CH 159

“Are you with child, Empress? You must be, considering how you did it every single—Ugh!” He didn’t manage to finish his sentence because a furious Cecile swung the scepter and whacked him across the face. Broken teeth flew out of his mouth, and he rolled to the ground in pain.

Cecile hadn’t an ounce of pity for him. What lunatic goes on about the happenings in other people’s bedrooms?! Yes, she had spent every night in bed Estian. So what? The nerve of this man!

The man got to his feet, and ignoring the blood gushing from his mouth, he asked again, “Empress, are you with child? Answer me! Are you carrying Estian’s spawn!”

Cecile was speechless at his tenacity. Even though she wasn’t expecting, she didn’t feel the need to deign him with an answer. She was angered by how he continued to insolently call out Estian’s name, and the way he referred to the emperor, as if Estian was a beast. She was also confused by his obsession of whether she was pregnant with Estian’s child. Why did it matter? As she glared at him, the man suddenly turned to the bookshelf behind him.

“What are you trying to… Ack!” Cecile screamed.

The man acted before she could finish her sentence, extracting something from the bookshelf and throwing it towards the blue phoenix beside her. With a boom, the room exploded with smoke. Cecile tried to fan the smoke away in her surprise to no avail.

“Come here!” Before she’d realized it, the man was behind her and had her trapped in his arms, with one arm locked around her neck.

“Let go of me!” Cecile coughed, as she struggled to get free. It was no use, as he had a tight hold around her neck. She could feel her strength rapidly leaving her from the moment she inhaled the smoke, which was evidently not ordinary. The sounds of struggling flaps could be heard, but her view of the blue phoenix was obscured by the dense smoke.

“Estian!” the man cried out, dragging the slackened Cecile to the window. “Over here! Estian! Your wife is here!”

Cecile was finally able to breathe once near the window, but her vision was still blurry. When she gazed outside, she saw the black thing that had reacted to her voice earlier raise its head at the man’s shouts. A deep bubbling sound from all over the city seemed to respond to the man’s cries.

“That’s it, you monster! Here!” the man bellowed in excitement. “Your wife is here, I say! We tried so hard to make you a partner, yet you were so repulsed by the idea! Yet, here she is! The woman you’ve chosen yourself!”

Cecile glanced at the man in surprise. What on earth was he going on about? He talked as if he’d known Estian for a long time. What was this talk about making him a partner? And Estian being repulsed by it? Estian was the emperor, yet this man dared to address him as if he were cattle.

‘I’m sure that His Majesty…’ Cecile recalled what she knew of Estian’s past. He was a prince that lived in the imperial palace when he was young, but one day he disappeared, only to reappear after some time. When he returned, he ascended the throne after slaughtering the previous emperor.

Where Estian had disappeared to or what he’d done during his absence was a mystery, but Cecile’s instincts were telling her that the man that held her captive knew the truth. Still, it was strange. Whatever the case may be, as the prince, Estian was not in a position to be treated like cattle by the likes of this man.

The man’s yells had attracted the black figure’s attention, and it extended a part of itself, like a giant tentacle, which drew closer to them. There were no eyes, nose, mouth, or any features to be found on the black mass, yet Cecile could hear a deep-seated growl emanating from it. She could feel it watching her and the man, though surprisingly, the black figure remained in place and observed them from a distance.

“Get lost! Get away from here! I-I’ll go far away and release this woman, so…” the man hastily shouted, as he trembled at the sight of the figure beyond the window.

‘Who says I’m going with you?’ Cecile thought indignantly. She gripped the scepter tightly and contemplated how she could land a strike on the man.

Turning to Cecile, the man used his free hand to grab her hair and yanked it hard. He snarled, “What are you doing? Go on! Scream or something already! Tell Estian to back off!”

Cecile glared at him silently. ‘Are you mad? You think I’ll do as you wish? I’ll never do as you want!’ She clamped her lips shut tightly in defiance.

“Why, you… you!” Enraged by her silence, he raised his hand and slapped her across the face.

Cecile felt as if a light had flashed in her eyes, and her cheek stung as if it’d been torn. When she involuntarily coughed, blood sprayed out. Had the inside of her mouth really torn?

“I told you to scream!” the man shrieked, as he grabbed her by the hair and shook her. In the end, a groan of pain escaped from her mouth.

In that instant, a sound akin to a sharp wind erupted, which was followed by an ear-splitting “Aargh!” The scream had come from the man holding Cecile captive.