Return of the Ruined Mate

Chapter 2

Larissa couldn’t describe what she was feeling afterward. She had been retrieved by the palace’s servants the next day and was treated by the royal physician. A lot of people went and came to see her, but she had this feeling that they were all thinking the same thing by the way they looked at her after finding out the news of her being barren.

‘She’s worthless now,’

“It’s your fault,” Finally, someone said her thoughts out loud, and those heart-crushing words came from Tedros’ lips. “Why were you wearing such a flimsy dress? Why did you let them come to you? You could have done something but you didn’t, you let this happen because you just want my attention!”

Larissa had no will to speak and kept pondering to herself. ‘Why is it my fault? Why is no one mad at the men who did this to me?’ she couldn’t understand where Tedros was coming from and just watched him pace around her bedroom angrily. She noticed that he was mad because he had to be here, not because she was harmed and defiled and it hurt her.

“This incident must be kept a secret no matter what, it’s disgraceful! You won’t tell another soul about what happened last night, do you understand?” He stops to point a finger on her face, and she weakly nods, obeying whatever he wants. It also doesn’t seem like they would look for the criminals who harmed her since the king is insisting on sweeping this under the rug. “Good, now I must go.” He said. Larissa knows he’s going back to Roisa.

Larissa spent weeks bedridden, she was already fine and could walk but her will wasn’t strong enough to stand. She just remained in her room, wallowing in despair that she couldn’t ever bear a child for Tedros.

For all those days, he never visited her.

“Lady Larissa, maybe you should go and visit the king?” A maid suggested, worried that she had been lying down for far too long, “Or visit your family, I heard that your father and mother have been asking for your audience.”

Larissa paused and thought for a while, will Tedros be glad that she came to him? She didn’t even hear what the maid said about her family because, to her, Tedros is the only important thing in her life.

Without forming an answer, she decided to see him.

***

Being bedridden most of the time, she couldn’t properly walk and just relied on leaning herself against the walls. Oddly enough, the palace corridors seemed to be empty with no souls from end to end.

“You want me to do what?! I would rather die than put all my hard work down the drain,”

Larissa stopped in her tracks just as she was about to turn to a corner when she heard Roisa’s voice, she sounded annoyed and upset at whoever she was talking to. Larissa peeked and saw that it was the Oracle whom she was speaking with, how could she forget the face of the person who ruined her wedding?

“Don’t speak to me that way young lass, don’t forget it’s because of me that you get to enjoy this luxurious life—" As if he had eyes behind his head, he immediately stopped and sharply turned around, ultimately spotting Larissa eavesdropping on their conversation. “What are you doing here?” he asked as she now stood in front of them.

Roisa also noticed and immediately yelled at her, “How dare you! The sheer insolence of eavesdropping on the queen is unforgivable—” Roisa was fuming, she had a lot more to say but the oracle standing next to her raised his hand to stop her and she did.

Larissa’s suspicions about them only grew when the stubborn and narcissistic Roisa Mondevelle who wouldn’t even obey Tedros’ commands, would keep quiet just at the raise of a hand from the old oracle.

“You two seem awfully close, what relation do you have with one another?” Larissa was slowly regaining her composure and confronted the two, she could see that Roisa was gritting her teeth while the oracle only looked at her calmly.

“Queen Roisa Mondevelle is the woman from the prophecy and as the kingdom’s oracle, it is my duty to acquaint myself with her, Larissa—”

“It’s ‘Lady’ Larissa, you are an Oracle and I am a wife of the king and a nobility, address me as such.”

Her statement made a dent in the oracle’s calm facial expression, his brows were now furrowed.

“Yes, of course. Lady Larissa,” he quickly glanced at Roisa by his side and then back at Larissa to bow his head. “Then if you shall excuse me, I have places to be.” He turned and left, leaving Roisa and Larissa face to face with one another, alone in the grand hallway.

They stared at each other for a while, Roisa was still fuming in anger after being caught speaking to the oracle, while Larissa looked at her with an aloof expression.

“You know, I just remembered hearing your voice the night I was attacked.”

