"Husband? What is going on? Why are you drunk? Be careful! Husband, the babies…" "Fret not wife, I am not drunk enough to harm my children before they even arrive, I put in too much work to bring them her in the first place." There was something a little suspicious about the way that he said that, but he was already acting suspicious by staying out all night in the palace and avoiding eye contact with me which he never usually does. The first thing that he always does when he comes home was to greet me and his children before even taking a bath or eating. But the timing of all of this was also suspicious so I wasn't going to let my doubts ruin me again. I had already packed up my things and I had my carriage waiting for me, but the fact that he hadn't picked up on it was starting to worry me a little. "Has something happened husband?" "I…need to stay out of the place for a little while." "Why? What has happened? Did you do something?" "My cousins marriage…" "Which one? The one that we just married off?" "Yes…it has already come to and end. And since I am family, it is better for me to stay away by the order of The Crown Prince." "So what are you going to do now? Tell me that first before you tell me what happened?" "I shall…stay home and finally work on being a good husband to you and build on being the kind of father that I want to be to our twins." "You want to…stay here? At home? With me instead of working or…" "We haven't really done that since you were my hostage, isn't that so?" "I suppose so…" "Why? Does the idea terrify you? Is that why you have already packed up your things? So you can get away from me with the first chance that you can get?" "It isn't like that husband and you know it! I am already married to you and I am pregnant in case you haven't noticed, so where would I go?" "So you want to return to your brother's village? I still need to be close to the palace, just in case…" "You just said that you wanted to build yourself up to be a good father, do you really think that you can do that here so close to palace where you are available to be called upon anytime?" "Well…maybe I should distance myself a little from The Crown Prince." "Please come with me! Right away! We can even go right now if I have the servants pack up your things and we can finally start to focus on our marriage and…" "why? What is wrong with our marriage? Is there a problem?" "We both have been far too consumed with revenge and we both know it. Yes, it is an important filal duty for us, but we have both went through a lot to be together and our goals have nothing to do with that, does it? Husband?"
"Let me just recover first and then we can leave." "Very well, I shall start on your packing and…" "Get the servants to do it and come and sit with me for a while, I do not feel well and I have plenty to catch you up on." "I'd rather take a break from it for a single day and just…" "My aunt confessed to have a hand…in killing your mother when I tried to kick her out of the breakfast in the palace. And she did it right in front of The Third Prince, who kept me in his office all night long to hatch a plan about getting revenge on your parents on your behalf to crawl himself out of the hole that he created when he rushed this marriage wih my cousin." It was as if time had stopped when my husband confessed to the The Crown Prince's plans and all of my hard work and sacrifice had been for naught, and it made me angry. But I was no longer a reckless little girl with nothing to loose; I was a married woman with an extremely pregnant belly and a reputation to uphold for my martial and paternal family. I had nobody to reply on from this moment…apart from my ambitious husband…
"Why are you crying? Let us not waste those pretty little tears of yours and…" "You did this to me; you got me pregnant as soon as something about my parents get brought up for the first time in over 2 decades…" "What are you talking about?" "You know damned well what I am talking about…" My husband suddenly went from a drunken mess strewed all over our bed from a man sober enough to undress his wife from her restrictive clothes and even unswaddle her swollen feet without being revolted at the sight of it. Men never involved themselves in such intimate affairs, but this man was doing everything that my close servants should be helping me with…surely this couldn't be a manipulation tactic, could it? No man could ever hide his disgust, and…
"Stop overthinking wife, I am the one who put you in this condition on purpose, so I should be prepared for the state that my hard work has left you in." "Husband…" "You know what? I am really starting to miss the times when you had wore your hair out instead of having it tied up now. And the way that you used to come to me as soon as you saw me…." "What happened husband? Please tell me?" "Lie down first and get comfortable wife, because a lot happened that night that made him forget about it, at least for now." "And how could so much have happened without your interference husband?" "This time it was all for you wife, I had to do everything in my power in that moment to make The Crown Prince give up on the idea once and for all, and I didn't have many tricks at my disposal." "I am more than comfortable in your arms husband, so tell me everything now." "Well, let us just say that I will never underestimate the power of flowers again and I shall repay you by giving you the garden you have always wanted." "Husband?" "This is what happened…"
