First day of the Diplomatic Talk… Emery left their quarters earlier that day to minimize contact with the king. As she walked through the hall, the princess of the Thorine Kingdom noticed her. Seeing that the queen was all alone, Princess Natalia approached her. “Queen Emery, I hope you had a good rest last night,” she greeted. The queen simply flashed a smile and nodded in response. “Breakfast is still being prepared. Would you like to have some tea in the garden?” the princess offered. As the two of them head to the garden which was on the opposite land of where Emery and the king’s room was. Princess Natalia took the initiative to brew the tea herself before serving them to the queen. “I have heard of your joyous wedding just a few months ago. If only I was not busy with some matters, I could have attended,” Princess Natalia stated with a smile. Not wanting to speak something that involved the king, Emery stared at the princess’ white dress. It was trimmed with gold linen an
Despite Lady Joi telling Emery to slow down because she might get hurt, the queen paid no attention to her. In each rushed step she made, the thoughts of His Majesty being in grave danger started to weigh on her shoulders. “I should not have left so early. I should have endured a little more just to make sure that he is safe right before my eyes! What if he is poisoned? What if he is deeply injured? Would I be able to forgive myself if he is hurt in any way?” Those thoughts swirled in Emery’s mind like a hurricane out of control. She saw Princess Natalia whose shocked expression was obvious as their gazes met. But there was just no time to tell her anything so she ran past her and took a sharp turn just as how she remembered the way to their quarters. Reaching the door, she immediately slid it open and scanned the room. She saw no one, making her gulp even more in anxiousness. “Your Majesty!” she called out while trying to catch her breath. But upon entering the bedroom, she saw
“Emery.” The old man’s voice was hoarse and low as he lifted his gaze on Emery who walked up to him. A small smile slowly formed on his lips as he watched her remove the hood that hid her face. “You sure have grown up really fast. You were just a little kid when I was training you but now, you have become a fine, young lady. But are you not already the queen of the Silex Kingdom? How did you manage to come here?” “Sire, I accompanied His Majesty for the diplomatic matters with the Thorine Kingdom. And that is the reason why I came to you,” Emery replied. Looking around the place, she noticed that nothing much had changed. She stood from her seat and approached the smaller table near the wall. She poured some tea on both teacups and served it to her Sire—the name she used to address her master. He was the one who helped her with her combat skills as well as having missions when she was still a beginner. Thus, she respected him just as much as she respected the heads of the Arcana. “
After a long talk in the tavern, Emery decided to end her information gathering so she bid the men goodbye. While she was accompanying Sire back to the shop, a young man who was about her age approached her. “Young Miss, you dropped your hairpin,” he said as he handed her a jade hairpin. Emery took a closer at the hairpin and she was sure it was not hers. Not only that, she was a hundred percent sure that she left all her hairpins in the shop. “That is not mine,” she stated but before she could even follow Sire, the young man grabbed her arm. “It is a gift from me,” he said. “Why would a stranger give me a jade hairpin?” she asked in return. “Because I finally got to meet the woman whom master is so proud of.” Hearing his reply, Emery turned behind her and saw Sire smiling at the two of them. She only shook her head as she accepted the hair accessory so they could head back to the shop. While Emery was fixing her hair, she stared at the current student of Sire through the mirror
When their lips were only a few millimeters apart, Emery cupped the king’s cheek and sealed his lips with her thumb. Then, she looked right into his ever-alluring amber eyes as her thumb traced her lower lip. “Only say you are sorry if you really mean it. I do not like empty words,” she whispered. “I mean it,” he whispered back but the queen shook her head. “You simply said it because you want to kiss me, ain't it?” Emery could not help but smirk upon seeing the king’s ears turn red and he even looked away from her. She did not know if he was embarrassed because she knew that he wanted to kiss her or if it was because his words were indeed empty, or probably both. She could not truly tell. “Your Majesty, if you want to kiss me, then make sure that I have already forgiven you. I do not kiss people who owe me an apology and forgiveness.” Just then, King Lawson noticed something—the smell of booze coming from the queen. With a creased forehead, he asked, “Did you go drinking with t
Gritting her teeth out of frustration for letting the king get hurt right in front of her, Emery ran to his side and King Lawson immediately gripped her arm. She winced as his grasp tightened but chose not to make a big deal out of it. Even though the arrows stopped raining into their room, the queen could not relax just yet. Without saying anything, she grabbed her dagger and cut off a piece of cloth from her dress before tying it near the wound to lessen its bleeding. She could hear his short breaths, making her heartbeat double in pace. A little while later, she noticed that his clutch slowly weakened and his eyes were drooping. It was weird because only one arrow hit him yet he was acting like he was going to die in a matter of seconds. There seemed to be something she was failing to notice. “Your Majesty, do not doze off,” Emery told him as she lightly slapped his cheeks to make sure he won’t go to sleep. When she heard the door slam open, she got into a fighting stance to pre
4th Day of the Diplomatic Meeting… For almost two days straight, King Lawson never regained consciousness despite the assurance of the physician that he would be waking up anytime soon. Emery was not at all pleased as well on how the investigation was going through because there was no progress even a tiny bit. She could not even just decide to cut their trip short and head back to the Silex Kingdom because there could be an occurrence of a complication in the king’s situation while they’d be in travel. The meeting was again canceled due to the incident. Thus, Emery chose to tend to the king rather than leave him alone. As she finished changing the bandage of his wound, she could not help but doubt if the Vesnide antidote was genuine since he seemed to be in a coma. Clenching her fist, she gritted her teeth out of frustration for not being able to investigate the situation herself. If only Lila was with her, she could feel more assured that nothing would be covered up. She bit her l
Standing before him as she gazed down, Emery asked, “What now? Are you going to bring her back with us after the diplomatic talk?” King Lawson never said a thing as he clenched his fists, unable to answer her. He did not even dare stare back at her. And telling her about his deal with the princess was already out of the question. He did not want to tell her because he was just afraid of seeing her reaction… he was afraid of making her cry again like what he did back then. Plus, he could find a way to break it, thus, he thought that Emery was better off not knowing it. “Did you also promise her to become the next queen? And what? What will become of Royal Concubine Hazel? For your heart to waver easily over a woman, you are simply proving to me that a man like you is worse than a jerk. Should I also expect to be poisoned and disposed of just to let that woman who almost killed you sit on the throne beside you?” Some part of her wanted to stop speaking but her anger was simply taking