Chapter 1
“Be good. Your husband is right outside the door. Unless... you want me to call him in?”
Within the gilded hall filled with a faint, floating scent, embroidered shoes and garments were scattered on the floor.
“Don’t...”
I pleaded cautiously.
It earned me a scornful laugh from him. “Guess why he’s here?”
I stayed silent.
The man outside was my husband, Gavin Landry.
He was here to request an Imperial Physician for that enemy princess.
The princess was now three months pregnant and had him request an Imperial Physician to check her pulse every now and then.
Suddenly, Gavin’s voice came from behind the screen: “Your Majesty, I... have another presumptuous request.”
James Anderson paused his movements but didn’t release me, his voice cold. “Speak.”
“The princess is with child and cannot withstand stress. I implore Your Majesty to issue a decree, granting her an official status.”
James raised an eyebrow slightly, looking at me with a seemingly amused smile. “General Landry, your wife has been with you for years. Are you truly willing to part with her?”
Gavin’s voice was indifferent. “I share no affection with Olivia anymore. Demoting her to concubine is already treating her fairly. I beg Your Majesty to grant this.”
My whole body stiffened. I stared incredulously at the silhouette outside the screen.
He had clearly said that he and that enemy princess were just pretending.
James laughed, peeling away my hands that were begging for mercy, and whispered, “Hear that? He wants you as a concubine.”
“...Nowhere near as good as me. Whatever you want, I can give it to you.”
“People will find out... I don’t want to be executed by a thousand cuts...”
James laughed out loud. “Look how tired you are, talking nonsense. With me here, who would dare touch a single hair on your head?”
I, who had always been obedient and well-behaved, silently tightened my arms around James’s neck.
He understood my meaning and let out a cold laugh, speaking to my husband outside the door: “Granted.”
Then, he engaged in a long, passionate struggle with me, the gold hairpin at my temple emitting delicate clinking sounds. I cried through the latter half.
James softened his tone to console me. “He’s blind. Just discard him.”
“Then can you make me the Empress Consort?”
Asking this was originally meant to make him abandon any thought of marrying me.
Who knew James would sneer and say, “What’s so hard about that? Anything you want, I can give you.”
There had always been rumors before that James was a madman, who killed his mother and father, committing every evil deed imaginable.
I never expected he could be this crazy.
