The Willow by the Palace Wall: A Hand That Brings Spring

I am the empress, and also the chess piece he raised with his own hands. He said he loved me, yet the moment my father and brothers died in battle, he deposed me. On the day I left the palace, I smiled and asked him, “Your Majesty, do you know that a chess piece can turn against its player?” Three years later, I returned with a prince of an enemy kingdom. His eyes red, he asked me who I truly loved. I stroked my slightly rounded belly and smiled. “Your Majesty, guess what surname this child will bear?”