A/N: The chapter ahead is raw, which means not been proofread yet nor edited.
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Celia made her presence known before the Empress. Standing before her is the greatest beauty the world has ever seen in the most beautiful wedding dress.
Empress Azarese placed her hand on her chest and heave light, deep breaths. In this very moment and day, Celia witnessed how she was revived back to life. The light in her eyes came back sparkling and glistening, the color of her pale skin look so healthy and rosy, and her aura is as comforting as it was once.
"I'm getting married to the love of my life. I-I'm so nervous. Celia, everything is perfect, right? I look pretty, right?"
Celia lowered her head as to hide her unsightly face. Her eyes are watering and she couldn't stop smiling.
"You are the truest beauty this world has ever seen, My Imperial Majesty. Yes, everything is perfect. His Imperial Majesty the Emperor is waiting for you,"
Empress Azarese composed herself, but she couldn't stop herself from giggling like a child that she is.
"H-He is? Then, I must go. We will be very happy. I will make him very happy. My Lord... He will be my husband today. I'm so happy. I'm so happy!"
Celia nodded and finally opened the doors of her royal chamber. She walked alone down the hallways, on her way to the throne room where the ceremony will be held, and where her very soon-to-be husband patiently waits.
Everything is perfect, because she planned everything about their wedding. From the decorations to the invitations, she left no detail unwritten. It's the bestest day of her life. The moment she's dreaming about, the moment she's been waiting for all her life. To be married to the man she's ever loved, to be spend the rest of her life with him through any circumstances, the man himself and the Emperor, Watts Nikola Xirquit that will soon carry her name.
She stood before the grand doors of the throne room with the sweetest and widest smile on her face. She's so giddy about getting married that her feet are happily dancing, tapping like an excited kid. But when the doors went open and she didn't see that details she's written on the plan, her heart fell as her smile faded.
There in the middle stood her husband to be who didn't even looked her way.
"W-What's the meaning of this? Where are the guests? Where are the decorations?" She said as she step inside, looking around her but she couldn't found a thing. Her throne wasn't even there. The place is empty. The only things inside were them.
"What's the meaning of this, Watts Xirquit!?" she screamed and threw her bouquet right to his face when she reached him.
The man she loves with all her heart gave her a dead and cold stare.
"It's by my order to have it all removed---"
"WHY!? It's our wedding! Everything---EVERYTHING IS PERFECT! Today is our special day! How could you---!? HOW DARE YOU RUIN MY WEDDING DAY!"
Her eyes flared blue but the Emperor was not fazed by the sight of it.
"You expect me to celebrate after you raped me in the same place? After everything you've done to me and to my family?"
The Empress, who's been screaming and throwing a fit, was taken aback and gazed at the Emperor with widening eyes.
There, her tears fell.
"But... It isn't right to ruin our wedding...?" she murmured with her breaking voice.
The fear it brought to her when he choked her was indescribable.
"You...are as insufferable as HIM. You're pathetic, you're a murderer, a kin slaughterer, a rapist---and you expect me to be happy!? You are the incarnation of evil, and I am the one damned because I did this to get back to you!? You ruined my life! OUR LIVES, ELYZENA!"
"I-I lo...ve... I-I love you, My Lord!" she cried out and he never felt so disgusted. He let her go by pushing her.
She met the floor. Her diamond tears were falling on her majestic wedding dress as she look up to him, horrified and hurt.
"I am only here to make you suffer. I'd rather sacrifice myself since I have nothing else to lose anymore because you took everything from me already. You killed my Mom. My Dad. My brothers and sister... Are you even pure? I think not. You're a WHORE!"
She slowly shook her head, "Y-You don't mean that. You will never say that to me. Lord Watts will never say that to me!" she cried out while throwing her hands in the air. Then she tweaked her hair, pulling it apart, ruining it and taking off her veil.
"Don't do anything. I will save this godforsaken empire from you. I won't let you destroy the Empire any further. If you don't want me to leave you, that is."
He shove his hand in his pocket and took out their simple gold wedding rings. He wore his and threw hers. The Empress gasped and immediately crawled to follow it and stopped its roll with her hands.
He closed his fists and looked away.
"Congratulations to us."
Empress Azarese sobbed, shaking in shame. She's once again getting drowned in sadness. She wore her wedding ring to her finger and kissed it.
"But I love you very much..."
She returned to her chambers in tears. Before Celia could ask, she locked her doors and lifelessly walked to her bed. She cried for hours until she was called for their wedding picture to be taken.
"Do it quick. I'm busy," he said, so cold.
Celia helped the Empress get to her seat. She wanted to do her makeup again but she refused, afraid to anger her husband. She tried her best to smile but she couldn't.
Just a shot. After that, he left. Celia showed the picture to her.
"P-Please, print it out. A copy for me."
