeatable general, they found it rat
Emery still did not budge and was on the verge of shooting the arrow right in the face of the general. However, she clicked her tongue when he managed to push away the royal soldiers surrounding him. With a thunderous roar, he claimed, “You will never win this war! The soldiers of the Thorine Kingdom shall back us up and your kingdom shall be eaten by fire!” Emery cocked her head and slowly dropped her weapon. She, then, walked towards the general with a crease on her forehead. “With what you said, am I right if I say that you are associated with the Thorine Kingdom? But how could that be possible now that Princess Natalia just became the queen of our kingdom?” Instead of getting a decent answer from him, Emery twitched as the laughter of the general rang in her ears. It was a burst of laughter to mock her as if she was the craziest woman in front of him. “She married him to kill your king and conquer Silex with our help!” This time, it was the general and the soldiers’ turn to l
When the night embraced the land, Emery briefed the soldiers first on what they should do upon arriving at the site of their ambush. Though, she started to feel a bit uncomfortable as she felt their stares at her as if they were becoming more and more suspicious of who she was. Her heart almost skipped a beat when one of them took the courage to ask about her identity since it seemed like it was their first time to see her. And to avoid that topic, she simply stated that it was not the right time to know her since they were about to do something important that could either give their side an advantage or not. She even almost got busted when a few of them claimed that she looked familiar. If she were to be too defensive, it would make them more suspicious. “Captain, the general of the enemies had arrived in their camp,” the scout came to report, helping Emery get out of the tight situation. She stood from her seat and grabbed her spear. “Everyone, in your positions. At exact midnight
Emery stared at the royal physician who was on his knees right in front of her. She did not know what it was all about but since he dragged her into an empty room, she thought that there was something going on. However, she never dared speak up and ask about it as she still felt a bit discouraged to do anything after witnessing the king getting married to another woman. “Your Highness, please forgive me. I… I know what I did is something unforgivable and I deserve to lose my head for lying but… Your Highness, I beg for your mercy,” he pleaded. He bowed to her until his forehead touched the cold floor. His lips quivered as he anticipated the reply of the queen who still remained quiet after a few minutes of silence. “I am no longer the queen of this kingdom so do not act so formal. But that aside, what lie are you saying?” The royal physician gulped. He could feel the tips of his fingers growing cold but this could only be the last chance he had to redeem himself so he had to speak
Not wanting to be recognized, Emery immediately turned away, swinging her sword towards an enemy. She did not dare look back because she just saw a glint of shock in the general’s eyes despite the few seconds of looking into his very eyes. With a grunt escaping her mouth, she lunged towards another enemy and swung her weapon down to injure his leg. Her enemy fell to his knees, giving Emery the chance to slit his throat and end his life. She kept chanting in her mind not to pay much attention to what she just saw but her anxious heart was unsettled. The thought of her getting arrested at that very moment was not just the best idea. Just then, she felt someone behind her but before she could turn on her heels to see who it was, the general spoke. “What did you come here for?” he asked just loud enough for her to hear. Emery was able to feel a bit relieved when she heard his voice without even a hint of threat. She simply hoped that he would not turn her into the king, at least, not f