“Why are you pointing fingers all of a sudden? It’s very sad that it happened to you, but at least you are not a virgin anymore, we can talk about those types of things like good friends!” Roisa was quick to change her demeanor, now she is back in her playful and teasing aura. “So tell me, what kind of positions did you do with those men–“

A loud sound echoed all over the hall, it came from Larissa’s hand colliding with Roisa’s cheeks. “You deserve that.” She deadpans, “You are this land’s queen, the Lycan King’s mate, yet you hold yourself like a child. Immature and incapable of the position you have.”

Roisa gasped in shock after hearing those offensive words coming from a lowly concubine, she sharply turned her head to glare at her but before she could retaliate, Larissa spoke again in a domineering tone.

“Now, after hearing you speak with the oracle, I am convinced that you two planned everything all along and the prophecy is fake.” Larissa was caressing her hand she used to slap Roisa, she saw that Roisa’s face showed a hint of nervousness. “Ah, since I am just a concubine and had no power over the royal servants, you wouldn’t mind if I asked my family to help me investigate the temple and the oracle right? Have you forgotten that despite me being human, I still came from a noble bloodline, while you, on the other hand, are nothing more but a mysterious woman with an unknown background... Were you perhaps a prostitute before you came slithering your way inside the palace? Ah, that might explain why you are so vulgar with your choice of words.”

The Loveryk family was one of the pillars of the kingdom and had a long history with the royal family. Just mentioning them made Roisa sweat profusely.

“Enjoy your remaining days as a fraud, Roisa Mondevelle. It won’t be long until I reclaim my position from you...” Larissa walked past her, she felt satisfied that she rendered her speechless and couldn’t wait until she uncovered the truth behind the oracle. This time, she’ll be the one standing next to Tedros. Finally, she’ll receive his love.

“Oh, you think I would let you walk away just like that?” Roisa’s voice sounded strained and in pain which confused Larissa.

Curious, she turned around and was horrified to see that Roisa had stabbed herself in her arm with a small dagger that she must have been carrying around.

“Now, here’s my question for you, Larissa.” Roisa’s eyes showed madness, she is not an ordinary person.

“You are crazy!” Larissa shouted, contemplating whether to approach Roisa who’s currently armed with a dangerous dagger. “Why did you do that? You are carrying the Lycan King’s child! That is his bloodline!”

Roisa dismissed her and continued with her question, “Who do you think the King would believe? You or me?” she grinned momentarily before her face distorted into a scared and horrified expression, and then came her ear-piercing scream that could be heard all over the palace halls.

Larissa just watched in horror at how skilled this woman is in manipulating the situation to make it more favorable for her and now the corridor was filled with servants and guards who had their swords aimed at her.

“She tried to kill me! She tried to kill me and the child I was carrying! The child of the King!” she cried in the arms of her servants and everyone in the room looked at Larissa, some were terrified of what she had done while the others were mad.

“I didn’t do it, she did that to herself!” Larissa defended, but what she was saying right now sounded insane. She remembered that no one would believe her, no one in the palace was her ally.

Everything happened fast and now her hands were chained behind her back, kneeling in front of Tedros inside the throne hall.

Tedros was awfully quiet as he stared down at Larissa from his elevated throne.

“I swear on my life and my family’s name, that I didn’t harm the queen.” Larissa wasn’t crying before she came in here, but now tears have been uncontrollably flowing from her blurry eyes as she begs Tedros once again on her knees.

“Oh, your family, it’s quite funny that you mentioned that.” He spoke in a quiet, nonchalant voice which scared Larissa more since she was expecting him to be furious and throwing things everywhere but he was just sitting, his head resting against his palm and gazing down on her with an aloof stare. “I must let you see them first before anything else,”

“What?” she was puzzled, then her confusion was lifted when the door opened and the entire Loveryk family came in with their hands chained behind their backs as well.

Her mother, her father, as well as his older brother, all a respectable member of their kingdom were being dragged carelessly by the guards until they were forced to kneel next to Larissa.

“Larissa, I don’t know what’s happening, they just came in the manor and grabbed us.” Her mother’s voice was shaking.

