"You're such a joker, my lord. I must ask, your majesty, have you ever been punched in the throat before?"
She smiled at him with a sweet face but the light in here turquoise eyes was nonexistent. The grin on his face dropped and he stared at the younger girl with his furrowed brows.
The rage she had felt before cooled down into this frozen sensation that iced the blood in her veins.
"Uh, no?"
His left hand still gripped onto her limp right, when suddenly she returned his grip and interlocked her fingers as well.
"Would you like to have a taste at it? I am more than willing to offer you my fist. I trust that your highness would be most pleased." She added on, her voice mimicking his honeyed tone just before.
The crown prince tried to shake off her hand, but it was like she had superhuman strength and she only tightened her grip. Her fingers turned ice cold and began to frost over to the older boy's skin, every hair on his body rising up and telling him to run. He swore he was losing circulation in his fingers.
"How very kind of you, but no, thank you." He tried looking anywhere but her turquoise eyes.
Her left hand arched back, pulled into a tight fist.
What in the hell happened to the original Athanasius? He was such a sweet boy in the game! He whispered sweet nothings into Sara's ears, swore to take good care of her, and vowed to change this nation's laws to benefit the common people. He was understanding of Sara's situation and never felt any resentment towards her even if the player chooses another target's route! He would never force anyone to become Consort Rose, unlike this petty abomination who sat here next to her!
How dare this brat ruin her image of Athanasius!
"Hmm? What was that, my lord? 'How very kind of you, please do so,' you said?" Her left arm arched back even further. "Very, well then. As your Consort Rose, your wish is my command."
"No, no- Viviana, wait!"
He waved his left hand in a weak effort to shake her off. It wasn't working very well. If her grip was strong enough to hold him down, he shuddered at the thought of the amount of strength she would have if she were to deliver him that punch.
"Viviana, my love, wouldn't you stop and think about what you're about to do? Actions have consequences, darling!"
Whoosh!
Her little arm swung forward and Athanasius shut his eyes in fright. A small breeze passed by, his platinum blonde strands flew up a little. Though he was frightened, he could do nothing but squeeze back at the small hand that held him down.
A minute passed but the young boy felt no collision. He opened one eye, looking at the younger child. Her cheeks were puffed with a red from anger but her eyes and her lips were curved with mischief and pettiness.
But what mattered was that she spared him. A sigh of relief exited his lips. He thought he was gonna die.
Clunk!
"Ow!" Athanasius yelped.
Two knuckles collided with the crown of his head. His free hand immediately cradled his wound. He turned to look at Viviana with his crimson eyes nearly glowing with anger and astonishment. She looked at him with the same shit-eating-grin he had given her before, her eyes drinking in his pain.
Anger and contempt bubbled up in his heart. He stood up, clutching her hand harder than he had before, and returned the look. He couldn't stop the evil chuckles that shook out of his body.
"... I told you, 'actions have consequences,' didn't I? You dare to spit in my face; call me a joker, not once, but twice; and even raise your hand against me?! Not even my parents have risen a single finger at me!" He shouted at her but her turquoise eyes never faltered with fear or flinched. "As your punishment: I, Crown Prince Athanasius Adonis Asor-Canina, shall bestow you the title of Consort Rose until the end of time! Even long after your death, you shall be forever remembered as Consort Rose!"
The little girl gasped and her eyes widen in shock. This little petty shit!
"You wouldn't!" She cried.
His crimson orbs looked down at her, a sneer adorning his face.
"I just did."
He watched as her face switched between emotions, from shock to anger and from anger to... sadness? Her brows furrowed and her eyes turned glassy. Her little plump lips pouted and her button nose began to flare red.
A wave of guilt passed through the older child. Maybe he was going a little too far...
And then he felt the superhuman grip on his hand once more and his eyes widened. The look of sour contempt returned onto Viviana's face and she smiled so sweetly at him.
" Very well then... I see how it is. Actions have consequences, darling. As punishment: I, Viviana Giacinta Valentino, will bestow another hit on you."
