Bonus Epilogue: One Year Later — The Queen Rises
The skyline burned orange as the sun set over the city.
Emma stood at the top of Skyler's former penthouse, a black dress clinging to her body like armor. The wind whipped her hair around her face, but she didn't flinch.
Below her, the streets buzzed — her streets now.
The Romano Empire belonged to her.
And tonight, she would finish what Skyler started.
Behind her, Marco knelt — bloodied, broken, trembling.
"You thought you could kill my king and keep breathing," Emma said coldly, her heels clicking against the marble as she circled him.
Marco coughed, spitting blood at her feet.
"You're not him," he rasped.
Emma smiled — a slow, dangerous curve of her lips.
"No," she said. "I'm worse."
Without hesitation, she pulled Skyler's old gun from her hip — the same one he had taught her to fire — and shot Marco between the eyes.
Quick. Merciless. Inevitable.
The city didn't mourn him.
The city barely noticed.
Emma holstered the weapon, staring out over her kingdom.
This wasn't revenge.
It was justice.
It was loyalty.
It was love.
Skyler's voice echoed inside her chest:
"Blood and roses, baby."
Emma closed her eyes, letting the memories wash over her — the way he laughed, the way he kissed her like she was the only thing keeping him alive.
He was gone.
But he lived in every beat of her heart.
And she would rule in his name until her last breath.
The Queen of Blood and Roses.