...27...
YOUR FATHER'S WHORE
It was the gloaming.
It was a sad and angry gloaming.
She sighed frustratedly as she ate yet another lonely meal.
It was the fault of all those bitches, the seven empress candidates.
It had been about a week since the day that she had sparred publicly with the emperor.
The day that she had had him all to herself.
Well, things had changed by the morrow that followed.
Princess Nicolette had stolen him at morning light for a ride in the ever green fields.
Princess Zoë had had him for breakfast, one that she had personally prepared.
She had forcefully joined them and had had to face the pain of being ignored.
This was both by the Emperor and the host of the breakfast banquet throughout the entire meal.
Then came Aquarian Genevieve who had had him for a morning tour of the garden.
He had once promised her in passing that he would show her around the garden.
That was when he had noticed that she was in love with the beauty of growing things.
Princess Melanie was fortunate enough to fill in her spot by being his sparring partner till the lunch hour came.
She had used the excuse of trying to be better than her current self to hook him into coming.
Princess Helen had then curried him into having lunch with her.
She was following after Princess Zoë's footstep by preparing the meal herself.
Princess Jocasta had requested an audience with him which he had granted just after lunch hour.
She had then proceeded to entertain him with her dancing and singing skills.
But to be honest, the skills she displayed were beautiful.
Well, he had had the guts to invite her to go with him.
He had carried her along only to completely ignored her when they were there.
His eyes had been fixed on the dancing lady till the end.
She had left halfway through the erotic dance, quite infuriated to the core of her bones.
Then, matters of state had stolen him until dinner.
She had waited for him to come dine with her as promised.
Imagine how mad she had been when Xiera had come to inform her that she had better eat.
This was because the Emperor was dining with Hera-Mera, his affianced already.
She had screamed and stomped on everything possible and had gone to bed without food.
She had been completely fed full with his raw annoying audacity.
She had chosen not to play the fool and interrupt their dinner.
She knew that it would surely please the both of them so greatly for having played her around.
The Draco Lady had a way of belittling her actions with her eyes in a way that made her feel so low, inferior.
Another thing that pained her was the fact that she and the emperor were good friends.
They tended to get along so well these days.
She felt like she was a complete outsider in their company.
So, recently, she had either opted out of their company if they collided or avoided them if she happened upon them.
This applied to if they even invited her perchance.
She had gone to sleep without him, completely pained.
She was very vivid about the reason of her pain that she wished that it were not so.
She realized then that she was beginning to like the emperor.
She had chosen to go to bed then rather than face him.
This was lest her emotions would betray her whenever she set her eyes on him.
And so it was for the days that followed.
She avoided him as if he was plagued by a horrible contagious disease.
He in turn ignored her completely, turning to those seven empress candidates and having fun playing on her emotions.
Oh and did it anger her?!
Yes, yes it did, so very much!!
Sometimes when she happened upon them, she was tempted to fight them off him.
She wanted to scratch and claw at their desperate faces.
She felt the urge to warn them thoroughly to stay away from him because he was hers.
He himself had told her so.
But, she didn't do such.
She always held her head up high, keeping her dignity as she passed by them without doing a thing.
Many things got to her like Nicolette whom he kept calling Colette in a husky voice that was only meant for seduction.
There was also Zoë whom he praised all the time.
There was Melanie whom he chose over her to spar with and above all, Jocasta who he always wanted to see dance.
That pervert!
But what infuriated her the most was Hera-Mera.
He flirted with her quite openly at every occasion.
It all angered her, almost beyond control, leaving her tamping.
But somehow, she always managed to keep her explosive anger in check.
She was good at withstanding the heavy urge to give in to each of the provocation.
This was especially when any of them gave her any sleazy degrading look whenever they encountered her.
Princess Hera-Mera in particular.
That Zoë Xing also troubled her, even more than that useless and annoying bitch, Hera-Mera.
This was because Zoë's insults were almost always verbally.
She insulted her at the slightest of opportunities.
She had once confronted the lady for doing so, especially for always calling her a dirty little whore in replacement of a greeting.
This was always said to her face.
'Won't you leave me be?' she had asked her then.
Zoë had only sneered at her as an answer to the question.