Athanasius spluttered, his left arm desperately trying to pull away from her, only her it to be pulled back towards her smaller figure.
"Y-you wouldn't!"
Her turquoise orbs turned dark and her smile grew larger. Her left arm rose.
Clunk!
"I just did. And I'll do it again."
Clunk!
✨♥️🥀♥️✨
That morning, Athanasius left the Valentino Dukedom with three red bumps on his platinum blonde crown and a bruising left hand. The imperial guards who stood outside of the lounge had to step in and separate the two bickering children.
"Mimma..." Her father called to her as they sat in the courtyard, surrounded by peonies, marigolds, and hyacinths. His hand gently combed through her plum-colored strands.
She looked up at her father from his lap, her head tilted. Her elegant yellow and white ruffled dress spread against her father's thighs as if he were the one wearing it. The breeze gently passed over the father and daughter, carrying the petals of nearby flowers along with it.
"Do you want to be Consort Rose?" He asked in a tender manner and caressed her chubby cheeks. "Papa can go and talk to his imperial highness, Emperor Aeturnus, if needed."
His turquoise eyes were soft and his dark sharp brows furrowed. His full lips pouted in a childish manner. The sun had risen perfectly behind the man, illuminating his clear copper skin that the sunlight just kissed perfectly; his straight nose and high cheekbones didn't even need that Fenty Beauty Highlighter in the shade Trophy Wife. That man, it was like that shit poured out of his very pores, he was gleaming with literal sunshine.
Viviana felt her heart lift and rise a hundred times larger than it was; her father was so gentle, loving, and handsome- the ideal husband and father. If she were still Layla, without a doubt, she would have fell head over heels for him! A soft and modest man, with a fortune and a successful business, who loves his wife without possessiveness and jealousy, who cares and dotes on his children- Vittorino Ezio Valentino, the most perfect and wholesome man in the entire universe! He is a gift sculpted and perfected by the almighty Gods themselves, sent here to show how magnificent his beauty, inside and out, is.
"The truth is, papa... I don't want to be Consort Rose," She replied and watched as his face lit up. "But, I also don't want papa to fight on my behalf... So I think I can wait this out..."
Immediately, his face fell. But there was no way she would let this thing with Athanasius ruin her family! The imperial family is the most powerful family in the entire empire but she'll be damned if she let that kid boss her or her family around! Unfortunately, she might have gone too far this morning, so ideally a retreat would be best... but who knows when he'll summon her to the capital...
Viviana gritted her teeth. That brat, he'd dare to take her away from her family.... she'll show him!
"Oh, mimma... I wish you could stay little and be my sweet mimma forever." Tears began to swell in the Duke's eyes, his face was no different from a kicked puppy's. "Don't worry, your papa will ask for an audience with his majesty, the emperor. I should have met with him sooner before you were admitted into the Consort Candidacy."
The Duke sighed and pushed his daughter closer into his embrace, stroking her head. Viviana closed her eyes and hugged her father back.
"It's okay, papa." She reassuringly rubbed his back. "I'll always be your mimma, right?"
Even with her family's influence over the empire, that didn't just give them have the right to disobey the imperial family. It would be no easy feat for her father to convince the emperor to spare his daughter from the clutches of the crown prince. After all, she did die in the game.
"That's right." The Duke sniffled and then kissed his youngest on her cheek. He wiped away his unshed tears before putting on a bright smile.
"Won't you stay with papa for a while?" He asked in a contented voice as if he wasn't crying just a moment ago.
She quickly nodded. Her father firmly pressed his lips against her cheeks once more before standing up from their seat and began walking towards the vineyards and other plantations. He carried her the entire time.
Their lands were lined with vegetation; each plot of land strategically planted with fruits, flowers, and trees. A variety of all sorts of vivid colors matched with the contrast of the shades of green and brown provided by the earth and leaves. White and red grapes that hung on the dark green leaves of the bushes. Workers lined up with a basket, picking away the ripe fruit and blossomed flowers to be sold or made into wine. They sang and talked to one another, dressed in simple clothing and straw hats to deflect the sun's rays and overbearing heat. They waved at their employers for a brief moment before returning back to their duties.
