“Why are you just telling me about this?” Elena scolded the girl. Mona was still recovering from the bruises inflicted by the whips and as a result, her family skipped the coronation.Elena was cleaning her wounds when Mona told her about Cedric's offer. “Because I already declined, mother. I didn't think there was a need to mention it,” Mona responded with gritted teeth. Elena flicked her forehead, “You stupid, stupid child! What were you thinking? Someone offered you the opportunity to be an empress and you declined? Were you drunk?” “Why are you scolding me? You were the one who told me I could win back Styles,” Mona whined. Elena smacked her temple with a groan. When would the girl ever be smart? Of course, she said that, but that was only because she felt that Styles was doing this to make them grovel. From what they could see, it was obvious the Prince was really interested in the lowly maid. He had to go as far as ordering his guards to whip her daughter!This couldn't be
Ragi having dinner in his room when a knock came. He was reluctant to respond at first but reasoned that it might have been the young Emperor.“Come in.” He set his food and true to his suspicion, Styles walked in. “Your Majesty,” he bowed, ready to stand but Styles stopped him. “I see you are having a little feast. All by yourself, of course,” Styles teased. “You are always welcome to join me, Your Highness,” Ragi chuckled.“Exactly what I was hoping you'd say,” Styles snatched the bowl from him along with his chopsticks. “You haven't stopped this rowdy habit,” Ragi shook his head, grabbing another bowl from the set of dishes.Styles let out a small moan and Ragi hit his head with a chopstick.“Is this how you treat your emperor?” Styles frowned.“Is this how an Emperor is supposed to behave? Snatching bowls and moaning like a street urchin?” He retorted. “You haven't changed a bit. Just as mean and uptight as always,” Styles mumbled, returning to his dish. Ragi smiled fondly a
“Why do you take this so lightly? It was an assassination attempt. They are not going to stop until you are ten feet under,” Ivory complained.Since the news about the poison arrow reached her, she had been terrified and unsettled. She didn't want her husband dying as a result of any power tussle. They were just newlyweds. She couldn't afford to lose him yet. Styles understood her plight but he didn't know how to explain to her that it was worth worrying about.He had everything under control and in no time, they would catch the intruder. “Honey, you need to calm down,” he pleaded but she didn't want to hear it. Nothing of what was happening was safe. It proved to be dangerous!“Nothing will happen to me, I promise,” he assured her.“How do you know that? Have you caught the assassin? Do you know if they have accomplices? Are you immune to poison? How exactly are you safe?” Ivory asked. It warmed his heart to see her so worried about him. Wrapping his arms around her, he assured h
The plan was simple yet the execution turned out to be a lot harder, just like Mona expected it would.Cedric gave her the injection as agreed but distracting Ragi was a bigger problem. The man wouldn't move from position and even if they did succeed in getting him away, there were guards positioned inside and outside the ward.In other words, it was impossible to get in. Cedric, after weighing the situation, called for an abortion. If they went ahead with the plan, they were likely to get caught and that would be disastrous for all of them. “I told you we needed a plan B. I knew a plan that simple wouldn't be that easy to execute,” Mona said. “Now is not the time for blame. I hate that man. I hate him with every fiber of my being. He keeps ruining my plans, every single time!” Cedric groaned.“Uhm… what crime is punishable by death in the Black empire?” Mona asked, surprising Cedric.“And why do you want to know that?” “Because if we frame him for it, he would be out of our hair
The more Malk thought of this place, the crazier it became. He was supposed to unalive the question and believe that the cunning Lord Cedric would save him.Was it too late to back down? Probably. He picked up the operating knife, eying his colleagues suspiciously. They didn't seem to take notice of anything as they focused on her daily check-up. Now was a perfect time to strike. So without hesitation, he plunged the knife into her stomach and the doctors burst out a yelp. He pulled it out, attempting to stab her again but this time, he was pulled back by soldiers. Malk prayed to the heavens that he hadn't made a mistake trusting Cedric even though everything in him told him that he did. The doctors sprang into action immediately. They couldn't afford to lose the queen now that she was recovering. The strike was deep so the bleeding was a bit harder to control.Meanwhile, the guards led Malk to the prison, waiting for the King to arrive. Styles didn't waste a minute when he was
Liah stopped in front of the guards with a tray of food. “Who are you?”“General Ragi asked that I bring the prisoner food to brace him for the trial ahead,” Liah lied. She had been going about her normal chores when Cedric sent for her. This time, he threatened to kill her if she failed to deliver the assignment.He wasn't bluffing so she couldn't risk it. Besides, this was relatively easier than the last assignment. She didn't know Malk so killing him wouldn't bother her half as much as incapacitating the Emperor. So she made a mask to hide her real face so that even if the poison was discovered, she wouldn't be a suspect. “Are you sure about this?” The guard asked suspiciously but Liah showed no sign of fear. “You can go ahead and ask him. He will be down here in an hour anyway,” she shrugged. The guards seemed to be convinced and let her in. Liah arrived at his cell and dropped the food. Glancing back to make sure the guards weren't eavesdropping, she whispered.“The Lord p
A few days went by and Styles didn't leave Ivory's side. Ragi made sure to tighten security and all pieces of equipment and doctors were double-checked. They couldn't take the risk of another accident. The Empress was slipping in and out of unconsciousness but it was better than being dead and Styles was happy with the development. Cedric didn't like this one bit. He went around the Elders's houses trying to convince them that Styles was neglecting the affairs of the kingdom because of a woman.The visits were unsuccessful, of course. Unlike he hoped, the Lords understood the feeling of loss and decided to support the Emperor until his wife was back in good health. They also reminded him that Ragi was filling in for him even though there were no pressing matters in the empire. Cedric’s annoyance only grew. It seemed like his nephew had the entire council of Lords wrapped around his fingers. So he decided to pay the Empress a visit. As expected Ragi was the first person he came a
Styles rested in the bath, shutting his eyes to enjoy the burn coating his skin. His head was thrown backward as the steam enveloped the room, making it difficult to spot anything. He needed this after the three days tarry by his wife's side. Ragi had to force him out because it was unbefitting of an Emperor to skip his bath for three consecutive days. Styles couldn't argue. The man had a point. So he let his wife under the care of the security and went to have his bath. “This feels so good,” he mumbled, sinking deeper into the water. Usually, the maids were supposed to help him bathe but Styles had them dismissed since he got married. He didn't want any other woman touching him except his wife. Ivory had gone a thousand shades of red then and he found it absolutely adorable. Sometimes, it surprised him how easily the woman was occupying his heart. If only he met her before he got entangled with Mona. Now, he was going to do his best to protect her from his enemies. He was goin