Synopsis and Starting Chapter Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
Chapter 80
Chapter 81
Chapter 82
Chapter 83
Chapter 84
Chapter 85
Chapter 86
Chapter 87
Chapter 88
Chapter 89
Chapter 90 - Light And Shadow>
Chapter 91
Chapter 92
Chapter 93
Chapter 94
Chapter 95
Chapter 96
Chapter 97
Chapter 98
Chapter 99
Chapter 100
Chapter 101
Chapter 102
Chapter 103
Chapter 104
Chapter 105
Chapter 106
Chapter 107
Chapter 108
Chapter 109
Chapter 110
Chapter 111
Chapter 112 - The Morning Comes>
Chapter 113
Chapter 114
Chapter 115
Chapter 116
Chapter 117
Chapter 118 - After The Storm
Chapter 119
Chapter 120
Chapter 121
Chapter 122
Chapter 123
Chapter 124
Chapter 125
Chapter 126
Chapter 127
Chapter 128
Chapter 129
Chapter 130
Chapter 131
Chapter 132 -
Chapter 133
Chapter 134 - Epilogue 1.3
Chapter 135 - Epilogue 2.1: Traces Of Life
Chapter 136
Chapter 137 - Epilogue 2.3
Chapter 138
Chapter 139
Chapter 140
Chapter 141 - Epilogue 4.1: Ever After>
Chapter 142 - Epilogue 4.2
Chapter 143 - Epilogue 4.3
Chapter 144 - Epilogue 5.1>
Chapter 145 - Epilogue 5.2
Chapter 146 - The Most Romantic Weekend>
Chapter 147 - Short Stories 1.2
Chapter 148 -
Chapter 149 -
Chapter 150 -
Chapter 151 -
Chapter 152 -
Chapter 153 -
Chapter 154 - Short Stories 3.1: Unexpected Things Happen>
Chapter 155 - Short Stories 3.2>
Chapter 156 -
Chapter 157 -
Chapter 158 -
Chapter 159 -
Chapter 160 -
Chapter 161 - Short Stories 5.1: The Man Behind The Mask>
Chapter 162
Chapter 163
Chapter 164 -
Chapter 165 -
Chapter 166
Chapter 167 - Short Stories 6.2
Chapter 168 - Short Stories 6.3
Chapter 169
Chapter 170
Chapter 171
Chapter 172
Chapter 173
Chapter 174
Chapter 175
Chapter 176
Chapter 177
Chapter 178
Chapter 179
Chapter 180
Chapter 181
Chapter 182
Chapter 183
Chapter 184
Chapter 185
Chapter 186
Chapter 187
Chapter 188
Chapter 189 (End)
Categories Genre: All, Completed, Fantasy Status: Completed ______
Total Chapters in book: 189
Estimated words: 290059 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1450(@200wpm)___ 1160(@250wpm)___ 967(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 290059 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1450(@200wpm)___ 1160(@250wpm)___ 967(@300wpm)
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LIST OF LAST 10 CHAPTERS:
Page No. 189 Page No. 188 Page No. 187 Page No. 186 Page No. 185 Page No. 184 Page No. 183 Page No. 182 Page No. 181 Page No. 180 Page No. 179 Chapter 125
Chapter 125:
He acted like a perfect gentleman. He took out the chair for me to sit and pushed it in when I did.
Lucretius sat down across from me as the café owner himself brought us the menu. The middle-aged man was definitely not a server. I was sure he was the owner, but perhaps I was mistaken.
The man handed us the menus and exclaimed, “It has been so long since you came here, Sir Lucen.”
Sir Lucen?
Who was that? Why did the man seem to know Lucretius so well?
Lucen must have been Lucretius’ alias. I spied on them as the man treated Luc like a VVIP customer.
When I was asked what I wanted to eat, I got Lucretius to choose. I had a big dinner before coming here, so I wasn’t hungry. We would probably get some snacks, and I knew Lucretius had an expensive taste, so he would make a good decision.
Lucretius ordered, “My usual then.”
The man smiled brightly and bowed. “Of course. You will not regret it.”
He backed away respectfully. When he was gone, I asked, “Do you own this café?”
Lucretius shook his head. “No. I have so much work already, I don’t need more.”
“Hmm…”
However, the café owner and Lucretius seemed very familiar with each other, which meant Lucretius frequented this place.
“But then why would he treat you so respectfully…?”
Based on Samantha’s reaction and how familiar Sir Clark was in shadowing us, it was clear Lucretius snuck out of the castle often.
Lucretius grinned. “Try and guess.”
“You couldn’t have told him you are the emperor, right?”
He shook his head. “Of course not. The owner thinks I’m a rich nobleman named Lucen des Morelin.”
“Then it still doesn’t make sense how he treats you like he does. There are plenty of rich noblemen out there.”
Lucretius gave me his signature annoying smile.
“It’s because Lucen des Morelin is the owner of this plot and the building.”
“…”
So his alias was a real-estate tycoon.
***
Lucretius ordered a giant ice cream. He loved sweets just as much as I did. The only thing he didn’t like was raisins, which I liked.
