Aster and I made sure Lady Eodelle won’t leave her room after the drastic display happened in the palace garden. The place was temporarily closed from the people of the palace while the investigation was still in process and the guards were on full alert in every corner of Headow Stronghold, day and night.Not trusting the guards who are mostly under Emyr’s command, I sent my own soldiers as well to guard, especially Lady Eodelle and Lady Marian’s room. I won’t let Helena have the chance to execute her plans against the two while I am here. I know Aster has something in his head about how to remove Emyr from his position as his Beta. And there is one thing I know how to get him out of this palace fast, without going through the members of the council. I am sure those *ssholes won’t agree with Aster’s plan after Emyr brought so many successful projects—a huge success because of lady Eodelle, who worked hard on all of it, which he took all the credit just to make him look useful in thi
[HELENA’s Point-of-View][A week before…]“Please, your Grace! I have nothing to do with that woman! We only met once in the brothel and also once here in the palace garden but nothing more than that! I didn’t come here after she offered me to work in the palace kitchen!”I raised an eyebrow at her. The tall woman, one of my favorite torturers lifted her face on me, waiting for my signal to pull another nail from the wh*re’s hand. I gazed at the woman with stoic eyes. I don’t feel any remorse for her kind at all. She is one of Emyr’s favorites in that brothel and that is what makes me hate her. I scoffed. I hate that Emyr still entertains himself with the likes of her when I am just here in the palace willing to give my every second to him. And yet, he still sneaks sometimes, searching for pleasure on one of his favorite slave girls.“What did you and Eodelle Wycliffe talk about? Did she say anything about me or anything about Headow Stronghold?!” I asked her contemptuously, wanting t
I stopped a bit, surprised to see Emyr inside my bed chamber. I was lucky my handmaidens didn’t go inside first. I was petrified a bit and then asked my entourage to leave me alone for a while, telling them I need to stay inside my room, alone.After I closed and locked the door, I glared at Emyr in anger, “What are you doing here in broad daylight, you fool?! What if my servants saw you here?!” she snarled at him, keeping her distance from him because she can see on his face he is anxious as hell, “What made you sneak in here?! Is it about Penny?!”He couldn't look straight into my eyes. He was guilty as f*ck.“You are not being careful, Emyr! And because of what you did, I had no choice but to kill that woman!” I scowl at him.“I never thought she was pregnant! She didn’t tell me about it!” He tried to explain himself.“It’s too late though. She is dead. I just have to make sure no one will know who did that to her. The last time she was seen, she was with you and Eodelle.”Emyr lo
“Helena!”I ignored whoever called my name and continued embroidering a tiny hat for my soon-to-be baby who I am expecting to come on the last day of the next month. I smiled while I look at my work: a baby hat made of silk with a white cloud embroidered on it. It has been a long time since I made something and it was surprising that I found peace while stitching this small thing in my hand.Too bad I can only enjoy it for a very short time.“Helena! A soldier came from downtown and told the Emperor that King Laurent was missing! All of his men were massacred in one of the alleys of that place but no one has an idea where the King is!”I raised an eyebrow, continuing what I was doing while listening to one of the council members—a pudgy old man with a sickening grin on his face. He seemed pleased about the news, making it so obvious to me his huge dislike for the new member of the council.“And?” I asked, giving no interest in it.“Are you not thrilled about it?! That means less ally
[EODELLE’s Point-of-View]I cannot help pacing back and forth inside my room. I want to go out to know what is happening outside but Lady Marian and the Talaphatian soldiers won’t let me. Nina and Cecil are already scared while watching me walk around my room for already half-an-hour.“Seriously, Lady Eodelle… you have to settle and calm down for a bit! I am scared for your baby!” Lady Marian tried to convince me to sit down.“I actually feel bad that I am making you all anxious but I feel something is not right. I need to get out and check for myself what is going on…” I pleaded with Lady Marian who was looking at me with worried eyes. King Laurent told her not to ever let me get out of this bedchamber no matter what and I never agreed to this. But Lady Marian seemed obedient to Laurent which made me a little suspicious there is something special going on between the two.Even in her calm demeanor, I know deep inside, Lady Marian also worries about King Laurent but she never makes i
Aster let me walk outside my bed chamber after telling him that I will be careful and to assure him that I will be safe, I told him I allow the guards to go with me wherever I go in the palace. He was still skeptical about it but if I will stay longer inside the four corners of my room, I will surely lose my sh*t especially since Lady Marian didn’t come back last night, which made Aster send more men to find the two all over the downtowns surrounding the Headow Stronghold.“Still no news about them?” I asked Cecil with a worried look.She was standing still beside me waiting for me to ask her for anything that I needed, especially since it was getting harder for me to move with my growing belly. I am just grateful that I don’t feel any kind of dizziness or pain. I just crave a lot of roasted chicken and apples, and the favorite place I wanted to read my books is the Garden of white roses, which is just near the gazebo, the very first place where I met Aster Bentham.I shook my head, e
