Chapter 212: Chapter-212

This man who’d somehow become the most important person in her life without her even realizing when it happened.

“I’m fine,” she said, and surprisingly, she meant it. “I’m tired. I’m frustrated. But I’m fine.”

Larus smiled at her—that warm, genuine smile that always made her feel like everything would be okay.

“Good,” he said. “Now, shall we have breakfast? I’m starving, and you must be too.”

“I haven’t even washed my face yet,” Heena pointed out.

“Then wash your face, and I’ll order breakfast to be brought to your chambers,” Larus suggested. “We can eat here, away from everyone else. Just the two of us.”

Heena felt something warm unfurl in her chest at the suggestion.

“That sounds perfect,” she said.

—

An hour later, they were sitting together in Heena’s private chambers, eating a simple breakfast of rice porridge, steamed vegetables, and fruit.

It was peaceful. Quiet. Just the two of them, with no political intrigue or court drama or scheming consorts to worry about.

“Can I ask you something?” Larus said after a while.

“Of course,” Heena replied.

“Do you ever regret it?” he asked carefully. “Marrying them, I mean. The five consorts. Do you ever wish you’d made different choices?”

Heena considered the question thoughtfully.

“I didn’t have much choice in those marriages,” she said finally. “They were political alliances. Necessary for stabilizing the empire after the war. At the time, they seemed like the right decisions.”

She paused, swirling tea in her cup.

“But do I regret them now? Yes. Absolutely. They brought nothing but problems and headaches. They were disloyal. They were unfaithful. They were selfish and arrogant and completely useless as partners.”

She looked at Larus directly.

Larus burst into laughter at Heena’s comment, and even she couldn’t help but smile genuinely.

Larus literally wished that this type of peaceful morning could continue every day. Just the two of them, sharing breakfast, exchanging gentle teasing, existing together without the weight of the empire pressing down on them.

But sometimes God wants something else. And sometimes people decide they want something else entirely.

—

Heena got busy with documents again—not shocking to Larus at all. In fact, Larus was quietly happy about it, because most of her major political work was finally done. The divorces were finalized. The Church conspiracy was exposed. The consorts were in control.

And Heena had promised him—*promised*—that after she finished clearing up the administrative aftermath, she would take him on a vacation. An actual vacation, away from the palace, away from politics, just the two of them.

Larus was already planning what they might do. Where they might go. What he could show her from his homeland.

He was also catching up on his own palace duties that he’d been pushing aside. Yes, even he sometimes procrastinated on the boring ceremonial responsibilities.

But Heena became *extremely* busy over the next few days. She spent most of her time either in her office buried in paperwork, or on-site personally overseeing the collection and inventory of everything seized from the Church raids.

Sometimes she didn’t eat for hours. Sometimes she forgot to drink water. She was running herself into the ground trying to properly manage everything.

Larus literally couldn’t meet with her properly. And even when they did cross paths, it was usually Larus sitting silently in a corner of her office, just watching her work. She would look up occasionally and give him a tired smile before focusing back on the documents.

It wasn’t her fault. Being a ruler was never as easy as people thought.

Between the Church scandal, the protests from religious factions, the political reorganization, and the thousand other daily crises that required her attention—she was drowning in responsibility.

Four days passed like this.

—

Today, Heena was on-site at one of the warehouses where confiscated Church property was being catalogued. Mountains of gold, religious artifacts, ledgers documenting corruption—all being carefully recorded and inventoried.

The System floated beside her, looking worried.

“Host,” he said carefully, “are you really sure about this? You should rest. You look exhausted.”

Heena glanced at him and said through clenched teeth, “System, just take out the medicine and shut up.”

The System lowered his head sadly. Sometimes Heena didn’t know what to say about him—she might have gotten the most weak-hearted, sensitive System in existence.

The System materialized a small vial of medicine—a painkiller and energy supplement—and handed it to her.

Heena clenched it in her fist, then threw it back and swallowed it dry, not even bothering with water.

Outside the warehouse, protests were ongoing. Religious devotees were gathered, shouting about persecution, demanding the Church officials be released, claiming the Empress was attacking their faith.

But the knights had secured the area thoroughly. The protesters were kept at a safe distance.

Heena continued working, ignoring the distant shouting.

—

Meanwhile, back at the palace, Larus’s eyes fell on the weather outside his window.

Today was strange.

It was a sunny day—perfectly normal, clear skies, warm temperature. Nothing unusual.

But Larus had a really bad feeling deep inside him. His heart was beating strangely—anxiously, cautiously, like it was waiting for something terrible to happen.

He felt like something really, really bad was going to occur today.

He didn’t know what. Couldn’t explain why he felt this way.

But the feeling wouldn’t go away.

He stood by the window, staring out at the peaceful day, unable to shake the sense of impending disaster.

—

At the warehouse, Heena finished her work about half an hour later.

She was turning around, about to tell her secretary they could return to the palace, when suddenly she heard it—

The knights shouting in alarm:

“PROTECT HER MAJESTY! PROTECT HER MAJESTY!”

Heena spun around instantly, her hand going to her sword.

She saw three people running toward her at full speed—*running*, not walking, not approaching respectfully. Running with desperate, wild expressions.

They’d somehow gotten through the outer perimeter.

The knights reacted immediately. One grabbed the first attacker, tackling him to the ground. A shadow guard materialized and caught the second attacker, slamming them down hard.

They were about to grab the third—but the regular knights weren’t quite fast enough. There was a split second of gap.

And that person—there was absolute desperation in their eyes, the look of someone who knew they were about to die but was determined to complete their mission first.

As one of the knights finally grabbed them by the waist and yanked them backward, the attacker threw something at Heena with all their remaining strength.

A small vial, spinning through the air.

Heena reacted on pure instinct. She drew her sword in one fluid motion and slashed at the projectile.

The blade connected, shattering the vial mid-air.

*That was her mistake.*

The moment the vial shattered, a purple mist exploded outward, spreading rapidly in a cloud.

Heena tried to dodge, tried to hold her breath, tried to move—

But the poison was too fast. Too potent.

The purple vapor touched her skin, entered her lungs, and Heena felt her entire body seize up.

She fell.

Hit the ground hard, her sword clattering away from her nerveless fingers.

Her whole body was paralyzed—completely frozen. She couldn’t move. Couldn’t speak. Couldn’t even scream.

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