'Dirty little whore!' she had proceeded to call her once again.
'Stop calling me that! Besides why do you keep calling me that?!' she had inquired from her again.
'It is because that is what you are!' she snapped sarcastically.
'I think I realize it now! I am your father's whore! Aren't I?' she had snapped mockingly at Zoë with a sarcasm of her own.
The lady sucked in a breath at her audacious utterance.
The insult had definitely hit home and she was satisfied with that.
'How dare you bring my father into this?! Who is yours?!' The lady demanded angrily.
She had remembered them that she couldn't remember anything of her past.
She could not recall her family once again.
After such a long time of being in the dark, she was drawn out.
And it infuriated her to the core of her being.
How dare the unclot bitch resurrect her past memories?!
She clenched her fists and glared at the stupid bitch.
'Your father would be my father's servant if I were being lenient!' was her angry retort.
Vura whistled triumphantly at her Lady's hard blow.
Both of Zoë's eyes widened in shock as the unfiltered word wafted into her ears.
The insult left Zoë speechless for a long moment.
Even Winnie who was famous for always having something to say didn't know a thing to say despite her ever sharp mouth.
'You... you!' she stammered at Lady Rose who was equally simmering with anger.
And she couldn't find the right words to continue.
The large insult had kept them both at bay.
'Now, if you will please excuse me,' she had said, walking out on the lady who could do nothing but stare at her, watching her leave.
That encounter was more than enough to surmise her sour relationship with Zoë Xing.
Presently, she watched as the maids packed up her dinner dishes, clearing the table.
It wasn't yet dinner hour.
But, she had chosen to have an early dinner.
She was left alone again after they had finished packing up and left.
She desperately controlled the urge to take a short stroll in the royal garden.
She chose not to do so in other to avoid any confrontation with either Hera-Mera or Zoë.
She also did not want any one of those candidates giving her dirty jealous looks, especially that Helen and Nicolette.
Although she had liked Fairy when the lady was here, she hated Nicolette to the core.
The girl was absolutely nothing like her sister.
Anyways, she would rather remain indoors and die of boredom than venture outside.
She would rather this than to face any one of those bitches who looked at her as if she was their set enemy in a long time feud.
She knew why.
It was because they saw her as competition in trying to gain the emperor's heart.
Meanwhile, the emperor sat in his study room, a little less busy.
His mind wandered to the lovely woman who was in his quarters.
Lady Rose.
She had been unusually quiet the last few days.
He had initially thought that she must be busy with planning yet another escape.
But he had been wrong.
Though it had taken him a while until he had figured out the sole reason for her quiesce mood.
It was none other than jealousy.
He had seen first hand the look in her eyes whenever she saw him around the empress candidates.
Her eyes were brimming with unconcealed hate and anger.
And he loved the fierceness.
He was definitely glad that she felt so about their presence.
The emotions she felt would keep her occupied.
They would keep her away from the turmoils and trouble, and from anything that he should be protecting her from.
They would constantly keep her at bay for he was to soon leave her on a short wendy.
The Little Prince was actually a genius with this idea.
It was he who had told him to arouse her inner self with jealousy.
And it was working just fine.
His proposed tactics was working beautifully, perfectly.
He reached into one of his drawers and pulled something out.
He stared down at the photograph she had left at the dining room table a few days back.
He stared at it, admiring it.
He touched her light smile.
Although she didn't look it, he knew that she was happy in the photograph, extremely.
His current wish was to see her like that again.
He caressed the painted photograph gently, tenderly and lovingly with a pining emotion lingering in his sable eyes.
He realized then that he was suddenly missing her.
When he did that, he gently replaced the photograph in its original spot and stood.
He strode confidently out of his study room to search for her -like he had to do so.
It was well known that she was always in the bedroom these past few days.
He went through the corridors towards the bedroom.
He found Vura and Xiera chit chatting just outside the door of the bedroom.
He had assigned both of them to her so that if she were to act up, they could at least have a chance against her.
That was if they used the wit he was sure that they had.
They stood and paid obeisance to him as he reached them.
He quickly acknowledged their greetings with only a small nod and a light smile.
'What is your Lady doing?' he asked both of them, gesturing towards the bedroom door with his tilted chin.