Lucretius looked at the ice cream proudly and bragged, “This isn’t even on the menu. They make it especially for me.”
“…”
I still couldn’t understand. Even if Luc owned the building, wouldn’t the owner of the café protest if asked to empty the entire second floor on such a short notice? Why would the café owner act so spinelessly?
I decided to ask. “What did you do to that man that he seems to almost fear you? Ordering things that are not even on the menu… Even if you own the building and the land, it still doesn’t make sense. There must be more to this story.”
Lucretius smiled evilly. “Originally, this café was owned by a different man.”
“Did you… get rid of the old owner and put that man in his place?”
“Bingo!” He clapped as I gasped.
“Seriously?”
I knew he could be too much, but this was…
What he said next was even more shocking.
“This cafe always had great deserts, but the previous owner was annoying. He wouldn’t do what I wanted, so I got angry.”
I didn’t know who this original owner was, but I felt sorry for him. Who would have thought the emperor of the greatest kingdom would sneak around the city coveting sweet deserts?
“So I came up with an alias, purchased this land and the building, and demanded unreasonable lease to drive him out.”
“…”
This was sad. There were similar stories in Korea where the building owners were unreasonable pricks.
“The current owner used to be just a server here and I liked him, so I gave him this café with a condition that he keeps the same chef and the pâtissier.”
“…”
I couldn’t tell if he was petty or decisive. Maybe he was both.
Lucretius scoped up a spoonful of ice cream with a flower-shaped silver spoon and tried to feed me.
“…”
I felt my face becoming red.
However, the great emperor himself was offering to feed me, so who was I to refuse him?
I kept telling myself it wasn’t because I liked being treated like this. I opened my mouth, but when I was about to taste the sweet cream…
“Huh?”
The spoonful of ice cream suddenly disappeared into his mouth! He grinned at me infuriatingly as I complained.
“That’s not fair!”
Just then, he stood up and walked towards me and all of a sudden, I tasted the heavenly dessert in my own mouth.
It wasn’t on a metal, wooden, or porcelain spoon. He used something even better.
His lips were unbelievably sweet, and the kiss ended too quickly. I licked my lips wanting more.
I murmured quietly, “It… melted too fast.”
He chuckled and pointed at the bowl of ice cream on the table.
“We still have a lot left, so don’t worry.”
“…”
I became breathless.
***
I felt a little self-conscious when we left the café. We had a great time, but because of it, my lips were slightly swollen. I felt like people could tell what we had been doing.
I knew there was nothing to be embarrassed about, but I couldn’t help it. My face felt warm as I remembered the melting sweetness in my mouth. I was so absorbed in my thoughts that I didn’t even realize he was talking to me.
“Bina.”
“…”
“Bina!”
“Oh!”
I turned towards him with a blush, but thankfully, he didn’t seem to notice.
Instead, he asked me, “Are you okay if we go somewhere?”
I nodded. “Sure.”
He seemed serious as he led me to the outer edge of the city.
About an hour later, we were at a royal cemetery outside of Rombrook. It was a huge place guarded by royal guards. I was told when a royal member died, some of his or her personal royal guards continued to serve them by protecting the grave.
In front of this particular grave was an elderly man wearing armor.
When Lucretius took off his hat, the guard relaxed.
He smiled beautifully and said to Lucretius, “Your highness!”
Lucretius also looked unusually comfortable as he replied, “Long time no see, Dian.”
“Yes.”
The guard greeted Lucretius like a grandson. Luc introduced the elderly man to me.
“Bina, this is the retired royal guard Dian. He used to be my mother’s personal guard.”
I took off my hood as well and greeted him, “Hello.”
The guard smiled widely and bowed to me.
“So you are the infamous lady.” He turned towards Lucretius and added. “Her highness Dowager empress Beatrice would be very happy.”
Lucretius didn’t reply, but I could feel his hand squeezing mine.
***
The cemetery building looked small from the outside, especially considering this was for the royal family. However, this was just the entrance. Behind it was a large mountain cave functioning as the tomb for the former emperors, empresses, and the wives’ bodies.
It took us a while to get to the main room, which meant this was a huge tomb. Lucretius held the oil lamp as we walked so we could see.
He explained, “Dian was the only royal guard who didn’t betray my mother. I offered him a comfortable life with a title and property, but he refused and insisted on guarding this place till the end.”
“A very loyal knight.”
“Indeed, but even a loyal knight couldn’t save my mother.”
“…”
Suddenly, we finally stopped at a stone coffin. It was a pure white marble coffin. The lid was sculpted with the likeness of whoever was resting inside. The figure on this coffin was a beautiful woman with a pregnant belly. This must have been how Empress Beatrice looked before she was executed.
Lucretius added quietly, “And I… couldn’t save my mother either.”
Total Chapters in book: 189
Estimated words: 290059 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1450(@200wpm)___ 1160(@250wpm)___ 967(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 290059 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1450(@200wpm)___ 1160(@250wpm)___ 967(@300wpm)
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