Are You Trying to Play Both Sides?

"The General, huh?" Grace raised her brow mischievously. "Why should I break things off with him?"

Damn! Are you trying to have your cake and eat it too?

Grace flashed him a smile. "Why not?"

"You—" Leon Zane was so flustered he couldn't catch his breath. "Is that even allowed?!"

"Of course! I think it's pretty great."

"Oh, come on!" Leon Zane was so angry his stomach hurt. He yanked the curtain down in a huff.

......

Grace pursed her lips in a smile and walked in.

Early the next morning, someone from the palace came to escort her inside.

The person who came... was Colin Gu.

He arrived with the full imperial entourage, dressed in a bright red dragon robe—he looked just like a groom.

And he didn't bother with pleasantries, marching straight into the Forget-Sorrow Pavilion.

Dowager Lady Evelyn Zhu, Minister Zhuo, Lena, Maya Summers, and the others waited outside the pavilion, their faces as grim as if attending a funeral.

Grace Wan was there too, all dressed up and beaming, looking every bit the proud mother whose daughter was about to marry up.

At last, Grace was really entering the palace!

When she was at her lowest, Colin Gu gave Cynthia Zhu a chance to survive.

Once Grace enters the palace, there’ll be plenty of ways to make her bear a prince and send him off to the Vermilion Kingdom. Then, they’ll settle the Spirit Root business with her.

But seriously, how did she even grow a Spirit Root?

No matter how she got it, she has to die!

Her only purpose for staying alive is to give birth to a royal hostage.

After that, she couldn’t be kept around any longer.

Otherwise, who knows when she’ll become a real disaster.

......

Inside the Forget-Sorrow Pavilion, looking at Colin Gu before her, Grace remembered his grand wedding to Wendy Zhu.

He’d worn the same kind of clothes then, looking even more handsome than usual—rosy lips, white teeth, and elegant as a jade tree.

In the palace, he and Wendy Zhu held a lavish royal wedding ceremony.

Grace watched them as a perfect pair, heartbroken.

After coming home, she didn’t eat or drink for two whole days, losing a ton of weight.

Back then, she wished so badly that she could be the one standing beside him at the ceremony.

She wished it was her at his side, catching his gaze, holding his hand.

......

"Grace, things are moving quickly. Your Empress's wedding gown isn't ready yet, but once it is, we'll hold the royal ceremony." Colin Gu smiled at her.

Grace looked at him and, a little shyly, smiled. "Thank you for your trouble, Your Majesty."

Her reaction clearly caught Colin Gu off guard.

He paused for a moment and asked, "Do you blame me?"

Grace lowered her eyes and shook her head.

Colin Gu visibly relaxed, gently taking her hand. "I just couldn't stand by and watch you marry someone else."

Grace quickly pulled her hand back. "Hope and Claire are here!"

Colin Gu glanced at Hope and Claire, who were waiting nearby, chuckled softly, and whispered in her ear, "I'll wait for you outside. Hurry and come out."

Grace nodded.

After he left, Hope and Claire looked at her with pitiful, teary eyes.

Grace felt that if she didn't comfort them, they'd burst into tears.

"Listen to me," Grace said. "My period has always been irregular. This time, it started yesterday and will last seven days, got it?"

"Huh? But your period is always regular!" Claire blurted out. "And who has a period that lasts seven days?"

"You dummy!" Hope nudged her.

Claire immediately caught on. "I get it now, but Miss Lawrence, what good does it do? After seven days, you still have to... You can't defy an imperial decree, can you?"