Seeing the Imperial physician and nanny already starting to return back to the Emperor, Matthew stopped before them, "Where is she? Why aren't you with her!?"

"She is just getting dressed, we were just going ahead." The nanny said, her old voice was soft and like that of a grandmother. Her voice held no dark desire and Matthew quickly said his thanks and ran off ahead...

Sahara hadn't been unattended long, when a maid came right at her and held Sahara in an awkward position, putting something in her mouth. Honestly, Sahara never thought that back in this ancient era, that they would go behind a dressing area to do something like this. Her guard was indeed down…

She was so quick, that by the time that Sahara found that she had put something in her mouth, she was already long gone, but Sahara knew that she had been a maid by what she had been wearing.

What the hell! I’m trying to get dressed here! Rude!

Feeling a strange feeling in her mouth, Sahara stopped...Instead of continuing on in getting dressed, she sat down and meditated, thinking that she should check herself.

Sahara had felt right about this, that the maid had given her poison. It wasn't anything big, it wouldn't have killed her for a while, so she cleansed herself from it, not knowing that the only antidote to this poison was held in the Empress's hands...Well, besides her own…

The poison would have taken a few days to work, and since the maid was so quick, Sahara wouldn't be able to know which maid it was, and she would have had to get the antidote from the Empress...And through this, the Empress would demand that Sahara give something in return! What would the Empress wish for, besides the death of this Rolland Miss?

Her anger and fury over something gone so terrible wrong with her plans, only left one future for the miss, if the poison wouldn’t have killed her, and she would come here for the antidote, she would most likely put it somewhere where the miss would not live to get it…Perhaps a lion’s den or in a killer’s room…She had a few days to think about how she would make things extremely difficult for the little runt, before she would return sickly and willing to beg!

The Empress couldn’t wait!

…How else was the Empress able to have a 'happy' harem! She poisoned and then was the only one with the antidote! And who doesn’t want to survive!? So, this was how the Empress was feared and also given what she wanted!

Then, how did the Empress get away with it? One was the fear installed upon others, but if one did want to go further and say something, the Empress would then use one of the poisons that she has inside of her to blame it on them…It had already been done once before, scandals and lies…This was how she has lived since entering the harem, not many knowing the full extent of the treachery behind the closed gates of the palace…

This was…The Empress of Green Haven!

***

When Sahara felt better and free from the poison, she finished getting dressed, having no idea that the Empress felt like she may still have a chance to get her own way.

Just as Sahara walked out of the place that she got changed in, Matthew ran up to her and checked her, "You aren't hurt? A maid left and then..."

"Yeah, she poisoned me, but I'm..."

"What! I knew it! I just knew she was up to something!"

Sahara put her hands around his neck and put herself against his body, and he completely stopped talking, staring at her instead. "I'm good. I feel sorry for her, it was a bit of an overkill."

"Overkill?" Matthew asked, putting his arms around her.

"Mmm, maybe I should have only gotten one of you, or tried going against her by myself...I had too much power, compared to hers...Haha!"

Matthew chuckled, letting out a sigh in relief to her safety. How could he let anything happen to her!? She was the air that he breathed. And such lovely air it is, he thought, as he snuggled his head into her neck.

Sahara let out a laugh and pulled away, noticing that the doctor and old lady had gone, "I'm teleporting!"

Matthew pulled a bit away too and they disappeared and appeared back in the Empress's room.

"She was pure, Your Majesty." The nanny was saying, as we came into the room.

What great timing! And that woman says I’m bad luck! Pfft!

But honestly, Sahara’s instincts are also a huge help...She sighed a huge sigh of relief, knowing that she really needed to thank them somehow! If it hadn’t been for them stopping them just last night…

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

But, as she remembered last night, Sahara also remembered the need that they had for each other. She hadn’t felt that before…Was it because of the way they felt for each other, or was there something else to it?

The emperor stared at his Empress...While Sahara remembered that piece of paper.

Thinking back to movies and seeing a golden light appear around objects, making them say ‘Hey, touch me’, that piece of paper seemed to stand out. The ownership! Monies!

Sahara clenched and unclenched her thieving hands and sighed. Truly, she was getting so bad!

How did she go from being someone that felt totally against stealing, to making it a nearly everyday thing! This is bad!

Having ‘Bending Space’ Meditation made things way too easy to steal!

Sahara hit her hands, and turned away from the piece of paper, yet her eyes still looked at it once more…

Seriously, they would notice it gone Sahara! So, stop it!

She bowed her head in defeat, her greedy side needed to disappear!

"You are not to leave your chambers until further notice! No visitors are to come and see you! You have most seriously displeased this King!"

Getting up from the highest chair, that he had sat back down on while waiting, he walked to Sahara. Seeing him walk towards her, she already knew what he wanted.