'She is writing My Lord,' Vura supplied for him, turning to Vura who nodded.
Their eye contact gave away the fact that they were lying to him.
Why lie to him when he was still bound to find out?
Well, he understood that they were trying to protect their Lady's dignity from him and he respected them for that.
He simply waved them away.
He let himself into the bedroom quietly, like a determined assassin.
She didn't hear him come in at all and he saw her the moment he did so.
Writing?
Indeed!
She was sitting at his writing table doing anything but writing.
He watched her display, leaning against the closed door with an amused smirk.
'Those homeless bitches!' she said as she threw one of his pencils across the room.
His eyes followed the movement.
She was still so good at throwing stuffs at targets.
She was using his pencils as dart and hitting a paper target up front with it.
And her precision was superb.
'Those annoying whores!' she yelled again, angrily.
She was throwing a tantrum.
How unusual it was for her to show her jealousy.
Well, she might be doing so just because she thought that she was alone in the huge bedroom.
'You have been sulking for six days now Mine,' he said.
His voice startled her for she shook badly as she turned towards it, annoyed.
Her eyes were wide with terror and embarrassment instantly colored her cheeks.
'Why do you have to do that, you beast? You scared me!' she reprimanded him sternly.
He smiled wickedly.
'Haven't you already done enough of that?' he asked her, carrying on with what he had been saying despite her interruption.
'Sneak,' she accused him.
'That was definitely not the answer to my question Mine,' he cocked a brow at her.
She sneered inaudibly.
'Or is it?' he asked her with purposefully raised brows.
She held back a retort, tying her itchy tongue.
It would be far better, more efficient and even more sweeter if she should chose to completely ignore him.
Maybe he would leave her alone then and give up trying to tease her for acting out.
"Why won't you answer me?" he demanded, staring pointedly at her. She blinked.
'Won't this bastard let me alone now? Won't he?' she muttered to herself under her breath.
'Mine, will you keep refusing to answer me and continue to keep those pretty lips of yours locked up, sealed?' he inquired.
She rolled her eyes dramatically and nodded at his questions.
The gesture amused him greatly and he ended up scoffing at her non verbal answer.
"Really? Are you really going to do that Jagi?' he asked again.
She didn't hesitate to nod once again.
She sighed to herself.
A nod was still an answer!
She was meant to totally ghost him in order to shoo him away.
"Wow! Just wow!' he said to her with a small applause of mockery.
He began to walk towards her, his steps purposely slow.
She stared straight at him, her body tensing as he approached.
She managed to keep mute until he reached her.
She still did not move despite his near presence.
She completely refused to be intimidated by him.
He raised a brow at her, accompanied by an accomplished smirk that made her want to slap his oh so handsome face.
'What?' she was instantly forced to snap at him as she stood to her feet and faced him squarely.
'Why are you sulking? Tell me the reason will you sweet Rose?' he asked in an annoying voice.
He stepped forward and seized the chance to directly step into her private space, crowding her.
His daring proximity made her feel uncomfortable instantly.
His heat emanating from his body made her blood warm.
It was a dangerous thing to feel and she knew.
But, she felt it all the same.
'I do not think that is any problem of yours,' she told him. 'Now would you back away from me beast?' she snapped at him with shaky eyes.
His nearness was greatly overwhelming her.
He chose then to chuckled like some annoying villain.
'And what if I do not do so Mine?' he asked her as he totally covered the distance between them.
He reached out to gently place his hands on her shoulders.
He felt her body tense beneath his palm and smirked.
He liked it when his presence upset her in a good or bad way.
Any emotion meant something.
'Leave me be!' she snapped more out of fear than in anger.
'Well, you wouldn't answer me. What then do you want me to do?' he simply stated with a shrug.
'Go to hell!' she advised in a voice that gave away just how much she wanted him not to do so.
Her conflicting emotions caused her heart to race faster.
She stepped out of his light grip and made for the huge round bed in order to avoid him.
He stood for a few seconds, a little bit taken aback at her outburst.
He was afore her in four powerful strides.
She gasped as he drew her into his arms, whirling her around.
She looked up at him with wide eyes, completely stunned.
...OmaPhinaPhire
GLOSSARY
* Jagi: A Korean endearment.