Chapter 3

Emery treaded with as much caution as she could as she hurried to the West Palace. It did not take her much effort to conceal her presence from the eyes of the palace guards which made her think twice about the security of the place. However, that was not her concern at the moment since she had to finish her mission as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, the king was on his way to visit the queen at the Inner Palace upon hearing the news that she was locking herself up. He did not want to be involved with her as much as possible but if the ministers would hear about this news, they would start bickering at him for the nth time and it would be annoying. Thus, he was given no choice but to go and see the queen know the reason for her unreasonable tantrums.

Lila, who heard that the king was on his way, told the other maidservants to never let the king inside the queen's chambers as per the wish of the queen herself. Upon leaving a stern instruction, she hurried to the West Palace. Though she started to heave, she did not stop running until she reached the West Palace. Looking around, she could not spot the queen but she needed to do something or else she will be exposed in no time. She took off her red, long ribbon that tied her long braids and started to wave it above her head. It was a warning signal for Emery. To cover up her warning from the guards patrolling around the area, she danced as if she was out of her mind.

Emery was on top of the roof and saw the maidservant dancing. At first, she did not mind it all because she was trying to secure the scroll behind her sent by the Arcana. She even thought that the maidservant probably lost her mind as she shook her head while watching her turn around. However, seeing the maidservant’s dress that had a red stash of cloth wrapped around her abdomen, she came to realize that it was actually Lila since it was only her who was wearing a red stash that day. It was hard to look at what she was waving because it was dark but after a while, she got it.

She was already at that place, she didn't want to back out because it'll be hard to catch the culprit if she postponed catching him red-handed. Thus, she needed a distraction that would force even the king to be summoned to the place.

"Thanks for the warning," she mumbled to herself before stepping foot back on the ground with a faint sound.

She grabbed one of the lanterns and burned a cloth that she stripped off from her apparel. With the fire ignited bigger, she set the house storage on fire. Since it was made of wood, the fire spread quite fast and produced so much smoke. It even lit up half of the West Palace with its bright orange blaze. Several guards came rushing to the storage house with one of the ministers.

"No, no, no!" the minister yelled in despair as he watched the storage being eaten by fire. He was about to check on his collection but suddenly found his storage on fire. The weapons he tried so hard to collect in secret were inside the storage and if the fire was not put out immediately, they'd be damaged. Plus, it would be discovered since everyone thought that it was storage of woods, not illegally acquired weapons.

Emery, on the other hand, managed to pull out one of the boxes where gunpowder was kept. She wouldn't let it be burned or it'll cause a huge explosion. When she was about to spill them out on the ground and reveal the minister's crime, the royal soldiers surrounded her with their weapons pointed at her.

"A spy! She's definitely a spy! Don't let her get away!" the minister commanded. He was enraged but when Emery opened the wooden box, he grew pale and his voice that was so loud just vanished. The evidence was not only the box but also the scroll that contained the list of weapons collected and was named under the minister, which was confirmed by the people to whom the weapons originally came from.

Before the soldiers could reach where she stood, Emery flipped the box and the gunpowder scattered all over the ground. She also threw the scroll towards her incoming opponents to leave more than just one piece of evidence.

"Don't let anyone leave the premises!" King Lawson commanded. He was holding his sword and his eyes were fixed on the person whose face was covered by a mask. He only received a sudden report of a fire, which was suspicious enough but he did not expect to see a spy be involved with the matter.

Since Emery revealed what was kept inside the storage and the minister was held captive due to the king's command, there was no reason for her to stay there any longer. The pieces of evidence were already crystal clear and it was up to the king to do the rest. She ran to her right to avoid clashing with King Lawson.

This time, she drew out her sword to defend herself from the soldiers. When her first opponent came charging her way, she blocked his sword with her weapon before getting down and slid her foot on the ground, causing the soldier to fall on his back. Another one came and with one swift swing of her sword near the hilt of her opponent’s weapon, she was able to disarm him.

She sheathed her sword and raised her foot for a high kick that immediately knocked off the soldier unconscious on the ground. She did not dare inflict wounds on them or she will be seen as a real threat to the kingdom and it would be hard for her to move around if she was to be labeled as a person committing treason.

However, when Emery saw the king wanting to take her on himself, she ran away as fast as she could. King Lawson was a militaristic king and was a skilled swordsman. If she fights him now, her cover-up would be revealed and for sure, she'll face death on his hands. She made a quick turn at the dark pathway that led to the direction where she took when she came from the Inner Palace.

Leaving the West Palace, she climbed back to the roof where she could hide away from the sight of the soldiers coming after her. Trained under these circumstances, Emery remained calm and was able to go back to her quarters unscathed.

