Chapter 1

My worst enemy marched his troops straight into Stormburg!

He even declared himself Esteban Murphy.

One day, he stormed into the palace, sword in hand, ready to cut me to pieces.

I calmly dropped a bombshell on him. "I'm pregnant, and the baby is yours."

Esteban was the big bad, but to be real, I was even more of a villain than he ever was.

Ever since I could remember, we had been at each other's throats.

He was riding horses and shooting arrows at three, so I had to master poetry and painting at two just to stay ahead of him.

He grew up to be the perfect gentleman, admired by everyone, but I went and stole his dream girl right from under his nose.

Here was a little secret: I was born a girl, but fate forced me to live as a guy.

Everyone says the Kingdom of Belvaria was built by the Elliott and Murphy families together. The Elliotts took the throne, while the Murphys became powerful lords.

The Murphy family always believed they deserved the crown too, so my dad found an excuse and took out his dad, no hesitation.

Years later, he marched his army into Stormburg and nearly finished me off just as ruthlessly.

Now, he was the regent who held all the power, while I was the most notorious tyrant in history.

He was constantly scheming to take over the kingdom, and I was always plotting to get rid of the regent and wipe out all the traitors.

He wanted me dead, and I wanted him gone for good.

And just when things couldn't get any crazier, I found out I was pregnant, with his kid, no less.

Let's rewind to the day he invaded Stormburg.

He brought an army of two hundred thousand, smashed through every defense, and charged straight for the palace.

Seeing that I was doomed, surrender meant death, and resistance meant death too, I played my last card. I sent his dream girl, my queen, Lindsay Sykes, to set a honey trap, delivering a pot of coffee she brewed herself.

Of course, it wasn't just any coffee. It was laced with poison.

I hid in the shadows, just waiting for the poison to kick in so I could personally take his head and let those two hundred thousand traitors see who really runs this place.

But just when I thought I had everything under control, I was sneaking up with my knife, ready to finish him off, when out of nowhere, he sprang at me.

How the poison ended up turning into something else entirely, I would never know. All I remembered was stumbling out, barely able to stand, clutching the wall for dear life.

Maybe I went a little overboard with that knife, or maybe the poison was just way too potent, but Esteban ended up burning with a fever for days, totally out of commission.

I jumped at the chance to spread the word that he'd broken the family code and got smacked down by the heavens themselves. No wonder he collapsed with a mystery illness the moment he hit Stormburg.

To really stir the pot, I had people dress up as the legendary Murphy ancestor and haunt the place, and even rigged it so a bolt of lightning blasted their command banner for good measure.

Just a handful of dirty tricks, and I had all two hundred thousand of his troops freaking out, nerves shot and morale in the gutter.

I was no battlefield genius. Esteban got me beat when it came to leading armies. But if we were talking about scheming and mind games, I was second to none. No one even dared claim first place.

When the moment was ripe, I called in a legendary monk to cast spells, banish bad luck, and pray for heavenly peace.

And just like magic, Esteban's fever broke right then and there.

I threw open the gate and welcomed him into the palace, putting on my best benevolent ruler act. First, I addressed his family's grievances with logic.

Then, I played the "our ancestors fought side by side" card for some emotional leverage. And to keep the gossipers quiet, I picked a few clowns to take the fall and had them executed on the spot.

Throughout history, whether one was a king or just a minister, filial duty and honor always came first.

Right in front of the Grand Hall, I pulled every dirty trick I knew, forcing him onto the moral high ground, whether he liked it or not.

Esteban gripped the Regicide Slayer, tightening and loosening his hold so many times that the alloy handle was actually bent out of shape. In the end, he just couldn't bring himself to hold that blade to my neck.

But he wasn't someone I could easily control.

He immediately turned around and accused me of being too young and naive, letting schemers and traitors block my way, and claimed I was reckless by nature, a danger to the entire kingdom.

In short, I could keep the throne, but only if I had a wise and capable regent to assist me. So, he brazenly declared himself regent, took charge of the court, and became the very first regent of the Kingdom of Belvaria.

From then on, Esteban, Regicide Slayer in hand, had every right to cut down tyrants above and traitors below, my life officially hanging by a thread, right at the tip of his blade.

The entire court, from top officials to lowly clerks, threw a three-day, three-night celebration.

Honestly, no one knew if they were just glad their cushy jobs survived the regime, or if they were secretly thrilled that someone finally had the power to put my neck on the chopping block.

There was always some treacherous minister out there plotting to stab me in the back.

From the moment I first took my seat on the royal throne, that reality slapped me in the face.

Just yesterday, it hit me that my period was already two weeks late. So today, I summoned Kairi Roman, the court physician, to the palace.

The moment Kairi checked my pulse, her face went pale.

"Your Majesty, you're... pregnant..." she said.