Page 15 of Empire's Curse

Her throat dried up as she recognized the man from the bath.

Drakkon Muyang took a seat on one of the couches, his gaze drifting over the women, black eyes narrowed.

Daiyu swallowed. Had he really come here for her?

“Is this it?” Muyang frowned, looking at the women once more.

The woman in charge raised her head. “Your Majesty, these are all the women we’ve gathered from the nearby villages and cities.”

Muyang leaned against the cushioned seat and propped his elbow on the armrest casually. “Is that so?” He waved a free hand at the crowd of kneeling women. “Raise your heads, all of you.”

They all obliged. Daiyu couldn’t see the expressions on thewomen’s faces from her position, but she could clearly see the dissatisfaction on the emperor’s face.

One of the men by the emperor’s side leaned down to whisper something in his ear, and Daiyu’s mouth dropped open as she recognized the brown-haired man from earlier. He was the one who led her into the emperor’s bathing chambers! If he knew the emperor well enough to be by his side, shouldn’t he have known where the emperor’s personal chambers were at? And so … how could he have led Daiyu there? It was no mistake, she realized with mounting horror.

Muyang pointed to one of the women. “You. How old are you?”

“Fourteen, Your Majesty.” She lowered her head.

The emperor made a face. “You are a child.”

“I became a woman last year when my cycle began,” she squeaked.

“A child pretending to be a woman,” he said with a frown. He rested his chin on his fist and leaned into his seat casually. “These are trulyallthe women you’ve gathered?”

The woman in charge nodded. “Y-Yes, Your Majesty. Is something wrong?”

Daiyu felt bad for the woman, who seemed to be trembling in his presence. Everyone could probably tell that he was displeased, and she wondered how it must have felt to be in their shoes, bowing down in front of a man who barely looked at them and who was clearly unsatisfied with them. And they were all such beautiful women! Did he think he was better than them? Did he think they weren’t good enough?

The emperor’s attention turned to the curtains and Daiyu froze as his dark gaze landed on her. She didn’t release the beaded thread—for that would give her away for sure—but her heart couldn’t stop beating frantically. He shouldn’t have been able to see her. Maybe he was just admiring the dragon design painted on these beads? That had to be it.

A slow smile curved over his soft mouth. A dark delight.

“Ah, I see.” He turned to one of the women. “You, woman. Why do you wish to be my concubine?”

“Um, well,” the woman stuttered. “It would be an honor.”

“And how old are you?”

“Twenty-one.”

“What is your father’s occupation?”

“He is a government worker. He, um, collects taxes in our city.”

“A respectable career.” He drummed his fingers over the armrest and pointed to another woman. “And you? Why do you wish to be my concubine?”

The woman stammered a response while Daiyu remained petrified on her spot. Surely, the emperor couldn’t have seen her? But then why did he smile like that? Like he had found something amusing?

Drakkon Muyang sat and listened for a bit as the women spoke about their reasoning to marry him, all the while he appeared disconnected from whatever they were saying. From time to time, his gaze flicked to the curtains. Daiyu was just about to step away when he pointed directly at her.

“You can come out now.”

She froze.

“Yes, you.” He flexed his finger forward. “Little rabbit, come out now.”

Little rabbit? She made a face. She didn’t like that nickname at all.

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