"Your Highness, I apologize but I must enter to check on you," Lila stated, who just came from the West Palace, before opening the sliding doors and shutting them immediately.

She rushed to her side and helped her put on her royal dress before someone catches her in the act.

"You didn't get wounded, did you?" she asked in a whisper.

"No worries, not a single scratch can be found on me," Emery replied. It was a huge relief because if she ever acquired an injury, she'll be suspected, especially that the king was very keen.

After settling, Emery was so much curious about what was going on after the commotion she created. If the minister was not apprehended, she'll be the one to behead him but she was hoping that the king was taking the matter into his own hands. She was not able to sleep that night because of the thoughts bothering her. But now, she needed to lie low as of the moment to conceal her involvement in the incident.

However, the very next morning while she was dressing up with the help of Lila and other maidservants, the king barged in without any notice. With the sudden visit, Emery just grabbed some cloth to cover her face.

"Take the queen's head maidservant and take her for investigation," the king commanded.

His soldiers came from behind him and two of them held Lila in both hands and were about to take her away. But Emery raised her hand to stop the soldiers from leaving her chambers without giving her any kind of explanation of whatever was going on.

"Your Majesty, may I know why you are taking away my maidservant?" she politely asked.

The king pulled her hand towards him to give way for the soldiers.

Lila pleaded to be spared on whatever fault she had done as she was taken away from the queen's quarters. Still, her cries were ignored.

"She is a suspect in last night's incident," the king replied. "So we need to investigate."

That being said, the king left the queen's quarters without waiting for a response from her.

Emery hurried in dressing up so she could run after them before they could torture Lila. She was the only one she trusted within the palace and if she loses her, she might also lose her composure.

Putting on her veil, she rushed to the Soldier's Hall where the questioning was being held. Though she was only about to enter the premises, she could hear the cries that wrenched her heart.

Upon entering, she immediately scanned the ground and saw Lila tied up with her hands raised above her head. She was crying and it pained Emery to see blood staining her porcelain cheeks. She ran to her side and without sparing any seconds, she knelt on the ground. She even had her forehead touch the ground to show how desperate she was.

"Your Majesty, my maidservant did nothing wrong. I ask for your mercy to let her go," she begged. At this time, only the king had the authority on what to do with Lila so she had to behave and not get on his bad side.

Though she sounded so weak and pathetic, Emery set that aside just to save the life of her trusted subordinate.

"Your Highness, I am fine so you do not need to worry," Lila stated as her tears fell down her bruised cheek. However, Emery did not believe her words.

King Lawson raised an eyebrow as he walked towards his queen. With the tip of his sheathed sword, he lifted her head and asked, "She was seen in the West Palace before the fire broke out. The soldiers witnessed her doing some kind of dance that I think was a signal for someone. Yet why are you here begging for her life?"

The king, then, knelt on one knee to be of the same level as the queen. He badly had the urge to lift her veil because he wanted to see her expression; however, he managed to suppress himself from doing so.

"Could it be that you have something to do with the incident? Are you working with Minister Han in gathering weapons to commit treason?" he added.

"No, Your Majesty, I would not dare go against you. Lila is the person I am closest with inside this palace and she is my comfort. As for her presence at the West Palace, it was I who sent her there to dance as a punishment because she angered me."

Emery wished so hard that the king should just go and bite her lie.  However, seeing the stoic expression of the king, she knew she did not convince him enough so she had to try harder.

"Your Majesty, let me be so bold to say what I have in mind. As you decided to be with your concubine instead of me, I felt so much loneliness upon entering this new place. Thus, I beg your mercy to not take away the only comfort I have."

After saying those words, she once again bowed before the king. Though behind her veil, she was actually throwing stares of daggers at him. Truth be said, he was the type of person that Emery finds to be the hardest one to deal with.

Her words struck King Lawson that he was at a loss of what to say. He did ignore her, left her during their wedding night, and didn't even see her face out of anger with the ministers as well as consideration for Lady Hazel. He stood on both feet and turned his back on her.

"Release the maidservant," he commanded.

As he walked away from the two, he stole a glance at the queen's covered face. Though he was not at all interested in her romantically, his curiosity in knowing what she looked like and who she actually was started to grow. Burying that at the back of his mind, he turned his attention to the soldier behind him.

"Have you found that spy yet?" he asked.

"We're still looking for her, Your Majesty," the soldier replied.

All King Lawson did was nod at his response. He was puzzled as he stared at the scroll that proved the crime of Minister Han. He cannot foretell if the spy from the other night was an ally or an enemy and the only way to get an answer was to find the spy.