How To Tame An Empress (BOOK I)

Chapter 25- Expected Situations

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"So... What is the situation?" I asked Tiberius, not bothering to spare him a glance as I held my child in my arms, bouncing him up and down but he didn't seem fazed, he simply held onto the front of my clothes and curiously stared at me with large eyes.

"Wipe the drool from his mouth," I ordered the slave and she quickly did as told.

"As you had expected, the Empress left the palace through the back entrance with her personal bodyguard exactly half an hour ago. She went to the market and rented a travel cart to take her to her parent's Domus,"

I paused in bouncing Evander in my arms and finally spared Tiberius a glance and he instantly moved his head to look at the ground before my eyes could meet his.

"Now, what am I to do with your wildfire of a mother, Evander?" I sighed, chuckling at the upcoming events and turning to look at my son. His curiosity vanishing at that moment as he smiled along with me.

"Aren't you excited to know too?" I placed a hand on his chubby cheek and he laughed, clapping his hands against my chest.

"I'll take that as a yes," I mumbled, finishing our little conversation off with a kiss on his forehead before handing him over to the slave.

"Do not get too close to him, that is something only my Empress has the privilege of," I warned before leaving the room and she dipped down into a deep curtsy, too afraid for words.

"What course of action would you like us to take, your majesty? Shall we send Claudius to retrieve her again?" I paused in my strides after hearing Tiberius's words.

"No... She is not Claud's wife, she is mine. So, I should be the one to bring her back, that only makes sense. I should also be the one to punish those that dared defy me by following her," I spoke to myself more than to Tiberius but he heard and understood my intentions.

"Very well, I will prepare for the departure," Nodding my head, he rushed off not a moment later and I lagged behind for a minute, watching after him until he was out of sight.

Oh, this was going to be fun.

"Your majesty," Upon hearing someone calling me, I paused in my tracks and turned to see Julius rushing towards me, a semi-worried look on his face which he was failing to hide.

"What?" I questioned, raising a brow.

"Well, about my mother..." He drifted off, clearly unsure of whether he should speak his mind or not and I breathed out a heavy sigh, wanting for this hurry up and be over so I could go and get Ria from her little escapade.

"What about your mother?" I pushed.

"With your permission, I went to visit her the other day,"

"Yes, I know," I nodded.

"And... Her health is much worse than I had expected. I do not think she will make it till the end of the week. And Ria has always had a special place in mother's heart so if you could just allow her to meet our mother one last time-"

"You don't know?" I cut him off, raising a brow.

"Pardon?" He mumbled, not even needing to answer the question for me to click on.

"My wife has already gone to visit her mother," He blinked, not having expected to hear that. "I'm going to go now too. So, in the meantime, I need you to watch over the palace," Still unsure and a little bit confused, he nodded his head, knowing that I didn't like waiting.

Turning around, I moved to continue on my way but stopped and turned my head back around to look at him as he quickly bowed down in respect.

"Also..." I started.

"Yes, your majesty," He waited.

"Keep my son with you. The woman that was watching over him in times where Ria couldn't is getting too attached to him, I cannot allow for that to happen," He nodded his head and I continued on my way.

After getting changed into a more suitable attire, I made my way outside and climbed onto my waiting horse, Claud following behind me on his own horse. Of course, for an Emperor, there were more extravagant modes of transport but I simply preferred taking a horse.

"Who went with her?" I asked Claud on the journey to my parent's-in-law's Domus.

"It was just the Empress and her bodyguard, she doesn't like letting a lot of people find out about her plans. It was thanks to the fact that you always have people watching her that we were able to know that she leaves, otherwise she would successfully have been able to leave the palace a number of times without your knowledge,"

I didn't say anything to that since it was all true. If not for the fact that I always made sure someone was always near her, listening in on her every word and even the slaves that she told her secrets to, coming to report to me, I would never know what my wife was up to.

She truly was, in so many ways, a mischievous little minx.

My mischievous little minx.

"We've arrived," Claud spoke and I spotted the Domus, the same one that I visited a few times before I married Ria. It brings back memories.

"Let's go," I jumped off the horse as a guard held onto the reigns to keep the horse from straying and as another person dusted down my clothes and helped me look more presentable, I felt a glare climb onto my face.

Linus, I'll deal with that bastard first.

It may partially have been my fault for letting him stay by Ria's side, as her bodyguard, all these years. I should have thought up a scheme to get rid of him sooner but whatever, it's too late now. And better late than never.

This situation is something that I've been expecting ever since I read the message about her mother's deteriorating health, I've had this whole plan thought out from the very beginning and nothing is going to ruin it, not even Ria.

After all of this is over, Ria may or may not hate me a little bit but she'll eventually get over it and we will, once again, continue living our beautiful lives together.

And maybe the gods will even bless us with a few more children to keep Evander company, wouldn't that be lovely? More chains to tie Ria tighter to me, the more children we have, the less likely it is that she'll run away from me.

And even if she does run away from me, there will never be a time where I will fail in catching her and bringing her back home.

"Is everything alright, your majesty?" Claud asked when he noticed me unmoving.

"Yes, let's go... I've got a fun lesson to teach my wildfire of a wife,"

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