“Marriage?” Lord Blane spoke up after the prolonged silence. “You have barely been married for three months and you are considering the possibility of taking another bride?” “I love my wife but do not get me wrong. This marriage is purely a transaction. There are no feelings attached. She offered herself as a price for her people's freedom, do you expect me to dash her hope?” Styles asked the council.They shook their heads with disappointed expressions. It was unlike the emperor to make such rash decisions.“You barely know her, your Majesty. What if she is not the angel you presume her to be? What if she's a woman of questionable character?” Lord Orio asked. Styles gave a thought to the possibilities, “I don't think so. Princess Heli seemed like a very noble woman to me. She is only desperate to protect her people and retrieve the ones who were forcefully enslaved to another land. If anything, I think she is brave.” “Brace? Do you call a marriage proposal brave? Why are we not lo
“May I have a word with you?” Ivory was beyond surprised. This had to be a dream. Klein, talking to her politely? Certainly a dream. “Why?” She couldn't stop herself from asking. “Why do you suddenly want to talk to me?” “I would have gone to the Emperor but he is unavailable for now. I thought I should see you since you have almost the same authority as him.” Ivory resisted the urge to tell him that the next authority after the Emperor was his second in command, which was none other than General Ragi.“What do you need?” “My father is severely sick. Can you permit me to take him to the royal ward to be attended to?” He asked.“Pa is sick!” She gasped. “Why am I just being informed? Take him to the royal ward immediately and tell the doctors I instructed them to attend to him immediately. I need to get ready and inform my husband of my whereabouts.”“Is that the only thing you'd be informing him about?” Klein muttered and Ivory froze on the spot.“I beg your pardon?”“Pardoned,”
The Emperor wants to take a new wife. They say she is the princess of a primitive village. They call it Yung,” Cedric informed Mona. Her mouth went agape. “The Emperor wants to take another wife? It's been barely four months since he got married. Why does he need another wife?” She asked. “I wouldn't know that but this is our opportunity. From what I have gathered, the Empress doesn't know about this yet. If we can inform her ahead of him with a little twist here and there, I am positive we can get her to work with us,” Cedric said. Mona frowned. She didn't like the idea of working with the woman who stole her man. It was better to leave her to die of the heartbreak“Do we really need her?” Mona grumbled. “Of course we do. She is the closest to the Emperor and if she is against him, it would give us easier access to him, don't you think?” Cedric asked her. Mona could not tell him that she was still bitter about the fact that Styles chose a maid over her. “I am only worried if she
Ivory thought her day couldn't get. anyskwdworse when Liah knocked on her door. The girl hurried inside as soon as the door was opened. Ivory shut the door in surprise, wondering what the problem was. “Have you heard the news circulating around the palace?” She asked. “What news?” Ivory asked. “That the Emperor is taking another wife,” Liah informed her. “Quiet! Don't you dare speak of my husband like that!” Ivory snapped.Liah quickly bowed, “Forgive me, your highness but I speak nothing but the truth. His Majesty is planning to take another wife. They say she is some beautiful princess from a faraway Kingdom.”“You apologize get you still go ahead to speak nonsense. My husband loves me. He would never think of doing something that cruel to me,” Ivory defended. Liah raised her slowly. “It might be difficult for you to believe me but I know what I'm saying. I think you should confront him if you believe what I speak is false.”Ivory didn't know what to think. The girl sounded r
“I can't believe you're making me do this again.” “Can you stop complaining? Whether you like it or not, I am doing this for the good of the people. Stop being a chicken and let us move,” Heli snapped. “Are you really doing this for the people or your selfish reasons? You could have asked the king for help. He seems like a nice man. You don't have to conjure him into marrying. You know the consequences…” The words died in his mouth when he was suddenly lifted into the air. “How dare you question my motives? Everything I do is for the good of the Yung empire and you know that! Why are you trying to paint me the villain?” Heli yelled at him.“Y'all should be thanking me. Without me, you will all be miserable slaves to the Wang Empire. I am trying to save and you stand there, scolding me? How dare you?!” He struggled in the air as her grip on his neck tightened. Her blue eyes were completely black and it terrified the hell out of him. It was easier to handle when a human was strangli
