"Prince." Empress Yanisha's face cooled into a placid mask. Plastering a fake smile on her lips, she took another sip of her tea and calmly stated. "Yes, well. Sometimes, through intimidation and coercion, one could extract vital information from the mouth of a servant that asking directly wouldn't yield. Wouldn't you say?"
Ghazeyh chuckled darkly and crossed his legs. "That's true." He nodded, gesturing for the Empress's servant to serve him tea. "Take for example, a certain guard I caught sneaking around the Prime Minister's Mansion. Quite a stubborn one, really. He refused to open his mouth no matter how I questioned him. But after a night of coercion, he spilled the beans he vowed to take to his grave."
The Empress's hand paused amid lowering the cup. A flash of confusion flickered in her eyes as she turned her head to look at the man. "A guard? Who's guard is so daring to loiter around the Prime Minister's Mansion?"
"Hehe. If he had only been loitering around, why would I take the trouble of capturing him?" Ghazeyh swept an obscure glance over the Empress, who clutched her cup and fought to maintain her composure. A scornful smile stretched across his lips at her stiff expression.
Empress Yanisha heaved with vexation. This was why she hated this bastard. His intelligence and means were too perverted to like. For a few seconds, she stared at him in brooding silence, then venomously sneered, shredding all pretense. "What do you want, Ghazeyh?"
"What do I want?" The Crown Prince chuckled. "It's funny, you ask. Cause as far as I know, it's you who's been targeting me all this time?" He raised a questioning brow, his humorless tone carrying a dark edge that sent a shiver down her spine.
"I…when did I target you? As your nominal mother, is it wrong for me to think about your marriage?"
"Thinking about me…" His careless grin stretched into a wide smirk.
Yanisha almost suffocated to death. The ridicule in his tone was too much! As his Queen Mother, he gave her no respect at all!
She knew he found joy in her loss of composure, and as much as she hated him, she couldn't afford to lose her temper. Not now. "Fine, I apologize for my past behavior. Are you happy now?" She frowned and raised her cup again.
Ghazeyh shrugged and leaned back in his seat. "Your apology means nothing to me. Believe it or not, I gave you the power to do as you wished, not because I was helpless, but because I could care less about your plans. The throne of the Frost-Flame Empire isn't a trophy to be won. To inherit it, one must have the ability to sit on it. It won't change hands due to your wishful thinking."
Yanisha stiffened. She didn't know what sin she committed in her past life to become the stepmother of this vile spawn.
Inhaling a few calming breaths, she forced a motherly smile on her face and said, "You're thinking too much, Prince. I have no interest in your throne."
"That's not what your guard told me, Empress. You have the ambition. Gather the courage to own up to your actions. You won't accomplish anything if you keep hiding in the shadows."
This animal! He deserved to die a hundred deaths!
"Anyways, I didn't come here to discuss your greed. Let's get to the point of this meeting. Keep your claws out of my affairs, and your secret will be safe with me. If not, I can always present the evidence of your treason to the Emperor."
Yanisha paused, then raised her gaze in disbelief. "Are you saying…for that woman, you'll get rid of the guard?" For a mere woman, would he give up on the chance to reveal her truth to the Emperor? That easily?
Yanisha's curiosity grew. She wondered who this woman was. To capture the heart of this cold-hearted bastard, to earn his protection in an empire like the Frost-Flame, her importance in the bastard's heart couldn't be underestimated.
If so…wouldn't that mean…
"I know what you're thinking, and I'm warning you. You'd better forget about manipulating my woman. Otherwise, you won't be able to bear the consequences." Ghazeyh set down his cup and wiped his hands. Uncrossing his legs, he slowly rose to his feet and looked down at the woman in charge of the harem.
"So? Is it a deal or a war?"
Empress Yanisha hesitated for a moment. She was really unwilling to let that woman stay by his side. From this negotiation alone, she could already see what a valuable bargaining chip the wench would make. For years, she had been searching for Ghazeyh's weaknesses and shortcomings.
But the bastard was like an insurmountable mountain, hard to move without any weakness in sight. No matter how hard she investigated and how long she monitored, no secret of his landed in her hands.
And now that she had found this weakness, she didn't have the luxury to lord it over him. Because if she didn't agree to his concession, she might suffer a greater loss than gain in his hands.
"Fine. I won't interfere in your affairs. However, as the Queen Mother, it is my duty to find you an Empress. We won't compromise on that matter." She clarified through clenched teeth.
Ghazeyh sneered. "I turned a blind eye to your past deeds only because they were unworthy of my attention. Now you dare to try to control me? If I have the heart to oppose, do you really think you can dictate my marriage?"
Empress Yanisha's expression stiffened. Before she could return to her senses, Ghazeyh turned and strode out of the Receiving Hall.
He didn't care about her schemes. For years, he turned a blind eye to her assassination attempts, as the men she hired could barely match up to his Elite Warriors. What's more, he couldn't be killed just because someone wanted him dead.
Without his desire for death, no man or beast could take his life.
"I'll have to think of another way."
Though he could care less about her feeble attempts, the constant flow of assassins was quite an annoyance, to say the least. They buzzed around him like flies, and as the years went by, he grew tired of their relentless pursuit.
Hence, the reason he began to gather evidence.
However, now he used the same evidence to bargain for the girl's stay. In the palace, no one and nothing remained secret for long. But for as long as possible, he wanted to provide her with a peaceful environment to recuperate.
Once the news of an unknown girl with a questionable background, staying by his side without an identity, spread in the palace, she would be in the eye of a storm and become a subject of public criticism.
Before then, he needed to think of a plan.