“What, what is the meaning of this?! Where are you taking me!”I pushed myself away from the palace soldier’s tight grip on my arm. He was too strong and I couldn't even move him an inch away from where he was standing until he started dragging me along with them.“Soldier! There is no way you can treat one of the Emperor’s concubines like this! The lady is pregnant with the Emperor’s child and once he finds out about this, he will surely send you to the guillotine himself!” The polite Talaphatian soldier warned the palace soldier who was the captain of the troop that came to take me from somewhere.The captain stared at the Talaphatian soldier condescendingly, displeased by the presence of a foreign soldier inside their territory. He must have contemplated what the soldier had told him and he released my arm from his cruel grip.Nina and Cecil immediately pulled me closer to them and they both shielded their bodies between me and the ruthless soldiers. I glared at the captain of the
[ASTER’s Point-of-View]“LAURENT!”I called his name as loud as I could.All my senses are on full alert while we all look for King Laurent on the outskirt of the west premise of the realm. The forest was thick with old giant sequoias and the mist was thick, making it so difficult to search for a person’s body— no… I shouldn’t think that my best friend died in that ambush that happened in one of the brothels in one of the alleys downtown. One of his men survived the attack and managed to follow the assassins in this part of the forest. I just wish we are not too late. I wish he was still alive and just unconscious somewhere.My sense of smell doesn’t work in this kind of place when all I can smell is the musky scent of the forest trees, the bushes, and the freshly moist dirt. I filled my lungs with the cool, fresh air, hoping it can somehow calm me down while I keep the pace of my horse slow, my ears sensitive to any rustling sounds surrounding us.“LAURENT!”I heard Lady Marian’s des
“Aster no…”But I couldn’t stop him anymore.As fast as he could, I saw how he killed the palace soldiers one by one inside the Emperor’s Hall and saved Nina. But to his shock, he stopped in front of Lady Marian’s body which was lying on the marble floor, cold and unmoving. He stared at her for a bit with a solemn face like she was some kind of a sister for him and lifted her, and carried her towards me and Nina where she covered her lifeless body with a curtain he took from one of the walls with the insignia of the North Kingdom as one of the allied Kingdoms of the Empire.As soon as he came back to me and our baby, He held me tight once again and looked at the small child in my arms with his gentle eyes despite the agony he must be feeling all over his body. And then he glanced back at Lady Marian's body which made me sob as my heart broke into pieces for losing a great friend.“She is a good person, Eodelle… She helped me through a lot about you and Laurent. She never deserved thi
"MARIAN!!!"My whole body froze as I watched her kneel in front of the red guard who stabbed her. Her face turned dark before she fell to the ground, her body not moving anymore. My nose was filled with the scent of her blood as it wafted all over the place, giving me shudders all over my body. The hall turned silent as we all watched Lady Marian dead on the floor. I feel like my heart and soul were shattered into millions of pieces and it horrified me more when I could no longer hear my child's cry. He also turned silent as fear crawled all over me. "See what you have done, Eodelle... I told you not to fight me anymore. I may be a liar sometimes but you know what I can do when someone upsets me," Emyr sneered while I stood frozen, still in denial that Marian was already gone just like that.Tears fell from my eyes, "What do you want me to do then, Emyr? What do you want from me?!" I tried to contain the anger inside me as my throat ached while I sobbed. My whole body was trembling
It is a call of desperation.I glared at Emyr. He knew from the start that he and Helena won't win this war. That is why he is trying to make some bargain to spare his and Helena's life. But there is no way I could let these two escape after what they did to my son...to Aster. I don't exactly know if he will do his side of the bargain though. But I am getting more desperate to see Aster once again and have my baby in my arms. I know I shouldn't trust Emyr with his poisonous words. I shouldn't let myself be deceived by his lies. But my child's life is more important to me."Show them to me first, Emyr! And then I'll decide!" I yelled at him with confidence in my voice. It is me he is pleading to and not the other way around. I should be the one who must ask for demands. "Sure! Just follow me!" He answered with a grin on his face which made me more suspicious. I know I should be more careful but knowing that I am finally going to have my son back takes all the fear in my head and jus
