Chapter 237 --237
She’d sleep deeply, and then when she woke up—even though she desperately wanted some lovely time with her beautiful husband, or even just to look at his handsome face for half an hour—Secretary Chen would appear at her door like a demon and drag her out of bed.
After all, twenty days’ worth of accumulated work was waiting for her.
This went on for three solid weeks.
---
Three weeks later, Secretary Chen was walking through the palace corridors, reviewing his mental checklist for the day’s schedule, when suddenly he was stopped by an unexpected visitor.
The Duchess—Heena’s aunt—was striding toward him with purpose.
She nodded at him and asked directly, "So, why did you call me here?"
Hearing that, Secretary Chen looked confused and said, "Me? Calling you?"
Hearing that, she nodded and said, "I received a message from your office saying that Celeste is seriously ill and I need to come to the palace immediately."
Hearing that, Secretary Chen’s confusion deepened. "Her Majesty? Ill?"
Hearing that, the Duchess nodded and looked around suspiciously. "I thought there was going to be a funeral or at least a sickroom. Where are the flowers? The medical preparations? The worried servants?"
And then understanding dawned on Secretary Chen’s face.
*Damn it!*
He directly rushed toward the Empress’s office at full speed, practically flying down the corridors.
Even the servants were shocked by his speed—they’d never seen the usually composed Secretary Chen move so fast.
The Duchess, of course, followed him, though she couldn’t quite match his panicked pace.
Secretary Chen burst through the office doors without knocking—
And saw the Empress’s chair was empty.
But there was a note placed carefully on the desk, written in Heena’s distinctive handwriting:
---
*"I’m going on vacation with my beautiful husband. Handle everything, Secretary Chen. I’ve called Auntie—she’ll help you with the work. Don’t try to find me. I’ve earned this break."*
*"P.S. - If you send anyone after us, I’ll extend the vacation by another month. :)"*
---
Seeing this, Secretary Chen literally felt rage rising in him like a volcano about to erupt.
"YOUR MAJESTY, YOU CANNOT—!" he shouted at the empty room.
But of course, Heena had already run away.
She’d planned this perfectly.
---
**[The Abduction]**
Meanwhile, earlier that same day...
Larus had been attending an afternoon tea party he’d organized for noble ladies and gentlemen—one of his regular social duties as Emperor Consort. He was in the middle of a pleasant conversation about garden cultivation techniques when suddenly, several of Heena’s personal guards had appeared.
"Your Highness, please come with us immediately. It’s urgent."
"What? Is something wrong? Is Heena—"
"Please, Your Highness. Right now."
And before he could protest or even excuse himself from his guests, he’d been smoothly but firmly escorted out of the tea pavilion, into a waiting carriage, and whisked away.
The noble guests were left staring in confusion as the Emperor Consort simply vanished mid-conversation.
Now, in the moving carriage traveling at considerable speed away from the capital, Larus looked out the window in confusion, then turned to Heena—who was sitting across from him with a mischievous smile—and said, "Why are we going somewhere? What’s happening? You said it was urgent—"
Hearing that, Heena nodded cheerfully and said, "Yeah, we’re going somewhere very important."
"Where?"
"On our belated honeymoon."
Hearing that, Larus’s face transformed. Surprise, then delight, then a brilliant smile spread across his features. He tried to control it, to maintain some composure, and then said carefully, "But... what about work? The council meetings? The trade negotiations? The—"
Hearing that, Heena said with a wicked grin, "We are going to do very important work."
Hearing that, Larus’s smile dimmed slightly, thinking she meant diplomatic work or inspections.
But then Heena leaned forward, grabbed his collar, pulled him close, and whispered directly in his ear: "We’re going to work on making an heir for the empire."
Hearing that, Larus’s face went pale, then flushed bright red within seconds.
His eyes went wide. His mouth opened but no sound came out. His entire face and neck turned the color of ripe tomatoes.
Heena laughed at his reaction—that genuine, delighted laugh that she rarely showed anyone.
"Don’t worry," she said, releasing his collar and patting his cheek affectionately. "We’ll also actually see the empire. Experience life as normal people. Eat street food. Stay in regular inns. Have adventures."
She smiled warmly.
"I want to show you my empire, Larus. Not the palace version with ceremonies and politics. The real version. The one I fought to protect."
Larus, still blushing furiously, managed to nod and whisper, "I’d like that very much."
---
Of course, for the honeymoon, they had decided to travel as civilians and explore the empire incognito.
Heena had wanted to visit other empires too, but honestly, her own empire was already beautiful and diverse enough for a first trip. Plus, she couldn’t use the official transportation portals—those would be too easy to track, and Secretary Chen would definitely send people after them.
And another important reason: damn, she genuinely wanted Larus to see the beauty of her empire. After all, it was one of the best empires on the continent, with the most resources, the most diversity, the most vibrant culture.
Right now, wearing commoner’s clothes, Larus looked completely different from his usual imperial appearance.
He wore a simple white cotton shirt and plain brown pants—the kind any working-class man might wear. His golden-wheat hair had been temporarily dyed black using a natural herbal mixture, because his distinctive hair color would immediately mark him as foreign and potentially attract unwanted attention.
As for his skin color—well, many servants and former slaves had similar wheat-toned skin. It wasn’t unusual enough to cause problems. "Slaves" was an outdated term from before Heena’s father’s reign; they were properly called servants now and were well-treated, so his coloring wasn’t a big deal.
As for Heena, she was wearing a long printed frock—the kind common women wore in this region. Even though she personally didn’t like the style much, it was typical for girls and women here to wear such cheerful, brightly-colored cotton frocks.
It was basically made from one large piece of cloth, wrapped and tied skillfully. Under it, she wore short cotton pants for practical movement.
Her hair was braided simply, without any of the elaborate accessories she usually wore. No jewelry. No imperial insignia.
Just a normal young woman traveling with her husband.
They looked like any ordinary couple—perhaps a merchant and his wife, or farmers visiting the city for market day.-
They had arrived in one of the empire’s largest trade cities—a bustling metropolis filled with markets, street performers, craftsmen, and food vendors.
The energy was completely different from the palace. Here, people shouted and laughed freely, bargained loudly over prices, children ran through the streets playing games, musicians performed on corners for coins.
It was alive in a way the palace never was.
Heena was looking around with genuine fascination, taking in all the sights and sounds she never got to experience as Empress.
She pointed excitedly at a horse ride attraction—a man with several horses offering rides around the market district for a small fee—and looked at Larus with bright eyes.
"Husband, should we try it?" she asked, using the casual term instead of formal titles.