Today's chapters are dedicated to the reader Rhrotra for gifting supergift spacecraft to this novel.
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Esther returned to the Queen's palace, lost in thought about how she was going to open the sensitive topic to her husband and convince him without angering him. Ti flew by quickly, and when night ca, the young queen found herself worriedly pacing between the bed and the window, sotis sitting on the mattress in a daze and sotis gazing outside for the unlikely possibility that the carriage of her husband returned early. Even the calming tea her servants prepared for her were ineffective to calm her nerves.
After having her evening al where she barely touched her food, she returned to her bedchamber and waited for King Theron to arrive. With each passing mont, her heart and mind were being filled with anxiety.
The mont her husband entered her bedchamber, she felt her heart flip, but she was able to welco him with a smile. Unaware of his wife's brewing anxiety, he ca to her and without a word just hugged her. She hugged him back, burying her face against his chest as she listened to his calm heartbeats.
For a mont, she had an errant thought to put all the worries in her mind aside, to postpone bringing up the issue tonight and simply have a peaceful happy ti with him. Wouldn't that be good? She didn't know what would happen once she raised the issue of having concubines with him, and he looked exhausted from work. Perhaps she should find a better chance…
"You look tired today as well. Seems like your subjects are adamant on troubling you and increasing your work," she said, still hugging him and caressing his back with her soft palms.
"They can trouble as much as they want," he said, causing her to be confused. But he continued, "Nothing is going to affect when I have such peaceful shelter to get rid of that tiredness."
Esther slightly moved back to look at his exhausted yet still handso face. His dark eyes stared back at her with genuine love, his lips carrying a proud smile on them. It caused her to laugh.
"I don't know about your subjects, but you sure managed to flatter your queen with sweet words."
"Sweet words? Well, I have much sweeter words in store for you and you alone," he replied. He pressed his lips against her forehead. He could never get tired of showing his love and affection to her.
"Anyway, how was your visit to my parents?" he asked. "Is Father well?"
"It was good. Father looks better compared to the last visit, and he's able to walk even without support." she replied. "Mother let taste a new kind of floral tea while we talked."
"Oh? And what were you talking about? I would want to believe my dear wife didn't complain about to my mother," he said.
Esther felt a little anxious but perfectly hid it as she rolled her eyes at him. "That's between Mother and I."
"Fine." Theron didn't insist.
"You are tired. You should sit comfortably." She dragged him by hand towards the bed.
"Why do I feel like my wife plans to tire more by coaxing and taking to bed?" he comnted teasingly.
She gave him a narrow-eyed look and removed his robe as she signaled him to get on the bed.
"As my wife wishes." Theron climbed the bed and sat up, resting his back against the pillows propped against the headboard. Esther was about to go to her side of the bed but he held her hand. "Where are you going?" He then pulled her towards him, causing her body to lay on top of him.
Esther playfully slapped his chest and cuddled next to him, his arm on her shoulder as he pulled her close to him. Esther made herself comfortable and placed her arms around his waist, one hand patting his muscled abdon.
Several minutes went by with King Theron simply idly caressing her long blond hair. "What bothers your mind recently, Esther?"
Her body froze, thinking that he had caught her despite her efforts of hiding her chaotic thoughts. She lifted her head up and looked at him, only to hear him say, "Do you think you can easily hide anything from ?"
She felt her heart skip a beat. Her anxiety flared, wondering how he discovered the subject of getting concubines, but then she heard him continue, "I do not know what it is exactly, but I can see sothing is troubling you for a while now. Can't you share your problem with your husband?"
Esther lowered her head and took a deep breath. Was there a better chance to open her concerns if not now?
"Theron?"
"Hmm?"
"Do you…Do you rember that ti two years back? That ti when we were taking shelter in that underground abode of that old lady with a cane?" she asked while trying to calm her nerves.
"Hmm, of course. How can I forget those monts? They brought closer to you," he replied with a peaceful smile, continuing to caress her hair gently.
"At that ti, you said you will repay for saving your life," she continued.
He chuckled. "Hmm, but why are you raising that now? You are my wife. If you wish to ask anything, you simply have to say it. There is nothing that I will not give you, even if you ask for my life."
She shook her head. "I want you to fulfill that promise to then. This is important."
"Fine," he relented, though he looked confused, he asked, "Tell , what do you want so badly that you're like this?"
Esther didn't dare raise her head to look at him.
"Theron," she started, her breath shaky, "I-I want you to have a concubine."
It felt like her heart stopped beating as she waited with bated breath for his reaction, but the only response she got was that his hand caressing her hair froze mid-air.
There was no reply from him. Five seconds, ten seconds, a minute…
Esther could finally no longer bear it and looked at his face. She found her husband looking back at her with a puzzled gaze, as if he had heard her speak in a foreign language he could not understand.
She gulped at his silence and repeated her words. "I want you to have a concubine, Theron."
Theron stared down at his wife. His doubts of hearing sothing strange was cleared, but an entirely new feeling replaced it—a mixture of disbelief, disappointnt, and sothing else he could not properly explain. Not even in his dreams did he expect her to say those words to him.
His wife moved away from his arm to have a proper look at him. "Theron, please say sothing."
He tried to open his mouth, but his body was in too much of a shock that it wouldn't follow his mind. He could only stare at her. But then again, he felt as if there was nothing he could say to her. His mind was a jumbled ss. All he could think was, 'Why?'
Why did she have to ask this? Did soone coerce her? Which fool dared—
"Theron…"
The young king finally forced himself to speak, but the voice that ca out of his mouth sounded hoarse and dangerously cold.
"What did you just say now?"
Esther panicked. It was as if all the warmth on his handso face was gone. She expected him to be angry or heartbroken, but not like this, as if he was trying so hard to control himself, he completely hid all the emotions he had inside him.
"First calm down and listen to …."
"Tell that I heard you wrong," he spoke in a manner so cold, it was as if a hand made of ice gripped Esther's heart.
"No, Theron. What you heard was right," she assured him. "I want you to have a concubine."
He closed his eyes for a mont and he remained that way for a while, but she could see a pulsing vein sticking out of his jaw, proving how shocked he must be at this mont. "Did…my parents asked you to say this when you went to them?"
She shook her head. "It's my own decision," she replied and when he t her gaze, she could clearly see the disappointnt and hurt in his eyes.
"Why?"
"Because I can't give you a child and I want—"
"Did I say I want one?" he wanted to snap, but he held himself back at the last mont, not wanting to raise his voice at his wife. Still, his words ca out a little cold as he tried to suppress the emotional turmoil inside him.
Esther bit her lip in frustration, but she held on. "You never said that but you need to have one. You need to think about this kingdom." She thought he would ease a bit at the ntion of his responsibility towards the kingdom, but that only made him narrow his eyes at her.
"I am doing all I can for garis, and I am even willing to risk my life to protect it, but this," he emphasized, "this thing you are asking, is an insult to the one person I cherish more than my kingdom. It will never happen."
With that, he stepped out of the bed and moved towards the door.
"Theron!" she called. "Listen to —"
He stopped but didn't turn around to look at her. "I will listen to everything you say but this."
"You have promised to repay for saving your life, rember?" she said, grasping at straws as there was no other way left.
Her husband didn't even bother to reply and left her bedchamber without another word.
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