Loving The Mad King

Secrets From The Past

Emperor Dario's eyes widened slightly when he saw Aathreya standing there, facing his way.

Seeing Aathreya, all the troops wondered who the man was.

"Your Majesty, do you know the man?" asked David, a man who had a burn scar on his left face. He was the emperor's right-hand man.

Dario did not answer the question from him. When he was five meters in front of Aathreya, he ordered all his troops to stop.

Aathreya smiled crookedly.

"Stay here. I'll be right back," Dario said to David then got off the horse and walked over to Aathreya. A curtain of dust flew as the wind blew between the two of them as they stood opposite each other.

"Aathreya." Dario's brows furrowed.

"I'm flattered that you still recognize me. Long time no see, Dario Archadela. Ah, no. I mean son-in-law." Aathreya smiled sarcastically.

Aathreya could forget the names of everyone in this world. However, he could never forget the name of the man who had ruined his daughter's life. The emperor fell silent with an unchanging expression.

"Withdraw your troops," said Aathreya with a sharp intimidating gaze but the emperor looked unfazed.

"Why should I obey you?" Emperor Dario asked curtly.

"Because otherwise, I will destroy you." Aathreya responded with a voice as cold as ice.

"I'm not afraid of you. Get out of the way and don't interfere because this has nothing to do with you."

"When it comes to Celestial, then I will always interfere."

Dario looked very surprised when he heard Aathreya mention the name 'Celestial.' The image of a woman with brown hair and blue eyes flashed through his mind. What did Aathreya mean by saying that? What did Arion D. Panther have to do with Celestial?

Aathreya's ruby eyes were still glaring at the emperor. A few seconds later he smiled crookedly. His eyes now looked sinister.

"If you want to go to Panthera for revenge because you think Arion D. Panther is responsible for your wife's death, you are wrong."

Dario's brows dipped sharply, his gaze was like a sword that would pierce the heart of anyone in front of him.

Aathreya threw a crystal ball which Dario caught right away. Dario's eyes immediately widened when the crystal showed Aathreya, who was poisoning Queen Isabella.

"You're not going to have a heart attack, are you?" Aathreya was still grinning and this ignited anger in Dario's heart.

"It turns out that the mastermind behind Isabella's death was you. I will never forgive you," Dario said with great emphasis. His teeth gritted and his eyes looked hatefully at Aathreya.

Aathreya's cynical smile didn't fade when he saw the emperor's angry face.

"I still have a secret that will set you on fire," he said coldly. "The real mastermind behind Rose's death was me."

THUMP!

For a moment, time seemed to stop for Dario.

Aathreya told him that it was the price Dario had to pay for playing someone's heart and ruining his daughter's life. Apparently, he was the one who had helped the late Queen Helen carry out all her plans to get Rose sentenced to death by her own husband.

Dario clenched his fists so tightly that it cracked the crystal ball he was holding.

"Why?" His chest was constricted and his heart ached. He did not expect that it was Rose who would pay for all his bad deeds to Celestial and become the target of Aathreya's revenge.

"How does it feel? It hurts, doesn't it? I used to feel it too."

Dario was speechless. He was too shocked by the fact that Aathreya had just told. He could only be silent and hear all the things Aathreya said. All the Archadia soldiers were confused, and they wondered about the things the emperor was talking about with the black robed man. They had been in silence for a long time.

"Now, we are even," said Aathreya.

"No…" Dario gritted his teeth. "What I did to Celestial was nothing compared to what you did to Rose. I  didn't kill Celestial, but you… you killed Rose."

"You're right, what I did was not worth Celestial's sufferings. I should have made Rose suffer even more," said Aathreya. The cynical face that he had shown earlier now turned into a cold face.

His blood always boiled in anger when he remembered how, in the past, Emperor Dario used Celestial to make Aathreya submit and side with the Archadian Empire, because at that time Aathreya's popularity as a formidable wizard was famous in various regions.

One of the reasons why Panthera was respected by many kingdoms was because Aathreya supported Panthera. Aathreya served as the advisor and the right-hand man to King Panthera for three generations namely King Diallo, Neon, and Roland.

Actually, if there was no incident that befell Celestial, then maybe Aathreya would still be serving as an advisor to King Panthera. 

Celestial fell in love with Dario, and Dario falsely said that he also loved Celestial. At first, the love was opposed by Aathreya and Dario's father, because the relationship between Panthera and the Archadian Empire was not good.

However, Dario persevered and showed his true love to Celestial. He managed to get the blessing of both parties. After they got married in Panthera and stayed there for a few days, Dario took Celestial to Archadia Palace.

Long story short, after three months of marriage, Atthreya went to the Archadia Empire to meet Celestial. He thought he would see his daughter live a very happy life, but he was wrong.

Dario and his father turned out to be working with the black magician Gerald. Gerald absorbed all of Celestial's magic power and Dario locked Celestial up in a dungeon. Aathreya was furious. He wanted to destroy them all, but Gerald threatened to kill Celestial. Gerald had planted a curse mark on Celestial's body and only Gerald could release it.

After learning that they succeeded in making Aathreya submit to them, they finally asked Aathreya to serve them and help them to overthrow Panthera.

In that period, the Panthera Kingdom was really almost destroyed. However, Aathreya was grateful that King Liam, Arion's father, managed to survive until Aathreya finally found a way to free Celestial and kill Gerald.

He didn't kill Dario because he had sworn, he would make Dario feel what he felt. He would make Dario pay for every one of Celestial's tears that fell. Every blood, every wound and every pain of his daughter.

Dario had to pay for all that.

"This is the price you have to pay for all your sins. I feel sorry for Rose, she was a very good girl, but how can she pay for her father's sins. You didn't kill my daughter but you gave her the suffering she will have to endure for the rest of her life." Aathreya looked at Dario with such profound hatred. "Like you said, what I did to Rose is nothing compared to what you did to Celestial. Rose only endured a few days of suffering and then she died and rest in peace."

There was silence for a moment, the wind blew again and blew away the curtain of dust. In his mind, Aathreya remembered Odette.

Aathreya's eyes were still staring intently at Dario who was silent. "I'm not kidding, Dario. Withdraw your troops or I will kill the entire Arcadela Family."

Aathreya released an intimidating magic aura, and suddenly some of the Archadia warriors fell from the horses in an unconscious state.

Aathreya showed his power as a formidable wizard.

.

.

____________________

From the author:

So.... can you guess what's the relationship between Odette, Aathreya, and Dario? What do you think about this revelation?