Wait a minute...
Plantations and workers? Perhaps unwilling workers???
Slavery?!
Oh, god, no.
Please, no.
"Papa," Viviana started. Her father turned to look at his daughter's face in response. "W-we're not slave owners, right?"
She looked at him with her brows furrowed and her turquoise eyes filled with uneasiness and sadness.
Though Layla was a dummy who didn't score a perfect score in her AP: World History test*(1) in the tenth grade, even she knew that Earth was not paradise. Slavery always seemed to occur everywhere and throughout history, even in the modern ages. Considering that «Chamber of Roses» was set in a world based off of Europe's medieval times, slavery was not out of the ordinary during that time.
On the bright side, her family fortune isn't built on a mafia foundation like she had originally thought it was. On the other? The reality is that her whole life is a fictional franchise built on mediocre writing for a bunch of adolescent girls, and not to mention she just pissed off her future cause of death. And if the Gods really wanted to mess with her, they'd throw in the fact that her family were slave owners.
She silently prayed for mercy from the Gods.
Vittorino looked at his daughter with wide eyes and a slacked jaw. How does she even know about slave owners at this age? He knew that sometimes Vincenzo could be a little mean and mischievous at times towards his youngest, but to teach her about things like this were a little too much for her age, yes? She didn't even have tutors yet.
"U-uh," He didn't even know how to start. "No, mimma. We are not slave owners, never have been and never will. Slavery has been outlawed in Asor Canina for decades, even before your papa was born."
Oh, thank god. Maybe this life won't be so bad after all. Relief spread through her heart and a smile escaped through her lips. Her youthful face beamed with happiness.
"Really? That's wonderful!" She exclaimed and kissed her father on his copper cheek. He chuckled before returning a kiss onto her's.
That entire day, she spent it with her father. He took her to each plantation, sneaking goods to her when the workers weren't looking.
"Shhh," He'd whispered. "I may be their employer, but I should also be giving them a good example. Don't tell anyone, mimma."
Then she'd nod and giggle at his antics before quickly stuffing whatever it was (grapes, kiwi, lychee, peaches, apples) into her mouth, locking away their little secrets into her belly.
Along the way towards another plantation, they walked through another courtyard. He took her to a secluded area, hidden by rose bushes and berry bushes.
"I think it's time to show you the Valentino Family secret, yes?" He simply told her.
Her heart began pumping at such a high rate, she was sure her father could feel it as he held her hand. Thoughts flashed into her mind; her family really was in the mafia, weren't they?! God has played her once more!
Her father sat in front of her, a small space between them. She watched as he picked a nearby rose from a bush, thorns and all.
"Mimma, what do you think magic is?" He asked out of the blue, but his gentle voice suddenly felt stern. He looked at his youngest with a sharp gaze, waiting for her answer. The girl scrunched her face in deep thought. Just what the hell was she supposed to say?
The air around the two that was once lighthearted and warm father-daughter time turned into a heavy and serious atmosphere, like a father-daughter lecture.
"The way of life?"
Then the usual warm expression reappeared onto her father's face and he caresses her face in a familiar touch.
Viviana couldn't remember the full details of the world's magic system from the game. She remembered that Layla was so excited to play that she completely skimmed over the contents of it to win over the targets.
"That's close enough, mimma. Magic is the source of all life, the grass and soil we stand on, the fruits and animals that we eat, and the insects that pester around us. It's the air we breathe, the water we drink and wash with, the fire we light to keep us warm, and the trees we use to make homes. And it even includes us: we are magic itself."
'Magic... is cells? Amino acids? DNA? RNA? Molecules? Atoms?' She pondered in her head. Although Layla did fairly well in her college prepped science classes in high school, she immediately made sure that she wasn't going to be a science major when she started university. Chemistry was her favorite and biology was a close second. Physics was her weakest and least favorite. However, Layla was fond of her literature classes the most and always did well in them.
