How dare you bully the female lead

Chapter 11

Satin tried extending her hand towards my face but I slapped it away angrily. The people present in her study all held their breaths frozen in place but I didn't care about them. I could only see one person.

"Is Lichen your daughter?"

Satin froze for some reason bringing her hand back towards her heart.

"Is she your daughter, yes or no?"

Satin seemed really out of it and I had to hit the table to wake her up:

"Answer me."

A man close to the Empress gained back his senses and took a step towards me but another person stopped him shaking his head. Satin swallowed and finally said something:

"Yes, she is."

I was going to lose it. Feeling it, one of the guards tried to calm me down by touching my shoulder but I pushed her back:

"You called your own daughter: that thing? You called her that thing! How could you talk like this about your own child? In front of her moreover! How dare you say that about my niece? If you don't want children then you shouldn't have any! How dare you talk about her like this?"

I wanted to hit her. I wanted to destroy her. I had read the book. I knew how big of a trauma this was for Lichen. How could Satin torture her daughter like this? That small thing couldn't have done anything wrong. She was so cute. No child deserved to be talked about like this. Seeing me this angry, Satin tried to explain but I motioned her to stay silent. What excuse could she have to behave like this? There was nothing this poor child could have done that explained this behavior. She was innocent.

"Where is my sister?"

Was Imeena dead like in the book? Was that why Satin was acting like this? It didn't excuse anything but I had to understand.

"Nebula please... Listen to me.

-I want to see Imeena. Where is she?

-But...

-I don't have anything more to say to you. Where is Imeena?"

Satin swallowed loudly:

"She is in the Consort wing."

I frowned. Consort? Did they have a fight? Why wasn't Imeena in the Imperial consort Palace? Or the Empress Palace? Was this all because of a fight? That was even worse. I had to talk to my sister. I just turned around ready to leave but Satin grabbed my arm. I turned back and glared at her:

"Don't touch me."

Satin immediately let go showing me her palms as a sign of peace:

"Please, Nebula. Don't leave. Where did you go? Why did you leave? How are you?

-That's not important right now. I'm going to my sister."

As I said this, I left the study but I could hear Satin following me in silence and behind her her guards and a few other people. We looked like a human train therefore it wasn't surprising that the people we passed stared at us with huge frowns. Satin was walking a few steps behind me and I could feel that she wanted to say something but never managed to. I didn't pay her any attention and almost ran to my sister's room. My sister wasn't dead. I came in time. But then why was Satin mean to her daughter? What happened? Did Imeena let her do this? As I stopped in front of the door, Satin finally talked:

"Nebula... Please wait."

But I was already knocking and walked in. The room was very plain for a Consort room. And very small. There was almost nothing apart from some simple furniture. No gold, no jewelry, no mirrors. This looked more like a cell than a royal room. What could they have possibly fought about? Satin was supposed to be head over heels for Imeena. Speaking of which, Imeena was sitting in front of the window and opened wide eyes seeing me come in. She was way thinner than before and was wearing plain robes that covered her whole body. Everything was way too weird. What happened while I was away?

Imeena immediately got up and ran up to me, cupping my face with her hands:

"Nala!"

Her eyes were filled with tears and I was immediately reminded of my little sister running up to me while we were young. She would always look at me like this when she was scared. And I had always been there to protect her. How come I haven't been here now? Was what she did to me that bad? I should have stayed. I should have helped her. She was my sister after all and while she was suffering I was living the same hectic life. I felt terrible. Seeing Imeena this close to me, Satin behind me pushed her away and Imeena fell to the ground in a thud. I immediately turned around and pushed Satin away too:

"How dare you push my sister?"

I quickly helped Imeena get up and glared at the Empress:

"Leave. Right now."

Satin stood there a few seconds looking at me with pleading eyes but I wasn't going to yield:

"Leave."

Satin looked at Imeena for some reason before leaving the room as ordered. The few maids present didn't dare breathe and I told them to leave too. I didn't know whose side they were on and only let the two female guards from the beginning stay. Now that we were alone I turned to Imeena and helped her sit down:

"Are you okay? What happened? Why are you in this room? Did the Empress hurt you? Do you need help to divorce?

-Nala..."

Imeena looked very weak and I quickly brought her water:

"I just met your daughter. She is adorable. She looks exactly like you."

I was just trying to speak about something nice but Imeena's eyes suddenly lit up and she grabbed my arm:

"Where is she? Bring me to my daughter, Nala. I beg you.

-Of course!"

Didn't Satin let Imeena see their daughter? I helped her get up and we walked to the room quickly. From outside I could hear Karlene and Lichen laughing but as soon as they saw us, Lichen's face decomposed. I immediately felt that something was weird and I let go of Imeena staring at Lichen's face. The little child made herself as small as possible, twisting her dress violently. This wasn't normal.

Imeena on the other hand was acting as a normal mom. She rushed to her child and bent down in front of her grabbing her shoulders and crying:

"My baby. You are okay. I am so happy that you are okay."

Lichen didn't look at her once and I could see the child shaking. With Karlene we exchanged a look and the next second I pulled Imeena backwards while Karlene gently took Lichen's hand. The little girl finally looked up and I could see her teary eyes. What did this child go through? She looked so miserable that I wanted to cry. I imagined my child looking like this and I wanted to kill someone. I was going to protect her. She couldn't trust her parents so I was going to be the perfect aunt. She was going to be safe with me.

Imeena looked at me with a frown:

"Nala? What is going on?"

I ignored Imeena and smiled at Lichen:

"I am so sorry, darling. We will have that tea party in a few minutes I promise. Could you wait for me a bit more?"

Lichen quickly nodded and Karlene took her away gently. Seeing Lichen follow happily I was sure. Imeena on the other hand didn't understand what was going on. She tried getting out of my hold but I wasn't letting go and only lost my smile when the child was gone.

"What did you do to that kid?

-Me? What do you mean? I am her mom... Nala... You know me. I am a good person. I would never hurt anyone."

I was frowning. How come that this person I loved so much looked like a monster now? What happened to the nice female lead of the book? Was it because I was born? Did I make her like this? It wasn't an excuse. She couldn't torture a child. Never.

"How dare you call yourself her mother?

-What?

-I saw the way that child crumbled in front of you. I will ask only once: did you hurt her?"

Imeena's eyes couldn't get rounder:

"Nala... I would never do that."

Why didn't I trust her? Why did she change so much?

"How could you do this? You know how dad was.

-Is this because of what happened five years ago? You should forget about it, Nala. It was so long ago. We were both children and fights always happen between sisters. It's all in the past. We could be a family now.

-I don't need you in my family.

-What?"

I could see her mask crumble suddenly. It looked like a snake shredding. Her tears stopped and she started frowning. Who was this? She was dangerous.

"Are you going to take my child from me? After everything you did, are you really going to take her too? Why do you have to destroy everything? Do you think you can come back and do anything you want? She is mine! This is my life! Not yours! You can't have it!

-So that was what you really thought."

I let her go and Imeena fell to the ground, continuing with her pathetic act.

"You took everything from me! I won't let you take her too!

-She is scared of you.

-She is a child. She doesn't know what's good for her.

-She has feelings too. She is not an object. I won't let you see her if she is scared of you. It will be entirely her decision.

-She can't make such a decision! She is a child and I am her mother! She needs me!

-I will be there for her.

-You can't take a child from her mom.

-I will take you to court. After exposing everything you did to that kid, I don't think you'll still have any rights left."

Imeena pinched her lips. I could see how angry she was. If she was scared of the court it meant she really did hurt that child. Hold back, Nebula. You couldn't kill her.

"You wouldn't do that. I need her.

-I don't care. All I want is her own good. I will talk to her and ask her what she wants. If she doesn't want to see you again then she won't.

-You will regret this.

-Try me."