A/N: The chapter ahead is raw, which means not been proofread yet nor edited.
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Azarese slide her hands on the table as she walk around it. Her stares were fixated on Watts who's preparing the place for the meeting that will be held in the same room they used before in his office.
"You're an idiot. Do you admit?"
He stopped from pretending that he's organizing the files when in fact, it already is. He only removed them from the drawer to have something to do, to keep him entertained, to ignore her presence.
Azarese brought the stick with her and pressed it against his neck.
"What were you thinking? Making me drink your blood before him?"
And there, he collapsed to her grace, on his knees.
"A-Are you going to abandon him? What will happen to me? The Ki'zaar, he's better than I am. A dragon, a ruler with a kingdom. Please, Princess. Don't leave me."
She was shocked at first. He's grabbing on her tight like a child afraid to be left behind by his parents that were going on an outing. His tears are pouring continously and his eyes looked so afraid.
She cackled and gave him a twisted grimace, "Fuck? What is there to cry about? We're you threatened?"
He nodded fast.
She cackled again and ran her fingers through her hair.
"I'm gonna marry him. My son deserves a complete family."
She saw it in his eyes: his heart shattering into pieces.
"B-But... We have Zoddy...?" He whispered with his cracking voice. His body convulsed as he shed more tears. He's not blinking. He's only looking at her.
"I have no need for a man with a low self-esteem and self-confidence. I will marry great men and only great men can stand on my side. You're MY husbands. I am NOT YOUR wife. I will not be known as somebody's wife. I'm gonna be known because I married chose great men. And you, you know it from the start. So, what are those tears for?"
She cupped his jaw and pulled it up.
"You will be one of my husbands one way or another. And you will coexist. You, the Ki'zaar, Ohms Xirquit, and Ambrose. I'm gonna wear you like you're badges of honor in a sash across my body. I have standards. High standards. And you're starting to lose your place in my collection. I like it when you're submissive. But don't get too emotional. It's annoying. You are just one of my men, Watts Nikola Xirquit."
"I know. I know, and I accepted it already with my whole heart. But I'm scared. Elyzena, I still get scared. T-That what if you only choose one? The Ki'zaar is on the top. Achievements, honor and glory, a living son, background and history. He's the most perfect candidate for you. I'm just a human. I'm sorry for being just a human."
Azarese couldn't help but smirk as she cup his face tighter. He closed his eyes and held onto her wrist with both hands, gliding them gently as if he's seeking for a saint's grace.
"You're my type of pathetic."
Her hand traveled down to his neck. She pulled him up and kissed him. He opened his mouth for her, struggling as he's running out of breath and sobbing.
Lord Feryzen opened the door, laughing as he's occupied with the conversation he's having with the Prinsiaze. But when the Prinsiaze saw his mother, his smile faded. Prince Valor immediately covered his eyes.
Their arrival annoyed her.
"F-Forgive us, Mi'zaar. We---"
Lord Feryzen looked down, flushed in dread. He doesn't know what to feel at the moment. He caught their Mi'zaar kissing another man! An infidelity!
"Tsk." She let him go, "Fix yourself."
Azarese pulled herself a chair and placed her legs on the table. She signaled the others to come in. Prince Valor is still covering the Prinsiaze's eyes.
"It's traumatizing," he told her. Lord Feryzen pulled the chair for the Prinsiaze. Priedo the Archmage put another layer of cushion on it for their Prince's comfort.
"It's okay, Uncle. I'm fine! I'm just surprised!" The Prince smiled and pulled his Uncle's hands down. He saw his mother first who's sitting across him. She smiled at him.
King Liorei entered the room, followed by Franchetti Xerene, Voltage Xirquit, and Paris Kean. Skadi Eira came last with Solana, as tiny as a fairy. She's sitting on her mother's shoulder, playing with her tiny toys.
"Hi, Solana! You're tiny, like a fairy!" The Prince greeted and waved his hand to her.
Solana beamed a smile to him and waved back, "Prince! Hihi, I am a fairy!"
She dropped her toys and flew to the Prince. She showed him her wings, "My new wings! Pretty, right?"
Prince Valerian nodded and pet her head with a finger, "Hmm! Pretty like you."
Azarese's face crumpled from the sight of their children flirting.
"My son, what part of her is pretty?"
Both looked at her. Solana flew back to her mother, frightened.
"Mommy, don't scare her. We're good friends!" Then he smiled at her, "Right, Solana?"
Lord Feryzen is so pleased, "Hohoho, not bad, not bad. Prinsiaze, she will make a good Mi'zaar! His Equal's daughter, in addition to our descent!"
Azarese pulled a random sword put of her vault and threw it to the Lord. Lord Feryzen raised his pointing finger. A red star met the sword and it melted from the tip to the handle.
"Don't you dare say that shit again. She's the ugliest bitch I've ever seen."
"Maybe because you haven't looked into a mirror lately. I don't make ugly creations," Skadi Eira dawdled with her eyes rolling.
"My daughter won't settle for a lesser being like your son," she added.
Prince Valerian chuckled, "I think Kuya Zoddy will be a good pair for Solana. I'm sure he will agree! Solana is beautiful like Kuya Zoddy!"
