Your Highness

HUNDRED AND TWENTY TWO

From afar a maid was spying on Han. Following the empress' order, the maid had observed the prince's movement from the moment he left his room with his personal maid. For days there hasn't been much to report, since the prince rarely left his room. Every time the maid returned to the empress' chamber, she would always feel nervous when reporting the news.

Hopefully, the empress wouldn't be this angry since there was more juicy informations. The maid went away from the garden and walked with fast steps in the direction of the empress' wing. Her feet were lighter than usual and faster than the previous nights.

Out of the sudden a figure appeared in front of her blocking the maid from taking another step. The maid didn't expect that she would bump into anyone, especially not at this time of the day in this remoted palace. Much more, the emperor was the last person she would expect to show up at this place. A chill ran down her spine and she was near paralyzed from the scrutinizing eyes which fell on her.

The emperor stood alone in the empty corridor, without a single person around him. The shock the maid felt when seeing the emperor was no different from seeing a grim reaper in the middle of the night.

"Your, your-" The maid mumbled nervously but stopped as the emperor signalled for her to keep quiet.

"Which part of the palace do you belong to?" The emperor asked in a low voice. He looked like this was the first time he had seen her.

"I belong to the empress' wing, your majesty," The maid said in just the same quiet tone.

"What are the empress' people doing at the prince's wing?"

"That is...." The maid nervously swallowed unaware of how to slip out of this situation. Telling the truth would mean betraying the empress, but lying to the emperor wouldn't make her life much easier.

"I guess you are tired of living,"

"Please forgive me, your majesty!." The maid went to her knees while facing the ground. Her voice turned shaky and tears didn't stop from welling in her eyes.

"This lowly subject was following the empress' order to-"

"To keep an eye on the royal prince?"

"Of course not his majesty," The maid lied. Telling the emperor that his beloved empress was spying on another man could kill her instantly. No one in this palace didn't know how much the emperor doted his empress.

Courting herself death by making the emperor green of jealousy wasn't the outcome the maid wanted. Besides, admitting that she was spying on Han would put the empress in a bad position, and in the end, the maid would have to pay for it.

"The empress instructed me to follow the prince's maid, "

"Han's maid?"

"Yes, your majesty. Her highness has been wanting to meet Prince Han's maid since her highness couldn't remember a thing of what happened that specific night Ahn came. However, the prince had been keeping Ahn away, making the empress unable to meet her."

The servant's reason would make sense if the emperor wasn't aware that his empress was an imposter. If so, he would have believed that the empress was keeping her eye on Hayoon due to the fear of falling out of his favour. However, knowing that the empress is fake, there is no reason for her to be bothered by a simple maid.

The person that would bother her would be Han, as he was the only one that could expose the empress' true identity. The moment Han regained his memory would be her biggest nightmare.

Even at this moment, this maid was trying to cover the empress' ulterior motive. How pitiful. The clueless empress was concerned about being exposed not knowing that the emperor himself was fully aware of her identity.