I immediately went to the officers who were leading a horse for her to use and then thanked them shortly after I put on some new set of clothes and before I hopped on the animal and galloped towards the Imperial City in a route not too familiar for me. I had to take it as per Lady Marian's advice so that no Red soldier wouldn't recognize me on that path where few people take it because it was a little farther than the main road.With gritted teeth, I made the horse run to its full speed. But I have other plans. I know Lady Marian is already waiting for me at the downtown alley where four Talaphatian soldiers are with her. I know she will surely get mad once she finds out I didn't go just as we planned. I have to go alone and never wanted to put my best friend's life in danger just like what I promised King Laurent. She will be safe with her guards.Through the woods, all I think about is Aster and our son. I will go to Headow Stronghold alone and face whatever will be waiting for me t
This is the day.I feel like my heart is in my throat. My heartbeat pains my ears as the throbbing goes harder, faster, making my hands tremble in fear as we all march towards the wide plain at the border of Northern Kingdom and the Imperial city.King Laurent didn’t allow Lady Marian to march with us. She is waiting for me at one of the darkest downtown alleys for the mission to save Aster, and my child. I can’t wait until this battle march is over. I can’t wait to see Aster again and our son. I pray Helena didn’t do anything to him. I pray he is safe inside the Headow Stronghold and being watched by my ancestors, keeping him safe.The sky is clear and the sun is gentle on my skin as I rode with the three Kings on my side. The North, West and Talaphatian King swore their loyalty to me and the future that I promised to them. The future that we all are seeking is free from greed, violence and self-interest that the Imperial council portrays just to make themselves more powerful and t
The council meeting with the Northern Kingdom and the Western Kingdom was not good. There was tension between the two Kings and I can feel that even Laurent felt a little frustrated about it. King Anthony never liked the arrogance of the King of the West who was Katrina’s father. His grumpy face reminded me of my father and I can’t deny that each time he looks at me with his mouth curved downward and his eyes judging, piercing eyes penetrating through the stoic facade I have been practicing because I never wanted them to think I am scared of them.We are all in a place—a carved cave the northern men use as the council chamber. In the middle is the wide wooden table with the map of the continent carved into it with wooden pieces representing each Kingdom and the Headow Stronghold. King Lauren and Lady Marian never left my side even when we entered the chamber. King Anthony never wanted his little sister to join the war meeting with me but she insisted because she is also part of what
I have to make him believe I have the ability to rule the Kingdom just like a true Wycliffe does. I can feel the blood of my ancestors running through me as my inner wolf convinces me that I am not the same Eodelle who used to fear a lot of things. King Laurent and Lady Marian looked at me with their brows angled upward, worried that I might fail to convince the Northern King to join the alliance. King Laurent cannot guarantee that he can beat the Headow Stronghold after the Southern Kingdom already pledged its alliance with Helena and the Western side was still indecisive about it.“Eodelle, you don’t have to. We all know…” Laurent whispered to me as he stood on my left and Lady Marian on my right. They still have no idea that I have finally had my wolf. But to be honest, I am scared I won’t be able to control myself once I unleash and shift into my werewolf form. It will be my very first time and I am aware I will have to endure a hell of pain once the process of physical change ha
[ASTER’s Point-of-View]Now I understand how terrifying it must be for Eodelle when I threw her into this very dungeon. Dark, cold, stinking… I am a monster for making her suffer the first night we met. What a tragic first meeting we had. I totally hate myself just thinking of it.I promised Eodelle I will bring our child back. But I failed. I underestimated Helena and I was overconfident that I could still have her trust. I never thought that while I was gone, she had lost our child. I should feel bad about it but what she did to Eodelle is beyond forgiveness.I heard someone sniffing not too far from my cell in the middle of my mooring. The voice was familiar to me as I listened to it carefully.“Nina?”The sniffing stopped.“Your Grace? Is that you? Why are you here?” she asked in shock. I don’t know what cell she was in but her voice was clear. She is careful enough not to make it echo inside the dungeon.“Long Story. But can you tell me what happened?”Nina was very detailed when
For two days I have been trying to stand up on my own feet, wishing the effect of the poison that was given to me by that healer would finally be gone. Despite my anger and my demand not to see her again, the healer still comes into my tent to give me an antidote from the poison for my fast recovery. She had been asking for forgiveness for what she did to me and what happened to me and my baby but I refused to talk to her, letting her guilt eat her inch by inch. Without my baby in my hands, I can’t find any sympathy to give her. My heart is just filled with revenge and a huge desire to have my child and Aster back. To save Nina and make Helena pay for everything she did to me and to the people important to me.I have been suffering from a high fever and with the level of dizziness I feel, I could barely get up from my bed. My body feels like I am inside an oven, slowly being cooked into ashes. I am sweating so badly that the maidservants in the camp had to replace my bedsheet thrice