Silence ruled over the king and queen as they stared into each other's eyes, still trying to comprehend the situation they brought themselves into. Now that she could see him up close, Emery saw how mesmerizing yet dangerous-looking his pair of amber eyes was. Somehow, its color reminded her of the afternoon when her mother passed away. However, without the veil, she felt like he could see right through her, and there she was, ignorant of what he had in mind. It was frustrating for her, of course. But Emery was not the type of person who could stare at someone's eyes for too long. So she was the first one to look away. She slowly reached out for her veil and spoke with a small, awkward smile, "Let's pretend that didn't happen." She got back on the bed with her back facing the king. She clutched at her veil as she covered her face back and she could not help but grit her teeth to suppress the scream she wanted to let out at that very moment. Her blush crept on her porcelain-like c
Hearing those words from the royal concubine convinced Emery that love was indeed scary for her. She believed that having such a feeling would make even the nicest person become the worst. And a question settled at the back of her mind; will Lady Hazel become the worst version of herself now that she sees her, the queen, as a rival? A small smile crept at the edges of the queen's lips as she turned on her heels and was about to leave the gazebo. She stopped by the stairs and turned her head a little. "I see no wrong in your love for His Majesty," she stated. "However, if that selfishness ever harms the king or his people, it would be better to stop now." After saying that, she left the royal concubine alone in the garden. She was not just in the mood to talk about things such as love or rivalry since such small talks were not appealing to her. On her way back to the Inner Palace, Emery saw General Kyan leaving the royal court. Thus, she decided to visit the king. Upon opening the d
Before Princess Garnet, King Lawson's elder sister, could enter the palace, Lady Hazel was appointed to accompany her all throughout her stay in the Silex Kingdom. The ministers were against that idea because such a role was supposed to be done by the queen and not by a mere concubine. However, with the insistence of King Lawson, the ministers could do nothing but mutter to themselves while the king had his back on them. "Won't Her Highness be enraged by this arrangement?" Lady Hazel asked. She was a bit worried that this would be seen as a taunt against the queen that might lead to a fight between them. The king was in her chambers having his break before heading back to the royal court. Hearing the words coming from his concubine made him smile because he could tell that she was still acting humble despite the big role she was assigned to. With his head resting on his concubine's lap and his eyes shut, he replied, "She does not have the right to be mad. I do not want to entrust su
The very next morning, Princess Garnet had arrived at the palace. Just as she expected, she was greeted by a lot of maidservants and a beautiful noble lady. Though, she was quite taken aback because the robes worn by the woman in front of her were not the royal robes of the queen. Though, she simply brushed that detail when she realized something. There was one missing person who was supposed to greet her as well... her brother. "Princess Garnet, welcome to the Silex Kingdom," Lady Hazel greeted as she curtsied. "Allow me to accompany and be of help to you during your stay." The princess smiled from ear to ear and curtsied as well. "To be with the queen is such an honor." Lady Hazel flinched upon hearing how she was addressed. Her body stiffened and her tongue froze. She did not know how to respond to that. She did not know if she needed to correct the princess but she thought that it might be rude of her to do so. Thus, she simply kept quiet about it. Meanwhile, Emery ran in the
"Perfect! I'd like all of you to join me in the pavilion," Princess Garnet stated. At first, Emery did not want to because it would be such a drag for her to put up an act of being a picture-perfect queen. However, looking into the eyes of the princess, she caught up with her idea of doing something devious so she went along. "It would be an honor," she stated. She glanced at General Kyan and smiled at him with a pair of puppy eyes. "I shall join you after I take care-" Emery did not let the general finish what he had to say. She went behind him and pushed him towards the exit. Unable to reject the queen's silent plea, he went along with them, and obviously, there was a thick atmosphere of awkwardness surrounding them. However, Emery and Princess Garnet were acting like everything was normal. Upon arrival at the pavilion, they all settled on a rectangular table. Just, as usual, the king wanted his royal concubine to sit beside him instead of the queen. With this, Princess Garnet c
When the sun had set, Emery was still in a sour mood because of what Jadeite did. She could ignore that because the words she stated were nothing but empty ones, however, she was dealing with the prime minister. Carelessly promising to him would be like making a pact with the demon. Biting on her nails, Emery was cracking her head on how to reason out with the prime minister. Blaming the king would cause her to self-destruct because her lack of charm and seduction would be blamed instead. She could not even bring herself to drag Royal Concubine Hazel in her problem. She did nothing wrong to her so she should also do the same. She turned and lay down on her back. With her eyes intently staring at the ceiling as her mind drifted to the clouds, she did not notice the king entering her chambers. He was surprised. It was because Emery did not yell at him or even look at him after their sarcastic argument a while back so he was expecting that she will bark at him the moment they see each o
Lying down on his chest, Emery could hear the rhythmic beating of His Majesty's heart. It was not too slow or too fast so she thought that he was indeed feeling comfortable with their current position. However, she was making this pissed-off facial expression because as far as she could remember, it was never her duty to be the king's relaxant. Though, that was the original duty of a queen. But then again, she reminded herself that she did not sign up to be all lovey-dovey with the kingdom’s ruler, she was supposed to protect him at all cost. "Aren't you afraid that I might stab you when you fall asleep?" she suddenly asked. Well, it was awkward for her to keep the silence going so initiating a conversation would drive her embarrassment away... probably. "If you truly mean that, then you could have stabbed me the night we first slept together," the king replied. It was as if he trusted her enough that she would not take advantage of him even if he was in his most vulnerable state.
Looking at the golden hairpin with the shape of a flying blue phoenix at its end, Emery found no words to say. In the belief of the Silex people, a blue phoenix signifies tranquility and passion. For her, such a gift was not suited for someone like her who was lying to the king about her real identity and it was a treasure she thought she did not deserve. Princess Garnet left Emery without any more words. She believed that she had conveyed what her mother wanted to say to the current queen. And now, it was up to Emery how to meet the expectation of the king's mother and she needed time to think about such things. Emery gripped the hairpin and mumbled, "Did she not know of the existence of her son's true love?" For her, Royal Concubine Hazel was qualified to be the queen and her only flaw was not being of the same rank or higher than her. And such a flaw was not something she could control. And with the current actions of the king, Emery feared that his feelings would take a sudden
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