Chapter 3

Connor turned out to be even more useful than I'd expected.

Maybe it was some lingering sense of loyalty from our night together, but he was the one who first swapped out the poisoned fertility tonic for something harmless.

He also kept me updated on everything the King and Rose said and did, letting me dodge most of her open attacks and hidden schemes.

Before long, he'd even started intercepting the notes the King and Rose passed back and forth in secret, letting me read them first without either of them ever knowing.

Rose was clever. But the biggest flaw of clever people is that they always think they've seen through everything.

She looked down on me, a royal mistress trapped in the back halls, and just as much on the King's occasional empty affection toward other women.

She was certain the King still loved her best, so even when he refused to abolish the harem outright, she always found some excuse to explain it away.

But the more certain a woman like that was of her place, the less she could survive betrayal.

So the first thing I did was plant a seed of doubt.

I made sure a baby's bib embroidered with a tiger's head was in plain sight the next time she came to check my pulse.

I smiled sweetly. "The King once told me our child was destined to be the finest in the kingdom. We even picked out a name together already."

Rose's face was so dark by the time she left.

Sure enough, within a few days, Connor came to report back.

"Rose had a falling-out with the King."

I was reclining on the couch, peeling grapes, and I laughed at that. "Over what?"

"She asked him whether, if you became pregnant, he'd name your child his heir."

I raised an eyebrow. "And what did the King say?"

Connor paused awhile before replying, "He told her not to let her imagination run wild."

I laughed out loud.

A woman like Rose could claim all she liked that she didn't want to be trapped in the harem, but deep down, no one cared more about being the King's "only one" than she did.

The moment she realized his devotion wasn't as solid as she'd assumed, that thorn would work its way straight into her heart.

All I had to do was give it a gentle push, and let it dig in deeper.

The floating comments appeared again in front of me, and this time they were arguing with each other.

[How is the female lead cracking this easily? Does she even have a brain?]

[Our girl is just pure and kind! The evil mistress's fans need to stop dragging our sweetheart!]

[Hey, you! Pure and kind enough to poison the second mistress and offer up a guard for the male lead to sleep with in her place? Is that the kind of pure and kind you'd raise your own kid on?]

[Honestly, I'm getting a little tired of this whole "King's mistress exists to be collateral damage for the leads' romance" trope. If they love each other so much, why does someone else have to get hurt?]

Watching the comments swing further and further in my favor, I couldn't help but smile.

After all, I still needed them for spoilers. With their support, winning would only get easier.

Rose, sure enough, panicked.

Within five days, Connor brought me a packet of intercepted medicine residue late one night.

"My lady, she's tripled the cinnabar in the fertility tonic compared to before." He kept his voice low, his jaw tight.

I pinched a bit of the residue between my fingers and brought it to my nose.

Vicious. She was clearly afraid the plan would drag on too long, and wanted me dead sooner rather than later.

I wiped my fingertips clean with a handkerchief. "Go get things ready. The King will absolutely come to Larkspur Hall tonight."

Connor looked faintly surprised. "The King's been in a foul mood these past few days, shutting Rose out entirely. He hasn't set foot in the harem at all."

I smiled and patted his shoulder.

"However foul his mood, he'll still have to swallow his pride and come coax me tonight.

"Half a month ago, I sent a secret letter to my brother, who is guarding the northern frontier. By my count, an urgent war dispatch should be arriving at the study tonight, right around dusk."

The Kharsan tribes were stirring, and the border was on edge.

With no other generals the court could rely on, the only way for the King to keep his throne steady was to lean on the Krenion family's Northern Garrison to fight and die for him.

If you wanted the horse to run, you had to feed it. And the best way to keep the Krenion family loyal was to shower their daughter with favor.

So no matter how much he was still sulking over Rose, tonight he'd have no choice but to spend the night in my bed.

Sure enough, that night, the King came.

There was still exhaustion from the day's affairs written between his brows, but his eyes softened, feigned tenderness, the moment he took my hand.

"My beloved mistress, you've suffered these past few days."

He sighed, all false sympathy. "The border's been unsettled, and the court's kept me buried in work. I've neglected you. I'll make it up to you properly tonight.

"Oh, and didn't you once say you were fond of that red coral tree the foreign envoys brought as tribute? I'll have Connor bring it to you tomorrow."

I lowered my eyes to hide the mockery in them, then handed him the cup of wine I'd laced with a sleeping draught.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. I've been sleeping poorly lately, and I've heard coral helps calm the nerves. Why not send your guard to fetch it right now?"

He waved Connor off with a glance, telling him to hurry, then drank the wine without a shred of suspicion.

Within a quarter hour, his eyes lost focus, his body sagged, and he collapsed onto the bed, dead asleep.

I slipped my hand out of his loosened grip and rinsed my mouth with cold tea.

"Come out."

A dark figure slipped silently out from behind the screen.

Connor had already retrieved the coral. He walked step by step toward the bed, glanced at the King sleeping like the dead, then fixed his gaze on me.

It wasn't the first time we'd done this. But this time, I was wide awake for it.

"My lady." His voice came out hoarse.

I leaned back against the bedpost, reached out, and hooked a finger through the sash at his waist, giving it a light tug.

He sank to one knee at the edge of the bed. His frame was tall, overwhelming up close, and yet his eyes burned with a heat he couldn't quite hide.

"Scared?" I trailed a fingertip along his throat, feeling it tremble under my touch. "The King's lying right there. If he wakes up, it's your whole bloodline that pays for it."

"I'm not afraid." He caught my wrist in his hand, fire in his eyes. "This life of mine has belonged to you for a long time now."

He leaned down, his breath scorching, and closed in around me completely.

Right in the middle of that pull and tug, golden light suddenly flared in front of my eyes.

The rows of floating text began scrolling at a frantic speed.

[HOLY CRAP HOLY CRAP! Danger alert! The female lead's caught them early!]

[Usually when the male lead visits Larkspur Hall, he has the female lead stay over in the side chamber with him. This time he didn't call for her, so she got scared he'd actually fall for the mistress for real, and rushed over to expose the affair!]

[I'm dying, I only just started shipping this and now the King's mistress needs to RUN! Getting caught in bed with another man like this is a death sentence!]

I stared at the scrolling text, my eyelid twitching nonstop.

There was a crash. Someone had slammed open the courtyard gate at Larkspur Hall.

A moment later, Rose's voice rang out through the entire hall.

"Queen Mother! I stake my life on it, the King's mistress is committing adultery in the palace this very moment! His Majesty is in danger!"