CHAPTER 110: THE EMPEROR ON THE RUN

[Imperial Palace—Continuation]

Adrein groaned dramatically, clutching his side like an injured hero. "You have some nerve accusing me of cheating right after you nearly broke the emperor of this empire in half."

Silas didn’t even blink. A smirk tugged at his lips. "I recall it was with your permission. One minute. You agreed."

A vein throbbed in Adrein’s temple. "I thought you meant sparring! Not—whatever barbaric display that was! You—" He stopped mid-sentence, narrowing his eyes. "But why did you call me a cheater?"

Silas scoffed, leaning back like a predator settling in. "Because you cheated on the empress. Though... there’s no proof."

"THEN WHY DID YOU PULVERIZE ME WITHOUT PROOF, YOU DERANGED OX?!" Adrein roared.

Silas’s smirk widened, the picture of amusement. "Because it’s fun to watch you squirm." He didn’t wait for Adrein’s outrage before casually sitting down on a nearby chair, crossing his legs like he owned the place. "Anyway. I received a letter from our knights. They finally found the missing child and mother."

Adrein froze.

Silas’s eyes sharpened. "And that child looks suspiciously like you, Your Majesty."

Adrein’s brows furrowed so hard it looked painful. "Impossible. I have never laid a hand on any other woman except my dearest Elise. I love her! Even though she—" He counted on his fingers. "—beats me, kicks me out of our chambers, curses me like a sailor—"

Silas’s brows rose. "Wait. She does that to you too?"

Adrein paused, confused. "Too? What do you mean, too?"

Silas cleared his throat. "Nothing. Continue."

Adrein nodded gravely. "Yes, well. Every loving wife treats their husband that way. It’s... their way of showing affection."

Silas leaned back, deadpan. "So you’re saying wives choose violence to show love."

Adrein’s expression turned solemn. "Absolutely."

Silas stared at him for a long beat. "...Right. Anyway, back to the point—you really expect me to believe you stayed pure all these years?"

Adrein waved a dismissive hand. "I locked myself away during every rut. Even in the middle of war campaigns. I swear, I never touched another omega."

Silas leaned forward, his gaze like a blade. "Then how do you explain a child who looks exactly like you?"

Adrein opened his mouth to protest—then froze. His face went pale. "Wait."

Silas narrowed his eyes. "Wait what?"

Adrein suddenly shot to his feet, knocking over the armrest with a crash. "Silas. We need to meet that woman and child. Immediately."

Silas’s voice turned sharp. "So you did cheat?"

Adrein’s eyes were wide, his voice urgent. "No! But—just bring them here. Now. This could change everything."

Silas crossed his arms, suspicion written all over his face. "Care to explain why?"

Adrein hesitated, glancing toward the heavy palace doors as if expecting someone to burst in. "Because if I’m right... that child might not be mine. It might be—"

SLAM!

The study doors burst open with the force of a hurricane.

"YOU BASTARD, ADREIN!! COME OUT OF THAT HOLE OF YOURS!!" Empress Elise’s voice cracked like thunder. Her eyes burned, her maroon hair was practically aflame, and her aura screamed murder.

Adrein flinched so hard he almost tripped over his chair. "E-Elise, my sunshine, my—"

"SUNSHINE YOUR FACE!!" she roared, striding forward like a goddess of wrath.

Lucein stepped in right behind Elise, eyes blazing with righteous fury. "THAT’S RIGHT! COME OUT, YOU FILTHY—" He stopped, coughed, and then corrected himself with mock respect. "I mean... Emperor. HOW DARE YOU CHEAT ON MY BEST FRIEND?!"

Silas, face-palming, muttered, "I told him to hold on and not tell anything to the empress."

Adrein backed up toward the window. "W-Wait, Elise, listen! It’s not what it looks like!"

"WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE IS YOUR GRAVE, YOU TWO-TIMING PIECE OF—" Elise lunged forward, her skirts flying like banners of war.

"KNIGHTS!! SAVE YOUR EMPEROR." Adrein yelped, bolting around his couch.

"DON’T YOU DARE CALL THE GUARDS!! FACE YOUR WIFE, YOU COWARD!!"

"Silas, call off your banshee!" Adrein cried.

"BAN-SHEE? BAN-SHEE?!" Elise shrieked, brandishing a rolled-up scroll like a weapon.

Silas calmly stood, folding his arms. "You know, your majesty, for someone denying infidelity, you’re running like a man guilty of five affairs."

Adrein glared at him mid-sprint. "SILAS, NOT HELPING!!"

"LUCIEN, BLOCK THE DOOR!" Elise commanded.

"Already on it!" Lucien slammed his back against the door like a guard dog.

Adrein skidded to a stop, trapped between an angry wife, her best friend, and a smirking grand duke. He raised his hands. "This is a misunderstanding! There’s a child, yes, but—"

"CHILD?! THERE’S A CHILD?!" Elise’s voice hit a pitch that could shatter glass.

