Conqueror | Murad III

chapter forty-nine

"So she's locked up?" Raziye asked, her voice edged with disbelief.

Gülbahar nodded as she lazily plucked a grape from the silver tray, popping it into her mouth. "Awaiting execution," she replied with a shrug, as if it were the most natural conclusion in the world.

Raziye exhaled slowly, shaking her head. "I never expected things to come to this."

Neither did I.

I knew Murad loved me, that Safiye had driven herself into ruin with her own cruelty, but death? Did she truly deserve to die? The thought of it unsettled me, no matter how much I despised her.

"I know that look." Gülbahar's keen eyes studied me, her expression unreadable. "You're second-guessing yourself."

I let out a nervous chuckle, swirling the coffee in my cup. "I can't help it. I feel... guilty. No matter what she did, I'm still the reason five children will grow up without their mother."

Gülbahar's brow arched, unimpressed, while Raziye shifted uncomfortably. "She kidnapped you, Hüsniye. She plotted your murder. She tried to sell you like a common slave. And that's just the latest offense. She is not worthy of your compassion."

Raziye nodded in agreement. "Not to mention the years of torment, the humiliations, the games she played to break you down."

I sighed, my grip tightening around the delicate porcelain of my cup. "You're right. I know that. But a part of me—" I hesitated, searching for the right words. "A part of me wishes there could have been another ending. Death feels so... final."

"It should." Gülbahar's voice was firm.

She leaned forward, her fingers brushing against mine, both soft and unyielding. "Forget her children—they are cut from the same cloth as their mother. Think of everything she has done to you. Every slight, every cruel word, every night you wept in silence. She built her throne on your suffering. Does a woman like that deserve your mercy?"

Her words dug into me like thorns, lodging in the raw wounds Safiye had inflicted. I let them settle, let them fester. I thought of the way Safiye had sneered at me, belittled me, tried to rip my life apart simply because Murad had chosen to love me instead of her.

The quiet flame in my chest roared into an inferno.

"You know what?" I set my cup down with a sharp clink. "You're right. I am mad."

"You should be!" Gülbahar smirked triumphantly, while Raziye looked to the heavens as if thanking Allah for my clarity.

"How dare she treat me this way? For years! All because Murad stopped loving her?"

"Exactly!"

"How dare she steal me away, plot my murder, and try to sell me like cattle?"

"Unacceptable!"

But there was something worse. Something I had buried beneath my shock, my horror, my pain. A crime more unforgivable than anything else she had done.

"And worst of all, how dare she kill Nilüfer?!"

Silence.

Raziye and Gülbahar both froze, their mouths parting in shock.

"Wait, what?!"

They started to ask questions, but I barely heard them. My blood pounded in my ears. I was no longer a woman sitting in her luxurious chambers, debating morality. I was a storm, rising and ready to destroy.

I pushed my chair back abruptly, reaching for my veil with trembling hands. "I need to see her."

"Hüsniye—" Raziye reached for me, but I was already moving, my feet carrying me toward the door with unwavering purpose.

Halil Agha followed without question, a shadow at my side, his hand resting instinctively on the hilt of his sword.

Tonight, I would not offer Safiye my pity.

Tonight, I would give her exactly what she deserved.

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾　　☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

"Safiye," I said, my voice sharper than I expected. She lifted her head, her usual arrogance momentarily faltering before she forced a smirk onto her lips. "It seems that finally, you belong somewhere that reflects your inner beauty."

Her expression darkened. "I see the little kitten has grown claws," she sneered.

I tilted my head, unfazed. "You are mistaken, as always, Safiye. I am not a kitten. I am a lioness. And you, for far too long, have mistaken me for prey."

Her lips curled, but I could see the glimmer of uncertainty in her eyes. Good. Let her fear. "Is that so? And tell me, Hüsniye, does that mean you intend to finish me off yourself? Or will you simply order someone else to dirty their hands for you, as you always do?"

I scoffed. "Oh, don't you dare act as if you are above such things, Safiye. You have built your entire existence on manipulation, on stepping on the backs of others, on throwing women into the fire to keep yourself warm. But look at you now. Cold. Alone. Pathetic."

Her nostrils flared, and for a moment, she looked like she wanted to lunge at me. "And look at you," she spat. "Parading yourself as if you are better than me when you are nothing but a peasant whore draped in finery that does not belong to you!"

I laughed, shaking my head. "And yet, here I stand as the legal wife of the Sultan, the mother of his children, the woman he cherishes above all. You, Safiye, are nothing but a bitter ghost of the past. Even your own children have abandoned you."

She clenched her jaw. There it was. The crack in her composure.

"You think you have won?" she hissed. "You think you are safe? You have no idea what darkness lurks within these walls, what dangers surround you at all times. You may have Murad now, but mark my words, he will tire of you, just as he tired of me. And when he does, you will be nothing more than another forgotten corpse rotting beneath the weight of history."

A wave of fury rushed through me, but I did not let it show. Instead, I smiled. "Unlike you, I do not hold my place in Murad's heart with desperation and poison. He loves me, Safiye. And not because I trapped him, not because I played games, but because I was worth loving. That is something you will never understand."

She let out a sharp, humorless laugh. "You foolish girl. Do you know what happens to women who believe in love in this world? They die. Painfully."

I took a step closer, lowering my voice to a whisper. "Oh, I know what happens to women who are naive. I was naive when you first tormented me, when you humiliated me in front of the harem, when you used every ounce of power you had to make my life miserable. But I am not that girl anymore."

I turned my back to her, walking towards the heavy doors. I stopped, glancing over my shoulder. "Halil Agha."

"Yes, Sultanım?"

"Fill her cage with snakes."

Safiye's eyes widened ever so slightly before she quickly masked it with a glare. "You wouldn't dare."

I smirked. "You will soon find that I would dare quite a lot."

With that, I stepped out, leaving her in the darkness where she belonged.

Hüsniye: no more mister nice guy 😈

Just kidding, the dark side of her will be reserved to anyone who dares to wrong her.