When she got her hands on it, she left to go back to her chambers. She's stopped crying, but she feels heavy. After locking herself in, Hands put her diamond tears in one of the jars under her bed. Hands helped her change and climbed the bed. She lay down, embracing their wedding picture. Then she cried herself to sleep.
When the camera didn't capture any motion, it went to sleep mode.
~
For days, all the Empress has ever done is stalk the Emperor, tailing him wherever he goes in a distance, watching him from a far, and then go back to her chambers as soon as the day ends for the both of them, then the camera will record again once it sensed her motion.
The camera was crafted by King Liorei himself. An intelligent one imbued with magic. Sometimes, the King leaves the Empress alone. When he comes back, he watches how her day went through the camera. It turns invisible and follows the Empress around. Even when he's gone, his location remained unknown since, the Empress kept the camera by her side with the hopes of his return. Then he will see how her days went by. Then he will regret leaving her all alone. Then... Then he will know.
Emperor Watts had enough of her and turned around. She panicked and ran around, looking for a place to hide but couldn't, so she just faced the wall.
"I-I'm not here! I'm not following you at all!"
Emperor Watts rolled his eyes. His fists tightly closed. In here, he's wearing Wattroid.
"Will you please stop? It's annoying. It's dumb and stupid."
The Empress took a gulp, including the things he said down her throat.
She turned around to face him, scratching her nails.
"I'm... I'm sorry... But I want... I only want to see you, My Lord. Are we...not going to play? You never went to s-see me. And h-have you seen the frame of our wedding picture? I-I think it's very pretty! It's down the hall and---"
The Emperor found her growing excitement even more annoying and raised his hand to stop her from talking.
"No, we're not going to play. No, I don't want to see it. And no, I don't want to see you, too. So stop following me, stop stalking me---just stop."
She felt the weight of her heart in her chest. The first to look away was the Emperor and he was also the first to walk away, leaving his wife alone by herself once more.
"Please don't leave me...!" She muster the courage to speak, and it made the Emperor stop from his tracks.
He hesitated.
"Please. Just this once. Spend your time with me! Let's do anything---I just want to be with you! Please, Lord Watts! Once a week, I'll take it! Please, at least a day with me. I beg you! I love you truly!"
He shook his head. With little steps, she tried to close the distance between them.
"Don't. It's unbearable to even look at you, Princess."
And him leaving is beginning to be the only thing she could see whenever she will think of him.
With her broken heart, she went back to her chambers to cry herself to sleep.
.
.
.
Hard-headed that she is, Empress Azarese stalked the Emperor once again. There's so much distance between them yet she could still see him so clear and so near because of her super sense.
"Lord Watts is so handsome, don't you think, Hands?" she whispered while smiling. Hands gave her eight thumbs up before giving her hearts. If there's another that could see her, they will think that she's crazy for talking to herself.
Her smiles faded when she saw his rendezvous with a maid she's never seen before. And he looked so happy; he got an expression of relief on his face. His hands were wrapped around the maid's, shaking it. There was a letter and he got it.
A traitor, he is. And a cheater.
She pressed her back against the tree, gaze is far as the wind tease her eyes to well. He's a man of integrity, but she should've known that he's still a man with a cursed wife.
That's why when the Emperor returned to his office that have become his bedroom as well, the first thing he found was the maid's preserved head on his table. Her blood spilling all over, dripping down to where the chopped parts of her preserved body were scattered on the floor.
"AZARESE ELYZENA!!"
The Empress jolted from the surprise it brought her. Even Celia who's serving her tea jumped. The tea spilled on the table.
Her chambers opened and a knight was behind it to rely a message from the Emperor that he wants to meet her. But she didn't feel happy about the summon even though it's been what she's waiting for all along. Instead, she feel afraid.
"What for?" She tried sounding strong but Celia knew that she wavered.
The knight looked away and gulped. He couldn't say anything because the Emperor ordered for the Empress to be brought to him at once. His reason was not stated, but he saw it.
The knight forbade Celia from coming inside. The Empress went inside alone, scratching her palms, walking carefully and scanning the whole room. She gasped when her husband, with heavy and large steps, leaps to her and gave her the hardest slap she ever had.
The shock ran throughout her body. She was frozen on the floor, numbed by it. The disbelief in her eyes as they widen at him make her seem like a victim rather than a suspect for murder.
"W-Why...? How could Y-You...?"
"How could I!? HOW COULD I!?"
When he raised his hand as if he will hit her again, the Empress flinched and covered herself with her arms.
The Emperor instead hit the air and marched away. His hands are on his waist as he try to calm himself by breathing. Empress Azarese slowly dropped her hand and stand up. She found the head on the table. It's still there the way she left it.
"Is it because of that?"
Something in him snapped.
"'That'?"
She stepped back when he turned around.
"Why did you do it? Why did you kill her?"
She blinked for many times, stuttering and shaking, "I---I saw you! You were cheating on me with her! You smiled and---"
Her breathing hitched; her personality twisted. Her gaze sharpened, furious.