“What did you find on the Yung princess?” Ragi asked Lord Archie. “I didn't find anything unusual. The princess was speaking the truth. The Wang Empire is indeed terrorizing them. They took their people captive and raided their town on several occasions. The princess’ intention might be pure,” Archie answered. “I agree with Archie. People make marriage treaties all the time. She probably thought this would be the best way to get accepted,” Lord Blane concurred. Ragi had nothing to say to it. Since the investigation concluded that everything the princess said was true then all they had to do was revise the proposal.“The Emperor has declared his disinterest in continuing with the marriage,” Ragi informed them. The confusion on their faces mirrored his exact expression when Styles informed him. “I don't understand. Wasn't he the one declaring he would marry her at all costs? You even got insulted in your effort to dissuade him,” Lord Orio imputed. “I know. I was just as surprised w
“ I think she's gaining consciousness, ” Ivory heard faintly the murmurs of the maids that attended to her.“ W-where am I?” Ivory blinked her eyes open, her eyes heavy with exhaustion. She tried to comprehend what had happened, her memory was a bit fuzzy.“ You're in the Royal infirmary, Your Highness,” one of the maids answered.“ H-how did I...” she gasped in realization. Everything before she fainted came flooding back, her eyes popped open and she quickly sprang up into a sitting position, her breath unsteady and her heart pulsating.“ Your Highness, are you alright? Should I get the doctor?” One of the maids panicked.“ Is... Has His Majesty...” her chest tightened as thoughts swirled through her head.“ I was just about walking inside to talk to you. I'm glad you're awake,” Emperor Styles’ voice made Ivory stop midway through her sentence. Her trembling was obvious and so was the anger on Emperor Styles’ face. “ I'm sorry, Your Highness but I had to tell him the truth,” the doc
“ You look stunning, Your Highness,” one of Heli’s maids complimented after touching up her hair. “ I always am,” she had heard that compliment a little too much to care, not to mention how confident she was in her bewitching beauty. “ As always, Your Highness,” the maid bowed followed by the others who stood around. “ Get the carriages ready, we're heading to Black Empire,” Heli announced and the maids got moving. In a moment, everything was ready for the journey and they set out. The Black Empire had been allies of the Yung Empire which now had nothing but a small village left.Their relationship was strained in the last two hundred years which she was confident the Black Empire had long forgotten and despite the fact that neither of them has proven hostile to the other, there has been little to no interaction between the two.“How far away are we?” Heli asked as the wheels of the chariots kicked against the stray pebbles on the rough road. Heli had always been the impatient
“You already cast this spell on me. Am I supposed to stay awake forever, Darell?” Ivory was fed up. “Please calm down, your highness,” Darell said softly. “How many more of these temporary spells do I need? You already did the first one and it wore off in three days or less and now this?” Ivory exasperated.“We are trying to buy time to find a solution, Your Majesty. Please understand,” Darell explained calmly. She couldn't find it in her to get pissed at Ivory. She couldn't even imagine what the woman was going through now. “You know what, I'm done with this!” Ivory growled and stormed out of the room. “Where is she going? Somebody stop her!” Darell yelled but the glares that Ivory threw their way made them stand back. They resorted to informing the Emperor as he was the only one who could calm her down. Ivory got to the kitchen and matched to the cabinets where the knives were kept. The maids gasped as she grabbed the butcher knife. Darell rushed into the kitchen at that mom
Darell went to the execution ground with a couple of guards. Roy was still unconscious and it was perfect for her operation. She set her materials in place and started the ritual. Soon enough, she invaded Roy's mind but just before she could extract the information she was looking for, his eyes flew open and a cruel laugh escaped him.“What do you think you are doing?” He asked her. “Do you think I will keep such confidential information in my head?” “What did the Empress do to you?” Darell demanded.“Nothing,” he shrugged. “Was it the Emperor then?” She asked. “He doesn't need to do anything for me to punish him. I love the feeling of crushing the weak,” he laughed. Darell knew this man was a maniac.She knocked him back unconscious with an enchanted powder and began the ritual once again. Although he made it clear that the answers were not in his mind, she didn't want to relent. Even if she didn't get a direct answer, she was sure she would find a clue on how to stop it. She
The first hit had Daniel flying across the street. He let out a loud groan as his back connected with the tree. This wasn't the regular fight he was used to but he knew exactly what he was getting himself into when he challenged Roy.He forced himself up the ground and charged towards Roy but the man easily swung him to the side. “You know when you challenged me, I actually thought you had some insight on how to fight me spiritually,” he huffed, “but engaging you has proven to be a waste of time!”“Which is why you should take me on!” A feminine voice challenged from behind. Roy already recognized the voice as Darell's.He whipped his head around, surprised that she could get the chains off her. He'd always known there was something special about this woman and every single minute he spent with her proved that she was twice as powerful as he was.“I didn't expect you to be up so soon,” he said. “How long did you think I could stand the stench of your wife?” Darell retorted. “Wife?