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"Husband? I am surprised that you have come to see me at all after the last time that we met…" "What can I say wife? Your belly is starting to show and I must pay more attention to the product of the scandal that almost cost me my throne…" "Husband! Watch what you say in the company of others! Especially my own cousin…!" ""You do smell rather nice though and you look good. I remember these flowers of yours, weren't they in the temple when we…" "Husband, I have t remain untouched during this pregnancy…" "Why? I am still with my main wife and nothing has happened at all? Unless you are hiding something from me?" "Nothing serious would happen indeed, but this is still an Imperial Heir and…" "Your Highness, maybe I should be excused for the night." "Very well, but stay here because I will need you in the morning Lord Nam." "Very well Your Highness, and I would water those plants more if I were you, they look a little dry and it insults The Price upon his rare visit here…" "Cousin!" "What? Did I say something wrong? It was only a minor observation cousin…unless you do have something to hide after all? Or you are just being ungrateful about your husband visiting you as you are me since you haven't even offered me so much as a drink of water…" "You are excused My Lord, and as for you, concubine, I can hardly seem to contain myself around you…"
"My Lord Nam! Please wakeup from your slumber! Forgive me but…last night, you cousin bled and she…you must not dress up so extravagantly either, as we are all one mourning, so please hurry and make your way to The Crown Prince's quarters at once!" "But I didn't even bring a change of clothes with me!" "Then I will have to bring you something! Forgive me, I should have sent you something…it is just that we are so out of sorts right now and…" "What happened exactly, servant? Did the baby not make it?" "You know more then me My Lord that when the wives are pregnant, that their husbands must not…" "Passion between the 2 sexes does not come out from nowhere, especially when there are many fragrant materials around, that is why I took away everything of the sort from my wife's quarters so that we could not be distracted and…." "Fragrance materials, My Lord?" "Don' you remember, servant? How sickly sweet her quarters smelled last night? Forget it if you do not, maybe I am just overacting since my wife no longer uses heavy fragrances in our home, so…"
"So I took it upon myself to conduct an investigation, Your Highest, since I remembered how fragrant your concubine's quarters were last night even though it shouldn't have been due to the weak pregnancy…" "Weak pregnancy? What do you mean 'weak'? I have never heard this before? Servant? What is going on here exactly?" "Your Majesty, this baby has had a low chance of survival from the start, and your concubine has been hiding its from you. The Lord Nam and his wife were even unaware of it as they live in a separate residence and they do not come in contact with any of the children of their relatives at all." "Yes, the entire kingdom is aware of his clan change, and now I can see why. So what did this sudden investigation turn up?"
"Your Highest, we have uncovered some ashes in the concubines fireplace." "Ashes? What ashes?" "Incense ashes, the very kind that was was warned against to use during her pregnancy as it can act as an aphrodisiac between a husband and wife when they are desperate to conceive and…" "But she was already pregnant? So why would she…?" "We found boxes of it hidden underneath her belongings in her trunks and wardrobes." "She used such a difficult trick to strive for favour and she ended up harming our child instead. I should demote her for this! Hang on a minute…this smell, it is so familiar to me…Lord Nam! Where are you!" "You are right Your Highness, this smells so much like that particular flower that she likes to decorate her room with." "Flowers? The same flowers that were decorated in the temple at the time? The same flowers that she handed over to my sister on her visits? My sister…she is also pregnant at this moment….my sister! Somebody assist her right away and get those damned flowers out of the palace at once! That woman that I risked everything for! She isn't worthy to be a human or a woman at all! I shall take her life myself and her clan…they are surely the ones who provided her with such harmful materials in the first place! Yes! This is it! I know that my father has always wanted their clan to come to an end, and I shall be the one to do it and bury my only scandal at the same time! This is all thanks to you Lord Nam! I should have investigated that girl before I chose her as my woman, I should have investigated her when I first heard the news of you using such drastic measures to distance yourself from your paternal clan, especially after your father….you shall be rewarded for this if all goes well, just go and save my sister first and arrest her husband as a suspect in this entire case! Maybe he has been colluding with his sister to skill his own child because of how badly she humiliated him when she forced him to marry her! He practically emasculated her which is still bad, but any Royal Heir is sacred and we need to save her! Right now! Go!"