The emperor despised his wife, who had gained a lot of weight after giving birth to their child: he called her fat and sweaty and forced her to wash herself in front of the entire court every day. But one day, during yet another humiliation, the empress did something that left everyone present frozen in shock 😱
When Emperor Adrian first saw Isabella, she was considered one of the most beautiful young women in the kingdom.
At balls, men deliberately looked for an excuse to ask her to dance, while wealthy families dreamed of having her as their daughter-in-law. Isabella had a slim waist, long hair, and such a beautiful face that the court painters constantly asked for permission to paint her portrait.
But she chose Adrian.
During the first years of their marriage, the emperor hardly ever left his wife’s side. At receptions, they always sat next to each other, danced only with each other, and Adrian loved to tell the courtiers that he had married the most beautiful woman in the entire kingdom.
Everything changed after the birth of their son.
The pregnancy was difficult. Isabella nearly died during childbirth, could barely get out of bed for several weeks, and after recovering, she began gaining weight rapidly.
At first, everyone thought it was temporary, but the months passed and the woman only grew heavier. She developed severe swelling, constantly felt hot, and even after a short walk, her face would be covered in sweat.
Isabella herself could not understand what was happening to her. She ate very little, walked in the garden every day, and followed all the doctors’ advice, but nothing helped.
Adrian gradually began to look at his wife in a completely different way.
During dinners, he sat as far away from her as possible. If Isabella accidentally touched his hand, he would demonstratively move away. Sometimes he would even grimace and cover his nose with a handkerchief to make sure everyone noticed.
“You smell of sweat again,” he said loudly one day in front of dozens of guests. “Can’t you at least take care of yourself?”
Isabella blushed but remained silent.
Adrian could not divorce the empress. It would have caused a huge scandal, especially after the birth of the heir. So he decided to make his wife’s life in the palace so unbearable that she would eventually ask for permission to leave on her own.
That was when the public humiliations began.
By order of the emperor, every morning the servants brought a huge copper basin filled with warm water into the main hall. Maids, guards, and ladies of the court gathered there.
Then Isabella was brought in.
“Go on, wash yourself,” Adrian would say. “Let everyone see that at least sometimes you actually touch water.”
Sometimes he would laugh and add:
“If a pig is constantly sweating, it has to be washed more often.”
Some courtiers lowered their eyes in shame, while others quietly laughed along with the emperor. Isabella endured it all.
Every morning, she walked up to the basin, washed herself in front of dozens of people, then calmly dried her face and left.
This continued for several weeks.
But one day, during yet another public humiliation, the empress suddenly did something that left the entire palace frozen in shock. 😮🫣 The continuation of this interesting story can be found in the first comment 👇👇
When the servants once again placed the basin in front of Isabella, she suddenly did not begin washing herself. The woman looked at the water, then raised her eyes to her husband and unexpectedly smiled.
“Today, I want to do everything properly, Your Majesty.”
Adrian smirked.
“Finally, you understand.”
Isabella asked for several white towels to be brought to her and then carefully wiped her face, neck, and hands with them.
Within seconds, strange dark blue stains appeared on the white fabric.
The hall fell silent. The empress took a small glass vial from her pocket and dropped a few drops onto the towel. The blue stains immediately turned almost black.
The court physician turned pale and stepped closer.
“Where did you get this?”
“From my own skin,” Isabella replied calmly.
It turned out that several weeks earlier, the woman had noticed something strange. Every time after her morning wash, she began to feel ill, her body started burning, swelling appeared, and her heart began beating faster. So she secretly asked an elderly physician to examine the water she was using.
He discovered a rare substance in it. It was absorbed through the skin and gradually disrupted the body’s normal functions, causing severe swelling, excessive sweating, and rapid weight gain.
But the most horrifying discovery came later.
This water had been given to Isabella long before the public humiliations began. It was the same water a maid had used every morning to fill the empress’s bathtub after the birth of her child.
“Who did this?” Adrian shouted.
Isabella silently looked at the head servant. With trembling hands, he took out the palace expense ledger.
The orders for the purchase of the substance had been signed by Adrian himself. The emperor froze.
Several months earlier, he had ordered the court apothecary to add an expensive aromatic mixture to his wife’s bath because he disliked her “smell.” The apothecary had warned him many times that the substance was meant to be used only a few drops at a time in enormous bathing pools, but Adrian had ordered him to use dozens of times more.
It turned out that it was his own cruelty and his desire to change his wife that had made her ill.
