Alarice slumped back at the couch. She puts her arms on her forehead and close hee eyes. She feels like all the rest she had done these past month was gone to waste. She's drained and don't know what to do.
She touched the couch she's sitting in. Just a moment ao
go the couch feels warm but now it feels cold and empty. It's funny how just a little amount of time will change how her whole surrounding is.
"What do you want me to do, Nicholas?" She murmured in the air
She remembered what happened to the first concubine.
A green hair akin to a fresh summer leaves and a silver eyes that looks like a star at night. That's how she viewed the First Concubine. Charlotte Tabitha Robindrey. She was just 16 years old when she married the young emperor by the order of her father. Marquess Robindrey.
She didn't like the Emperor. In fact she was in love with her commoner knight guard. And Marquess knows that fact that is why he pushed his daughter to marry the emperor.
He can't accept that his oldest daughter was in love with a low blood commoner. It was a huge blow to their reputation if other nobles knew that fact. That's why when opportunity presented itself he grabbed it.
By marrying off his daughter, he'll be saved from shame of mixing his own flesh and blood to a vile commoner, and he'll gain power from being one of the maternal side of the emperor.
However, his daughter tried to run off together with her knight. The moment he caught them, she locked her up the room and cut the guards legs to prevent them from having idiotic ideas of running away again.
He threatens his daughter that he'll cut his other limbs if she didn't marry the emperor so she had no choice.
Charlotte was a sweet girl without greed for power. She's not intelligent or cunning either to withstand the fierce battle inside the harem. Her only source of support is her father. Her only dream is to become a simple housewife with a loving husband and lively children. She's even fine with a small house like the commoners' as long as her family will warm it up. That's her only wish.
But it shattered when the Empress Consort and Second Concubine saw her as a competition. When Charlotte accidentally discovers Nicholas' desire for a warm simple family like her, they've gotten close but that just of like a little sister and a brother.
They both have something that they can never achieve. Additionally, the emperor helped her guard knight to be freed from the Marquess and gave enough gold for him to survive. Nicholas promised Charlotte to let her be free after he gain enough power.
Nicholas even let Charlotte meet the knight often. He was happy seeing that the his "little sister" was happy. On the nights that they were supposed to spend together, Charlotte will just blab about how she spent her days with her knight.
The Empress Consort is constantly harassing her. Despite Nicholas' assurance that he just viewed her as a younger sister, it was not enough for her. And Nicholas understands it. That's why he was always apologetic to Charlotte. And Charlotte will always say she's fine.
That's one of the reason why Nicholas agreed to marry Alarice. To have someone higher than the Empress Consort supervise the harem in shadows.
Seven years later, when the nineteen years old Alarice came, she immediately became close to Charlotte. Charlotte will always brag about her being a dear cute little sister. Which he knows that she was not.
When he take an Empress Regnant, the Marquess became agitated. His power was constantly decreasing the moment he marries off his daughter. It's like someone in the shadows was crippling him. His only hope is for his daughter Charlotte to have a child with the Emperor. After all she was now the only wife of the emperor that doesn't have a child.
But his power plummeted quickly when the newly assigned Empress Regnant slowly gained power. She was smart, pretty, and cunning if needed. The perfect Empress Regnant.
That's when the Marquess pressures Charlotte. But because she never really slept with the Emperor she cannot have a child with him. And she can never sleep with someone who she considered as his brother.
That's when Alarice propose the idea of having a child with her knight guard and pinning it as the emperor's child for a while then letting her leave with her knight the pretense if the First Concubine wants a private life for her child.
It was a dangerous idea but the most plausible one. They all agreed with the plan . However, when Charlotte finally became pregnant that's where the Empress Consort and Second Concubine's harassment became apparent.
Alarice cannot help her fully. She doesn't have the power to manage the harem as it was the Empress Consort's job as per their contract. She can only be a shadow that watches and so her best to protect her on the side. In addition, she was very busy with her tasks about the improvement of the health and hygiene of the slums.
The emperor was also busy keeping the nobles in check while preventing of having a civil war. From all their works, they both failed to see fully how the First Concubine suffered while pregnant.
On her 8th month of pregnancy, she heard someone invade her small palace. There were thugs that are raiding her. But because her palace is located near the forest where his knight guard resides in a small cabin she was very far away from the main palaces. She only has few trusted guard and maids as she always wanted a low-key lifestyle.
But she was wrong in thinking that she can have that in this cruel world. She was about to die. She saw how a bulky man with rusty sword came suddenly into her room. She screamed for help but no one came to her aid.
She tried to escape through the window and run to the forest where his knight resides and shouted for help.
The brave knight without legs can only do little. He tried to save his woman and child but failed. The three of them died holding each other.
The next morning Alarice's world almost collapse when she heard of the incident. She blamed herself for not being able to protect her friend. It was also her idea that led all these things from happening.
The prime suspect was the empress consort but she never got punished. Nicholas stupidly forgive her when she begged for his mercy and for Mael.
That was when Alarice first-handed realize the true horror of this world. How can they do all that just for power? The killed an innocent child!
But she can never blame the Empress consort now the Second concubine from harassing and eventually killing the first concubine.
In the back of her mind, it was all due to their traumas and f*cked up system of bringing other people down just to gain power. It was all due to the Empress Consort's father's way of teaching and abusing Qashanna that she too became an abuser.
It was all due to the second concubine's father that spoiled his daughter rotten that she thought everything she wants will be hers.
She wanted to change all if this. If only they were given the chance to properly be educated about the right morals then maybe this will never happen. But what is the right moral anyway??
Charlotte was buried in the forest with her knight. Her child was never registered as a royal which makes the Marquess' reputation plummeted even more. It was their final gift to Charlotte, to let those three live as they are.
On her funeral day, Alarice promise herself never to have a child for the purpose of gaining power. That this will be the first and last mistake as an Empress.
But now she's doing it again. Because she doesn't want to have a child she's passing the responsibility to the other like what she did to Charlotte.
That's the only solution she can think of. She feels so terrible.
But one thing is for certain. She will never have a child from a man who can't protect her properly. She doesn't want to be like Charlotte. She can never have her child suffer.
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Hi! Misszy-05!! Thank you for the flood votes haha. Gulat Naman Ako doon! But thanks really appreciate it!! Welcome din sa wattpad!! I see that you just joined eh ahhaa. Thank you na Isa tong story sa nauna mong mabasa.
And feel free talaga to speak in Filipino if you're not comfy sa English ahh. Nagtatagalog Ako promise hahahaha . It's just that I feel awkward writing this story sa Tagalog. Obvious namna sa mga first chapters divaa hahaha. Pilit Yung pasok ng Filipino. I really tried pero sumuko na ako hahaha.
But I'm planning on publishing another story after nito. Almost same genre buuut this time lamang na Ang Tagalog. Let's delve deeper sa Philippine mythology hahaha ~~
Thanks talaga s alahat. Really , I so so much appreciate ya'll !! You can share this story riin sa mga kakilala niyo na nagbabasa riin ng Wattpad if ever lang naman ahhaa