Watts Xirquit grabbed Azarese by her arms when she almost jumped on the poor girl to destroy her.
"Calm down, Princess! The Prince... The Prince is just joking!"
But Prince Valerian only chuckled.
Silence befell on them when King Liorei sat beside Skadi Eira. Azarese did not look at him, but she saw them in her peripheral vision, that it made her snicker. She scratched her forehead.
Wattroid came with a food trolley. He gave each person a dessert paired with tea or coffee or whatever they preferred. Lord Feryzen sipped his tea while squinting his eyes on the King and His Equal. The tension between them is very something. They're so close, close enough for their shoulders to touch and brush against each other. The other figures are sitting close to each other too, but there's a gap between their seats.
"You did something to Solana," the King said to His Equal in a low voice. He's acting normal but everyone heard what he said. They're just trying to ignore them.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she feigned ignorance and ate her cake. Solana flew lower until she's standing beside the cake. She bite on it.
"She never looked our way. Lorreign did not sleep a wink thinking about you two. Lorreign's sororal love for Solana is true, so what did you do?" This time, the irritation in the King's voice is evident. His gaze became sharp and his presence became intimidating.
Skadi Eira chuckled softly, "Well, I learned something about your...promiscuous daughter. I don't want my daughter close to something like her anymore. Like father, like daughter---"
King Liorei slammed his hand against the table. The plates jumped, the liquid inside the cups spilled. Azarese smirked.
"Don't---!"
Lord Feryzen faked a cough, "I advise you to part yourself from His Equal. She is not on your level. She is a supreme divine being and I will not overlook your impudence towards her, King Liorei. Or you can walk out of this council. The door is still open."
Azarese chuckled.
"Don't bully him. That's Daro's favorite son. The Godfather will be upset if he learned that you're insulting the Prince of Sinister Phantom. That's not good. He might cry and call for his mommy."
King Liorei's fists clenched. He's humiliated, but that's not what he's mad about. The daughter he loved is the one humiliating him because he failed her. It's just right that he take the blame, he deserved it. But it's infuriating that he wanted to fix them so bad but she's too blinded by rage that she won't even invite him even as a guest.
"I promised to return."
Azarese's mischievous smirks weakened.
"You don't know anything. Not even everything. It's true that I left. But did you not think that it might be the last thing I would do for your father!? That one expedition, the last time he'd do it. That once I return, it'd be the last time you'll ever see that place and those faces? A foul play happened before and you didn't look into that! I! Your father, you are my daughter! I love you and you know that!"
She massaged her nape from the yapping he's done.
"Please, spare me with those words of wisdom. Fuck, did that changed a thing? You lost to him once and you lost to him again? Son of the great Daro, submitted to his mentally-fucked descendant? Don't bullshit me, Liorei. You wouldn't have done the same if it was Lorreign in my shoes. Your precious Lorreign, bitch from your own balls and blood. I, a daughter that was never yours. Why would you do such sacrifice?"
She took a sip and smiled when she didn't get a rebuttal, "Thought so."
"You're still his daughter! There must be an agreement between us before, Azarese!"
When King Liorei began taking the steps to get to her, Eins and Zwei stabbed him without a second thought and pushed him back.
She left the table and pulled another sword from her vault. She faced King Liorei and buried the sword right in his heart and through. She did it slowly while looking straight into his eyes to see what emotions will play in them.
"The Liorei I knew is dead. So, don't try taking his place. What I feel for you is the hatred I bear for him when he left me. You are NOT enough and WILL NEVER BE enough. I hate you so much that it's making me sick. I killed him once and I'll do it again this time. So, sit back and watch me destroy them. Then you, then Daro. I will be the last Dragunovv and Warlock standing. But this I promise you,"
King Liorei coughed up blood when she pushed the sword to the end.
"---This time, you will die with the woman you loved the most. With Aloisia, embracing in the same grave I dug for the both of you."
Eins pushed King Liorei and he fell to the ground. Azarese scoffed and stayed on the same place for a moment to enjoy the view of the King as he bleed. Nobody dared to move. When she returned her sword back to her vault, Wattroid rushed to help King Liorei at the same time she turned her back on him to return to her seat. Her eyes were on Prince Valor as she walk, as if she's telling him something.
The door suddenly opened and it unveiled Ohms Xirquit behind it. His cheeks were red and he's on his pajamas.
"S-Son..." Franchetti Xerene panicked and went to him. He's still hot when she touched him.
"What's going on---" He was rather surprised when he saw King Liorei in the floor. Franchetti Xerene panned his face to her view.
"Nothing. You're still sick. Go to your brother's room and rest."
"Why are they here, too? What's going on? You're leaving me behind?"
Lord Feryzen gave his former student a smile and waved his hand at him. Ohms Xirquit scrunched his nose, disturbed.
"Long story short, we are Prinsiaze Valerian's blood relatives. We were sent here to find him and his mother, to bring them to our Ki'zaar, his father, my nephew. Valor is my nephew, too, younger brother of the Prinsiaze's father."
Ohms Xirquit's face contorted in confusion. He was so perplexed and didn't get it.
"Oh, and we're dragons. Shapeshifter type."
"What!?"