A/N: The chapter ahead is raw, which means not been proofread yet nor edited.1
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TIMELINE: 8 months ago, Heart Palace
Izylidas barged his way inside Sun's room who's getting dolled up by the maids. He's not dressed yet but he's already taken a bath. He will change later. For now, he want to see his doll.
"Leave us alone," Sun commanded when she saw him from the mirror.
The servants bowed their heads before they leave.
"What is it this time? I'm not yet dressed,"
She's still in her lace robe. The maids are doing her hair and makeup first before dressing her up.
"Why, I'm excited," he said with his signature grin. So devilish like he's always about to do something that would ruin everything.
He walked to her and stopped behind her. He bent over to smell her hair.
"Are you not?"
The stoic Sun let his hands roam. He pulled the strings of her robe and gently undressed her. He looked at her in the mirror, showing her the body she shouldn't be hiding. He even chuckled.
"Imagine the look on their faces once we drop the bomb. What would your father do? Will he kill me, or do nothing because you're not his daughter anymore?"
She slapped the hand that's squeezing her breast away.
"Don't get me started and watch your mouth. I am the Third Lady of Heart."
"Oh, I'm sorry, baby doll. How could I upset you, it's our big day!" He kissed her neck then opened his mouth to give her a hickey.
"Don't be so cold. This is to keep our lineage pure. I'm just continuing our culture," he looked at her through the mirror again, "Auntie," he continued with a playful grin.
When he failed to squeeze an emotion from her, it pissed him off.
He pulled her head back by grabbing her hair, "Are you a fucking statue now? You used to be so smiley and fake. Now's your best chance to use it. I helped you and I'm doing you a favor. You don't want to go through that hell again, do you?"
Sun's lips trembled as she force herself to smile. Izylidas slammed her face against the table and lifted her hips up to bend her over.
"You're really just a doll."
***
It was supposed to be one of the grandest days in a whole year, but none of the people in Warlock Empire is feeling it. Today marks the Empress's diamond anniversary since her ascension to the throne. The tried to make the day lively, but nothing works. The Empress was forced to show herself before the people. None of them cheered when they saw her from the balcony. The Empress has become thinner and the stress she accumulated became visible through the heavy and dark circles under her eyes that no makeup can conceal. The King stands beside her with a huge distance between them, unlike before that he's so close that their skin always get in contact.
The band played and it's the only thing that makes some noise.
It's just so...gloomy.
After the parade, they went back inside the Heart Palace to continue their celebration. They can't look at each other's eyes. It's not the same anymore. The love isn't there, the joy and delight, all the fun they had as a family is gone. Ever since that day. Ever since that day...
"Her Imperial Princess, Sun, is entering," the knights announced and opened the doors.
Their eyes squinted when they saw her walk down the aisle with Izylidas. Though they heard about how they suddenly got 'close', they didn't expect them to be this 'close'. It never happened before. Izylidas never liked her to begin with. What changed?
Izylidas left Sun before her mother. They're staring at each other until the Empress was the first to look away when her head ached.
"I see that the Empress is visibly not well. Don't you think it's time to name me the Crown Princess?"
Solemn gasps filled the room. No, Grand Duke Breuce is not with them. He rather sit still in his estate in Voxwein as their family crumble down than waste his time traveling all the way here from there when they're not even welcomed to be there.
"What are you saying, Princess?" The Empress mutter softly. Her head maid attended to her to give her her medicine.
"I am saying, make me the Crown Princess."
"Princess, this is not the right time for that," the King stepped in.
"And when is? Is killing Moon not enough to tell Breuce the lengths we can go if they dare to step on my way?"
The King's eyes widened. Then again, that nightmare haunted him while wide awake.
"Don't bring her up anymore," Prince Izaac mutter who's as exhausted as his mother.
"Then make me the Crown Princess right now. I am claiming my right. Eowyne and that stupid Aeverie are just artificial Princesses. I am a true Warlock Lady by blood and flesh. Or do you doubt my legitimacy now, that's why you're stalling?"
The King turned his back on her and walked back to his post beside the Empress.
Empress Siofra held her head and looked at her daughter with tired eyes.
"Do you really want to?"
"Mom," the Princes called in the tone of objection.
"Yes. I've been waiting all my life for this moment. I worked the hardest among the rest to deserve that title and crown. Don't tell me I don't. You are witnesses of my hardwork."
