How To Tame An Empress (BOOK I)

Chapter 35- The Second Heir

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True to her words, Ria really was pregnant... and for the next nine months, we walked on eggshells around each other. Me fearing that she'll hurt herself or our unborn child and her, fearing that I'll hurt the people close to her.

But I eventually came to the realisation that I had nothing to worry about. As the child in her womb continued to grow, so did her love for the infant, and, not to mention, Evan's clear excitement about his new sibling.

Ria wasn't the kind of person that would even accidentally dare to do anything to her children, no matter how much she despised me, she would never hurt an innocent life; the same can't be said about me though.

And so, the Empire's second heir was born.

Going by the name Ambrogio Gaius Aurelius Caesar, my second son.

And like that, years slowly continued to tick by. Ria becoming my docile wife that never dared to even mention the outside world anymore. After all my hard work, I had finally succeeded in putting out the wild flame that was her.

I continued to have my way with her as many times as I wanted and with every time we did it, she would lose her will to fight more and more each time.

It was all so thrilling.

It took years, longer than I would have liked; but finally, I had managed to tame my Empress.

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"Pick up your sword," I ordered my first child.

It has always been a distant dream of mine to train my children, to raise them to be mighty warriors in the same way that my father taught me and now, here I am, living that dream. All thanks to my Ria.

"I-I am tired," Evan panted, hunching over as his hands rested on his knees and he wiped the sweat away from his face, gasping for air.

"Do you think your enemy on the battlefield will offer you water and food?... No. He will take your weakness and use it against you, he will slice your head off with his sword and he will wave your head around like a trophy; to mock not only you but the entire Roman Empire,"

Digging my sword into the ground, I kneeled in front of him and picked up his sword, thrusting it into his hands and glaring at him, daring him to show me his weakness again.

"So pick up your sword and swing it at me like you mean to kill me. Stop being such a wimp. How do you expect to rule this Empire if you cannot so much as hold a sword?" Standing back up, I pointed at him with the tip of my sword.

"Get up, son," I spoke.

He turned his head up, eyes blaring with an angry, fiery glare but I didn't bother reacting and continued to wait for him to pick up his damn sword.

He coughed, picking up the sword, holding onto the hilt tightly and for a moment, he was frozen, but then he jumped forward, plunging the sword towards me but I easily dodged.

"You have to move faster... A war cannot be won on its own," He continued to swing the sword about, getting faster and more precise with each movement. I smirked in satisfaction but still successfully evaded every single hit.

See, I just had to push him a little harder.

He growled, getting annoyed that I kept blocking or dodging him and noticing that his movements were starting to get a bit wilder than before, I raised a brow. Was he really trying to injure, or even kill, me right now?

Sighing, I thrust my leg forward and kicked him on the abdomen which sent him flying back and I huffed, pushing my hair back as I stared at his groaning figure hunched on the ground, covering the place that I had kicked.

"Don't be such a wimp. Get up," I ordered.

"What do you think you're doing!?" I turned my head to see Ria storming towards us, an angry glare on her face, no doubt aimed at me.

Ambrogio slowly followed behind her with a bored look on his face. Unlike my first child, whom I believe showed too much emotion, my second child was the complete opposite. He never spoke or showed emotion to anyone other than his mother.

But I didn't mind that, because honestly, he was more suitable for the throne than his older brother. At the age of 10, his smartness was already enough to rival my senate members and his physical prowess was well on its way to rivalling my own.

Unfortunately, Ambrogio had no desire for the throne and wanted to simply live a lavish and comfortable life supporting his older brother.

"I am training my son, darling. As any normal father does," I sighed, explaining to her as if I were talking to a child. She paid no heed to my words and squatted down in front of Evan, stroking the dirt and sweat away from his face.

"This looks more like torture," She spared me a glance before helping our son up and holding his hand. "That is enough for today. Go find entertainment elsewhere," She turned away from me, taking Ambrogio's outstretched hand and continuing on her way inside.

My jaw ticked and before I knew it, I stepped forward, wrapping my arms around her waist and nuzzling my neck into the crook of her neck, inhaling the sweet scent of her body.

"What are you doing?" She venomously whispered.

"Loving my wife," I innocently replied, leaving a feathery kiss on her shoulder while ignoring her intense glare which only seemed to be getting more and more intense by the second. Since both of her hands were holding onto each child's, I took advantage of the moment.

"Anastacius, let go of me," She tried to nudge me off but failed as my arms around her waist tightened. The curious gazes of both our children were felt and I chuckled into her hair as she shivered at the feeling.

"What happened to Stacius?" I mumbled, she didn't reply.

"Shall we leave the children with some slaves and go have some fun, dear wife?" I suggested and she flinched at the suggestion, quickly shaking her head. "Why not? Am I not your husband?" I pushed, biting my lip to hold back a smirk as I felt her trembling in fear under my fingertips.

"I don't want to... Now, let go of me-" Ambrogio cut her off, surprising us all.

"Mama is going to read us a story today... Papa can have fun later, you are the Emperor so you have to go do your work," My brows twitched at his words.

Well, he wasn't wrong...

"You heard him," Ria glowered. Temporarily, letting go of Ambrogio's hand, she shoved my hands away from her as if I were poison, held his hand once more and strode off with the rest of her defiant personality.

And here I thought I had tamed her.

I guess simply having her give up her freedom wouldn't mean I've completely won.

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