Secrets of the Villainous Empress

Chapter Forty: The Big Bad Wolf II

Aleu Diox Luciano

“You want me to what?” Aleu asked as the silence that had stagnated around them had offered no answer.

“Marry me?” The Empress responded, “Become Aleu Diox Cursix.”

“That isn’t the part I meant for you to repeat, Empress.”

“Ah, my apologies. I guess I was the only one hung up on thoughts of wedding bells.” She uttered passively before her fingers flew to drum her chin as though she had planned on delving deep in her thoughts in search of answers, “Then the other shocking thing I mentioned was definitely the part about ending my life, wasn’t it?”

She was joking? Aleu could have sworn his entire being had been swapped upside down, but she saw the matter as humorous?

“Forgive my impertinence, your imperial majesty, but are you toying with me?”

To his question, the Empress’s eyes widened.

“Firstly, you may speak freely, if need be, for politeness’s sake, address me as Empress,” she offered, “And as for toying with you, oh certainly not, Mr Diox.”

“In fact, the furthest thing from.” She continued, “It must just be that thoughts or talks of death elicit different emotions in me than they do, you.”

“I- I can not ‘kill you’, Empress.” He whispered, “I cannot do that!”

“Oh?” The Empress’s eyes widened, then a chuckle slipped from her lips, “Oh no, no, it's not what you think.”

She proclaimed before proceeding to chuckle some more. Aleu understood that her statement should keep him on the defence so that he can finally understand what it was that she was trying to convey without his emotions clouding the message. Still, the delightful sound of her laughter gave him butterflies.

But how, oh how could he make her do that again? How could he make her laugh again? Aleu wondered as the softness in his knees grew apparent.

“To you, at the moment, I resemble your saviour. That is why you harbour some restrictions towards my life. However, not far from now, that will change.” As she spoke, the earlier delight in her face morphed to something…malicious(?), “I can assure you, by the time you point your blade at me, you will not ever recall the version of me that once posed as your ‘saviour’.”

“You will believe me solely as the evil in your life, and by all means, you will be right.” She said.

But before the confusion caused by her statement manifested in his being, her face reverted to its usual blank demeanour.

“Of course, that is far off into the future and wholly dependant on your choice.”

“What? No! Still! I cannot kill the Empress!”

“Why not? You will be the Emperor by then. You, of all people, should know how the patriarchy is greatly favoured, so your action will have plenty of supporters!”

“NO! it is I as a person that does not wish any harm upon you, let alone to be its sole cause. Empress, I do not wish to kill you!”

“Oh wow, so this is how far depraved I have gotten.” The Empress whispered to herself before pacing a few steps in her spot. “I did not consider the possibility of you not wishing to harm me because of your softness.”

-Softness?-

“You realise Empress, that some term that as Empathy?”

Her crimson gaze lifted to meet his, and his breath caught in his throat.

“Empathy?” she c****d her head to the side, “Hah! To me, that is nothing but self-imposed barriers and limitations that make you seem nothing but naïve.”

“Naïve??”

“Do you think yourself clever for passing on the only opportunity you have to actual power that can protect those you love?”

“But at the cost of your life, what sort of-,”

“You do not even know me, yet you feel the need to protect me?”

“Neither do you!” he blurted, “Empress, you hardly know me, yet you willingly give your life for me!”

“Isn't it obvious that I have ulterior motives?”

“What? What possible motives could you gain after your lungs cease breathing?”

“Those that are of no concern to you!”

“Yes, truly remarkable that you have the ability to play in the realms of the gods; however, unfortunately, your imperial majesty, my answer remains the same.” he said, “I cannot, no, I will not slay you.”

The Empress was silent for a few moments. Aleu was confident that she, being who she was, had never even considered the possibility of rejection; however, this could serve as a wake-up call.

She needed to consider his words and then set up some new terms of partnership because he, for the life of him, could not envision being the one to bring about her end. Not when she made him feel so…vividly, how could he?

“So, I take it as you are the type that requires more persuasion than most?” she responded, completely disregarding his points.

“What? No, I don’t want to do it. There is no ‘persuasion’ required. I will not follow your plan! Hell, if you wished me to, then it should have ended with Fuscia as my concubine and you as my wife!”

“But that is not how I wish it. I want a story whose narration I am solely in charge of. Therefore, It would have been a lie if I had told you that that is where the plan’s ends lie!”

