"How's married life?" Jia asked me as we both sat in one of the rooms of the palace. She was sipping on her tea while watching me in anticipation. Kang wasn't with her this time, and instead was with Fang.

"It's going well."

"So I've heard!" She wiggled her brow. "I've heard that you've moved into the emperor's chambers. How did you manage to do that? Everyone's talking about it. They're saying stuff like how the beautiful Empress has somehow ensnared the cold, dead heart of the fearsome Dragon."

Heat rose to my face and I swatted at her hand as she waved it around dramatically. I smiled sheepishly and took a sip of tea. "I only asked him and he said yes."

"Ooh, how romantic," she cooed.

It had been over a week since my things had been moved into Meilin's rooms, and ever since then, people from the palace couldn't stop talking. It was unheard of for the empress and the emperor to share a room together, so the buzz around the palace was only natural.

"You're lucky that Meilin listens to you," she said with a snort. "I asked Fang if he could stay home with me for a week—no work, just me and him and Kang. He gave me his most serious look and said, 'Don't be ridiculous.'" Jia slammed her hand down on the padded ground, rolling her eyes. "Don't be ridiculous? Seriously, that man! I should've slapped him right then and there like the first time we met."

I lowered my cup of tea and raised an incredulous brow. "You slapped Fang when you first met him?"

Jia's dark eyes glimmered with mischief and she bobbed her head. "Slapped him as hard as I could."

"How and why did that happen?"

"So almost five years ago, you know, when Meilin usurped the throne and all, there was this purge going around, remember? Meilin ordered that all statues of the Emperor Yan, and the previous emperor before that, Emperor Guozhi, be destroyed. All paintings, statues, banners of the MuRong family, specifically those two emperors, were to be burned."

"Yes, I remember. It was terrifying with all those soldiers going into everyone's houses and ripping away anything they deemed burnable," I recalled. My village had gone through it as well. The event was something that also tainted Meilin's reign as bloody, since some soldiers had burned more than just a few paintings.

Jia set down her tea and continued her story, waving her hands around as she spoke. "I lived with my older sister, my younger brother, my grandparents, and my parents. Anyway, we had a few things with the MuRong family symbol on them, to respect the royal family. The soldiers threw those things out and burned them and somehow, our house caught on fire. It was an accident by one of the soldiers, but I was furious."

"Your house was burned down?"

"Yes. Fang was in charge of those men and he came to us. He apologized but you know that look he always wears? The serious, angry looking expression he always has? It's his resting face, I know that now, but at the time, I thought that he was mocking us. He looked so serious and uncaring that in my fury, I ran up to him, screamed at his face, and then slapped him."

"I can't believe you slapped the General," I said in awe. "Especially since he was a part of Meilin's army. With the rumors going around about them, no one in their right mind would think to cross them."

She laughed and grabbed her cup, taking a sip before setting it back down. "Trust me, my family was horrified. My sister grabbed me while my brother dropped down on his knees and begged for forgiveness. Fang just stood there, expressionless, while his soldiers were silent and shocked. After a moment, he apologized once more and left. I still thought that he was mocking us."

"How did you start loving him? It's hard to imagine love blossoming in that situation."

"My village is pretty prosperous and big, so having high ranking officials around isn't something new. Fang was assigned to my village for a little while, which wasn't a surprise. Anyway, my family was staying with one of my father's friend's house while we were having our house repaired—only half was burnt to ashes. Anyway, one evening, I was outside at nighttime because I wanted to try and salvage some of my things from the house—my parents forbade my from going near our house, which was why I left at night. Anyhow, I stumbled upon a drunk man that was being rough to me. A soldier passing by helped me and called out to his General, who was, surprise surprise, the mocking, uncaring Fang.

"Well, we kept bumping into each other after that and somehow, I fell in love with him. Right when he was about to leave to the capital, he asked me to marry him. I don't really know how love transpired between us during that short time span that he was in my village—a little over a month—but I was crazy about him. We married a few months after that and here we are, happily married and still deeply in love."

"That's so sweet—"

"Do you want to know what's sweeter?" She was beaming ear to ear, a glow on her face. She leaned in close to me until her lips brushed against my ear. "I'm pregnant."