"Don't play dumb. You know what you're doing. You know what you've done. You cheated on me! You're a fucking CHEATER---"
"MY PERSON!"
It wasn't him but his outburst that controlled his hands. Empress Azarese gasped and held on his arms as his fingers wrapped around her neck strongly, squeezing her breathlessly.
"She's one of my people, Elyzena! She's not one of yours! She belonged to my house! I am not you. I have the dignity and integrity of a Xirquit. I bear the loyalty of my father to my mother, but NOT TO YOU. I am unhappy with this marriage but I won't use that as an excuse to cheat on you even though it's much what you deserved. You're a fucking psychopath who kills people for fun. What made you think that I will bed you? You ruined my life. My blood ends with ME. You will bear no son of mine! You will never!"
"Y-You said...that you will n-never h-hurt me..."
Emperor Watts was dumbfounded.
And it only made him angrier. He let her go, throwing her against the doors. He wants her out of his sight. He wants to be alone.
He palmed his face and heaved a one deep breath to clear his mind and compose himself.
He did say it, though. He did promised her that.
"I was a fool. I should've listened to my Mom," his head turns to his side and looked at her, "I regret meeting you that day."
Empress Azarese's eyes widened. Her heart squeezed her tears out of her eyes as he gaze at him with disbelief. She was confused, she was hurt---she wished that she was deaf so that she will never get to hear him say those words to her.
"I-I'm... I'm sorry... My Lord, please. I'm sorry. I-I was only jealous! I was jealous! I-I'm sorry---You never went to see me!" She went on her knees and crawled to him.
The Emperor stepped back when she hugged his legs as she beg.
"Please! I'm sorry! Please, forgive me! I'm sorry! I missed you so much! Please, don't be mad at me. I just... I can't do it! I want to see you! I want to hold you! I want your babies, too! I will be good now! I will be good again so please, please... Please don't leave me again. Please, I love you."
"Get off of me."
"NO! NO! Please, please! Forgive me! I only did that to her because I was jealous! YOU SMILED! How could you smile to a maid but not to your own wife!? Your wife is the Empress! You're carrying my name, but you won't even look at me! Why!? I only want to love you! You don't need anyone! You only need me! You only need my love!"
He went down and reached for her arms, forcefully loosening her hug on him. It was tough because she's so strong and won't let go no matter how much effort he exert.
"I SAID LET ME GO! I DON'T WANT A MURDERED ON ME!"
He should've known that words are the only thing that will overpower and weaken her.
"O-Oh... But... But I love you...?"
He pulled her wrist up, taking her. She see it in his eyes. He's not looking at her with so much care anymore but hatred.
"I.DON'T NEED.YOUR.LOVE."
And he pushes her to send her out, but the Empress fought back.
"No! Lord Watts! I want to be with you! I love you! I love you so much! Please, I won't bother you! I will only watch you! I won't do anything! Please! LORD WATTS! LORD WATTS---"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP AND GET OUT!"
The knights and himself couldn't believe it when he ruthlessly threw the Empress outside. She crashed against the wall. The impact was strong and she coughed up blood. But then she went back to him as if the pain didn't matter, on her knees, crying uncontrollably before him as she beg for his affection.
"My Lord... I love you. I love you. I love you, I love you, I LOVE YOU! D-Did it feel good? Hurt me! I-I heal very quickly, so it won't matter! I---I don't mind! I-If that's the only way I can spend time with you... I don't care if you're hurting me at all! Please? Please, I need you. I'm... I've been waiting for you."
She put her hands together, rubbing her palms as she bow down until her forehead reaches the floor.
"Please, Lord Watts. I need you. I'm so sad---" But the loud sound of the doors slamming close came next. When she lifted her head, he's gone.
"I'm so dumb. So dumb! Dummy! Bitch! I'm a bitch!" She hit her head and it instantly blew up. But she healed in a split second. It didn't even let her feel the pain of it.
The knight went away when she stand up. She looked at them and they all looked away.
"Always looking away, eh? Never looking my way."
Suddenly, she felt an excruciating cramp in her stomach. She walked back to her chambers in tears and and blood, with the bits of her brains sitting on her shoulders. Her blood stained her dress and when Celia found her in such sight, she kicked her out and yelled at her.
Hands closed the doors. She went on until she made it to her bed.
"Daddy Liorei, my tummy hurts so much... It hurts so much. My tummy hurts, Daddy Liorei..." she cried as she lift the blanket up and laid down on the bed. Hands gathered all her pillows and human-sized stuff toys to her sides.
"Please, come back... Daddy Liorei... My tummy hurts. I'm so sad. I'm so sad, Daddy Liorei. Please. Come back home quick. Everyone... Everyone is so mean to me."
Hands pet her head. They were panicking. They don't know what to offer to her to make her feel better.