Born to be Empress

Chapter 10 - Imprisonment

Areus' pov:

-"I remind you of our meeting in an hour," I told him, my voice laced with a forced calm as I watched Phaedra disappear into the distance. I needed to steer the conversation away from her. Yet, Asger's earlier words continued to echo in my mind, igniting a fury I struggled to suppress. Hearing him speak so highly of her—my Phaedra—infuriated me beyond reason.

Why does she affect me so deeply? This simple concumbine stirs feelings in me I had long thought impossible: possessiveness, jealousy, and a selfish desire to keep her entirely for myself. I couldn't deny it any longer. Phaedra had become more than a fleeting interest; she had become an obsession.

-"You know something, Areus?" Asger's voice cut through my thoughts. "I really like this girl," he confessed shamelessly, a smirk playing on his lips.

I clenched my fists at my sides. "I've already told you," I said, my voice hard. "This girl is forbidden. There are plenty of other women in the palace to sate your desires."

But Asger was undeterred. "You don't understand," he said, his tone lighter, almost playful, but with an undertone that set my teeth on edge. "I don't want only to bed her."

I snapped my gaze to him, my eyes narrowing in suspicion. "What are you saying?"

He met my glare without flinching, his grin widening. "I want to take her with me," he said simply, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

-"What?" The word escaped me as a harsh, guttural sound. "What nonsense is this? Have you completely lost your mind?" I stepped closer, my voice rising as I struggled to maintain composure. "This is one of the palace concubines!"

-"She's a girl who lives among the concubines and has taken a purity pledge. Right... Who are you all kidding, Areus?" Asger said with a mocking laugh, his tone dripping with disbelief..

I narrowed my eyes, meeting his insolence head-on. "Unfortunately," I replied with biting sarcasm, "we don't have a special section reserved for virgins. Perhaps you'd like to build one yourself?"

Asger smirked, undeterred by my tone. "Say whatever you want, but you still owe me my reward from the last battle," he said, his voice turning firm, reminding me that his persistence wouldn't waver.

-"You'll have your gold," I replied curtly, my patience thinning. "Don't worry about that."

-"I don't care about the gold. I want the girl. I don't care if she is a virgin, a concubine, a saint or the devil himself. I want her by my side ," Asger said, his voice low but resolute, his piercing gaze challenging me. "In fact, I'll ask for her formally in our meeting. Giving this girl to me is unavoidable." With those decisive words, he turned and left in haste, his confidence leaving a storm brewing in his wake.

I stood there, frozen, fury coursing through my veins. The audacity! How dare he demand something so precious, something that wasn't his to claim? I clenched my fists, struggling to contain the storm within me.

But it wasn't just anger. Beneath the rage simmered a truth I refused to confront. I couldn't give her to him—wouldn't give her to him—because she had become more to me than I could admit. She was no longer just a girl in the harem. She had become a flame I couldn't extinguish, a weakness I couldn't afford.

I needed air. Desperately. The walls of the palace felt suffocating as I made my way toward the nearest exit, seeking solace in the cool night breeze.

Phaedra's pov:

The Emperor turned to me, his eyes cold and unyielding, and said in a tone laced with anger:

-"Your presence is no longer needed. You may go."