Ashyrel POV
"It's beautiful isn't it?" he suddenly said
We're watching the sunset now while he's holding my hands. I wish time will freeze so that I can spend enough time with him.
"Yeah, it's beautiful" I replied
Were just keep watching the sun until we'll no longer saw it and watching the sunset with him makes me boost my hopes and confidence that he can remember me soon. It's already 6:30 when we went to the resort's restaurant to eat dinne, this resort is really popular it has a lot of guest.
'This way Ma'am, Sir" the stuff lead us to our table
"Is this spot is okay with you?' Sylvester ask
"Yeah, it's fine" I replied
"Okay" he said
We order our food and I'll let him chose mine.
Ring...ring...ring...ring
I get my phone to look who's calling and Anton's name is what I saw.
"Hello?" I answered the phone
"Good evening Madame, I apologize for disturbing your vacatio
ASHYREL'S POV "In courts, they don't stab you in the back. They hand you wine and smile.”---The invitation arrived wrapped in pearl parchment, sealed in red wax pressed with the Crown Prince’s sigil — a serpent devouring its own tail. Beneath it, in ink far too delicate to be anything casual, was written:> “An afternoon in peace and grace.> For the women who walk closest to power.> Hosted by Her Highness, Seraphine of the Eastern Moon.”It came with blue roses. Imported. Fragile. Impossible to grow in this climate.Which meant she wanted me to know: she could reach further than I could.“It’s bait,” I muttered.Sylvester stood at the window, arms crossed. “You don’t have to go.”“She wants me to decline,” I said. “That’s part of the test.”“And if it’s more than a test?”I looked down at my belly — still small, still hidden under folds of fabric, but unmistakably mine. Our future curled inside it, breathing quietly, still unknown to the world.“Then I’ll let her show her hand fi
THE THRONES THAT BIND THEM ALLThird Person POV ---In the heart of the Empire, the palace was more than a residence.It was a battlefield.A chessboard.A prison dressed in gold.The throne itself did not belong to just one man. Not yet. And certainly not to the one who most deserved it.For years, the crown had been held in *limbo*—bound by ancient law, old blood, and the will of nobles who feared change more than they feared war.And so, the Empire was ruled by a High Council—a body of noble houses and royal bloodlines—until a final heir could be chosen to ascend not just in name, but in legacy.There were two contenders.Two heirs.Prince Sylvester, the younger son of the late Emperor—but the one beloved by the people, respected by the army, and feared by enemies.And then…There was Crown Prince Kaelion.The official heir.The firstborn.And the problem.---Kaelion had inherited the crown by law, not by loyalty.He was cold, calculated, and cared more for alliances than for the
ASHYREL’S POV“You can seal the gates. Burn the bridges. But the past always finds a way in.”---The sky was quiet today.Too quiet.Clouds drifted lazily over the palace spires, and the breeze carried the scent of dew, earth, and something else I couldn’t name. The kind of air that made your skin itch—not from cold, but from premonition.I stood by the window in our chambers, one hand wrapped around a warm cup of tea, the other resting on my belly. The morning had been peaceful—until that sealed letter arrived on a silver tray.No crest.No signature.Just a familiar slant of ink that pulled me backward without warning.I didn’t realize how hard I was gripping the cup until it cracked slightly in my hand.Caelen.It was a name I hadn’t let myself think in years. A name buried under war, blood, duty, and Sylvester’s steady hands. But seeing it on paper, inked like a ghost whispering from the grave, did something cruel to my chest.My mind protested.This isn’t real. He’s gone. He’s p
ASHYREL’S POV“Peace may quiet the battlefield… but never the hearts of those who still want the throne.”---I knew something was off the moment I walked into the war room.The air was too still. The tension too sharp.And the woman beside Sylvester was smiling too sweetly.She was tall, with dark auburn hair cascading down her back like velvet, wearing a crimson gown that was far too scandalous for a court diplomat. Her lips curled at the edges—not politely, but like she knew something I didn’t.Sylvester looked calm, unreadable as always, leaning against the table with a scroll in hand. But when he glanced at me, I caught it—That flicker of relief.Like he’d been holding his breath.“Your Majesty,” the woman said, voice like honeyed daggers. “We were just discussing trade terms. I’m Liora. From the Southern Courts.”Liora.I knew that name. Daughter of Lord Vallien, head of the merchant fleet—and an ambitious snake. She wasn’t here to negotiate.She was here to climb.And clearly,
ASHYREL’S POV“Even in peace, a woman’s heart can carry storms.”---The moonlight slipped quietly through the palace windows, silver and soft, painting shadows across the marble floor like silk ribbons. I sat on the edge of our bed, robe loose around my shoulders, brushing my fingers across the soft fabric where his scent still lingered.Sylvester had stepped out briefly to attend to a late report from the western borders.But the quiet pressed differently now.Not lonely.Just... full.My palm instinctively went to my stomach again.It wasn’t visible yet. But I knew.I could feel it, in the strange warmth that lingered in my chest, in the way my body hummed differently—gentler, heavier, more aware.I had told him now.He knew.But the world didn’t.And that made this moment feel like a small secret still curled between just us.---The door opened with a soft click.Sylvester entered, already unfastening the buttons of his dark tunic, his gaze immediately landing on me.“Tired?” I a
ASHYREL – POVThe palace was quiet.Too quiet.The halls, once echoing with the rustle of noble cloaks and the click of boots, now rested under the weight of justice. The nobles who plotted our downfall had been stripped of their titles, their names now faded whispers. For once, peace didn’t feel like a distant luxury—it felt like something we had earned.But even as the silence wrapped itself around the corridors, inside me…There was another kind of storm.A secret. A flicker.A heartbeat not my own.---I stood by the wide arched window of our shared chambers, arms gently wrapped around my stomach, fingers brushing the silk of my robe. No movement yet. Too early.But I knew.I had known for weeks.The strange fatigue, the pull in my body, the soft dizziness at dawn. The palace healer confirmed it, and I asked her to remain silent. Just for now.Because I wasn’t sure…How to tell him.Not out of fear.But because, somehow, in all our battles—we never once talked about a future like