Eisha didn't dare look back as she ran. Although she was afraid of what would happen to Daniel with her gone, she knew it was necessary to save the Empress before the monster she once considered a friend got to her. She didn't think that Daniel was equipped enough to hold him down for long and her legs were getting tired. On sighting a horse from a distance, she quickly flagged the horse and luckily it was a royal horse. “Who are you running?” The soldier asked. Eisha was about to respond when she suddenly realized that a single royal horse couldn't be out here in their market.It only meant one thing. Without responding, she dashed past him, running to catch a carriage to the palace. Her heart skipped when she heard the horse galloping behind her.“Hey, woman! Stop there!” He yelled. She quickly diverted into a narrow street and went through several houses, confident he wouldn't find her. By the time she was out on the street again, the rider was nowhere in sight. She flagged a
“You need to come with me to the palace now,” Daniel told Eisha. “Why? Is something wrong?” She asked. It was sudden to see him return at that this time of the day so she knew for sure that something was up. “Yes, very wrong. The Empress, something is happening to her and we don't know the cause of it,” he said. “What is wrong with the Empress?” Eisha asked. “Her nightmares are becoming reality. She has bite and claw marks all over her and it's becoming frightening. I have this feeling it might have something to do with Roy,” he said. Eisha frowned. She didn't exactly see the connection. As if he read her mind, he responded. “The attacks started immediately after the ceremony,” he explained.“I know Roy is into some shady business but I am not sure he has anything to do with the Empress' ailment,” Eisha argued. “Fine! Even if he's not responsible for it, let's inform the Emperor about his true identity.”“I don't know, Daniel. Is that really necessary…” Eisha drawled uneasily.
Darell opened her eyes to an unfamiliar environment. The place was stuffy and smelled like it hadn't been cleaned in years. Her heightened senses could pick out the smell of a rotting corpse somewhere. She tried to sit up from the lying position only to discover that her body was chained to the bed. Her nose scrunched in irritation. “You're awake,” the gruff voice startled her. She didn't notice his presence in the room, until now. “That's good. I was hoping we could have a civil conversation.”“If you were going to abduct me, you should have at least picked somewhere with enough oxygen. I would the bare first than a room with a rotting corpse,” Darell said.Roy's eyes widen in shock. He thought the spell he used to give the room a homely smell was very effective since no one ever complained about it.How come she smelled it in just seconds of consciousness?“I don't know what you're talking about,” he denied. “You have a yard behind this place, don't you? Didn't it occur to you
Darell squinted her eyes, trying to get a glimpse of his true appearance but there was nothing for her to see. Everything was concealed by the mask on his face. “I don't want to kill you. Left to me, I wouldn't even be here but you are trying to interfere with something that is none of your business and I can't let that happen,” Roy said. “You mean the royal family? I'm afraid that is every bit my business as it is yours and I am going to stop you,” Darell said confidently. Darell pulled out a sword, surprising her. For someone with such an evil aura, she expected him to go fully spiritual on her. “A blade? I thought we were playing with magic. Except, you're not as powerful as you pretend to be,” she mocked. Roy didn't let her words get to him. The mountain already weakened him enough. Any attack he made on this woman had to be physical.She could head to head with him spiritually because of his weak state but her dainty form was no match for his physical strength.“You are not
“What do you think?” Ragi moved away from the Empress with a puzzled expression. “I must confess your highness, I have never seen anything like this. It is strange to me,” Ragi said.Ivory’s shoulder sagged hopelessly. She was expecting that response. Even in her kingdom, there had never been a record of anything like it. “So what do we do now? We have less than ten hours to figure this out, Ragi. I don't want my wife going to bed and waking up with more injuries. We need to do something about this,” Styles said. “I'm sorry, your Majesty but I really don't understand what we can do in this situation. It is a new ailment and it is quite scary,” Ragi sighed.Ivory stood, begging to be excused. She couldn't take it anymore. The images in her head was scary enough, she didn't need a reconfirmation.Styles wanted to go after her but Ragi stopped him.“Maybe Darell can help,” he suggested.“Right, Darell! Why didn't we think about that earlier? Get her here as soon as possible. I'll go
Ivory sat in her chelanvers, staring at the clock. She was afraid to sleep. She didn't want a repeat of what happened the last time.A part of her was still trying to convince her that it was all in her head. That she probably for the scratches from thrashing. But the injuries were too deep to have been her nails and the doctor confirmed it too.Styles walked into the room and this time, she was well aware of his presence. “My love,” she smiled. “Why are you still awake? It's pretty late,” he asked then glanced at the baby's cot, “was she giving you trouble?”“A little but I'm glad she's asleep now. I didn't expect you to come in so soon,” she said. Of a truth, she didn't expect him to come to her chambers at all. She was afraid he would easily notice the marks. Although she was fully clothed, she could feel the lust as his eyes roamed her body. “You're a bit overdressed, don't you think?” He spoke up and she bit her lip. “I was catching a cold,” she lied. “Are you feverish?” H