Gloria Regali

Chapter Seven

"Tienes una nuera de mente fuerte (You have a strong-minded daughter-in-law)." Governor-General Luistro de Espadaña mentioned as he sipped his tea.

Luistro de Espadaña was a rather scheming man. Having to obtain his position on siding on the winning side. He already served two emperors already in his time.

A third one if everything went to the empress' plan accordingly.

The empress looked at him intently. The empress was someone who people dared not cross. Empress Evelina was a person who would do anything just to stay in power. It was also no secret that Empress ran the entire palace and the court itself.

Indirectly, of course. As women associating herself with political matters of the empire is frowned upon the elders.

Women were viewed to be flowers who were put on display. Fragile as a china plate, but the empress was far more than that.

Flowers can be lethal. Flowers can poison you with sweetness and kill you slowly.

"Sino sa kanilang dalawa?" she asks.

"Yung bago mong manugang." the governor-general said simply. "Harás de ella una buena reina una vez que Alejandro ascienda al trono(You'll make a good queen out of her once Alejandro ascends the throne)" Luistro said with a glint in his eye.

"Alam naman nating hindi talaga magiging emperador ng bansang ito si Carlos." Empress Evelina said with disdain.

"At sa rasong?" the Governor General trailed off.

"Hindi niya kaya."

The Governor-General cocked his head to the side. It was a game of power indeed.

To stay on the winning side, and desert the losing side. It was a matrer of survival.

"Si Alejandro ang magiging emperador?"

"Alang naman si Carlos?" Evelina scoffs. A hint of disdain was in her voice.

"Ngunit mukhang desidido ang asawa nitong maging emperatris. Malalakas ang loob ng kababaihan ng pamilyang ito." Luistro observes.

The empress scoffs in disbelief.

"Kahit anong pilit niya ay hinding hindi magiging emperador bansang ito si Carlos. Aba, magiging katulad lang sya ni Felipe." the empress taps her fingers on the mahogany tea table. "Papaikutin lang siya ni Maria Contessina, tiyak na hindi ko gugustuhin iyon."

Her eagle like gazed stared into the Governor-General's eyes. One of her sculpted brows lifted and her red lips downturned into a sneer.

"Tiyak na hindi mo din gugustuhin na si Carlos ang maging emperador. Lalo at may malaking kasalanan ang angkan mo sa kanya." the empress said nonchalantly.

The Governor-General kept his mouth shut.

"Sa oras na makapagbigay ng prinsipe si Anastasiya, kay Alejandro mismo ibibigay ang trono ng imperyong ito. Iyan ang nakalahad sa plano."

She closed her abaniko abruptly. Looking back to Luistro, she said in a low tone

"Walang lugar ang hindi tunay na dugong bughaw sa trono."

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Anastasiya woke up all alone in her chamber. She could have sworn she was left inside that dusty old room last night. She could vividly remember being locked inside with the painting that bothered her. Putting her worries and skepticism in the back of her mind:

She was in the rose courtyard, painting with Consuela and her guard by her side. Some hours later, Consuela glanced at what the duchess was painting. She noticed the inscription in the upper left corner of the canvas: