Chapter 10 --10
Voices continued somewhere above her. Eleana stepped forward, skirts rustling, and bowed low.
"Father, please, I beg you, I did not—"
The Emperor’s gaze cut through her. "This is my order."
The temperature in his tone left no room to argue.
Eleana’s teeth sank into her lower lip. She bowed her head until her hair hid her expression. "Yes, Your Majesty."
Inside, she was burning. Because of that useless bitch, she’d been humiliated in front of everyone. She would not let this go. ’Elara, count your days,’ she thought darkly.
The Emperor turned away from her and glanced back toward the bed. His eyes narrowed. Elara hadn’t moved since she’d fallen—no flinch at his raised voice, no response to the sentence just passed.
The girl who’d been on the floor moments ago now lay limp on the mattress, face nearly as white as the sheets, breaths so shallow they barely moved her ribs. For a man who measured everything, the sight was... off‑balance. He had flayed Eleana with words, summoned records, locked down a wing—and in all of that, he had not once let anyone examine the supposed invalid.
He turned to the physician still kneeling by the door. "Check the Fourth Princess," he said. "See what is wrong."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"