Chapter 241: Chapter-241

For these children. For Larus. For this impossible family they’d created.

She sat carefully on the edge of the bed beside Larus, still holding their daughter, while the midwife brought their son to rest in Larus’s weak arms.

They sat together like that—exhausted, overwhelmed, terrified, and happier than either of them had ever been.

A family.

Against all odds, despite every obstacle, they had become a family.

“What should we name them?” Larus asked softly.

Heena looked at her children and thought carefully.

“For the girl,” she said slowly, “I’d like to name her Solene. It means ’sunlight’ in the old language. Because she’s brought light into our lives.”

Larus smiled. “It’s perfect.”

“And for the boy?” Heena asked. “You should choose his name.”

Larus looked down at his son and said quietly, “Caelan. It means ’victorious warrior’ in my homeland’s language. Because he fought to be born, and he won.”

“Solene and Caelan,” Heena said, testing the names. “Our daughter and son.”

She looked at Larus seriously.

“We’ll protect them. No matter what. Whatever it takes.”

“Whatever it takes,” Larus agreed.

Outside the chamber, the palace continued on, unaware that history had just changed.

The Empress had not given birth.

The Emperor Consort had.

And twins—an unprecedented blessing—had been born to the imperial family.

But for now, only a handful of trusted people knew the truth.

And Heena intended to keep it that way for as long as possible.

Her family was safe.

Her children were healthy.

Her husband was recovering.

For now, that was enough.

Everything else—the politics, the revelations, the future complications—could wait.

Right now, she just wanted to hold her children and watch them breathe.

And so she did.

—

Heena stopped going to court completely.

She couldn’t just leave Larus alone during his recovery. She’d been attending court sessions less and less even before the birth anyway, usually sending Secretary Chen as her representative to handle most matters.

But now she didn’t even pretend to work her normal schedule.

She stayed constantly at Larus’s side, taking care of him personally—from what he ate to what he drank to every aspect of his recovery. She monitored his surgical wound healing, made sure he rested properly, helped him with the twins when he was too weak to lift them alone.

Sometimes even Larus felt overwhelmed by her constant attention.

He looked at her one day while she was holding baby Caelan and said gently, “You should go back to court now. No one would question why you’re suddenly recovered—this empire has excellent medical care, and everyone knows you have a strong physical constitution. They’d accept that you’ve healed quickly.”

But Heena rejected this suggestion immediately.

She looked him dead in the eyes and said firmly, “Do you want me to choose between staying with my newborn children and my newly recovering husband, or going to argue with those old bastards in court? Definitely not. I need to make sure you’re completely fine first.”

She adjusted Caelan in her arms.

“Besides, do you want our children to blame me when they get older? They’ll say I tortured their papa just because he’s too kind to complain. And please—I don’t dare risk that. These are the crown prince and princess of the empire. I’m not giving them even a tiny reason to resent me later.”

Hearing that, Larus burst into laughter as he looked at her and said, “Why can’t you just admit you don’t want to go back to work? That would be so much more honest.”

Hearing that, Heena smiled as she looked at him, her expression softening. “Maybe you’re right.”

—

Slowly, time went by.

The consorts had gotten tired of causing trouble. They’d learned their lessons through various punishments and diminished influence.

While Heena didn’t let them meet the children directly—she never let them even touch the twins—they could see Solene and Caelan from a distance during formal palace events.

In Heena’s words: “If those regressive fools touch my children, the children might catch their stupidity, and I absolutely don’t dare risk that.”

The twins were raised primarily by Larus and Heena together. As Heena became busy with accumulated work again, Larus took on most of the daily childcare, and he was wonderful at it—patient, loving, playful.

And as for the consorts’ behavior? Well, you could say the more time passed, the more resigned they became to their reduced circumstances.

—

’’[Seven Years Later]’’

After seven years of marriage, Larus looked at Heena one evening while they were having tea together and said thoughtfully, “Don’t you think things are too peaceful here in the palace?”

Heena looked at him and said dryly, “What do you want? Some treason? A war? An assassination attempt to spice things up?”

Hearing that, he shook his head quickly and said, “No, no! Nothing like that. But in a normal palace, shouldn’t there be more… intrigue? Fights between consorts? Political attacks? Drama?”

Hearing that, Heena smiled and looked at him and said, “What do you think this is, a soap opera?”

Hearing that, he looked at her seriously and said, “No, but think about it. Whenever there’s a potential attack, it’s dealt with before I even hear about it. The nobles seem satisfied and peaceful. The consorts are so busy with their own diminished lives that they don’t cause problems. Trade is flourishing. There’s no civil war or rebellion brewing. The people are content. How is everything so… stable?”

Hearing that, Heena looked at him like he’d asked the most obvious question in the world.

“Larus,” she said patiently, “a kingdom doesn’t become flourishing and peaceful with just one good emperor. It takes generations. My great-grandparents, their parents, my own parents, all my ancestors—they loved this empire like their child. They made sure it would always stay safe and prosperous.”

She sipped her tea.

“The empire is peaceful today not because I’m some exceptionally good empress or ruler. It’s because my ancestors were good people who built strong foundations. They managed the empire so perfectly that honestly, I haven’t needed to do much except maintain what they established.”

She smiled slightly.

“If it weren’t for my brief period of carelessness during the succession crisis and the Church conspiracy, this empire would flourish even with a mediocre emperor on the throne. That’s how solid the foundation is.”

Hearing that, Larus was listening with a smile, absorbing this perspective.

Then Heena added with a mischievous grin, “But if you’re getting bored, should I marry some more consorts? Add some drama to the palace?”

Hearing that, Larus immediately grabbed a cushion and threw it at her.

“You DARE!” he shouted, but he was laughing. “Five consorts wasn’t enough? You want a sixth? A seventh?”

He chased her around the office as she ran, both of them laughing.

“Come back here!” he called out. “How dare you even joke about that!”

She ran, he chased, their playful banter filling the usually serious office with joy.

When he finally caught her, he looked into her eyes and gently pressed his forehead against hers.

“I am really blessed,” he said quietly. “I’ve never felt such happiness in my entire life.”

Hearing that, Heena smiled back and linked her arms around his neck and said softly, “Mm. I’m happy too.”

—

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