Chapter 6: Pain [1]
Silence enveloped the room as Emilia stared at Diablo's face, noting how he seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the situation.
"So when do we start?" she inquired.
"When should I curse her? Just remember that the strength of the curse determines the necessary payments," Diablo responded.
Emilia remained quiet, her left eye twitching slightly at the revelation.
"What curse?" she asked.
"To make her feel pain, suffer, or die. Anything," Diablo added.
"Pain. That will be the first curse that I want to inflict upon her," Emilia stated firmly.
Diablo smiled upon hearing her choice, further commenting, "Haha, you both are the same. Sisters, indeed."
As he said that, Emilia was momentarily confused, but soon she realized something. She swiftly dashed all the way to Diablo, coming face to face with him.
"By chance, did you..." her voice faltered for a moment.
"Haha, yes. I had formed a contract with her previously," Diablo confirmed.
Upon this revelation, Emilia's anger flared up. She grabbed Diablo's collars almost instinctively, her eyes ablaze with a faint red glow of anger, and her pulsing blood vessels almost visible.
"You... so you were a major part in those incidents?" she questioned, her voice seething with fury.
Pain - Physical and Mental.
Pleasure - Physical and Mental.
Death - Physical and Mental.
The three categories of curses inflected upon Emilia.
It had all begun three years ago.
"Your Highness, I have subjugated the Brandory Pirates," Emilia, the young and charming 18-year-old princess, stood before a wooden table where her father, the King, was engrossed in checking some papers. He glanced up as he heard her announcement.
"…", the old king remained mum, retracting his glances right after seeing her once.
Not even a word of appreciation…
King Edumanis was quite old, around fifty years of age. He had a total of 13 wives, with one being the Queen or main wife, while the others were mere concubines.
In total, he had 29 children, but tragically, 20 of them had already passed away under unknown circumstances.
Currently, there remained 9 children, 7 of whom were females and 2 were males. Emilia was the eldest among them, though she was born to the 2nd concubine, the third wife.
The Queen, who never conceived, and the first concubine, who had lost her eldest daughter and son, harbored resentment towards Emilia and her mother, viewing them as thorns. This animosity was because Emilia was next in line for the throne.
As for the two sons, they were much younger and were born to the latest of concubines, giving them very little chance of becoming king.
Emilia was smarter than most and incredibly hardworking. She never gave a chance for even a single complaint.
She loved her father deeply, which was evident from the fact that when Edumanis briefly mentioned the pirates, it took Emilia less than a week to completely subjugate them.
Her knowledge far surpassed that of others, and her experience in many fields made her the ideal candidate for the throne. However, there were still many obstacles to overcome, as mentioned, such as the Queen and the first concubine. But even more challenging was dealing with the first concubine's only daughter who remained - Anatalia.
Being two years younger than Emilia, Anatalia also possessed some of the same intellect. However, she had something that Emilia never had - cuteness. Her charm endeared her to the king and almost everyone - just a glance at her could brighten their day! Even Emilia's maids couldn't resist wanting to run away and work for Anatalia!
Regardless, Emilia, who hoped for even the slightest affection from her father, was once again disappointed as he didn't even utter a single word. She stood there for a second or two before considering leaving.
"I'll take my leave, Your Highness," she said as she retraced her steps toward the door. However, just as she was about to open the door, it opened on its own, and in came running Anatalia, a young princess of 16 years.
"Papa!" Anatalia called out, holding a pillow in her hands as she entered the room.
Emilia's first thoughts when she saw her sister were, 'How unsightly...,' as Anatalia didn't behave appropriately in front of a king who was working.
"Oh-"
"My sweet pie," the old king called out, his stern expression vanishing as a smile etched on his face.
'Huh?', Emilia was surprised by such change in expression.
"Papa!" Anatalia ran right into the king's arms, and he held them open to hug her.
"How have you been, my angel? It's been over an hour since I last saw you. I thought you forgot about me," the king said, trying to speak in a cute manner with his husky voice.
"Hehe, look at this, papa. I was waiting for this to come. A pillow for you," Anatalia said, showing the pillow to her father, who stared at it curiously.
"This?"
"Yes, papa, you will be able to get a comfortable sleep from now on if you use this," Anatalia said, a bright smile on her face.
When Emilia heard this, she interrupted and asked, "You haven't been sleeping properly, father?"
And the moment her voice reached Edumanis, the stern expression returned.
"Don't be informal," he said, his voice cold.
"But-" Emilia was about to point at Anatalia, who had no qualms using the term 'papa' with the king, which was more informal than 'father,' the term Emilia used. However, seeing the king's stare, she just lowered her head.
About a minute or two passed as he and Anatalia started chatting again, laughter echoing in the room.
Emilia, feeling completely out of place, decided that it would be best for her to leave.
"I'll take my leave, Your Highness," she repeated something she had said previously.
Edumanis, upon hearing her again, momentarily stared at Emilia before sighing and adding, "You haven't left yet?"
Pain…
A strange pain struck Emilia's heart, a pricking sensation that was unbearable. It tempted her to cry, to let her tears flow, but she managed to maintain her composure.
"I-" she began, trying to find the right words.
"I apologize. I'll leave," she finally said, her voice dropping slowly as she moved out of the open door and closed it behind her.
A knight stood outside the room, yawning, but the moment Emilia exited, he straightened his posture again.
"Ugh, the first princess…" the knight thought, but ended up saying it loud.
'Oops…'
Despite Emilia's reputation being good, she was criticized and hated by many, especially the people of her own mansion and building.
The knight was no different. Even after being newly appointed, he had heard rumors about how she treated Anatalia, the sweet angel, quite badly, and his expressions gave away his judgmental thoughts.
However, his thoughts changed momentarily when he saw the princess biting her lips as she exited, her gaze lowered, and her hands trembling as she clenched her fists, still holding the handle of the door for a second or two.
She quickly dashed away to the left, passing the knight, who even noticed a tear rolling down her cheek.
"Princess…?" Knight Avan, with his orange hair and similar pupils, remained baffled at what he had just seen.
"Tears?"
"…"