The Empress closed her eyes. She's not thinking about it. It's only making her headache worse. So, she'll just give what her daughter is asking her to.
The Empress gave her head maid a gesture to go and get the Crown Princess of Heart's crown.
"Mom, don't be hasty. Azarese, now's not the time," Prince Izaac stand up and walked to her side. Sun gave him a straight and cold stare.
"Are you preventing me from ascending, brother? Why? Because you're doubting me?"
Prince Izaac was caught off guard.
"I am not doubting you. I'm just saying that things are happening so fast. This is not the perfect time to crown you the Crown Princess."
Sun scoffed and faked a smile. Prince Izaac held a step back when he realized, "You've changed."
It flipped Sun's switch.
"Changed? I changed? No. No, brother. You! ALL OF YOU! You're the one who changed!"
She angrily faced and pointed at everyone.
"None of you went to help me. You think I've forgotten what you did to me!? When that stupid kid cursed me, what did you do? YOU WATCHED! YOU LEFT ME SUFFERING ALONE!"
"My Holy!" Empress Siofra exclaimed, "That is not true! Our healers did their best to lift his curse. You know that. We didn't leave you. We were waiting for you---"
"SHUT UP, MOM!" Sun screamed and unleashed a huge wave of water around her.
"STOP IT, AZARESE!"
Prince Izaac cast his hand aside, putting the waters away. The guests are wet. Everything is dripping wet.
Sun lost the last ounce of sanity she's saving up and screamed at the top of her lungs as her plain crystal tears fall.
"I DID EVERYTHING! Everything! And what do I get in return!? YOUR DOUBTS! You doubted my legitimacy! I've been with you since I was born! It was even proven that I am, but how could you still doubt me!? MOM, DAD!? None of you came to see me! You could've ordered the Aunties and Uncles to search for a cure---BUT YOU DIDN'T! It was HELL! HELL, MOM! I was dying! I couldn't breathe---I COULDN'T FUCKING BREATHE! Gasping for air hurts so much! It hurts so much but you did nothing! You didn't do anything at all!"
Empress Siofra was left dumbfounded and distraught by her daughter's outburst.
Sun tweaked her hair and shook her head.
"None of those stupid healers helped. They only made my suffering worse. I wished I was dead! I wished I died! It's so unbearable! But do you know what broke me most!? THE FAMILY I LOVE ABANDONED ME!"
Everyone looked away in guilt.
"Dad, Dad I thought you're my ally? Why? Why did you leave me there? W-Why...? I was waiting for you? DAD! FUCK! SAME SOMETHING! ALL OF YOU, SAY SOMETHING TO ME! I AM HOLY AZARESE! I AM SUN! I AM YOUR DAUGHTER, DAD! LOOK AT ME!"
Sun ran to the King and punched his armors.
"Look at me, Dad, please! Tell me you believe me! TELL ME YOU BELIEVE ME, DAD! TELL ME I AZARESE! SAY IT! WHY!? I LOVE YOU!"
King LIFE looked up to gather enough strength and stopped Sun's punches by grabbing her wrists.
"Stop..."
"NO! TELL ME WHY! WHY YOU NEVER COME TO SEE ME!? Are you haunted by her memories!? Did their claims made you falter!? Why do you hesitate? I can see, Dad! Do you think Uncle Liorei is telling the truth now!? Are you thinking that I am nothing but an IMPOSTER!?"
King LIFE's eyes dilated.
Sun's tearful eyes searched for the same affection in his eyes, only to see his depression and darkness in them. Then she decided to look at her mother and they have the same look in their eyes.
A laugh broke out from her throat. It was broken at first, then it continued so that it sounded like insanity. Sun tweaked her hair as her mad eyes glare at her parents.
"You're thinking Moon is the real one. You don't believe me anymore. HAHAHAHA! YOU THINK THAT I'M AN IMPOSTER!"
Empress Siofra muster up her strength and stand up.
"My Holy, that's not true. Everything that has happened... It exhausted me. I am sorry. Please... Please understand... My Holy, I will never, ever abandon you. See? I will make you the Crown Princess now. That's how much I love you. I will do anything to make you happy, My Holy."
Sun laughed out loud right on her mother's face.
