CHAPTER 23

She was a bit stressed ever since they received a letter from Mika that he wanted to propose to the Saintess. She was practically raised by her and yet she knew how cruel she was.
Letting her son love that woman was the hardest thing she could do. She didn’t know what to do or say. If she rejects her son’s choice, she was afraid he would hate her forever. If she agrees to the choice then it will be known that the grand prince married the formidable woman and her name will be in shatters.
She had suffered a lot just to be where she was. She sacrificed a lot and used her own children to trap the empress and now that she was the one heading the harem, she was afraid that it will come back to her.
She didn’t want to go against the Saintess too. She had heard about the news of the two and how loving they were towards each other. If she tries to do anything silly then a war might break out.
The Saintess was someone who didn’t hesitate to go to any war. How did she survive that fire, she too had no idea? They said not to bite the hand that feeds you but sometimes she just wished that the Saintess would just disappear.
It is also one of the reasons why she put some of her people among the empress’s when the fire was set. She would lose her son but at the same time she would get rid of the Saintess; that was the price she was willing to pay.
The Saintess never really asked for anything from her but still it didn’t feel good to just know that it was her who made her enter the palace. She left a huge mark on her and it was hard to rub.
She had people investigate the fire and yet there were no clues to how they survived the fire. That proved that the Saintess was even more powerful than she thought and she was simply hiding it. If she crosses her now while her son was with her then she will be in trouble.
All these years she suspected that her son was alive even though she had no idea where he was but knowing that he was with the woman who took her to the palace didn’t make her feel any good.
It was as if she was making a statement without saying anything and that scared her. The Saintess managed to steal her first son from her and now she won’t be able to get him back.
“Your highness, the Emperor is asking for you,” her chief maid said.
“I will be there, shortly. Prepare the palanquin,” she said.
She went to the Dragon palace to see her husband. He must be having an answer to the letter that Mika had written.
She greeted her husband before taking a seat.
“It’s good that you are. I have made a decision,” he told her.
“What is your decision?” she asked him.
“The time we are at is so crucial, so we can’t afford any mistake. We know that the Saintess is a great opponent and we can’t have her as an enemy. It’s better to have her close as a friend and keep her closer. If we make our son marry her as he wants then we might have a chance to keep a closer eye on her,” the Emperor said. It made sense now that she was hearing it but she knew her mistress well.
“I understand where you are going my love but I know her. She is not someone you can keep an eye on but for the sake of making up to our son, I will agree. Let him pursue his own happiness. He deserves that at least,” she said.
“I knew that you will agree in the end. Let’s just put his happiness first and we will deal with whatever comes in the future,” her husband said and she smiled.
It seemed like she will never be able to wash off her past like she wanted. With her son marrying the woman she wanted to get rid of, it was difficult but one way or the other she was going to try to eliminate her before she took her son from her.
He wasn’t really a fool to not know what was going on in his favorite’s consort mind. He didn’t just love her because she was beautiful but she had so many tricks up her sleeve that indirectly she helped him to remove all the people that bothered him. All he had to do was just love her continuously and she did all the work herself.
He knew that she wasn’t agreeing completely to Mika marrying that woman who didn’t have an ounce of respect towards the monarchy. He wanted her gone but not so much like his consort. He was going to leave everything to her like he always did. He would just borrow her hands like he always does.
“Prepare the marriage gifts and have them sent to Mika, he wouldn’t be marrying without bestowing gifts,” he told his consort and she agreed with him.
“I shall excuse myself,” she said and left his palace.
He took a deep breath before he called his personal attendant inside.
“Your Majesty!”
“Send people to keep an eye on Imperial Noble Consort. Remove any obstacle in her way if it becomes dangerous, you understand what I’m saying right?”
“Yes, I do; I will send some men over right now,” his personal attendant said and left the palace too.
He resumed reading his memorials, apparently there were some issues going on in some districts near the borders. There were a lot of refugees and not enough food to give them. He had to provide some funds for food or else a catastrophe would occur. He had to think of something before those corrupt officials think of stealing the money again.
Imperial Noble Consort gathered all the gifts she thought would be necessary. As someone who once served the Saintess she knew what she liked so she put most of those there. The gifts were ready to be sent and she had one thing left to do.
She took the pearl powder that she was supposed to send as a gift and added her own powder and mixed it. Once the Saintess takes it, the effects will come up as late as possible. She won’t be able to detect anything like that no matter how powerful she is. She placed the bottles of the powder and had them wrapped up.
She watched as the carriages full of the gifts left the palace. She won’t be able to attend the wedding at all but it was good she won’t have to pretend to like what was happening when she knew exactly what was in her mind. If the evil woman was gone then she will have her son back and find her a suitable candidate he will marry.
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Nora was brought up by the Saintess, so she owed her and she was loyal to her. Whoever brought harm to her, she made that person her enemy. Her only wish was to see her happy. She had never seen her happy before.
She carried a lot of burdens on her shoulders that she shut out anyone who wanted to make her happy. She knew how her mistress felt for the grand prince and it was good but the more she loves him the more she gets to suffer a wrenching pain from her heart.
Her mistress was really cursed; she couldn’t love him without bearing any pain. Every time she saw her looking at him even fully knowing what she will go through was too much. It was as if someone made her drink the love sickness tears when she was in her womb.
How could she be blessed and cursed at the same time?