"Lady Ray, we demand to know what is going on? First, the court gets disturbed by Master Nark, then the emperor leaves us all in a hurry" an official asked in the next day's court.
Lady Ray cursed the day she thought of joining the royal council as the head of her clan.
There were a lot of benefits to her post and she also knew that a lot of people would kill to be in her place. But that did not mean that she liked moments like these. The job was not nearly as easy as the rest of her family made it out to be.
"The emperor left like that and then he came back with that abomination of a beta. Is that thing safe? It was the assassin from the festival as well" Lady Ray wanted to hit the councilwoman in front of her or use a really powerful spell to make her forget.
"Lady Ray", "Lady Ray", "Lady Ray" a lot of voices joined in the chant one after another which gave Ray a reasonable headache.
She liked her name, she did. Ray was something her mother had left behind for her as she had perished due to her illness.
A lot of Ray's loved ones had fallen victim that year and that had solidified Ray's desire to find a cure for that illness.
That was also why Rya tended to turn her eyes around when she saw the nobility being snobbish and trying to achieve something above their stand.
Most of them were sick and destined to die soon. Maria did not want to shorten their time with their loved ones by punishing them excessively. But maybe she had been a little too lenient in recent years.
She had allowed the court to descend into this madness.
"Everyone, quiet down. The only person who can give you an explanation for this situation is the emperor himself. Our emperor found the assassin amusing and decided to spare him. If you want anything else, you'll need to ask the emperor" that shut all the complaints down.
As much as everyone burned to know what happened behind the closed doors and why such a potent smell had spread all around, no one wanted to cross the emperor.
"She's such a bitch. Why does the emperor like her so much? Aren't I much prettier than her? I heard her mate refused her and no one refused their mate" Lady Ray felt like snapping as more and more people started gossiping about her.
They had no right to talk about her or her fiancé. What did they even know?
"You all-" Lady Ray's voice shook and her head turned around to give the whole setting a look.
They all looked amused as if waiting for her to finally snap and give them a reason to have her dragged out of her position. It was a dangerous balance Ray was threading.
"L-Lady Nova, the emperor is calling for you. H-He and his g-guest need you" instantly, all envious eyes turned to jealousy as Ray was whisked away.
In reality, the ones being left behind were the lucky ones. They had nothing to worry about and could enjoy life as they pleased while Ray had to prepare herself to handle whatever bullshit her emperor was about to feed her with.
Surprisingly, the corridor leading to the royal chambers no longer stank with a possessive and dangerous smell. Instead, it had been replaced by a calm and sated smell which she recognized as their emperor.
Lady Ray carefully entered the zone her emperor had marked as his and made sure that none of her smell leaked out. Her magic was a big help in that regard and it finally allowed her to reach the room.
Lady Rau hesitated only a second before she pushed the door open. Her body tensed, likely expecting an attack but it did not come.
Instead, her eyes met a pair of golden ones Ray had seen a long time ago.
Fear coursed through her body as her mind reminded her of the last time she had seen those golden eyes.
It had been when the royal force had gone to retrieve the emperor from the earth and had found him alone in that park.
The alpha emperor had been turned into a kid and his eyes had shown with unfamiliarity. The kid had not recognized them and had taken to attacking them instead.
It had been a clash of magic and power. Their emperor had held back due to his body's needs. He had sent a lot of soldiers to the medical wing that day but had ultimately tied himself out.
The first breakout had been a thing out of a nightmare as well and the emperor had taken out anyone and anything in his path. There had been no mercy, nor any fondness for the nation the alpha had carved out of his hand.
It was as if he had been an entirely different person at that moment.
They had only managed to contain his magic with a stroke of luck. The emperor had fallen victim to the cursed illness and it had caused him to finally slow down.
Unlike a normal person, the illness had not killed their emperor but had just left him incapable of moving around for a long time. By the time he had recovered, the emperor had been his original self again and the incident had been forgotten.
But Lady Rya had never forgotten those golden eyes.
"You can come inside. I won't attack you as long as you stay away from Su. I'm not that much of a beast after all" the emperor, no, the creature with the golden eyes said. However, his eyes did not move away from Ray's form the whole time.
Their stare only broke one the knocking on the door was heard.
"Your highness, I heard that you called" Lord Nark entered the room with bowed eyes. The kid tried not to show his nervousness and fear but it was thought for his small body to do.
"A kid? Really? Did that monkey die or something?" The said kid flinched at the comment and finally raised his eyes with a determined expression. The words in defense of his grandfather were on the tip of his tongue before they stopped in his throat.
The golden stare was aimed at the kid now.
"Y-you? You're the emperor's essence! His magic itself! But grandfather said that you disappeared centuries ago. Even the emperor lost sight of you" the kid replied and it finally clicked in Lady Ray's mind.
The source of magic for their race had been the emperor but they had never questioned where the emperor got his magic from. Apparently, the answer was staring Lady Ray straight in the face now.
"Not quite but it's close enough. However, that is not why we are here currently. I called you here to ask something from you before my other self wakes up" for someone asking a favor, the emperor was far from polite.
However, all three of them knew that there was no way to refuse the emperor anything.
"We will do everything in our power to see your request done" Master Nark bowed his head in agreement to the task being given to him. Lady Ray followed him only a second later.
She did not have to say anything. It was clear that they would do anything and everything being asked of them.
"Good. It's simple really. I want you, Master Nark, to be Su's teacher and guard. He's essential for all of us but I cannot reveal why that is so" Master Nark looked relieved at the task.
To be asked a favour here was to be forgiven. And for someone magically inclined as Master Nark, getting a pardon from the emperor's magic was much bigger than getting it from the emperor himself.
"Lady Nark, I need you to look into some texts for me. I want to recheck some things but my memory is not as sharp as it used to be. I'll draw you a list pretty soon. I'll also handle the court before my other self wakes up" the creature replied and Lady Ray felt half her burden go away.
'Why can't he always be here? He's so capable' As soon as the thought came, Lady Ray crushed it beneath her foot. This creature came with its own set of problems.
"Now go and inform the court that I'll be there in an hour" with those words, they both knew that they were being dismissed. They decided not to overstay their welcome and leave the room.
Lady Ray took one last look behind her and felt something in her hurt at the tender look the emperor aimed at the omega. Once upon a time, even she had someone she could look at like that. But the fates had been cruel and had taken her beloved away from her.
Lady Ray was dealt a doomed fate but she hoped that the emperor was not. He deserved more.
So much more.