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 165 -
Chapter 165:
Amarince always thought of her mother when she sang. She couldn’t accept failure; after all, if she failed, it meant that her mother’s life was a failure as well. Amarince couldn’t let that happen, so she worked incredibly hard.
Finally, she stood on the biggest and the best stage in the world.
Yet when she sang her last note, a silence fell.
Was… this the end of her career? Her life?
Sudden fear and desperation were about to overwhelm her.
Just then!
Amarince was saved, and it was by the woman sitting up front and center. The lady smiled beautifully and stood up to give her a standing ovation.
She was sitting in the royal seat, which meant that it had to be Empress Sa Bina.
When she stood to applaud, everyone followed her. Even the emperor himself stood and clapped. It was the greatest honor anyone could receive from the royal family.
Amarince remembered that night very well. It was the best moment of her life.
“Y, your highness…!”
The empress saved her life. She was the one who made everything happen for Amarince.
She bowed deeply. “I… Thank you, your highness.”
The two women started to chat familiarly, and Lucretius looked at them in approval. He much preferred Bina looking at a woman than a man.
***
After the unexpected meeting, Amarince and Roberto walked away from the hallway. She looked pale and she was trembling in shock. Roberto needed to help her so she wouldn’t fall.
As she clung to him, Amarince mumbled, “Jusep… I mean Christian…”
“Hmm?”
His voice was sweet. “No, I mean… Roberto, right? Is that your real name?”
She finally learned this man’s real name.
“Yes.”
“So I finally got to know your name, and it only took five years.”
She met him when she was only sixteen and naïve. He acted maturely considering his young age at the time, and Amarince was helpless from falling for him.
And now…?
How did she feel? She didn’t know.
She did everything he asked tonight. She went to where he ordered her to and acted as he instructed. She was shocked to see the emperor and the empress; her voice trembled.
“Roberto… Is everything okay?”
“Why wouldn’t it be?”
“I don’t know what you are planning to do…”
Roberto caressed her cheek gently. “It’s better for you not to know. It will be safer for you.”
This… was a warning. He was telling her not to ask him any questions.
However, Amarince couldn’t let it go.
“You didn’t tell me that… you were plotting against the empress!”
Roberto smiled glowingly. “The bigger the prey, the more fun I could have.”
“Rober…!”
He placed his hands on Amarince’s neck. He was so strong that he could bend her neck easily. He squeezed slowly, making her suffocate.
“Ro… Rober…!”
Amarince felt true fear. It wasn’t a fear for her life, but for her vocal cord.
After a few seconds, he let her go, and she coughed loudly.
He whispered to her ear in a sickeningly sweet voice, “Now, let’s go, my prima donna. You still have to do something for me.”
Amarince trembled as he dragged her away with him.
***
It was very early in the morning when the ladies gathered around in a restroom to gossip. This was one of the biggest celebrations of the year, and often, most people enjoyed the party all night. There were rooms available for the guests, so they could rest and have a private time if they wished.
The rooms in the inner castle were designated to the most important guests, and tonight, they were the foreign ambassadors and diplomats. The local noble ladies of Cransia were unfortunately assigned to the rooms in the outer area of the castle.
“I have never been in these remote rooms of the castle before.”
“Oh well, during such a big event, the foreign diplomats get the best rooms so I guess we can’t help that.”
“I’m too tired to go home and come back, so I guess I’m staying here…”
Suddenly, the door burst opened.
“Who…”
The couple must have thought it was an empty room. When they realized it was occupied, they left in a hurry.
“…!”
The man and the woman, who clearly was a couple, ran away. The noble ladies looked shocked.
“W, what just happened?”
One of the three ladies exclaimed, “D, did you… see her…?That woman….”
“… So it wasn’t just me?”
As two of the women hesitated, the third woman said loudly, “I didn’t get to see her face clearly because they left so fast, but… that woman… She had black hair, right?”
“…”
“…”
They became silent, but they looked at each other knowingly. All three of them knew the approximate height and body type of the emperor and the empress.
The woman who walked in had obvious black hair and was about the empress’ height. The problem was the man who was with her. They didn’t get to see his face, but he clearly was much shorter than the emperor and had brown hair.
***
On the third night of the celebration.
A strange and disturbing rumor started to spread among the guests. It was about the Cransian empress having an affair with a brown-haired man.
“Oh my… Everyone thought the emperor and the empress had such a wonderful marriage.”
“You never know with people.”
“So her highness really is having an affair with another man? I can’t believe it.”
“My friend was one of the witnesses and she told me that the woman had black hair. In our entire kingdom, her highness is the only one with black hair, right?”
The rumor spread very fast.
***
Duchess Lonensia gasped in shock as she accused her son.
“Rob! Was this you?!”
Roberto smiled awkwardly. “I don’t understand what you are talking about, mother.”
Norma was normally very lenient on her son, but today, she continued sharply, “The rumor has spread everywhere. It’s about a black-haired woman having an extra-marital affair with a man.”
“Wow, that’s a surprise. What a rumor!”
“Rob!”
There was a reason why Norma was acting nervously. It was because she remembered what he said a few months ago.
When Duchess Lonensia failed in making Yulia the first wife, Roberto told his mother.
“If the emperor and the empress drifted apart, won’t your plan have a better chance, mother? For example… If the empress committed adultery…”
Norma became angry at him. “Don’t even say such nonsense! If you knew how the emperor and the empress felt about each other, you would never dare say something like that. The empress would never betray his highness.”
“What matters isn’t whether she really has an affair. It is all about the emperor becoming suspicious of it. Do you get it?”
“What?”
“I have done this successfully before, mother. I managed to spread a rumor about Grand Duke Kualin’s wife. He quickly became suspicious of her even though she was perfectly innocent.”
When the Grand Duchess was vulnerable, Roberto managed to get her heart.
“Once the jealous suspicion begins, it is so very easy, mother. A woman scorned by her own husband is the easiest prey.”
Norma became pale. “You… you can’t…!”
She quickly tried to stop him. “Even if you were successful once, don’t even think about trying the same thing here. It’s too dangerous! Besides, I… have no intention of committing treason against the royal family.”
Her son smiled. “Sure, mother. Don’t worry… I won’t do anything.”
However, Norma still couldn’t stop worrying. She didn’t trust her son.
“Roberto des Lonensia! Can you swear to me that this isn’t your doing?!”
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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