"Love me!? But you abandoned me!? ALONE!? I was dying, Mom! DYING! What if I died back then, hmm? What would you? What can your weak constitution do!? Bring me back to life!? YOU'RE FUCKING WEAK NOW, MOM! You can't do anything anymore! I wished it happen to you, too, so you will know how it feels like to die---"
The slap she received from the Empress silenced her. She wasn't weak at all as she expected she is. The slap was strong that she felt dizzy.
The Empress was late to realize what she had done. And when she tried to make amends, Sun stepped back and slapped her hand away from her.
"Don't touch me. It's clear that you're believing that I'm the imposter now. You want to become a villain? Then I'll be a villain. I HATE YOU. I HATE DAD. I HATE MY BROTHERS. I HATE EVERYONE AND I HOPE ALL OF YOU DIE SOON! I sacrificed my whole life for this family! I did everything to please you! I hoarded achievements for myself! I studied politics to become a great Empress like you! I always do charity not just to gain those stupid people's favor but to make them know that I! I WILL BE THEIR EMPRESS! I spent my whole life doing things to make you proud! WHOLE LIFE! Only for it to crumble down right after we lost the only thorn in our path? That's just so fucking frustrating, Mom. And stupid. And cowardly. LIKE YOU."
The Empress's eyes cried because of the things she received from the child she loves the most. She didn't mean to hurt her. There was just a misunderstanding between them. But it did made her falter.
When they lost Moon, the world gave them a sign. The Oracle Tree withered and they don't know what comes next after that. Izaac may have patched up the hole that suddenly happened on the barriers of the Forsaken Continent, but they will never know if that will truly last long.
And she loathe herself for faltering. Her faith in her daughter wavered. How could she? She's her mother, and she knows that Sun is hers.
The head maid returned with the Crown Princess's crown on a red cushion. Sun snatched it from the head maid and wore it.
"Declare me your successor NOW."
Empress Siofra closed her eyes.
"DECLARE ME, YOUR IMPERIAL MAJESTY!"
So, she said the frozen words with tears streaming down her face; her tears turn into diamonds. Sun could only wish she could, too.
"---I declare you the Crown Princess, the future mother of our great Empire," the Empress sealed with a heavy heart.
And during the climax of tonight's event, Izylidas's claps filled the whole room.
"Congratulations to my beautiful fiancée. I couldn't be prouder,"
As the Prince's words hung in the air, a stunned silence descended upon the room, freezing everyone in place. Faces contorted in disbelief, mouths agape, and eyes widened to impossible proportions. Some clasped their hands over their mouths, trying to stifle their gasps, while others simply stared, uncomprehending.
Oh how they hope to wake from this bizarre and unsettling dream, while others exchanged bewildered glances, seeking confirmation that they had heard correctly.
The sheer audacity of the announcement left them reeling, struggling to process the improbable twist of fate. It was a moment frozen in time, never to be forgotten.
There Sun stood in her place, her head held up high.
She's the Crown Princess now.
"What...did you say? Fiancée...? Who?" The King slowly dropped his gaze to his daughter. Just when he finally had the courage to look her straight in the eyes, that's when she returned the same coldness he had given her.
Prince Izylidas stood beside Sun and pulled her by the waist against himself, smelling her hair.
"I was there, Grandpa. Or should I say, "Dad"? I'm the hero who lifted her curse. I'm the one who saved her, and I'm the one who stepped up when everyone decided to abandon and forget her. Gotta keep the line pure. Isn't that right, baby doll? Tell them our love story. They are very, very curious---"
"YOU FUCKING SON OF A BIT---"
Izylidas punched the King first before he could do to him, and before he could finish his words.
"Mind your tongue, Dad. Let's not bring our mother here. We all know what yours did to Liorei when he was younger. An evil stepmother she once, was she not?"
"IZYLIDAS!"
Princess Aurora collapsed and clutched her chest to breathe.
The Prince looked back at his fuming father who couldn't find the right reaction to put on his face.
Sun turned around.
"Let's go. We don't owe them anything. Knights, if any of them dare to bother me or my fiancé, kill them. This is the order of the Crown Princess, the future Empress. And if my mother used her power and authority to null my order, kill her too."
How outrageous!
"SUN! TAKE THAT BACK!"
But Sun solidified her resolve and began to walk away with fire in her eyes.
Watts Xirquit. His family. Skadi Eira. Gerson Liorei and his daughter. Her family. And her knight.
They will regret ruining everything.