Secrets of the Villainous Empress

Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Big Bad Wolf I

Aleu Diox Luciano

The night was chilly and the wind far harsher than before he and the duke had entered the Imperial Palace, or perhaps that was because that wasn’t the only thing whipping him at the moment.

His first thoughts after meeting the Empress had been inappropriately tied to her overwhelming beauty. So much so that when she had caressed him before everyone in the hall, his body had reacted.

Of course, now he felt dirty, and a part of him wished that he had had more s****l experiences in his life so that he would remain unaffected, either by recurrent s*x dreams or caresses by those he deemed attractive.

It was revolting that he would even react this way, he thought.  Where was his honesty in claiming that the only woman who would ever be for him would be Fuscia?

Where did his limits lie? Or was Calvin right in assuming that every man has a s****l awakening at whichever point in his life?

Does that mean that he is at his peak? The moment when his s*x life was tied down sexually?

Still, was that all he could chalk his burning experience with the Empress as? A phase?

Undoubtedly, he did feel attracted to Fuscia. However, the golden-haired girl who had flirted with, then rejected him was the one who had made him realize that there was more beyond simple attraction, her, the woman from his dreams if at all they were separate entities and now the Empress.

Again his eyes turned to the woman before him. She was dressed in a loose-fitting long crimson ionic chiton with golden braces tying her outfit together. Each time the wind carried its fabric, it clung to her curves so teasingly that it was almost inebriating.

Again her hips swayed with every motion drawing his attention to the curve of her sensuous buttocks. When the time that Aleu had spent staring at her lower curves grew inappropriate, he had shifted his gaze elsewhere, at the sway of her loosely kept updo that released a tendril of hair with every burst of the wind’s energy.

Still, each time she turned to assess their location in the gardens, her breasts swayed deliciously, begging his all too eager eyes to them. But gods, he wanted more nay, needed, he needed to touch her, to caress her…to-

Seriously, is all this just a phase?

“Okay, we are far enough from the main event. Raiser, remain here.” The Empress instructed an action that aided Aleu to realise his situation and his current position.

Because for the entire walk, he had almost resigned himself to being her concubine.

-Wait, aren’t we going on an actual walk?-

-What use does the Empress have in dismissing her knight?-

-s**t?!-

Panic gripped his chest as he realised that he did not have the willpower to reject her if she were to come on to him as he was certain was about to happen.

Still, he reasoned, wasn’t that also one way of accepting him as her concubine?

“Your impe-,” her knight began his protest; however, she interrupted him.

“It is okay, Sir Gidion. I will be in your line of sight throughout the duration we will be apart. I simply wish to have a private conversation with the gentleman beside you.”

The knight turned, perhaps slightly more aggressively than he should have, to Aleu. As though he saw his desire for the Empress.

However, his disapproval did not last long as he turned back to face the Empress, then bowed.

“As you wish.”

“Thank you.” The Empress replied startlingly as he had not pegged her for knowing the basics of common courtesy as she was the epitome of nobility.

However, he barely had enough time to process her action as when her crimson gaze turned to him, everywhere she had stroked earlier burned.

Aleu’s blood left his head in favour of the only part of him that currently throbbed, but rather than tease him with her seductively controlling voice; she spoke to him as if he were a business associate.

“Shall we away, out of earshot?” she asked, her face a mask betraying absolutely nothing, so much so that he felt foolishly childish for harbouring such one-sided thoughts.

“Y-yes,” Aleu replied, then cleared his throat as his voice had broken at his initial response, “As you wish, your imperial majesty.”

“Hmm…”

Was her only response as she turned her back to him and proceeded walking ahead, only now, the only difference was that her knight had been left behind.

The winds direction shifted slightly; however, that was enough that he could drown in her sweet flowery, lotus scent that was so familiarly intoxicating that his eyelids fluttered shut to maintain his concentration.

-How common was the scent among women?-

He wondered, as he still could not place where it was that he had last drowned in its embrace.

“Here should be fine.” The Empress announced suddenly after more than three minutes of walking, then halted in her tracks.  

“Aleu Diox,” she said, sighing, then turned fully to face him as he too halted in his tracks, matching her body cues.

However, her turning to face him had reminded him of the impact her beauty had on him, so as he had done in the hall, he clenched his jaw and tried to focus on her crimson gaze. Unfortunately, he missed her eyes and instead had to literally pinch himself to bring his gaze from her deeply crimsoned lips to at least look in her general vicinity.

“Yes,” he agreed to her pronouncement of his name, “However, my father is working on allocating the Nissia-,”

“He will not give you your family name. I am sure you know this as well. I am sure you realise the kind of man the Nissian duke is. So all pretences aside, do you want the name?”

