The Concubine Does Not Love the Emperor - Chapter 13

The interior felt like a different world. The clamor vanished, replaced by the sound of birds and the wind. Only the natural sounds could be faintly heard. Ginkgo trees lined the path, and the road, beautifully paved with white bricks, was adorned with golden paint along its edges, creating a magnificent sight.

“Is this a Kardima sent by Prince Mustafa? Come this way.”

A black attendant welcomed them. Gulle and her sister, who had been somewhat haughty, followed quietly beside Margaret, feeling somewhat overwhelmed by the imposing figure of the attendant.

“Only Kardimas are allowed to enter here,” the attendant told Rem and her sister. As Rem and her sister grew anxious, Margaret smiled reassuringly, as if to tell them to relax, and entered the room. Two veiled women greeted Margaret.

“Please disrobe,” one of them instructed. Even though the clothes had been carefully chosen after hours of deliberation, they were cast aside into a basket without a second thought. The women led her, now unclothed, to a connected bath made of smooth marble and laid her down on the flat surface.

“From now on, you will shed the mortal world and be reborn as a woman of the divine,” they said. A woman of the divine- Margaret inwardly scoffed.

As they poured water over Margaret’s body and gently washed her with a soft sponge, they were taken aback. The signs of battle marked her muscular body, with scars of combat scattered across her physique. Especially a scar on her abdomen, relatively fresh, displayed a shade of pink.

The two women exchanged uneasy glances. The decree from the emperor only mandated the purity of the kardima offered to him, with no specification regarding race, age, physique, or even gender. Therefore, in the past, emperors with unusual desires might receive male or young boy kardimas, or even those who were extremely obese or had parts of their bodies amputated.

Of course, these were just rumors, for the kardimas Margaret had heard of were all beautiful women.

“Why did your hands stop?”

The suspicious voice startled the two women. Their task was not to evaluate the kardima; they immediately resumed their own duties. They wiped her body, anointed her head with perfume, and recited prayers incessantly. The content was always a plea for sons.

After the bath, the women brought in clothes they had prepared separately. The pants were made of soft fabric and layered several times, and the top had a deeply cut neckline. All were made of translucent material, leaving Margaret’s body plainly exposed.

Instead of being summoned by the emperor, she was received by the emperor’s mother, the Empress Aldébaran.

In the reception room, several concubines were comfortably seated, eyeing her.

“Feels like returning to the slave market,” Margaret thought.

Following instructions, she walked to the center of the room. As she passed, the concubines whispered among themselves.

“Greet Empress Aldébaran, the mother of Emperor Suleiman,” came a gentle voice from above.

Margaret courteously knelt and placed her hands on the floor before slowly prostrating herself. After a brief moment, a soft voice sounded above her head.

“So, this is the kardima sent by Mustafa. Rise. Let’s take a closer look.”

Contrary to the voice, the empress dowager’s gaze while observing Margaret was not welcoming. She muttered irritably to herself.

“Yes. The girl’s eyes might not be precise when it comes to judging young women. She’s just a child who knows good things are valuable if they’re expensive.”

The empress dowager extended her hand, touching the scars on Margaret’s body. Her fingertips dug into the skin. Margaret winced in pain, but the empress dowager didn’t stop. With each scar, she left a trace of her nails, speaking almost teasingly.

“I’ll give you a name. Your title is ‘Lady,’ and your name is ‘Heuram.’ May you serve the emperor well and become his favorite soon.”

Finally, she drove her nails into the pink scar on Margaret’s abdomen and let out a bitter laugh.

*****

“Is your stomach hurting?”

Margaret jolted at the soft and gentle voice. She realized she had been absentmindedly touching her abdomen as if searching for something in her memory.

She lowered her head slightly and looked at the back of the emperor again. The priest continued reciting the scriptures in a voice that lacked intonation, and the emperor remained motionless.

Her concentration kept slipping away. The emperor, who had been as still as a statue, moved when Margaret was about to stand up. Startled, he hunched his shoulders and quickly glanced left and right.

Margaret narrowed her eyes and observed him closely. Just as the emperor glanced left and right, he turned his head to the back. It was a fleeting moment. He soon turned his head back, but Margaret had clearly caught the look in his eyes.

Having accomplished her purpose, she felt no lingering attachment.

“Let’s go.”

Ray seemed bored as well. Without any objections, he nodded in agreement. The kitchen was still in chaos. The aroma of delicious food wafted through the air, indicating that the dishes were being prepared. The chef was frantically instructing someone to stir the pot with a ladle so that it wouldn’t stick.