“But isn’t your entire life a testament? A story to which you are in charg-,”

“Do not preach to me as though I do not understand what my life is. You are nothing but a variable in this equation.”

“Hah! Well, this variable maintains its rights by choosing not to obey your wishes until we are at par!”

The Empress's perfectly manicured hands splayed themselves against her face as she sighed.

“But gods, you make it so hard for me to pretend to be seeking a neutral agreement!”

“What is that su-,”

“Child, listen to me.” her tone was commanding as she uttered the words.

In fact, it was so dominating that Aleu, for a few seconds, doubted whether he should remain towering above her frame.

His knees begged to be driven to the green grass, but he could not get his body to move.  

The Empress’s crimson eyes now appeared as though they were luminous. They added a different tint to the garden crystals illuminating the night; only they did not attract the night bugs that craved its glow; instead, she seemed to repel them.

 “I remain your wife? What do you think I gain from that?”

Aleu knew the answer. He knew the answer to what he prayed to his core was rhetorical, but it did not appear so by her posture.

The Empress gained absolutely nothing by becoming his wife; in fact, he had all the gain, he and the ones he wished to protect.

 The Empress especially made that clear to Aleu, as the more approachable demeanour she had dressed in earlier literally perished as though it had been an illusion.

“Answer, our time is nearly over.” She commanded, and before much thought crossed his mind, his lips moved as though on their own violation.

“Nothing.”

“Who gains?”

“I do.”

“Now, I understand that numerous times you must have been warned never to accept a deal whose merits could not be accounted for, so you are wary of the offer I propose. I understand that. I do, I really do,” She shrugged. Still, her tone was in no way as nonchalant as she tried to portray it, “However you seem to be more focused in testing my patience, so I will map it out in a way that you, a person with the hero complex of wishing to hold hands with everyone can understand.”

“You have one and only one option to my…shall we call it a request out of politeness?” She asked.

“Whatever we summerise this as, the only option you have is to bark yes.”

“But y-,” he tried to…well he wasn’t sure, perhaps, say something, anything that would break the tense atmosphere?

“Your privileges have been revoked. I should have you crawl on your knees simply for the heck of it. To remind you who is truly in charge, but as luck would have it, we are out of time.”

“So allow me to summarise without your interruption. What I gain is none of your business, but what you do is. Since the moment Fuscia stepped into imperial grounds, she was already on enemy soil. She has been under twenty-four hours of surveillance and the illusion of freedom. At any moment, I can take that away. You’d do well to remember that.”

“Additionally, this was simply the most peaceful solution. Should you act hard-headed about it, I shall propose that she serve as the next Emperor's concubine, and yes, Aleu, it does not have to be you. You are simply the only one assured to treat her gently.”

“Who knows what kind of boorish or crude man I might wed because though they treat me differently, Fuscia was a maid, and well, some would argue, much worse, a commoner.”

Aleu’s throat felt clogged. He was certain that he was drowning even though he had not neared a waterbody.

“If her truth comes out,” The Empress continued, blatantly disregarding the effects of her words on his emotions, “Then there will be a strong tug between the palace, the temples and the Sorbet dutchy, a pull at which she will be at its heart. Perhaps alone, because I would have taken care of all of her allies in a manipulation technique because let us be honest, I care very little for my tools.”

“but that’s only what, medium case scenario? Worst case scenario, the Emperor I take in decides he wishes for more concubines, the concubines view Fuscia as a threat and wish to rid her out of the picture…of course; I will not stop them because, after all, it is one way to maintain my peace….”

“Do you understand, Aleu? On the potential tragedies that await her, I can go on and on because, in the crude picture that I have painted, Fuscia remains the only invariable. From a political standpoint, she may be the ‘truest’ owner of the crown and the key to halting or at least slowing the temples covert movements.”

“To me, she is merely a tool, but to you, a friend, perhaps, even more, you have the potential to do something that I am wholly incapable.” She continued, “But then again…you wish to have a mirage of choices, the illusion of freedom? Okay, I will grant that to you. The magnanimous leader I am.” She finished.

And at her last words, the pressure that had surrounded the Empress seemed to dissipate as she walked towards the leafy hedges and plucked one of the leaves.

The sound of grass crunching in the vicinity caught his attention. A fourth heartbeat had joined the space.

Someone was spying on them.