Everyone was taken to separate rooms, except the vampire sisters, who asked to be set up in a room together.
They had asked Era Belle if she wanted to join them, but she had determined she wanted to be alone. Siyah had worn a hurt expression on her face, but she masked it quickly with a smile before nodding in agreement.
Maybe she was too attached to the creepy little goth girl. Mathew knew Siyah saw herself in the young teenager, related to the fact that she too was a young orphan found in a decimated city.
Mathew would be lying if he said the story didn't pull at his heartstrings too, but he was also wary of the Enhanced young girl with the body temperature that reached sub-zero.
Soon after entering his, Mathew left to walk down the hall. He didn't know why, but his feet seemed to gain a will of their own and guide him straight to Ophelia's room.
Her door was wide open, giving him a clear view into the room as he leaned against the doorframe.
She was sitting on her bed facing away from him, her armor removed, leaving her in simple leather. Tao had left them all silky white robes to wear, but Ophelia hadn't put hers on.
"What's the matter, mistress? Are you crying?" Mathew said, trying to open conversation with a jab.
She didn't move a muscle, instead doing her best impression of furniture. So Mathew pushed harder.
"You really failed quite spectacularly out there in the throne room, didn't you. You know I really thought you had some kind of master plan this whole time, but you don't do you? We've been walking around from place to place, just bumbling blindly at your whims, but I thought at least you knew where we were headed… I should have realized how unreliable you were when you got us thrown into jail. Or was that my fault?"
"I do…" Ophelia muttered weakly.
"You what?" Mathew said. Ophelia turned to reveal her side profile.
"I do have a plan, it is just… Things did not go as I had hoped."
"Go as you hoped? No, they clearly did not. I mean, what did you think would happen?"
"That I would gain the priestess as an ally…"
"Well, that sure didn't happen, now did it?"
"No, but-"
"How did it go wrong then, if you had a plan?" Mathew cut her off, his volume rising. "What, did the whole engagement just go off script? Did Mommy Order stop texting you with daily instructions?"
"I do not know… I tried to act how I thought was best." Mathew gaped at her, stunned for a second.
"That? That was you acting your best?"
"I do not know what else I could have done." Ophelia asserted.
"You cannot be SERIOUS right now!" Mathew shouted, causing her to flinch. "Use your brain for a second, Princess. You were acting like you were grasping at straws, showing your desperation on your sleeve."
"I was not desperate…"
"Really? I see, so you would be willing to sell off Argus on a regular Tuesday then?"
"…" Ophelia pressed her lips together.
"Oh, that's right, you tried to throw away your closest ally! You know, the most loyal person in the world to you, and the only person you have left? If that's how you treat your friend, I would hate to see how easily you would throw the rest of us away."
Mathew took a few steps forward, throwing out an accusatory finger at his mistress.
"You really are scum, you know that? I knew it from the moment you barged into my temple and took away all my followers. No, even before then, the second I saw your face, I knew what kind of person you were. Everything they said in the throne room was true: you have no honor, Ophelia of Valor. You betray everyone around you, just as you were betrayed. Honestly you don't deserve your throne back, and you don't deserve the loyalty of Argus or the rest of us."
Ophelia turned away from him again, and he thought he saw her wiping her eyes. She made a sound that sounded almost like… sniffling? Was this tyrant actually shedding tears?
"Are you actually crying?" He asked.
"Do not be foolish." She replied, her voice shaking. "And I do have honor…"
"Where? Because I've never seen it." Mathew said, folding his arms. It was a defensive gesture, though really it was just to contain his own anger - It was being bottled up inside of him, much like the Catastrophe within the Iron Mind.
Ophelia turned so she was facing him completely, streaks of moisture leading from her eyes to her chin.
"The hound girls… I saved them, did I not?" She said. "I spared their lives, and even freed them from their bounty. And that gloomy child, you all begged me to save her, and I did. Was that not honorable?"
"No. It was not."
Ophelia sputtered in confusion.
"W-what then is this honor you speak of? Explain it so that I may understand."
"Honor is not slaughtering a bunch of defenseless acolytes who weren't bothering anyone."
"I had reasons for why I did that." She was trying to justify her monstrous actions. It made Mathew sick. He almost gagged right there. Instead, he fixed her with a glare that was only possible through utilizing the False Face.
"Everything is just fine then, right? All because you are following the directions of some unknown entity calling herself a god?"
"Would you not do the same?"
"Funny you should ask that, because I have a feeling I have had a run-in with your so-called 'Order' before, and let me tell you I am not a fan. In fact, she played a huge part in Screwing my life up. And the fact that her orders to you were to go and kill a bunch of randoms you had never met doesn't do anything for her image in my mind."
"And my other actions?"
"What like throwing temper tantrums every time you don't get your way, stealing from innocent civilians, and trying to behead anyone who doesn't get your way?"
Ophelia shrank a little at the words, so he pressed on:
"Oh right, you did decide to spare the lives of a few of our companions, you know, after I begged you to not leave them to die. So congratulations! You went from super villain to friendly neighborhood gang-leader." Mathew gave a mock applause, and she had the nerve to look upset in response.
"You know," he continued, "Maybe you deserved to be cheated out of your birthright, you know? You probably would have been a horrible leader anyways. Those people did away with her whole family? Starting to sound like reasonable people to me."
Ophelia's face contorted with a combination of rage and sorrow. Mathew knew he had gone too far this time, and he did feel a stab of pain deep in his gut, but he decided to shove his guilty conscience to the back of his mind.
He would not yield to his oppressor, not in this moment.
"Y-You! You cannot say that. You have no right to say that. You don't know anything at all." Ophelia's entire body shook as she spoke. Mathew could even hear her grinding her teeth together.
"You're right, I don't know anything," Mathew said. "But I really don't care."
"Perhaps you should care, Dread." She looked on the verge of drawing her weapon.
"Or what? Are you going to cut me down where I stand? Behead me? You won't do it. You can't."
"Perhaps you should not test me."
"Are you being serious? Even if you could physically kill me, which I doubt, you would never have the guts to try. Maybe I would've been worried weeks ago, but not anymore. I saw the truth in that throne room."
"What do you mean?" Ophelia said, wearing an expression of unease. She didn't realize how much of the facade she had let slip before the high eunuchs. Watching her be berated didn't just vindicate Mathew; it had also enlightened him.
"I finally understand who you really are: You aren't some powerful avenger; you are just a dejected woman grasping at straws. Behind that facade there is nothing of substance underneath: You are just a frightened little girl wearing the mask of a dictator to make the world think she's strong."
"I-I Don't-"
"That's the real reason you need people to make contracts with you, isn't it: if no one were magically forced to do what you say, no one would follow you. You really are pathetic, aren't you."
She had gone completely silent, simply staring at him as if defeated.
"No words from you? At least try to defend yourself," he said. "In fact, you could have ordered my silence at any time. Is my mistress a masochist too?"
"Leave… Leave me alone, Dread." She said. Her tone was quiet, exhausted, but carried to his ears well enough for the contract to activate.
His body started moving automatically out the door, though he didn't resist. Before he left the room, however, he spoke over his shoulder.
"I can't believe I was ever afraid of you. Enjoy your solitude, Ophelia of Valor."