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 36
Chapter 36:
I woke up abruptly from a feeling of falling.
I was confused. I couldn’t understand what has happened or where I was.
It felt like I escaped from a dark muddy cave. Barely.
I had no strength. I was wet with my own sweat as I laid on the bed. I looked at the ceiling blankly.
It took a while for my mind to start working again. I counted the patterns on the ceiling. By the time I counted to fifteen, I was able to remember bits and pieces.
The last thing I remembered was the emperor holding the cup filled with water. I remembered him whispering to me.
It wouldn’t kill me.
What happened was so bad I found it a little funny. I was about to trust him a little when he did this to me.
I wanted to swear, but I didn’t have the energy. My body felt heavy like a piece of wet cotton. My head felt like it was filled with fog.
I started to get annoyed.
This whole situation was beyond frustrating.
I tried to get up. When I tried to push myself up with my arm, I felt a sudden headache.
“Ouch…!”
It was painful. It felt like someone picked me up and spun me around several times.
I heard someone enter. They must have heard me groan.
I assumed it was either Samantha or one of the sisters, Luis or Elza. I wanted to say something, but my throat was so dry no sound came out of my mouth.
Then suddenly, I heard a voice that made me forget anything.
“You’re awake.”
I was wide awake now. Despite the aches and dizziness, I raised my head. The room spun around me, but I managed to see clearly.
It was the same face I saw right before losing my consciousness.
He was looking down at me with a strange expression. His face looked a little tired.
Why?
He helped me sit up. He arranged large cushions behind my back so I can lean back comfortably. His behavior was caring. When I thought about it, his words were always sharp and sometimes hurtful, but he always acted with gentleness.
I tried to swallow, but my throat was too dry, and I had no spit to swallow. It felt sore and sharp.
He seemed confused at my pained expression but quickly figured it out. He poured me a cup of water and handed it to me.
Last time he gave me water, it was in a white ceramic cup. This time, he handed me a silver cup. The water looked clear and cool, but the man holding it couldn’t be trusted.
I looked up at him with clear distrust. He grinned and took a sip from it himself. After I saw him swallow, I raised my hand to accept the cup.
“Hmm…!”
He watched me as I struggled to hold the cup, but because I was so weak, I almost dropped it. He quickly took the cup away from me and got it to my lips.
“…”
I was annoyed, but my thirst was greater than my distrust of him. I hated him and this situation, but I drank it desperately with his help. It tasted sweet and cool. I emptied the whole cup quickly.
How long have I been out? As I wondered, he took the cup away and laid me down on the cushions.
How kind my husband was!
I looked at him with all the anger I had. I cleared my throat and tried out my voice. Thanks to the water, I managed to speak although my voice sounded rough.
“How many days had passed?”
“Three days.”
That long. I had never been out like this in my life.
This was bad. This was very bad.
I gave him a sarcastic grin and replied, “Congratulations.”
“…”
“What did you gain by taking three days away from me?”
He looked at me blankly.
I put on a calm face and remained silent. Was it because he felt guilty? For once, he didn’t make me wait for an answer.
“Two days ago, Marchioness Toruka and a couple of dowager empress’s maids were sent to the dungeon.”
I was a little surprised. Marchioness Toruka was the dowager empress’s principle maid in waiting and also her sister-in-law. The Marchioness’ husband was the dowager empress’s younger brother. The Toruka family was dowager empress’s biggest supporter.
By having me poisoned for three days, the emperor managed to get rid of the dowager empress’s right arm.
If Marchioness Toruka was blamed for this, then it was probably possible to even implicate the dowager empress herself.
I was genuinely impressed.
“Nice job. You did well.”
“…”
He didn’t answer me. He looked uncomfortable.
I waited for him to reply. He continued to look at me as if waiting for something. He studied me carefully.
After a few minutes, he finally said to me, “I thought as soon as you opened your eyes, you would scream at me.”
I did consider doing it. I gave him half of the truth.
“I don’t have the strength, and my throat hurts.”
He continued to stare at me as he explained, “Officially, it was Samantha who found you in your bedroom on the floor. She got my doctor on call and he diagnosed that you were poisoned. You and our unborn baby, who didn’t survive.”
A baby?
What the hell was he talking about? What baby?
I became confused but only for a second. I understood the situation quickly. The emperor had been visiting my chamber almost every day for the past month and a half. Recently, I was sent to an isolated wing to rest for a week.
To the outsiders, it made sense that I got pregnant and the emperor wanted me to take some time off. It was a well-thought-out plan.
On my last day, he handed me a cup of poisoned water. When I lost consciousness, the emperor accused appropriate figures of the murder of our non-existent baby and attempted murder of me, the first wife.
Bravo.
“I see that you worked very efficiently during the last three days.”
“…”
He again stayed quiet. The silence felt uncomfortable.
When he finally opened his mouth, he said something I found odd.
“My personal doctor prepared the poison himself. He measured it so the dose puts you to sleep for only a day… I was waiting for you to wake up the next day, but it took much longer. It wasn’t my intention.”
I became confused. His tone was different.
Was he trying to give me an excuse?
When I became speechless, he seemed to get even more anxious.
He continued to explain, “The doctor assured me you would wake up in a day… But you didn’t… I didn’t know what to do when you didn’t wake up.”
“…”
I didn’t know what to say, so I just stared at him.
He continued hurriedly, “I trusted him. I trusted his skills and that was why I hired him… I guess I was wrong about him.”
I felt flustered. This was a different Lucretius than I had seen so far.
I asked nervously, “You… you aren’t going to punish him, are you?”
“Hmm? Isn’t that obvious? You are okay, so I won’t execute him, but he still needs to be punished. He won’t lose his life, but a finger perhaps…”
“Don’t!”
I screamed at him. The emperor’s eyes widened. He looked much younger than his age.
“Why?”
He asked me with genuine curiosity.
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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