Adrein’s soul left his body. "I—I—uh—Silas started it!!"

Silas raised his cup. "Always a pleasure to be the scapegoat."

The scene froze for a tense, chaotic heartbeat. Elise’s knuckles were white, Lucien’s nostrils flared, and Silas’s smirk widened—and Adrein was cornered like a rat.

Elise’s next step shook the floor. Adrein gulped, knowing one thing for sure—this was going to hurt far worse than Silas’s ’one minute.

"MY LOVE TRUST ME!" Adrein nearly tripped over a rug. "I DIDN’T EVEN LOOK AT ANOTHER OMEGA!"

Lucein advanced like a predator, every step deliberate. "Oh really? Then explain the information we received this morning! The child! The mother! Or do you want Elise to carve the truth out of you?"

"Silas!" Adrein yelped, darting behind a couch. "FOR THE LOVE OF THE GODS, HOLD YOUR WIFE BACK! HE’S GOING TO MURDER ME BY MY OWN WIFE!"

Silas tilted his head, unimpressed. "Hmm. Tempting offer. But..."

Before he could finish, Lucein whipped his head toward him, eyes blazing. "Don’t you dare, Silas! Don’t you dare interfere unless you’re helping Elise to break his legs! Or else..." He leaned in with a sweet, deadly smile. "You’ll be sleeping on the couch tonight. Alone."

Silas froze. His composure cracked for a split second. "...My love," he said softly, nervously, "you wound me. Of course, I would never stop you. I merely wanted to... ask a question."

"WHAT?!" Lucien snapped, his fury now directed at him.

"What about our daughter and Crown Princess Kael? Where are they? Surely you didn’t bring them to witness... this?"

Lucein crossed his arms with a huff. "Sera is with them. Teaching Elysia important skills."

Silas blinked. "...Important skills?"

"Yes," Lucein said with a deadly calm. "How to fight, how to throw a vase, how to aim a kick. Basic self-defense. No man will ever cheat my daughter without regretting it."

Silas twitched, smiling weakly. "My love... she’s three."

"And?"

"And you don’t think maybe teaching violence to a toddler is... dangerous?"

Lucein’s gaze turned arctic. "No. I think Sera is doing her duty as a ’good aunt.’ The earlier she learns, the fewer fools like him—" she pointed at Adrein, who was currently crouching behind a curtain, eyes wide—"will think they can play games with a woman’s trust."

"FOR THE LAST TIME!" Adrein bellowed, popping his head out. "I DIDN’T CHEAT! I DON’T EVEN KNOW THAT WOMAN! THE CHILD JUST LOOKS LIKE ME BECAUSE THE GODS ARE CRUEL!"

"Coward’s excuses!" Elise snapped, lunging forward. Adrein squealed and darted toward the opposite wall, knocking over a vase.

"Silas!" Adrein wailed. "IF YOU EVER CALLED ME FRIEND, STOP HER!"

Silas sighed, leaning back. "No, you’re not my friend, and I’d love to help. But this? This is... beautiful."

The room had officially lost all sense of dignity.

Elise stormed after Adrein like a wrathful goddess, each step echoing doom, while Adrein vaulted over chairs and ducked behind sofas like a man running for his life. Lucein barked orders like a commander on the battlefield—

"Block the left flank! Don’t let him escape!"

—and Silas, trying and failing to keep a straight face, muttered, "I should’ve brought popcorn."

A vase exploded. A chair tipped. Somewhere, a servant screamed and wisely fled.

Finally, cornered, the Emperor leapt onto the grand table, lamplight glinting off his crown as he raised his arms in surrender.

"LISTEN TO ME!" he bellowed. "THAT IS NOT MY CHILD! I SWEAR ON THE EMPIRE!"

Elise froze mid-swing, lamp raised like a weapon. Lucein narrowed his eyes. Silas tilted his head, skeptical.

Adrein pointed wildly, desperation painting every word.

"It must be my uncle’s! Yes—MY UNCLE! We share the same jawline! Same Eyes! Same Nose!!"

A tense silence.

"He’s lying," Lucein said flatly, folding his arms.

Elise’s grip tightened on the lamp. "You dare—"

But Adrein dropped to his knees on the table, throwing his hands up as if surrendering to divine judgment. His voice cracked with the dramatic flair only a man facing imminent death could muster.

"I SWEAR! My only crime is inheriting my mother’s face! My mother and Uncle were twins, and I heard my uncle married a new omega. But I didn’t know who. That child may look like me, but it is NOT mine!"

The empress blinked. Lucein arched a brow. Silas’s smirk widened and then he coughed, saying, "Ahem, maybe we should bring them here and find out."

Somewhere in the palace, a maid sneezed, and the tension in the room coiled tighter.