Emery did not want to deal with the royal concubine so she simply walked past her and knelt in front of the maidservant whom she switched with. With a pained expression plastered on her face, she removed the cloth gagging the maidservant. “Your Highness, I beg for your mercy,” she cried. “Please, do not kill me, Your Highness. I… I still have two younger sisters outside the palace that I need to take care of. Please, please, spare my life.” The queen cupped her cheeks and responded, “You will not lose your life. I will not allow it.” Turning her attention to the maidservant’s hands, she lifted the hem of her dress and unsheathed her dagger to cut the rope and free her. The queen assured her that she will be the one to face the consequences of her escape, not anyone else. “Guards, take the queen to the dungeon to make sure that she won’t be able to escape,” Royal Concubine Hazel demanded. But even before the guards could lay their finger on the queen, Emery stood on both feet and f
Emery felt the general flinch upon hearing the king’s voice. The hands that once caressed her hair retreated and he was about to push her back. However, instead of letting him go, the queen tightened her embrace around him, showing no fear that they were caught in such a position. “Your Highness,” General Kyan whispered. He did not want to strain their relationship further. It was not his intention to do so but knowing his own brother, he would not let this matter go and it could bring Emery into trouble. He feared that if he won’t explain the matter to him, King Lawson might not just lock up the queen as punishment. “Please, help me free Jadeite,” Emery whispered back before letting the general go. The moment they parted, General Kyan immediately faced the king to give his explanation. “General Kyan, you told me that you still have some important things to do. As I do not want to keep you any longer, do take your leave,” Emery stated before the general could even speak a word. S
With the tight security and her arms and feet chained, Emery could not find a way to free herself. She had no idea what had happened to Lila or even Jadeite as she was isolated in the West Palace. The new morning came and just like what the king ordered, she was given no food or water. Having no meals at all was not something new to Emery but what drained her energy was the mental torture of how her colleagues were faring at that moment. Staring at the open window, the queen heard the door open and close. She thought that it was King Lawson but the moment she saw the prime minister, she looked away from him and returned her gaze to the cloudy sky. “Look at how much of a failure you are,” he sneered, eyeing the pitiful state of his daughter. “If only you did not act on your own and get all emotional, you would not be in this situation.” The queen clenched her fists out of annoyance. She did not want to hear whatever lecture he had to say because he was never part of her plan. He was
It was already the second day of Emery’s detainment and while she stayed in the West Palace, the king was in his court office. He was engrossed in his paperwork that he failed to notice Royal Concubine Hazel’s entrance into the room. And since Lady Hazel did not want to disturb His Majesty, she simply smiled at him and walked towards the shelves of books and scrolls to distract herself. However, what caught her attention was the small desk at the corner of the room where she saw a set of the same daggers with silver and gold snakes entwined at their handles. Looking closer, she was also mesmerized by the intricate drawings on the blades. Running her finger at the gem placed in each of the daggers, she could not help but smile. “Are you feeling okay?” the king asked when he noticed the royal concubine. Lady Hazel turned on her heels and flashed him a smile. “Yes, Your Majesty. I am getting tired of just lying inside my chambers so I thought of coming to visit you while having some fr
Because of the queen’s second attempt at assassination, the king canceled his plan of sending off General Kyan to the kingdom’s borders. He thought that if he was indeed the queen’s lover, then the general would do anything in his power to find the culprit. King Lawson needed his help, thus, the ones whom he shall send away from the capital were the soldiers who let their guard down and let that maidservant give poison to the queen. The royal physician had already checked Emery’s situation but because she was yet to regain her consciousness, she was still in an unstable situation. She also had taken quite a large dose of poison, making it harder for her to recover quickly. Until the next day, the king was looking after her, waiting for his queen to wake up from her seemingly endless dream. Surrounded by documents on his desk, he would steal glances at the bed to see if Emery would show signs of consciousness. Just then, he heard a knock on the door. “Your Majesty, we came to report,
Hearing the queen’s condition made the king scoff. He removed Emery’s hands away from him without breaking eye contact with her and he could tell that she seemed desperate to do anything just to free Lila from the walls of the palace. Without saying a word, he took a few strands of her hair and indulged himself with her scent like that of a purple orchid. It was intoxicating. Letting her locks of hair loose, he took her hand and kissed the back of her hand, his gaze still locked onto hers. He pulled her closer and with his other hand, he wrapped it around her waist just to lift her up and make her sit on his lap. This was quite a shock for Emery but the king did not pay much attention to her reaction as he took advantage of her still weak body. He leaned closer to her-their faces only a few inches apart and his icy gaze fixed on hers-while still clutching her hand, he said, “From every strand of your hair until the very tip of your toes, Emery, you are mine. No other man shall hol
With her unprecedented comment, Princess Natalia flinched which caused her to miss the center of the target. What ticked her off, even more, was the snicker she heard coming from the queen. She wanted to rebut but doing so would make her more pathetic and it would be more obvious that she did visit for that reason. After a few rounds of shooting arrows, the two came to agree to have a break and accompany the royal concubine who just prepared some tea for them. As they gathered around the pavilion, Emery noticed how Lady Hazel seemed to fold under the gaze of the princess. Even though it looked like she was trying her best not to make it obvious, Emery still noticed her subtle movements of looking away and trying to steady her shaky hands. “Lady Hazel, if you ever feel like you need to rest, you should say so. I can accompany Princess Natalia in your stead,” the queen stated after taking a sip from her teacup. However, the royal concubine flashed her a small smile and replied, “Thank
When the dawn broke, Emery stood in front of the king who was already wearing his gold-plated armor. He exuded the aura of a man who could dominate hundreds of men but the queen was still worried about what was to happen in the future. Being unable to accompany the king on his trip was already enough to make her think twice if their plan was a good one. But then again, leaving the palace with a foreign royalty residing inside was just too risky to leave the capital. Trying to hide the worries brewing inside her, she let out a sigh and met the gaze of the king. “If ever the situation is not in our favor, do not hesitate to summon me,” she told him. King Lawson simply nodded in response. Just by looking at the queen, he could tell that she was trying to put up some façade to hide her fear. Even though he did not want her to feel that way, he had no other choice but to trust that she could manage the palace in his absence. With the brewing danger just outside their kingdom, he could no