The Villainess was Loved

Chapter Twenty-Six: Home Sweet Home

Rheyes Kerhid Norvig Yarez

Ten years ago.

“Hide, hide, your father is coming!” mother whispered to him as she settled him in her closet, where her soft and lush garments rested, “I am sorry, my baby!”

“M-mum!”

“Hush…hush now.” His mother soothed, “It will be over soon.”

Why is it that when he went crying for his mother after a nightmare, nine times out of ten, he ended up sleeping in her closet? Leaving the one out of ten for when ‘father’ had a meeting, of which those nights retained their glory as he rode horses over mother’s spun tales?

Either way, despite the instructions uttered that he should clasp his ears shut, he heard them.

Each time, without fail, he pulled his knees closer to his chest, then slowed his breathing, and like clockwork, the door would creak open.

“Your imperial highness,” his mother would say.

“Cidhi…my love.” He would reply caressingly before slamming the door shut and allowing the harrowing noises to follow through the night.

One would say they were moans of ecstasy, but so often, they were short-lived, with the dominant voice being only father’s.

“You can never leave me.” his majesty always whispered to his mother before leaving.

So while he went to replenish himself, the invisible chains around his mother solidified. So much so that he was sure they grew visible on numerous occasions.

Mother always took a while longer after the departure of the Emperor to free him from the closet.

She always took a cold bath before touching him, cold because the maids always played mischievous games to the underdogs.

“Come here, my baby.” Mother said to him, her hair cold and wet with the wonderful tea tree and northern mint scent surrounding her frame.

Once upon a time, she had whispered to him that those were her favourite scents.

That they reminded her of home, a home she could never see again, as such was the fate of those with reptilic descent, one was only allowed to mate once in life; once they do, they must maintain proximity to their mate for survival.

When one’s mate dies, they follow shortly.

But not humans, never humans…

The Emperor would live to his hundreds even after mother’s death, while she might miss the sun's rays should he die in his sleep.

Such hideous causal laws never bound humans.

F*cking humans…

Still, no matter how frequently he would curse the world, curse pure-breed humans, the marks on his mother's body would never fade.

They would only darken to heal as she grew more well-versed in defending her attacker.

Sometimes, he prayed that they never heal because the Emperor, father, would only ‘mark’ harder once they did.

*

*

*

Imperial Palace

Present Time.

Rheyes reached his hand out, then squeezed the throat of the man creeping in his chambers and disturbing his nightmares.

Five-foot four, no more than twenty-one.

These were all rough assumptions of the person's physical endowment based on their walking and breathing.

His hold did not let up until the man stabbed his hand. Only then did Rheyes’s eyes fly open.

He twisted his weight and slammed his opponent firmly onto the hard marble ground with his wounded hand.

This caused more blood to sputter on the assassin.

“…yo…u bl…o..ody monster!!!’ the man said with finality as his breath left him.

Truly, he detested the central palace.

The room was silent now. Even his own breathing had stilled.

His old room still jostled memories and tricked his emotions. Everything was preserved in place, the same memories, same reminders…same goddamn nightmares.

Still, the Emperor’s obsession was elsewhere, towards viciously ambitious silver hair.

He should perhaps learn gratitude that his mother was able to wear revealing clothes since her arrival.

“Stanley!”

“Yes, your imperial majesty!”

The answer sounded distant as though, per usual, Stanley was not at his post.

Rushed footsteps sounded before his door flew open, and a brown-haired man in full knight's attire bowed.

“Yes, your imperial highness, you called?”

The knight had bread crumbs over his cheeks and clothes, making his whereabouts quite obvious.

“What do you think is wrong with the scene before you?”

“Your majesty, did you have relations with a man while I was-!!” Rheyes threw his pillow to the knight then clicked his tongue.

“By gods, Stan, you are useless!!” he frowned as he stood.

His regenerative abilities were fast, so he was certain the wound had closed as he wiped off the excess blood with his bed coverings.

“I need to speak with mother; then we head to the inner metro. We’ll be there a while, so pack food,”

“We aren’t coming back?”

“f**k no, we are headed straight to Kranis. There is nothing much in the capital anyway.”

“But the women, the booze, the-,”

“I swear to the gods! One more word out of your mouth, and I will gladly-.”

Stanley pressed his lips together then mimicked the motion of a zipper.

*

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*

Arusei E. Alpensa

The bath was relaxing, even though the inn was wooden, loud as hell, and rooms had to be shared, still.

I closed my eyes and threw the warm bucket of water over my body to rinse out the generic bar sope that quite literally had no scent.

The Yggdrasil mark on my hand glowed, and I frowned at its inconspicuous nature.

Before, it nearly blended with my skin such that one could only see it if they were close, but now, since I absorbed the only tree in Bleakfen, it hadn't ceased its periodic glow.

I’ll have to wear gloves now.

Perhaps I should have abandoned the tree-like any sane person would rather than-

“No, Arusei, focus,” I hollered to myself.

I grabbed my towel and walked into my room to change.

The sound of the rain outside instantly made my body shiver. The first bout of the chilly contrast between my steaming body and the cold environment did little to lighten my mood.

I stared at the clothes I would wear in just a few minutes, neatly arranged on the bed.

They were not pants but a green and beige commoner dress this time. I had finished all my outfits by either falling in the mud or skidding because I still confused my flexibility and stamina with the one I held in my previous life.

So far, we dealt with the wyvern that bothered Dwali, traded off the goods we managed to steal from the tower, visited a physician, gambled with thieving dwarves and, well…slept in; well, technically, I was the only one who had slept in but...

It was Sunday today, the day I needed to return to my life as a lady and deal with the consequences of my actions.

We had long left Pool borough and were now staying at the 'pilgrim and chariots inn' in demon ward.

I tightened my weapon belt over my plain dress and reached for my white riding gloves. It was a splendid thing that I remembered to carry them.

Breca and the rest of the group were downstairs enjoying their breakfast, whereas I overslept.

I blame stamina because I ached in ways that felt unfamiliar to them.

I tied my hair into a tight and large bun and completed the outfit with a long cloak that I made sure to keep the hood on.

Unlike Breca, I travelled light, so I slung my small knapsack over my shoulders and left the room. Rather than go downstairs where the group was, I turned to the left, to the room at the far corner littered with ‘keep out’ signs.

Rather than knock, I entered the room, causing a shrivelled up man sitting in the corner to throw perhaps the closest thing to him.

“Get out! Get out! Get out now, you hooligan!!’ The man yelled, but as soon as I caught the object he threw, a portrait, he stilled.

“Well, that’s rude.” I c****d my head to the side.

“ ‘Rude’ is you opening my door at your whim!! I paid for this room like any other bloody person in this dingy stay…!”

“Really now, don’t I look the least bit familiar to you?”

“Famili-,” The man began but stilled.

He must have noticed who I was because his expression instantly morphed into disbelief.

“See now,” I smiled as I inched further into the room, “that’s the expression I wanted to see.”