Though she had expected that he would announce a harsh punishment to her. She had not expected that she would be called personally.
The man who had not seen her face after their first night of marriage except for public gatherings and meetings was calling her to meet personally instead of sending a letter.
Yet she was not at all happy about it. When she was newly married, she had vied for his attention. Begged and pleaded to him to spend time with her.
But all he said was that she was being a nuisance in his work.
She had worn skimpy and see through night clothes while waiting for him in his chambers only to learn later that he had spent the night with his concubine.
Being scorned and mocked by the staff of the central palace. Her grievance and anger only increased. She wanted to run and kill his concubines with her sword. But she knew that it would not affect the man a bit.
Since when has he cared about the lives of others? For him, it was common for people to die. Why should he get worried about that?
In the end, she realized that she was a fool to fall in love with such a cold hearted man for whom she was no more than a pawn.
Her self respect, never let her beg for long. In the end, she let go of getting his affection and concentrated on her survival when she came to know that she was going to be a mother.
She had thought that he would be happy and come lookin for her this time. But all he did was send a few flowers and gifts by the maids whose eyes were mocking her.
She was told again and again that there was already a crown prince who would be the emperor in near future and her child was unwanted.
A stain for the royal family as she did not have royal blood. She was abused and tormented by the staff of the central palace in his command, so that she would not keep the baby.
That was the time when all her affections died. She did not care about him anymore. All she wanted was to live and see her child growing.
She had thought that if she would not cross paths with that man again and live silently in her chambers, everything would be fine. He would not torment her further. But her dream was also broken when her son was attacked by a maid who confessed that she was working under the command of his majesty.
She was so shocked that she thought she was having delusions. No matter how cold hatred he was, how could he try to kill his six month old son.
But then he never came to see his face. Still she wanted to confirm as it could be a conspiracy but when she was taking the maid to his majesty, her own knights killed her.
No matter how many times she had asked, they kept their silence. That was when she realized that all this time, she was living in a dream.
He had never wanted to marry her, never loved her. It was no that she had lost his favour. He never favoured her in the first place.
Since then, she avoided him like a plague and he finally left her and her child alone. She was so busy surviving and gaining power that she could never be trampled again that foolish things like love and affection were long gone from her mind.
She had developed the habit of not seeing her husband in such a long time that meeting him personally left a sour taste in her mouth.
She continued to sit even when she could feel the impatience of the knight who was feeling it hard to maintain his bowing posture but knew that he could not raise his head in front of the empress until she said so.
She was not the empress from 7 years ago who was gullible and kind. She was long gone.
"Your majesty! His majesty did not like to wait." he recalled in a cold tone. He was using the name of her husband to threaten her.. Too bad! It has been ages since she stopped fearing him.
"Then he should not wait from the start!" she muttered as she picked up the next file and started working on it.
"That.. i mean.." she chuckled seeing him struggling for words but there was no humour in her eyes.
"Inform him that I am sick and can not walk properly out of my room. So, I would not be able to go and meet him.
If he needed to discuss something, he could send me a letter. I will send a response." with that she waved her hands in front of the shocked knight who did not move an inch.
He did not know how to explain all this to his master. And he knew that his majesty was not a kind person who would only nod and accept her reply.
"But.. your majesty. If you are not able to walk properly, I will help you. His majesty would not be pleased by your cold reply.'' Though his voice was full of respect, she could feel the underlying threat behind his kind words that she let go of her pretense and showed her real face that was full of viciousness.
"So, you mean to say that you touch me? You must know that I can cut your tongue just for saying such words to me, the empress of the empire. If you dare to touch me, then I will personally cut all your limbs and decorate them on my door. So that everyone could learn their lesson.
Now leave before I change my mind and kill you this instant for talking back to me."