How To Tame An Empress (BOOK I)

Chapter 3- Chance Encounters

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Sometimes, when the palace starts to feel stuffy, I enjoy putting on a disguise and walking through the streets of my Empire. People living their everyday lives, selling and buying a variety of different things, living such a different life from mine.

While I don't even need to ask for anything as it's always given before I can even think of it, these people have to go through the effort of searching for it and then buying it themselves. This difference in status intrigued me so.

Walking down the dirt path, I almost pulled out my knife and slashed it through the woman's throat when she jumped forward and grabbed hold of my forearm.

"Buy some fruits, mister, brand new and just stocked up on them," She winked, going back to stand behind the vendor as I peered down at the fruit, trying to keep my repulsed facial expression from showing.

The fruit itself looked fine but the way this woman leapt forward and grabbed onto me before asking me to buy it would make one think that she had poisoned it.

"I... Don't have any money right now?" I effortlessly lied.

"Ay, don't lie to me. You look like a patrician with that smooth skin, tall stature and beauty. Help a small plebeian out by buying some fruit, will you?" I winced at her words. She didn't look very little and her personality was just that much bigger than her stature.

"I need to earn money to live, you know,"

Woman, you've only been able to live this long thanks to my reign. Be grateful for how patient I'm being right now.

"Why you-"

"We'll take two apples, please?" I shot my head to look at the woman who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere and almost did a double-take when I realised who it was.

What was she doing here? Of all places, in the middle of the market street?

I had been thinking of her every day but not once did I imagine that I would bump into her on the street on the very day that I left the safe confines of the palace, what is this coincidence? The gods must either be playing with me or testing my restraint.

"Oh my, if it isn't my dear Valeria," The woman laughed, leaning forward to pat Valeria's cheek. She only laughed at the woman and nodded at her as I continued to stare, dumbfounded by the unexpected situation which had clearly taken me by surprise.

"Hello, have you been selling a lot of fruit today too?" Valeria asked as she handed the woman some coins and got two fresh-looking apples in return.

"Same as always. Do you know this man? I've never seen him around here before and with a face like that, I would surely remember him if I did see him," I narrowed my eyes at the woman but once again, Valeria laughed, somehow managing to dodge the question.

"Goodbye," She grabbed my wrist and waved at the woman who didn't hesitate to wave back as Valeria dragged me away from the crowded area.

All the while, I simply stared at the back of her head. Unlike the last time I had seen her, this time, her hair was left open and it tumbled down to her thighs, waving around with the warm Roman air and making her look that much more ethereal.

"Here you go," She handed me one apple before biting down on the other one.

"What are you doing here?" I asked her as she raised her head to meet mine and like last time, this time was no different as her gaze caught mine and didn't move.

"I was shopping for groceries when I saw you looking as if you were about to slit that nice lady's throat so I decided to step in to prevent any bloodshed on this beautiful day," Her lips tilted up into a grin and I raised a brow at how accurate she was with that statement.

"And what is with this?" I gestured to the red apple in my hand.

"An apple? Have you never had one before? They're delicious and good for your health too," She was the one that raised her brow this time.

"I've had apples before," I somehow found myself needing to explain. "I want to know why you're giving me one. How do you know it's not poisoned?" Her brow that was already raised, raised higher until she grinned at me, and spread her arms open.

"I'm still standing and feeling perfectly fine. It's not poisoned. Besides, I have been buying fruit from that woman since I was a child, she is a nice woman as I have already said," I didn't feel convinced but for some reason, I wanted to keep that smile on her face. So, I bit into the apple, slowly chewing before swallowing and carefully watched as her eyes lit up with her smile.

"Valeria," I called all of a sudden and she jumped at the sound of her name so effortlessly slipping passed my lips.

Then, I leaned down and the once confident facade that she had been showing slipped away and her face lit up with that blush that I remember seeing in my dreams as vividly as the day.

"What is it?" She awkwardly asked, shyly itching the back of her neck as I chuckled.

"I told you that I would make you mine," Her blush intensified.

"And I plan on keeping that promise," I stepped forward and before she could take a step back, I wrapped an arm around her waist before pulling her flush against my chest.

She gulped, staring straight at my chest and I patiently waited for her to raise her head to look at me and once she did, I almost dipped my head down and caught her lips right then and there but somehow managed to hold myself back

"Why?" Her voice cracked as she asked.

"I do not like these kinds of games," One of her hands placed itself against my chest, gripping onto the cloak that I wore.

"I do not think of this as a game," I whispered loud enough for her to hear and her eyes flashed with a moment of surprise before disappearing as if she had heard this before.

"I want only one kind of man in my life," She started, looking away from my eyes and to my chest and I already knew what kind of man she was talking about thanks to the help of her brother who was also a good friend of mine.

"A man who is loyal?" I stated. She jumped, surprised by my words and when she next looked up at me, her eyes were narrowed into slits, like a judgemental cat.

Placing a hand on her cheek, I leaned down to whisper in her ear. "I too only want one woman in my life. One wife, one Empress and one mother to my children," When I moved away to look at her, her face was resembling the apple in her hand.

"This is not a game. I promise you that. So, as I have already said, I will say it once more; I plan on making you mine, Valeria. My one and only wife and my one and only Empress, only you," She didn't look like she believed me but I'd be surprised if she did believe me so quickly.

This is only my first step in wooing Valeria. The first step in a series of steps to make her mine. And today's chance encounter was a gift from the gods which will surely come to help with my future steps.

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KEYWORDS:

Patrician- The patricians were originally a group of ruling class families in ancient Rome. The distinction was highly significant in the Roman Kingdom

Plebeian- Also called plebs were, in ancient Rome, the general body of free Roman citizens who were not patricians, as determined by the census, or in other words 'commoners'.

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