I covered my mouth with my hand before looking down at her stomach; the hanfu she wore hid any curves so it wasn't visible that she was with child. Still, the happiness that poured out of her was enough to make me lunge forward and hug her tightly. "I'm so happy for you," I said with a laugh.

"I haven't told Fang," she said, her voice suddenly strangled. She pulled back, tears streaming down her face. Quickly wiping them away, she smiled. "Kang will have a little sibling."

"How far along are you?"

"Roughly three months," she rested a hand against her abdomen and smiled gently. "I didn't want to tell Fang because . . . I wanted to wait until I was positive. My weight fluctuates a lot during the seasons; sometimes I like sweets too much." She laughed softly. "He thinks that I'm just in another one of my chubby modes."

"I bet Fang will be really happy," I said with a giggle. "He'll be overjoyed."

"I thought I was barren," she said softly. "I've been trying to have a child for years and . . . and now, finally, I can have my own. Kang is my child too, of course, but I always wanted to give birth to a child of my own. He'll have a little brother or sister to play with now."

"I'm really happy for you."

"You know, I was married once, before Fang," she said. "When I was fifteen, I was married away to a man who was thirty years older than me. He was mean and always angry. He slapped me many times and he would always scream insults at me. I was miserable, to say the least. For three years, I wasn't able to have his child and so we divorced. No one wants a barren wife. I was actually quite happy that he was out of my life, and I didn't think that I would ever fall in love."

"I thought I would never be married as well," I said. "Life has unexpected turns."

"It does, doesn't it? When I told Fang that I was probably barren, he said he didn't really care. I could tell that he was kind of upset, but he didn't say anything to me. He's always wanted kids of his own, you know." She smiled as she drank her tea. "Kang has made us so happy. I really am lucky to have Kang and Fang in my life."

"They're also lucky to have you in their lives."

"I hope our baby doesn't inherit that scary expression of Fang's," she said with a laugh. "He always looks scary, doesn't he? Like he's angry or something? He's handsome, no doubt, but he needs to fix that expression of his."

I bobbed my head. "It would be nice if the child was as bubbly as you, or maybe as strong willed as Fang."

"Wouldn't it be amazing if you were with child as well?" She winked at me and couldn't help from smiling that infectious grin of hers. "You're glowing a lot, you know. Do you think it's because of that?"

"M-Me? With child?" I shook my head vigorously. "No—"

"Is the thought impossible?" Her brows came together and she leaned forward, scrutinizing me carefully, her lower lip stuck out as a thoughtful expression overcame her features. "I would've thought you and Meilin already consummated . . . "

Heat flooded my cheeks. "We did."

"Then why is the thought impossible? The way you're refusing it is like it's not going to happen."

Now that she mentioned, there was always going to be a possibility. Vehemently refusing didn't mean that it was impossible. "I don't think so," I muttered instead.

"Why not? Have you been dizzy lately? Have you thrown up? Are your breasts swollen and tender?"

"I-I don't really know."

"Have you been dizzy lately?"

"Maybe once, but that was because I was stressing about my younger brothers."

"Have you thrown up?"

"No."

"Are your breasts swollen or tender?"

"A . . . A little."

Her eyes widened. "Then—"

I waved my hand dismissively, shooting away that thought. "Jia, honestly, I don't think I'm with child. Also, even if I am with child, I don't want anyone to know until I'm completely positive."

She pouted but shrugged anyway. "Fine. For now, I'll let it go. Still, it's such a pity that you might be pregnant and here Meilin is going off to fight." Jia sighed loudly and shook her head offhandedly. "Men are always like that, rushing off into battle without thinking about their wives. Fang is always like that too. Sometimes he wouldn't even write back to me."

I slowly placed the cup back down and turned to her, my shoulders tense. "What do you mean? Is Meilin leaving for battle?"

She blinked back in surprise. "He didn't tell you?" She clucked her tongue. "That man, I swear he needs to be more considerate."

"Jia, is Meilin leaving for battle?"

She sighed and bobbed her head. "He found Keung's location so he's leaving tomorrow to deal with him. He's taking Commander Bolin and Vita with him."

"Tomorrow?"

"I know, it's too soon, really, but knowing that man, he wants to get everything done quickly. He'd rather do everything himself so that no one messes it up for him."