“You can’t do this to us! We are the Loveryk family! We helped build this kingdom!” Her father was shouting at Tedros but even at a moment like this, Larissa shushed her father and stopped him from disrespecting Tedros.

“Larissa, we should have taken you back with us…”

She turned her head to look at her brother who just spoke solemnly, it seemed like he already knew what was about to happen to them and had long accepted it.

“Where does your loyalty lie, Larissa?” Tedros suddenly spoke from his throne, still glaring down at the entire Loveryk family.

Larissa bit her lips, unsure what she should say in a situation like this but she put her forehead close to the porcelain floor and declared, “My loyalty belongs to you. It does not belong to this kingdom, it does not belong to my family or the moon goddess.” Her words were a shock to her family who was kneeling next to her. “My loyalty and my heart belong to you, I will follow you anywhere, I will obey whatever you say, and I only beg of you to believe me. Believe me that I didn’t harm the queen—”

“Enough,” he said.

She raised her head to look at him and saw how he gestured at the guards to do something, and that was to kill her entire family in front of her.

The sound of swords piercing through flesh, piercing through a living being would forever be engraved in Larissa’s memories as she watched all three drop down on the ground, blood began to ooze out and reach her knees, soaking her with the noble blood of the entire Loveryk family, her family.

“You think that if you cried and begged, that it would make me change my mind? The treacherous act of attempting to assassinate the queen who is with a child is a grave crime, Larissa. Your execution is set, you will be hanged.” Tedros said and that is the last time she spoke to her before she gets dragged to the dungeons.

Eleven days passed and she is now standing in front of the raging crowd who wanted her dead. A noose wrapped tightly around her neck as she stood at the edge of the platform. It was terrifying and horrible but at the same time, she wanted this to end already.

Her eyes were fixated on Tedros, the man she devoted her life to. In a lonely world, Tedros was Larissa’s life, her purpose, her light. Even though he didn’t reciprocate her feelings, she was content by just being beside him but that was her greatest mistake.

“My only sin was loving you, Tedros.” She was pushed over the edge and air began to leave her lungs, her feet flailing around as it couldn’t reach the ground. Her eyes caught sight of Tedros and Roisa who was watching her slowly die. ‘If I could… If I could begin again… I’ll never love you…’

***

“I will save you, I will give you a life you deserve.”

There was a deep voice filled with sorrow, echoing in her ears so ethereal and so kind. A kindness she had been craving for all her life.

The voice felt like she had known it for so long even though this was her first time hearing it. What did it mean? Why did she hear that when she was about to die? She couldn’t dwell on it for far too long since she opened her eyes to find herself in an unknown bedroom.

She lets her eyes adjust to the brightness in the huge room, she thought she was just crying a moment ago but now her eyes were dry. Standing up, she noticed the crest of the Loveryk family embroidered on the carpet on the floor.

“Why is that… am I… huh?” she couldn’t form a decent question, her mind was still absorbing what just happened and once she remembered that she was hanged in front of everyone, all the memories came flooding her mind instantaneously. Her wedding that got interrupted, the abuse she received from Roisa, the night she was assaulted and defiled, her being barren, and her family dying in front of her. Everything came down to her and it broke her, erupting into a loud sob.

She immediately grabbed her neck to find that the rope was not there anymore, she couldn’t understand what was happening so the only thing she could do was scream in pain and grief.

She screamed and sobbed and let out all the pain she had been suppressing, she wasn’t even able to show emotions even after all that happened to her.

“Larissa! What’s wrong?!” The door slammed open and in came the people she didn’t expect to ever see again.

“M-mother? Father?” she was shocked to the core and at the same time, puzzled that she was seeing them.

They both rushed to her side of the bed and checked to see if she was hurt, they were saying something but Larissa’s ears could only hear muffled sounds as if she was submerged underwater.

She turned to look at the small mirror on her bedside table and slowly picked it up to look at herself.

Her eyes were still shining, her skin still plump and healthy, overall she looked very young.

“How… how old am I?”

That wasn’t a question her parents weren’t expecting to hear from Larissa, they both exchanged glances first before answering, “You are eighteen years old at the moment…”

Eighteen…

Five years before her life was taken away from her.