Sahara put out a hand and the emperor looked at it. He remembered what it was like, quick...Really, there's not much else to it, it's just quick!

He wanted to do it again!

Matthew had his arm already around Sahara and when the emperor touched her, they disappeared, leaving Miss Haves being taken out forcefully and the Empress seriously angry and upset!

Sahara dropped the emperor off and waved at the Right Minister, who did a flimsy wave back and a quick nod, and then turned to Matthew. "I'm going home."

The emperor raised his eyebrows at this but tried to act like he wasn't listening.

"Mmm, I'll be home soon." Matthew said.

"Can we spar when you get back?" Sahara asked, playing with his hand.

The emperor smiled, covering his face with his hand, she was starting to look very charming, especially since she sounded like she was pouting.

"Ok, we'll spar." Matthew sighed.

Sahara smiled brightly, knocking him off his sanity and then kissed him on the cheek, "I'll wait for you!"

Then she disappeared.

Matthew smiled and chuckled, then suddenly lost his happiness, to turn serious when he looked up, "Shall we continue?"

The emperor smirked, his son may look back to seriousness, but he could definitely see the impatience in his sigh. "We were last talking of the people that are still unhappy about Prince Liam. Please continue..."

And the court session went on...Even though there were many with questions…Especially a very simple question of, ‘Where had the emperor just gone all of a sudden!?’

***

When Sahara returned back home, she noticed that the estate was being filled with red decorations, with servants rushing about and…She totally looking out of place…

The decorations seemed obviously for the marriage between Matthew and herself and she showed a rare, happy smile. Sahara gave the place another look around and realized that it would be different to her prior life. She wouldn’t have gotten married in church, as she hadn’t been much into religion, but here…Well, how was it really done?

I guess it’s something that I should look into!

She found Steven playing with Naruto, whom she hasn’t spent much time with lately. Sahara felt bad, leaving both of them alone for so long, in such a new environment. Naruto would much prefer the farm, large space of land of the General’s and Steven seemed to have trouble fitting in, not talking to anyone.

What was I ganna do with these two?

Sahara knew both would prefer to be with her, and she really considered this place to be her home now. The best that she could think of, is dropping Naruto off at the General’s or making sure that she took him with her everywhere…He had already caused one lot of mischief, since being in this estate, and it looked like the people working here gave him annoyed glares.

She sighed.

Sahara picked up Naruto and he automatically snuggled into her neck, showing her that he had missed her, no doubt.

“You’re back!” Steven said, giving her a friendly smile.

“Mmm…Do you think Naruto would be tired?” Sahara asked.

Steven shook his head, “He and I have only been playing for an hour and he seems to have a lot of energy!”

Sahara pat him again and felt him licking her neck, so she smiled. She really hadn’t spent enough time with him lately. The poor bugger…

“I was going to meditate, but why don’t we go to the General’s estate and wear him out first?” Sahara said, knowing that Matthew would probably come back soon as well.

Steven smiled warmly, “I think he likes it there.”

Sahara nodded and put out her hand, still holding on to the little shithead.

Steven happily touched her hand and they teleported to the usual place in the General’s.

For a whole hour, they chased after Naruto and played tug of war with a rope. It wasn’t the first time that they had played like this, but it was the first time the General had! It was interesting at first for Steven, who thought it would be easy, but Sahara made Naruto grow, so that it was a lot harder for Steven to hold onto the rope!

After the hour was up, the General’s son had wanted to continue on, as he had joined us as well…He was the one puffing and panting this time…But Sahara wanted to be home for when Matthew got there.

She gave the General one more pill, seeing him having ‘dinged’ to rank five, but his cultivation was slowing down a lot more now. She tried to find some kind of immunity within him, pretty sure that the pill probably will stop working soon, but never found anything.

This gave her more determination to check out the books that Matthew had, and if she had to, go back to the Academy.

It was like a cliché, Sahara thought, having to look up something in a drama and here she was…Having to go and look stuff up!

Why couldn’t we just be born with the knowledge!

Their time was running out, and that was why Sahara was giving the Academy some time off. She knew about the marriage in two days’ time, and she was already being pleaded by the Right Minister and her father, to return back home for the next couple of days, so that she could enter into Matthew’s estate ‘respectfully’.

Man, how the days will change uh?

But, then again, that always made her think that now that she was on a completely different planet, will things end up the same as Earth? Since there was cultivation here, Sahara suddenly thought that it wouldn’t, that a future here would of course be different to that of Earth, just because of one thing, cultivation. Suddenly, Sahara wanted to see the future, just to know how it would be…Even just for a moment…

Then again, she also wanted to go back into the past, to find out why they were still…Like this! Haven’t they been here for a long time and yet still living like ancient times?

Her curiosity could sometimes become something that she wished that she never had!