Chapter 1
I had spent twelve years pretending to be a man, sitting on the throne, and not a single official in the court had ever suspected I was a woman.
But then, my arch-enemy Elias Lockwood—the man I had suppressed for twelve years—stormed into the capital with two hundred thousand troops.
He barged into the Hall of Supreme Harmony, sword in hand, the blade pressed to my throat, grinning like the devil himself. "Your Majesty, I've come to send you on your way."
I glanced down at my slightly rounded belly and spoke slowly, "I'm pregnant. The child...is yours." His sword clattered to the ground at once.
*****
When Elias Lockwood pressed his sword to my throat, I could smell the blood coming off him.
The scent was pungent.
He must have left hundreds dead in his wake, from the city gates all the way to the Hall of Supreme Harmony.
"Your Majesty," Elias Lockwood looked down at me, a smile on his lips and murder in his eyes. "Twelve years. I've been waiting for this moment."
The great hall was so silent that nothing could be heard but the sound of blood dripping from his sword blade onto the stone floor.
Plop. Plop.
Kael Langford, the chief eunuch at my side, had collapsed to the floor in terror, wailing, "Lord Lockwood's, spare my life! Spare me, please!"
I didn't move.
I sat upon the throne, clad in the imperial robe, my twelve-tasseled ceremonial crown obscuring half my face.
Elias Lockwood lifted my crown with the tip of his sword.
It clattered to the ground, the beaded tassels shattering into pieces across the floor.
My long hair cascaded down around my shoulders.
Elias Lockwood's sword faltered for a split second.
But it was only a fleeting moment.
He sneered, " Your Majesty, you sure know how to keep yourself looking good. Your hair's smoother than that of any concubine in the palace."
"I have no concubines," I replied calmly, locking eyes on him.
"Indeed, twelve years on the throne—no concubines, no selection of palace ladies. The entire court believes Your Majesty is pure and free from worldly desires."
Elias Lockwood pressed his sword forward, a sharp pain lancing my neck as a bead of blood trickled down. "But I think you are simply afraid."
"Afraid of what?" I asked.
"Afraid someone will uncover your secret," he replied.
My heart skipped a beat.
But I kept my expression blank.
Twelve years on the throne had taught me the most important lesson: to remain unflinching and reveal nothing of my true thoughts.
"Elias Lockwood, what do you want?"
"Simple," he said, sheathing his sword and dropping to one knee before me. Yet it was no act of submission—he was like a leopard coiled to strike. "I demand you abdicate. I demand you return this kingdom to me."
"This kingdom belongs to the Blackwood's clan, not the Lockwood's clan," I said.
"The Blackwood's clan?" He shot to his feet and kicked over the imperial desk beside the throne, scattering the memorials everywhere.
"Your Blackwood's clan’s kingdom was built on the blood of my Lockwood's clan's hundred thousand soldiers! Your father swore to mine that our two clans would rule this realm together! And look what became of it!"
His voice sliced through the air like a blade.
"In the first year of your reign, you stripped my father of his military command. In the third, you exiled my entire Lockwood's clan to the south. In the fifth, my mother perished on the exile path and you didn’t even deign to send a single imperial edict!"
With every word he spoke, my heart sank a little deeper.
Because everything he said was true.
"Elias Lockwood..."
"Calling my name?" He suddenly leaned in, so close I could see the bloodshot veins in his eyes. "Your Majesty, who gave you the right to call me by my name?"
I could smell the blood on him, laced with a faint hint of pine.
It was just like that night three months ago.
I closed my eyes for a moment.
"I have something to tell you,"
"Speak," he replied.
"Everyone, leave us," I ordered.
"No," Elias Lockwood shot back.
"Then I'll say it before everyone—" I said.
I stood up.
The imperial robe was voluminous, always keeping my figure hidden.
But I knew it wouldn't be able to hide it much longer.
"I'm pregnant," I said.
The hall went dead silent for a moment.
Elias Lockwood raised an eyebrow. "Your Majesty, have you taken leave of your senses?"
"The child is yours,"
His sword clattered to the ground.
Kael Langford fainted on the spot.
Elias Lockwood's expression was the most spectacular I had ever seen in my life.
From sneering contempt to stunned blankness, from stunned blankness to bone-deep shock, and finally...utter disbelief.
"What did you just say?" Elias Lockwood's voice was rough.
"Three months ago, at the Imperial Palace, that night when the rain poured down," I said, my words slow and deliberate. "After you drank the sleeping potion and woke up, you thought it was all just a dream."
"But it wasn't a dream,"
"I was the one you spent that night with,"
Elias Lockwood actually took a step back.
This was a man who never retreated—not when he led his army to storm the city, not when he fought his way into the palace.