The air around the Empress changed. Suddenly, Aleu no longer felt as though he was speaking to an age-mate who his father could control as he had planned. In fact, he felt as though he was utterly in over his head.

She spoke as though she knew far more than anyone, even the duke who boasted his intelligence.

Suddenly, the facade his father had led on about the Empress’s man raving habits began to crumble.

“Well, do you?” she asked again, this time crossing her arms which only served to emphasise the soft swell of her ample breasts, “We have a little over ten minutes for this conversation.”

He should be on guard, he understood. However, he couldn’t help but notice the difference in their heights.

He was taller than she, so much so that she had to crane her head upright to look at him, however still, the way she carried herself had forced him to lower his head before her unconsciously.

“I do not, your imperial majesty.” He found himself answering, “I do not wish for that name.”

“Good.” She responded quickly, and matter of factly, as though the attraction she had displayed in the hall while caressing him had not been genuine, as though he had imagined watching her crimson eyes darken at his nearness.  

“As you know, a while back, I summoned the woman with the closest relation to the third saintess, Fuscia Green. I trust that you are aware of her presence in the imperial palace?”

His heart stilled.

-The closest relation to the great saintess Harriette Theodore?-

 How did the Empress know? Did, did Fuscia tell the Empress?

Fuscia did indeed lack a sense of danger, Aleu admitted to himself; however, she would not willingly endanger herself like that.

“She is the largest living threat to my throne. Are you also aware of that?” The Empress proceeded as though she based her confirmation on the facial reactions he had failed to school.

“Your imperial majesty, Miss Green has no interest in the-,” he tried to defend.

“Her interests matter not; if this knowledge leaks to the temples, then I may have more problems to deal with than necessary.” She said, “As a matter of fact, if I were to kill her, that will save me plenty of future headaches.”

Quick! What should he say? What should he say to make her think otherwise? To make the Empress realise that there is another way possible other than Fuscia’s death?

“I also know your infatuations with her,” she spoke, and panic at the loss of control gripped him so tightly that he almost forgot how to breathe.

“I promise if you select me as your concubine, I will not fraternise with her. I will be your hands and legs. I will be your dog! Please, please spare her…I-I will ensure that the temple does not reach her as well-,” he pleaded. In fact, the more he spoke, the more his angst made his words incoherent.

“That sounds like a lot of work for you. Do you not fear exerting yourself just to keep yet another person alive?”

“I…I have no fear, your imperial majesty.”

“Well, I suppose that was acceptable when your life was your own, but what will happen when you become my concubine. Why does my concubine have to exhaust himself so when I can just as easily rid the obstacles in his path?” the Empress asked, exaggerating his sense of panic, “Rather, by your explanation, it sounds as though you are Miss Greene’s, concubine.”

“You will protect her, shield her from the temple? When will you procure your time for me?” she continued.

“I-no..no I-,” he tried to deny it; however, the empress was correct in her assumption, if Fuscia were ever in trouble, in a drop of a hat, he would abandon everything, even the Empress.

“Do not deny it; you will only look a fool to me,” she responded calmly, unlike what he felt.

Unlike what the bile rising in his throat indicated.

Everything that he wished for was crumbling apart. Quickly, after this, he should grab Fuscia, Lucy and his mother and then run to the farthest corners of the continent, where he could fight, exhaust himself if need be and then-

“I have another alternative to your mediocre plan.” The silky, gorgeous voice from the Empress spoke, soothing the riots in his mind that threatened to drown him.

“Did you happen to witness the execution yesterday?”

“I did, briefly, your imperial majesty.”

“Good, then you understand the large-scaled attempt aimed at my life, don’t you? That my own knights would break their oaths to fight against me?”

“I..” despite the harrowing pit in his anxious gut that yelled at him not to answer, he proceeded, “I do.”

 “Good, then this is my solution to you. Marry me-”

“WHAT?!”

“I have not finished, do not interrupt me. I strongly dislike being interrupted by those I bear no respect for.”

-????!!-

“My apologi-” He began, but she had already proceeded with her point.

“Marry me. If you become the Emperor, you can keep Fuscia as your concubine.” She continued, “I will teach the both of you the techniques of royalty and how to ensure that no one will ever dare manipulate you into ever being treated as an object for breeding, nor touch those you wish to protect.”

-Gods…it is as though she is reading my mind.-

“In exchange, after some time passes, I wish for you to announce who Fuscia is to the public.”

-WHAT??!!?!!-

“Wha-,” he began; however, the Empress’s glare had forced him to keep his shocked state internal.

“After which,” the Empress proceeded, “I wish for you to kill me.”

-WHAT??!!!!??-