Yasmina first thought that the morning sickness was purely due to the spoiled food she sometimes had to eat because of no other options. But when she discreetly asked the doctor in the concubine palace for help to get her checked because she really wasn't feeling well, told her that what she was experiencing was early pregnancy symptoms.
Yasmina's blood turned cold.
She was doomed once the emperor and other concubines finds out that she was carrying the emperor's child. Not only does the matter of her not drinking the contraceptive soup go out, the life forming in her stomach would be damned as well.
Yasmina already had in mind escaping the palace before, together with her friend that she saved before. However, while they were planning their escape, they then realized that it was nearly impossible. There were guards everywhere and even if they managed to slip by those guards, catching two defenseless women who had nowhere to run outside was extremely easy. So she had already given up that idea long ago.
The emperor might outright kill her for not listening to his command, or forced her to get an abortion and late abortion is extremely dangerous. Even if the emperor would let her bear his child, the child's life and hers would not become better. Nonetheless, Yasmina didn't want to kill the child growing in her stomach.
She begged the doctor to hide this from the emperor, and the virtuous doctor reluctantly agreed to her request after seeing her beautiful face shed tears.
The matter could not be hidden forever. 4 months in pregnancy could still be hidden, but what about the following months when her belly starts to actually evidently grow? She would not be able to stop the baby bump from showing. Yasmina knew she had to think of something, but for now, she was happy that she and her baby was currently safe, even if it was for a brief moment.
...Turns out, there was no one you could trust in the palace.
The doctor was a loyal servant of the emperor, so how could he dare hide this great fact from the person who controls the entire empire and risks his life with it? So the doctor hastily informed the emperor of this matter.
Just when Yasmina thought she would be safe for another 2 months, the next day, she was dragged to the throne room. The scum emperor was looking down on her as the guards were forcing her to kneel down. The only thought that ran into Yasmina's head was—she was dead.
Unexpectedly, the emperor didn't kill her but instead asked her to keep the child and raise him. Yasmina looked at him in disbelief but only saw the crude smile of the emperor. His eyes held no empathy and only look at her like an interesting pastime.
It appears that the emperor found this entertaining.
Yasmina heard the emperor say that 'adding one more won't hurt him, in fact, it would become even more interesting how the mother would bring up that child in this palace, and how that child would be able to survive to maturity.'
Yasmina was basically thrown out of the throne room and got escorted back to the concubine palace. With each step she took back to the concubine palace, she was constantly apologizing to the child in her stomach for the hardship it would face the moment the child comes out of her.
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...
The moment Adage was born all attention was directed to Yasmina and his newly born child. Although the birth of a new prince should demand a celebration, the king treated his children the same way except for the firstborn, who was the current heir to the throne. Except for the crown prince, the other prince and princesses didn't receive any celebrations whatsoever during their birth or any other birthday celebrations. Yasmina didn't mind it and was even thankful that she and her baby won't have to face upfront the contempt of the nobles and other princes and princesses.
Adage slowly grew up. His mother continued to take utmost care of her son. Despite being a mother of a prince, they were provided with minimal care. The situation was the same as before Adage was born. It didn't improve nor did it worsen. Maybe they were only given the minimum thanks to the emperor's command to give her a 'fighting chance' in the palace. Nonetheless, their lives were still hard.
Adage doesn't have any teachers to tutor him, so Yasmina tries her best to teach Adage what she has in stock albeit, not many. As Yasmina taught Adage the basics, she quickly learned that her son was a genius. Only had to tell him once and he would instantly memorize and understand everything. Before she knew it, Adage had already learned everything she knew and Adage was only 6 at this time.
The thirst for knowledge made Adage sneak into the other concubine's place which was not heavily guarded and scour for books for him to read. He would always bring the books back to his mother's room despite the risks involved since he wanted to share them with his mother.
Yasmina would always feel her heart melt every time Adage did this. She could not understand anything the advanced book has to offer, but seeing Adage with big sparkling eager eyes read the words out loud with his cute voice that would sometimes still have difficulty pronouncing the difficult words from the book, just brings a smile to Yasmina's face.
Not once did she regret giving life to Adage.
...
Life passed quietly for the two of them. They had already adapted to their lifestyle. The other siblings of Adage stopped paying attention to them, seeing that Adage had no intention of seeking the throne. Albeit, Adage couldn't take the throne even if he wanted to as his mother had no background, he has no support, and although he is a genius, there were also other family members who were also smart but had a noble background unlike him.
His mother would always tell him that if he wanted to become emperor one day, he would not become like his father and take on many wives. That he should be magnanimous, kind, and a servant to the people, not to worldly pleasures. Adage would always reply that he has no intention of sitting in the corrupted seat, Yasmina would laugh and say that 'the future is always unknown.'
Adage would always respond back in his mind, 'the future would not be unknown if I secure it.'
He plans on becoming strong and someday escape the palace together with his mother. He was always curious about the scenery outside the palace walls, as his mother would always have a smile on her face when portraying to him the vast green land, clear rivers, trees that gathered together to form a 'forest', and tall mountains that reached the skies. She rarely smiles at anything besides when his mother saw him, so seeing her eyes glisten as she tells stories from her old town, makes him think that the place her mother tells him about must truly be beautiful.
A smile had already formed on his face as he thought of the happy future that he would secure for both him and his mother away from the palace...
This was the first time Adage was truly proven wrong.
Adage was sneaking around the palace, finding loopholes in the defense. He was holding a book in his hand that he was planning on returning from the place he stole it from for he was already done reading this book with his mom. Upon making his way back to his mother's chambers, there was a commotion in front of the room.
Seeing so many people gathered made him anxious. His heart instantly grew unsettled. He thought that maybe the emperor was visiting or perhaps—something happened to his mother. Fear dawned on Adage as he quickly pushed his small 12-year-old body forward from the barrage of people. The door to his mother's room was already opened. As he went in, Adage felt like time had stopped.