Betrothed To The Prince...

Punishment

"You cannot do this to me!!" Ae shouted in front of all. "Don't!! Don't forget... that I am the empress!! Lower your tone while speaking because you are in here for a crime." The empress hissed. The emperor himself couldn't stop his wife right now because he knew that it was not something that could be controlled.

"I will personally have a word with Prince Pete about this and the concubine will be detained till morning... Because.... After that..... she will be slayed." The empress declared. Everyone present gasped when they heard those words.

"Love... It's not..." the emperor tried to convince but the woman shot him a death glare. "It's not just someone. It's the prince who is hurt and suffered beyond imagination. And the reason? This woman reported him to degrade her. Are the concubines higher than the wife?" the empress asked.

No one could reply to the question since they knew that the answer was 'NO' and what the woman had done was beyond limits. Not only did she accuse the prince but was also involved in torturing him, which, according to the royal rules was a punishable offense.

"Hom and Phailin, you are allowed to return back to the prince's chamber to look after him. As for the guards, you are going to face a punishment for a day since you sided with the crown prince and hid the reality.... And as for the crown prince, I have a very big surprise for him tomorrow. Everyone involved in this will have to be present tomorrow in the courtroom for the proceedings. Guards, take the woman to the prison and as for the crown prince, he is being asked to stay in his room till morning. If he dares to leave, the consequences can be fatal." The empress declared.

After a long time, the empress had taken matters in her hands. It was rare for her to be seen interfering in the matters or even showing interest in anything related to court but now, she needed to step in.

Everyone returned back to their respective places while Ae was being taken to his chamber and locked inside. The concubine was dragged towards the prison and she was protesting and begging all the way asking the guards to let her go.

Zee was being anxious all this while since he was worried about Pete. Once the empress ordered everyone to get dispersed, Zee took this opportunity to approach her. "Your majesty, I would like to have a permission to visit Prince Pete personally." Zee requested.

"Sir Zee, you don't need to ask for permission henceforth. It was because of you that we came to know about this and were able to save him. You can sure go ahead and let us know if there is something needed. Do whatever is need to be done to keep Pete and the others safe." The empress stated.

"I will... Your majesty." Zee replied while bowing before turning on his heels and heading out of the courtroom. "Don't you think you were harsh?" the emperor asked his wife. "No... Ae deserves to be punished. You should have seen Pete with your own eyes. Only then you would have understood how it feels. We have promised his parents to keep him safe. Is this how we do it?" the empress asked.

"No love... I agree that it was Ae's mistake but treating him this way will only worsen the condition." The emperor tried to explain. "No... I know what I am doing and how this is going to affect Ae. Trust me, he needs to learn his lesson." The empress replied.

"Alright... I give up. Let's return back. We have a whole day tomorrow to deal with the situation." The emperor said while raising from the throne.

The next morning, the empress came to Pete's chamber for a visit since she was worried about him. When she entered the chamber, the maids had cleaned the room and the bandages too seemed to have been replaced. Pete was breathing steadily which assured her that he was still alive.

"Did he wake up?" the empress inquired. "No... He had been unconscious. The surgeon had fed him some medicine which has been keeping him sedated. I guess it is probably because of the pain that the surgeon had made him sleep for a while." Phailin replied.