"B-But, tomorrow is so . . . soon," I whispered. Without wanting to, my voice became strained and I was positive that I had a hurt expression on my face, because Jia grabbed my hand and gave me an understanding look. "He didn't tell me anything."

She squeezed my hand. "That's just what he's like. He was probably planning on telling you later tonight."

"And he's still injured," I continued, a tremble in my voice. "He can't fight like that."

"Daiyu—"

"He should've told me." I rose to my feet and ran a shaky hand down my clothes. I was hurt that he hadn't told me anything. Here he was planning on leaving tomorrow to find Keung, and he hadn't even told me about it. Was he even planning on telling me? Did he not want me to worry? "Jia, I'm going to go to Meilin."

"Give him a good punch for not telling you," she called off to me as I rushed out of the room.

People bowed down as I made my way down the hallway, but I barely paid them any attention as I hurried along. Throughout the whole walk towards the Emperor's private halls, my thoughts encompassed Meilin. I knew that he wasn't used to telling people anything about what he did—he had no obligation to announce his actions, since he was the emperor—but now that I was his wife, I thought that he would tell me more about these sort of things.

As I continued down the hall, I caught a glimpse of Thera. She was dressed in an off-white gown that showed off her arms and shoulders—a dress that was inappropriate for the Huo Empire, but was normal in Sanguis. I noticed that around her arms were thin gold chains, and that there were a few gold chains tied within her hair.

She was holding hands with a young boy, who looked to be around ten. He had short black hair and wide brown eyes, his features looking familiar. He was dressed in fancy attire and he even had a wooden sword strapped to his waist.

"Empress," Thera said in surprise when she saw me. A smile stretched on her face and she gave a small bow. "Nice to see you."

"Thera, it's nice to see you too," I said, slowing down until I was in front of her. I peeked at the little bow standing next to her leg and tried my best to muster a smile. "And who's this little cute boy?"

"This is Prince Daewon," Thera said, looking down at the small prince. "Say hello to your Aunt, Prince Daewon."

Daewon smiled at me shyly before giving me a bow. "It's nice to meet you, Empress."

"It's nice to meet you too," I said before turning back to Thera. "Thera, have you seen Meilin? I need to talk to him."

"Master Drakkon is currently holding a meeting with his generals and commanders. the Peccata are actually waiting for him to finish as well; we all have to discuss some things with him." Thera motioned towards Daewon. "Minos told me to watch him while we wait for Master to be free. Why don't you walk with me while we wait for Master?"

I nodded reluctantly. One thing I came to realize with my time with Meilin, was that he was extremely busy and that there were no times where he was completely free. I always had to wait for him to make time with me, which wasn't ideally what I wanted. I wanted to be able to talk to him whenever I wanted to, but since he was the emperor, I had to wait until he was free.

Still, Meilin had told me that I didn't have to wait for him, and that I could demand for his time, but I couldn't let that happen. Knowing Meilin, he would cut back on sleep in order to finish whatever work he wasn't able to do.

"Where are you heading to? Anywhere in particular?" I asked as we continued down the hall. I was a bit down and I was impatient, my thoughts jumbled together and my feelings more confused than they should have been.

Prince Daewon vigorously bobbed his head. "We're going to the market."

"Into town? Really?"

"Don't worry, Nikator will be joining us as well, so you'll be adequately protected."

My mind was so filled with Meilin leaving me without saying anything, that before I could even figure out what was happening, tears blurred my vision and my shoulders trembled. Meilin had told me that he loved me and I knew that it was necessary for him to fight of Keung, but that didn't lessen the anxiety eating away at my heart. Even though Meilin was strong, I couldn't bear the thought of him being hurt on the battlefield. He was already injured, so what if he lost his life because of that injury?

"E-Empress." Thera placed her hands on my shoulders and peered down at my face, her brows pulled together and her face pinched with worry. "Is everything alright? Are you hurt?"

"M-Meilin is leaving for battle t-tomorrow," I managed to cry out. It was a miracle that Thera heard me, since I sounded incoherent even to my own ears. She pulled me into a hug and murmured soothing words to me as she patted my back.

"Master is strong," she said. "He'll be fine."

"B-But he's injured—"

"Master is strong. Believe in him."