With his bronze hands, her father shamelessly pressed his thumb into a thorn, his blood immediately flowing from his wound.
Viviana looked at her father with a horrified and disgusted expression. What and why on earth would anyone in their right mind do this?! Much less in front of their own 5-year-old child?! Child Protective Services, come and get her! Please!
The young girl felt a sharp pain in her thumb, mirroring her father's injuring. She ran her thumb over her pointer finger, feeling no physical wound. She cringed; she wasn't even the one who got injured but she felt that!
Vittorino laughed at his daughter's expression before finally removing his thumb from the thorn. Her turquoise eyes watched as his blood ran down the stem of the rose and dropped into the air. But as it collided with the dirt beneath them, the red liquid turned into a pale cyan light that bounced off of the ground and swirled. Suddenly, green buds sprouted from his blood and bloomed into hyacinths. They were white, pink, yellow, and violet.
As his remaining blood ran down the rose's stem and onto the dirt, white lilies shot out of the ground.
The child gasped at the sight. Although it was never stated whether or not Viviana had magical powers in «Chamber of Roses» like the capture targets and heroine, she was afraid of finding out.
"Y-your thumb!" She cried, unable to say anything else.
"It's healed, mimma." Her father happily replied, showing her his once impaled thumb, that had suddenly healed in a flash of light. "Your turn!"
She blinked furiously before turning away. 'As if! 'Your turn,' my ass! I don't wanna do it!'
"I'm not sure, papa..."
Viviana looked everywhere but at her father, her feet subtly scooting away from him.
"It's okay, I'll teach you how to heal yourself!"
The child internally cried as Vittorino handed the thorn rosy into her tiny hands. She looked at him with accusing eyes and gulped.
"All you have to do is put your mind into it. Just close your eyes and imagine your favorite flowers, mimma. And then after that, you just have to imagine that your wound isn't there! I promise it will only hurt for a little bit."
If Vittorino wasn't her father and if Viviana didn't make an oath to herself to be the most filial daughter and sister... She would have ran in the opposite direction by now.
"... If you say so..."
Viviana let out a sigh after a long silence and quickly ran the thorny stem across her palm. She winced from the stinging pain as tears formed in the corners of her eyes. As her tears and blood glided from her body and onto the ground, she shut her eyes.
Layla didn't really care for flowers and thus didn't have a favorite, despite working in a supermarket for entire teenage life. Layla was often switched between jobs at the supermarket; every six months her managers would put her in a new area of the store, thanks to the lack of experienced staff. She'd worked in the sushi area, making sushi; then she'd be put in the floral section, making floral arrangements; then she'd put in the front as a cashier; then she'd be put in the cafe and bakery, making drinks as a barista and helping the bakers; and when her managers finally made up their minds, they put her in the restaurant area as a waitress.
Viviana shut her eyes and thought of beautiful white and violet orchids, surrounded by a small pool of baby breaths and lilies of the valleys.
She hesitantly opened her eyes, her heart dropping to the contents of her stomach as she spotted the familiar light cyan light rising from her very own drops of crimson blood on the fertile dirt. Buds began to sprout from them and grew into exactly her imagination before her very self.
Viviana watched as the same pale cyan light shone upon her wound, as if it were her blood vanish into thin air, leaving her palm unblemished.
Chills ran up the girl's back, her peach fuzz on her skin stood from its follicles. Just what the hell happened? It was breathtaking enough from the demonstration her father gave her, but to actually try it yourself was a completely different vibe and experience.
It was... terrifying, yet she couldn't bear to stop watching. It scared her but at the same time intrigued her.
"In order to use magic, we have to exchange an equivalent with the Gods. That is why we, the Valentino dukedom, use our own blood in return of magic. Many families of nobility use this exchange, but it isn't the only way to do so, mimma."
His daughter nodded at his words, listening attentively. She pondered, remembering that Layla once watched something similar to this system once.
"Papa," Viviana started. "Then what is the difference between magic and alchemy?"
Memories flooded the child's brain. If she remembered correctly, wasn't Fullmetal Alchemist's alchemy system along the same lines as this? How intriguing...
