He Tried to Make the Empress His Concubine
On the night of the Festival of Lights, Mother secretly took me out to wander the streets. Then, out of nowhere, a man and a woman stepped into our path.
The man stared at my mother, his eyes turning red. "Emmeline?"
The woman's gaze locked on me. She grabbed the man's sleeve, suddenly frantic. "Cedric, look! Those eyes, that face... She's our daughter, Rosalind!"
She rushed toward me with her arms open wide. "Rosalind, I'm your mother!"
I was so scared that I scrambled behind my mother. Mother pulled me behind her without a word. Her face gave nothing away.
The man approached, looking guilty and full of himself at the same time. "Emmeline, it must have been hard on you all these years, raising my daughter with Seraphina so well. Now that I've returned to the capital, I'll make it up to you. I still remember the promise we made, our betrothal.
"But Seraphina is already my lawful wife, so I'm afraid you'll have to settle for being a concubine."
I was stunned. My father was the reigning Emperor. My mother was the Empress. What in the world was this man talking about?