Chapter 9 The Painful Truth

Amara was looking gloomy all the time as she watched the nobles dance in twos. She watched the Crown Prince dance with Lady Tanzania. And she watched Esteban happily talk to the Empress. She found herself silently walking out the banquet hall and went to a dark and empty hallway. And without any knowledge where her feet took her to, she found herself looking at the portraits of Esteban with Empress Kathika.

That hallway was where all the royals’ portraits were displayed but she never saw her face, her own portrait, as she could only see a lot of Empress Kathika’s portraits. She stopped in front of a portrait of three people. There was Emperor Esteban, Empress Kathika, and Crown Prince Lorenzo, looking happy together, like a real family.

Empress Kathika had beautiful curly black hair and her eyes were golden. Her features were pretty clear that she is not an adopted daughter of Count Morata but was really his daughter. It is now making sense… Everything is now making sense as to why there is a Crown Prince. It was because… Crown Prince Lorenzo was really Esteban’s son. He was really his son with Empress Kathika.

Those yearly expeditions… and a month after leaving the Imperial palace, he was really with a woman… and that woman was Empress Kathika… who had given birth to their son, Lorenzo, before they even got married.

“I suggest you better go back, my lady.”

Her tears wanted to come out in a second but then after hearing the deep voice behind her, she became lifelessly hurt, secretly. She was silenced a bit, trying to stay sane.

“Say, what would you do if your life had been taken and suddenly came back to life?” Darya found herself asking the man who talked. She was looking down as she did not want to see the portrait in front of her anymore. “What would you do if you suddenly lived another life but found your lover happily living with someone else after your death?” She asked more.

Silence engulfed the space as she did not hear a reply. “I must have gone deprived of my own sentiment.” She smiled painfully and did not bother looking where the voice was coming from as she just walked straight back to the banquet hall.

When she arrived, she was never noticed as she silently just stood in the corner. She does not want to mingle and talk to anyone else. When she looked at Esteban again, she just made another hole in her heart as she watched him dance with the Empress. How happy they are to be with each other. They looked perfect together. She looked over Crown Prince Lorenzo and then to Empress Kathika and then to Esteban.

Crown Prince Lorenzo’s appearance was such a perfect combination coming from two beauties. He got his father’s eyes that were like the sky. He also got his mother’s beautiful black hair and the beautiful features of her face. It was a very good plan to not get caught that Esteban actually had an affair even before their marriage.

Viscount Morata… Duke Garrett… they knew it all along as they played their cards with backups. It was a perfect plan to ruin her well-being as the Emperor.

After some time, Emperor Esteban suddenly stood up and left the banquet hall after an informant came to him. He asked permission from the Empress before leaving. Amara who saw him, followed the Emperor as Crown Prince Lorenzo also saw Amara walking out the banquet hall again.

Crown Prince Lorenzo stopped dancing with Lady Tanzania and followed Lady Amara because he feels like something does not seem right. Lady Amara usually does not like to be alone at a banquet. She would always invite him to dance but why didn’t she do it this time? When he came out of the banquet hall, he could not see where she went.

On the other hand, Lady Amara waited for the Emperor to finish talking to a foreign man on the balcony. When they were finished and the foreign man left, the Emperor was alone and there she walked towards him.

“Oh, it’s you,” Emperor Esteban recognized her as Count Sebastian’s daughter. “Do you also want to get some fresh air?” Esteban smiled but Amara does not want to raise her head as she thinks that she might not be able to control her feelings.

So then, she ended up not speaking.

“Are you perhaps feeling unwell? Were you tired?” Hearing him with his gentle voice, she missed it so badly that she wanted to cry. She misses him so badly that she wants to spread her arms and cry so loud in his arms. But… she couldn’t…

“Have you ever…” She clenched her fist, trying to stop the painful feeling she had on her chest. “Have you ever felt remorse upon her death?”

Emperor Esteban does not know who she was talking about but hearing her accent and by the way she speaks, there is only one person she could think of. His hands started trembling with just the thought of Emperor Darya.

“How come… you were this happy…after she…” Amara sniffed as she raised her head to look into his blue eyes, “She… she treated you well…” she cupped her chest after feeling its heaviness. “She… loved you—

“I have no idea what you’re talking about—

“You have caused her death!” Darya desperately exclaimed, making Esteban’s whole body tremble as he felt coldness all over his body.

Again, this would always happen when he hears anything about Emperor Darya. After her death, he could not have a good sleep and all he could remember in the palace was her and her existence in it. Whenever he gets reminded of her, he would lose his rationality and become unintentionally aggressive as he could not help but feel weak all of a sudden.

Looking desperate, Amara speaks even more. “You made her drink poison when she was carrying your child!”

Esteban stood petrified and his face paled as his body lost all its strength. His eyes went wide after remembering what Emperor Darya once said with a smile on her face, ‘When you come back home, I will tell you something.’ Could it be…

“She waits for you every day whenever you leave! She convinced herself to understand you even if you have changed! She loved you but you killed her to become the Emperor—

“Amara!”

Amara did not finish her words as her upper arm was aggressively pulled by the Crown Prince. She looked up to his threatening eyes while feeling his painful grip on her arm.