Secrets of the Villainous Empress

Chapter Thirty-Two: Mornings After Benders Are The Worst

Azalea Oleander Cursix

A piercing scream jolted me awake, well, awake in the loosest term because my eyelids refused to budge open, sealed shut from dried tears.

A dull ache throbbed in my head, and before I could even pry my eyes open, the scent of blood and wine filled my nostrils.

I struggled to adjust to the brightness in my room as the intensity of the morning threatened to blind me, the sensitivity perhaps a result of the overnight drinking.

As I craned my body upright, the sound of bottles clinking on my bed confirmed my perfect bender.

-f**k-

“Y-you, your imperial majesty!” A maid squealed, perhaps startled with the sight before her; still, she was too loud and too damn annoying for this particular morning.

“Oh, shut…up.” I sneered irritably. “For f***s sake, get out!”

The red hair of the maid was the only distinguishing feature that I had caught through straining my sight before she had scurried away from the room at my command.

After the door’s soft click, the only other sounds that filled my room were the birds' oddly clear and persistent chirping, my soft breathing and my pounding headache.

Yes, I am certain that I can hear it; either that or I am slowly growing insane.

 I tried to rake most of the hair that covered my face, but my hand trembled at the simple act. Still, I powered through the action only for the tremble to slowly morph into screaming pain that forced my attention wholly on its state.

“What the-?” I exclaimed, gazing down at both my hands.

Each of my wrists sported identical vertical slits, and though they both looked and felt nearly healed, the wound was still terribly tender.

“Bloodletting?” I realized instantly, as that was the only method I knew on getting rid of my imprint.

An imprint is a mark that is specific to one’s mana.

However, before I could think too much on the topic, a small yellow bird flew into my room. A frown crossed my face as I began to trace its entry point when I noticed the enormous gaping hole on the wall exposing the upper view of the east courtyard and gardens.

“Oh…come on.” I groaned, then sighed. “What the hell did I do??”

I know that if I racked my brained hard enough, I might get an answer; however, I valued relief over solutions, as my present intensity-fluctuating headache and my growing nausea left very little room for emotions.

 Ignoring the gaping hole on my wall, I slipped easily from my bed only to step on a corpse dressed from head to toe entirely in black.

-An assassin?-

“What the hell kind of s**t morning is this?” I grumbled, ignoring the corpse on the foot of my bed.

 I rush to the bathroom so that I would hopefully throw up enough to better my mood; however, three more corpses awaited my attention there.

“…It’s,” I sighed, “Gods, it's too early for this.”

-System, activate purification-

{Purification activated}

-Set to personal detoxification.-

{All traces of the toxin acetaldehyde stemming from the -OH consumption will be promptly removed in 18 minutes}

Why didn’t I purify myself before I went to bed? I wouldn’t be literally battling my own body if I did.

Hell, why didn’t I heal my wrists?

I wondered as I grabbed my robe in preparation to take myself to the Emperor’s rooms.

I cursed inwardly because as much as the ‘purification’ skill somewhat offered almost immediate relief, it also lifted the fog in my mind, bringing an entire flurry of last night’s memories.

-Oh, Gods…- I groaned as I bypassed two knights on the corridor who promptly pretended to look elsewhere because I was ‘improper.’

“Will one of you open the doors for me, or would you rather admire the design of the ceiling?” I asked the knights.

Swiftly, one of them broke from his practice of decorum to rush to my aid, almost as though his modesty had been a façade. The volunteer knight opened the red and gold double doors that framed the former Emperor and Empress’s previous rooms.

I would have opened the door myself, but at the moment, I lacked even the ability to rake my hair. I sincerely doubted that metallic hinges would prove a piece of cake.

The Emperor and Empress's rooms were massive and well-lit, this time not because there was a hole in the wall but because one entire section was made chiefly of windows.

Its size was almost double Azalea’s, which had been quite sizeable enough on its own, and while Azalea’s theme was pink and white, the theme of this room was red and gold.

Rather than a map plastered on the wall, there was a globe that no doubt doubled as a liquor holder.

Rather than only windows, the room had a large balcony that faced the front gardens, its access point also being glass double doors.

I mean, it's a terribly convenient assassination spot. Still, an almost aerial view of the front courtyard sounded nearly magical.

“Tell the maid that was set to wake me, to draw my bath in this room. Then ask the head mai-,”

-Right, I killed one head maid, and the other is still in hiding.-

“Ask Mathews to arrange for the repair of my former room as well as its clean up,” I said, then proceeded into the majestic room, only to halt in my track. “Wait, additionally, warn the maids that if all my garments are not transferred here by the end of the day, I will take it as insubordination.”