"Alchemy..." Vittorino's enthusiastic face became sullen. "Alchemy is almost along the lines of dark and demonic magic. One must sacrifice a part of yourself; whether it be your memories, limbs, body, soul, or your very heart. I've even heard of people sacrificing their own flesh and blood as an exchange before."
Viviana cringed and shuddered at the last statement.
Well, Edward and Alphonse did lose their limbs and body to alchemy after all... Not to mention that one episode where that girl and her dog... Ugh!
Large hands caressed her cheeks and pulled her into a warm embrace.
Vittorino looked into his youngest's eyes with a solemn face, his eyes watering. The air became tense and worrisome. The pounding in Viviana's heart fastened and a wave of uneasiness and sadness overwhelmed her tiny body.
"Mimma, promise your papa that you'll only use magic. No alchemy, no dark and demonic magic."
"Of course, papa. I swear on my life, I will only use magic."
Layla had already seen enough of Fullmetal Alchemist and there was no way in this lifetime that Viviana would do something as stupid as going against her father's words.
"Good." He simply said, his bright smile returning. He rubbed her cheeks and blessed them with a thousand kisses and squeezed her in his embrace.
When it was time for lunch, he walked them back into the courtyard, the one where they both started this father-daughter date. He sat her down in one of the chairs and brushed her plum strands away from her face. Though their time together was a good one, he looked at her with sad eyes. Then he kneeled to her height, his brows furrowed. As if to hide away his expressions, he planted kisses on her eyes, her face in his large hands. He lay his head upon her's, his arms wrapping around her shoulders.
"I wish we could stay like this forever, mimma."
Viviana's heart plummeted towards the ground. What the hell is going on?! Is she dying or something?! What's going on? Should she be scared? Because she's pretty damned scared right now!
Oh, my god... Something was wrong after all! There was a reason her father took her out to see the plantations and showed her the family magic! She should have known!
Vittorino released her and looked at her with the same wet eyes for the hundredth time today.
"Mimma, I wish you weren't chosen to Consort Rose."
"What happens when you're Consort Rose, papa?"
'Spill the beans, father!' She yelled in her heart. 'I'm tired of waiting for the other shoe to drop!'
"When the crown prince chooses his Consort Rose, mimma, they are to be sent to live in the Rose Palace. They then receive training to be the crown princess. They can only return home for the holidays and weekends; but only if his majesty, the crown prince, allows them to."
Viviana gasped, her eyes widened. That petty prince! He had to have known this rule yet he still let this happen! He'd separate a child younger than him from her own family just to fulfill a petty dispute between the two of them?! How dare he?!
Viviana couldn't stop the hot streaming tears from her eyes as they wet her sun-kissed cheeks. She would have to leave her family and there was no way to stop it. Her family wasn't strong enough to stand against the imperial family despite their contributions to the economy, so there was no way the emperor would comply with their request.
Layla had seen enough of historical fiction to know that it was best for those who were chosen to marry into the royal family to be at a young age in order to be properly trained into aiding their spouse in politics. And Viviana was at the ripe age of five... Young, very young; in fact, the younger, the better. More room for training.
No wonder there was no news of the emperor and the empress stopping or attempting to stop their son.
"H-how much time do I have?" she hiccuped through her sobs. "To spend with everyone?"
Vittorino wiped away her tears with his thumbs. He could do nothing but watch as his youngest grieved, watch as the imperial family they lived to serve take her away.
"Three days," he replied and pressed his forehead against her's. "Three days, mimma."
His voice wavered at the last sentence and he couldn't do anything but grieve with his baby.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
GLOSSARY:
*(1) AP tests in the U.S are tests taken by students who are in AP classes in high school. They are college level classes and often have rigorous quizzes and homework. Students take the AP test in the spring (because school starts in the fall in the U.S) and the test is graded on a scale of 1 to 5. Getting a 3 is considered passing. Passing the AP test gives students free college credit and they don't have to take social study classes their freshman year of university because the college credit they received from the AP test.