The trotting of hooves against the marbled floor sounded for a mont before coming to a halt.
A figure jumped down from the horse, handing its reigns to the figure encased in a shadow.
"Hope nothing much happened in my absence?" Aaron asked as he made his way through the secret passage back to his room.
"An assassin infiltrated the palace with the aim to kill Princess Zosia."
Keisha's answer made Aaron halt in his steps.
"I am not surprised. Were you able to keep the assassin alive?" Aaron asked as he pushed open his room door that looked like what two people needed to push open with just one hand.
"Yes. We were also able to extract all he knew about the assassin and so bonus information as well."
"We?"
"The Princess was actually the one that did the extraction."
Aaron turned to look at Keisha in shock. He didn't even know when the robe he was holding in his hand slipped off.
"Are you sure? You know the consequence of lying." Aaron's said, his voice becoming colder.
"It indeed the princess that extracted the information." Keisha replied, unfazed by the Emperor's cold tone.
"And she was able to extract all the information the person knew?" Aaron still in disbelief, asked.
He couldn't help but compare himself at when he was at his daughter's age to his daughter whose only resource might probably be the books.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Tell all about it and show the assassin."
*******
Aaron looked at the sky that was already turning bright, he couldn't help but question his daughter's thod.
"How had she done it, that just from seeing alone, the assassin was already having spasms?"
Such trauma!
With his hands behind his back, he walked back to his courtyard.
"I can ntion this in court and be able to send Sia outside. Brother would be able to stay with her then and there would be no questions."
He arranged the answers to the questions he would receive from those pokey nosers.
"There would be no need continuing renovating the house." He thought. Turning to the direction of where he had the new courtyard built, it was already half way through.
"I will just keep building it. It would be there anyti she decides to co back."
"Trion—" he had just called out one of his aide when he rembered one question, he might not be able to maneuver through it.
He was sure one of those oldies will ask if the palace was not safe enough and if he answered yes, it would be a dent in the Imperial family reputation.
If he answered that she was going to recuperate, they would tell him to send her to the temple. He didn't want any of that.
The plans he has for her, he didn't want it to be tampered or ssed with by uncalculated variables.
Thinking about it, he ca up with a better answer,which could not be any better.
"While the palace is safe and secure, my daughter needs a change of scenery and fresh air to fully recuperate. A different environnt will be beneficial for her health and recovery." He thought Inwardly.
*******
At the Imperial Study...
"Your Majesty, The Empress wishes to see you."
Aaron rubbed his forehead and sighed.
A few hours ago, he was able to smoothly deal with those oldies to get his daughter close to his brother and now, the Empress was looking for him.
It wouldn't take soone with a chick's brain long to understand. She'd probably be here for how to get Zosia to stay, after all, it would be easier for her to deal with Zosia.
"Bring her in." He waved his hand to send the Eunuch away, before bending his head to continue dealing with the docunts.
"I can't wait for Sia to take over, I am really tired of this docunts." He muttered to himself.
"Greetings to the Great Sun, your Majesty." Alia greeted with a beautiful and dazzling smile.
Her dressing and makeup, made her look a lot younger. It didn't look like the pregnancy had any effect on her.
Aaron didn't look up and just spoke, "What do you want?"
Hearing Aaron's cold voice, she stiffened and her hold on the basket, tightened.
She smiled back again, "Your Highness, I brought food for you. I am sure you must be so tired." She opened the food basket she ca with.
"I am indeed tired, so tell , what do you want?" He finally raised his head to look at her.
"What do you an by what do I want?! Do I only co to you for when I want sothing?" She sobbed, "You have been neglecting and going to et those concubines of yours, completely forgetting that I also exist and that I am carrying the heir to the throne."
Her words triggered sothing in Aaron, especially the last words.
He tried hard to regulate his rough breathing. " Alia, if you don't get out of my sight in the next second, don't bla when you miscarry."
Hearing those cold words from the sa man that used to grovel at her feet and treat her like she was his whole world, what had happened?
"Get out!" Aaron scread at her sending the food basket flying along with it.
Scared, she imdiately left the study. Her mind in disarray, filled with thoughts.
"Is it what I said that triggered him? Which of them could possibly have been the trigger?" She stepped out of the study and imdiately arranged her hair.
Turning to the Eunuch who was standing at the door side, she decided to still do her duty as his wife. She also needed to exercise her right and show those people she was still the Empress.
"Get soone to go and arrange the inside after a few minutes." She ordered and added quietly but still to the hearing if the Eunuch, "Emperor was a little rough."
If the Eunuch didn't know any better, maybe he would have believed it. He couldn't really hear anything from the opposite side of the door, but he was knowledgeable enough to know that thr Emperor wasn't a few seconds man.
"Yes, your Highness." The Eunuch answered with a bow.
Sauntering away and lost in thoughts, she was still wondering what had made the Emperor angry.