“Understood, your imperial majesty.” The knight announced a little too loudly before gently closing the double doors, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

A few hours earlier

“Hey, I brought the wine!” Henderson announced as he lept easily through the window.

“You can use the door,” I whispered, my voice hoarse from crying. “And I didn't ask for wine.”

“You asked for rum, but as you are not a sailor or a pirate but the Empress, I’d rather your servants find your rooms reeking of ripe grapes as compared to-,”

“Fine, whatever.” I interrupted, standing, “Hand over the bottle.”

“I actually brought six.” He announced as he began placing all that he had managed to loot on short notice on my table, “Got all the good stuff-, Fleur, Spiced Portburgh, Quiessence-”

“You shouldn't have bothered on the good stuff,” I dismissed his chipper statement. “I am not looking to enjoy anything. I just want to….”

I did not finish my statement, partly because it wore me out to speak, but mostly because I was unsure of what I wanted.

We had both promised each other our next lifetimes, but was this even my next one?

He, grew empirically softer while I, have been hardened by time, deceit, pain, bitterness, happiness, love, hate, revenge…

I shook my head once more to clear its chatter because simply willing it clear, however advocated, was not working.

Best not to think of that right now. Best not to confuse myself when I am almost at the finish line. when I can practically taste my liberty…

-I had moved on!-

My mind refused to listen, its thoughts still reminiscent of him, his body, his…

-I…I had moved on, so why? Why now?-

I browsed the wine titles once more, then settled on the wine infused with tangerines. Not because of its uniqueness, as out of the bottles available that coloured darkly, it stained orange. Rather it was its percentage alcohol that drew me to it.

It read twenty-three percent whilst the others played at the ranges eighteen to twelve.

“Did you bring the opener?”

“Opener?” he repeated, “No, s**t hold on a-,”

He began, but rather than listen to his suggestion, I grabbed my letter opener from my table and infused it with Azaele’s crimson mana.

“What are you-“

“No wonder,” I murmured as I noticed that rather than its normal plain burgundy red, the mana’s deep red glow was wrapped in a glowing pale yellow aura, my mana.

-That’s how he recognised me, my imprint.-

Mana, like DNA, has its unique coding recognizable by ones who share a beyond close bond. So whichever body I inhabit, eventually down the line as the system is a cross between who I was and who I am, it causes a mana ‘leak’.

This, of course, has only ever caused problems once before now. I died in a mining accident in one of my lives, and my then parents had never stopped looking for me, only to recognise me as a stranger.

It was in that life that I learned about bloodletting.

By shedding some of the blood in the body that I inhabit already infused by my leaking mana, the body I inhabit will be forced to produce its own cells, unique to its detailed functioning. Needless to say, this works because I can literally drain a critical amount of blood from my body and all that I would feel is sleepy.

This, however, does not work on soul mana, as when one passes, they pass with their soul, so when it came to races like nymphs, pure elves, or dryads, who have mother nature and its spirits practically at their beck and call, I am pretty much screwed.

This is what made Duchess Tissir pose a danger to me.

Still, the bloodletting solution cannot work long term, not only because the longer I stay in the body, the more it adapts, but also because the use of the system itself causes leakages, and I have full online access during the full moon in this role.

Perhaps this is why I have never been granted system privileges once the mission begins.

-Hmmm, so it’s not the God’s decidedly being d***s, good to know.-

Still, I should have bloodlet earlier, no! no, I should be grateful that I met Aleu as a complete stranger because now I know how to better handle him, and…

I guess I may need to bloodlet after every month, after using the system to ensure that he doesn’t…no, I need to do more than that.

He needs to despise me. That is the only way to break an imprint.

Though it is tricky because love and hate are but the same sides of a coin, it is the easiest method available because I can't use potions on him.

-Wow, okay, so the gods obviously knew.-

-That has to be why they set up that rule?-

Of course, they did. In our life together, Oberon was the second male lead, and after I left for the second original ending, he ended up alone. This is his chance as well to get a happily ever after, so I shan't ruin it.  

I will treat him in the same manner that all villains treat male leads, in the manner that I always treat all the 'leads' in my life.

I used the mana infused letter opener to slice open the bottleneck of the wine, releasing its fragrant liquid in the atmosphere.

"Aww! what if you get glass in there?"

"Then you drink the pieces and hope it causes no damage," I replied humourlessly.

 I am almost certain that Henderson wished to strike up a conversation to cheer me up, however not tonight. Tonight, I do not want to 'cheer up'.