They quickly passed through the kitchen and exited through the back door. Breathing in the fresh air, Margaret felt her chest loosen. She stretched her arms out and yawned.

Leaning against the doorframe, Ray looked at Margaret with a wry smile.

“Why is everyone so eager to catch a glimpse of the emperor?”

“Because it’s hard to see him if it’s not an opportunity like this.”

“How about you? Did you come here today just to see the emperor?”

“Otherwise, why would I bother climbing up the hill!”

Ray faintly chuckled at her response, seemingly thinking it was typical of her.

“What if the emperor takes a liking to you and brings you to the harem?”

“The emperor?”

Margaret glanced at Ray. When their eyes met, he smiled as if he found her amusing.

“That won’t happen. The emperor is infatuated with indigo.”

“How do you know that?”

For a moment, Margaret felt sheepish.

“How would I know? I heard it in the harem. The concubines all know about it.”

She couldn’t say it like that. Turning her gaze away, she answered vaguely, “I heard it through rumors.”

Fortunately, Ray didn’t press further. Margaret felt that now that she had seen the emperor’s face, it was time to leave.

“Let’s start heading b-!”

Thud!

Instinctively, Margaret pushed Ray away. At the same time, the door swung wide open, revealing a suspicious figure. In the momentum of the sudden intrusion, Margaret almost lost her balance, but Ray caught her in time. She, in turn, gripped Ray’s arms with both hands. Suddenly, her neck felt cold.

“It’s a knife.”

Swiftly turning her head, Margaret looked in the direction of the intruder. He had already vanished down the path leading to the hill below. However, the sharp chill in the air persisted. Goosebumps ran up her arms.

“The chill is coming from this direction.”

Feeling uneasy, Margaret slowly turned her head to look at Ray. However, Ray, whom she met gaze with, was smiling warmly. The intimidating aura that had surrounded him had disappeared in an instant.

“You—”

“Are you okay? Did you get hurt? What just happened? Something popped out!”

Ray was shaking and anxiously examining Margaret from head to toe. In the midst of his frantic movements, she forgot what she had been about to say.

“Was it a hallucination?”

Unconsciously, Margaret released her tightly clenched fists. Ray suddenly walked a couple of steps away, as if he had found something on the floor, and then he bent over.

“Look at this.”

It was a bloodstained knife.

As Ray tried to show it to Margaret, the back door swung open again. The chef, holding a large ladle, emerged and glanced alternately between Margaret and Ray. His gaze eventually stopped on the bloodied knife.

“Uh, uh, uh.”

The chef’s complexion turned pale for a moment, then he swiftly retreated with a nimble movement that belied his massive build. From inside came the shout, “The one who killed Jaesang is outside!”

Panicked, Margaret pulled on the door, but it seemed to have been locked from the inside. She tried to use force, but it wouldn’t budge. Eventually, she pressed her ear against the door.

The Prime Minister was dead.

Someone had killed the prime minister and fled, and there were two suspects. The chef was loudly declaring Margaret and Ray as the culprits. It was a misunderstanding, a clear misunderstanding, but how could they resolve this? The real culprit must have just escaped. Margaret closed her eyes, trying to remember the impression of the figure, but it had happened so quickly that she couldn’t recall anything.

“Could we be mistaken for the culprits?”

Ray scratched his head with an embarrassed look. Margaret was equally troubled. Clearing their names would be possible with a good explanation, but secretly leaving the harem was as grave a sin as murder. Margaret let out a heavy sigh, wondering how things had turned out so complicated.

“Is there a square if we follow this road down?”

“This road leads to the market.”

Ray’s response was quite disappointing. The market. Escaping through the bustling market might work well in theory, but they could also easily get lost in its labyrinthine alleys.

While Margaret was anxiously immersed in thought, Ray wore a relaxed expression.

“It’s over there!”

At that moment, two soldiers at the corner of the temple pointed their fingers in their direction and called their comrades over. All of them were guards wearing hats with red feathers. There was no more time to think. Margaret grabbed Ray’s wrist and began to run.

“Stop!”

Shouts from behind echoed. The path toward the market was not a proper road. It was rugged and steep. They had to be cautious of unexpected protruding rocks in the way. Ray seemed familiar with such paths and followed Margaret closely.

The sound of soldiers stumbling and falling behind them could be heard. When Margaret glanced back, she saw more than ten soldiers descending from the hilltop, one after another. She turned her gaze forward and ran desperately once again.