Thinking about the fact that the Emperor cherished their child together after sothing like that had happened to her and while she was here, worrying about the one that is yet to co out.
It was probably why he was mad and she coming with pregnancy hormones on top of it, probably ticked him off since she doesn't care about that child of hers and she also couldn't bring herself to care.
She decided that anyti her hormones were acting, she couldn't go see the Emperor as he might just throw another fit.
On the other hand, she was actually far from the truth.
Who would be happy seeing you declaring another man's child as the heir of the throne he was sitting on. He hadn't even yet died and she was already planning and seeing how inconsiderate she was to the child, the fruit of otheri love being neglected.
Maybe, it was only him that felt they were probably in love.
Thinking back to the past, Aaron felt pained and filled with frustration, he wanted to let it out. Unfortunately, he couldn't do that in the study room, he was still disciplined enough to know that.
Leaving the study room, he t the Eunuch that was coming with so maids to clean the place.
"Do not touch the docunts. Just do the cleaning and get out." His cold voice rang in the ears of the maids that they shuddered.
Walking away, he headed back to his courtyard. In a room in the courtyard, he used it for training, that was while, despite being the Emperor, he was more fit than you can think of even after being away from the battlefield for many years.
Removing his clothes, he punched one of the dummies. He couldn't help but relieve the mories buried deep in his mind.
He rembered how he had found out that his brother's lover was a spy and had already gotten to the Emperor.
She had given him a poison that even his brother who could boast about being one of the best had never heard of it.
Adrian was so devastated and unwilling to believe it. He rembered how his brother kept muttering,"Why she? Why must she be the spy?"
Adrian couldn't face her anymore and even when asked why she did that, she only told them to ask their father.
How could they ask soone who was already teethering on the brink of death.
Before, the Empire hardly relates with the temples but inorder to get an answer to what could destroy the empire if it ever ca out.
The Minyan Temple which is currently the most popular temple in The Roza Empire provided them with an old woman whose bargain was to et the Emperor.
After she t the Emperor, she did make the Emperor stay alive for a while to confess what he really wanted to carry to the grave with him.
That was when he found out that, after the decline in martial schools, to revive it, the need for a treasure which only the Imperial family had, has been used by the Emperor to try and resurrect his dead lover who was Aaron's mother.
The old woman whom should not have had any grudge with the Emperor cursed him that his descendants will only be able to give birth to one offspring till they are completely wiped from the surface of the world.
At then he didn't understand why she made such a curse and even killed herself to seal it, until he heard the Emperor call her na.
"Treasure, Forgive , I could never love you as I loved your friend."
He didn't know if it was because the Emperor was already dying or if he had gone completely senile and wanted to trigger her.
Aaron could still rember those words clearly before the Emperor crowned him the next Emperor and gave up the ghost.
As for his brother's Lover, she had co to steal the treasure but got caught by the Emperor and to survive, she stabbed the Emperor with a dagger that contained the poison.
Later, after so investigations and asking so of his father's aides, he found out that, the old woman was actually betrothed to his father and when they t, his mother — her friend was also there and he fell in love with her instead, which led to Treasure's unrequited love.
The curse was also surprisingly effective, apart from giving birth to Zosia, he had been unable to actually get another concubine pregnant, when he noticed that, he had disguised another man to sleep with her and had wanted to end it there by not sleeping with any of his concubines again, but they ended up giving theirselves out to other n to do the job.
How could his ego not be pained?
He knew how many tis he cursed the old woman and even sotis begged the heavens to release him from the curse.
Unfortunately, even his own daughter has beco a recipient of the curse, unable to give birth due to her constitution.
Sitting down on the floor and panting, he lowered his head.
He couldn't even cry anymore again, he was happy seeing his daughter had survived. He regrets not giving her the attention she should have gotten.
He was afraid and he let that fear best him. Maybe if Zosia wasn't poisoned, the curse might be broken on her own end.
The more he thought about it, the more he was filled with regret.
"I should do better from now on. Maybe instead of sending her to a place where she could easily be seen, I can send her to stay with brother, but I also would not be able to see her as well." He muttered.
This was the first ti he was feeling so undecided despite so many hours of thought.
Sigh!
"The life of a father who loves his daughter." He muttered to himself. He couldn't bear to part with his daughter.
Standing up, he decided to go have his bath and go and see her. Seeing her each ti has beco a source of joy to him.
===========
Finally done with my papers. I hope I can start updating daily now and write more chapters for you to enjoy.
I keep postponing, posting those whose nas I have already used and now i encountered another problem and I hope I can get it fixed before school resus again which is in five days ti.
My laptop is dead and it's charger got soaked after my friend's room got flooded by water from not turning off the sink.
That is by the way. I want to thank all of you for your support during this period of on and off.
Thank you very much.
Enjoy your day and have a nice day ahead.
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