How To Tame An Empress (BOOK I)

Chapter 5- The Start of A New Life

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As a child, I grew up admiring my father and his leadership skills. The way he ruled over the Empire is something I looked up to, the way he put people in their place, held an air of confidence and intimidation around him, I admired all of it.

But that was as far as my admiration went.

As a man, I was revolted by him.

This grand palace looked closer to a brothel rather than a palace, there was always a woman with him, clinging to him like an animal. He had countless concubines where he'd always sleep with a number of them within a single day.

My mother was one of them.

My father was neither a good looking nor a bad-looking man, he was just plain. However, my mother, one of his many mistresses was known to be the most beautiful woman in the Empire and my father worked to make her his, succeeding in the end.

By some sort of miracle, I was the only child conceived out of this throng of women but during her labour, there were a few complications that led to my mother's death and so, I grew up without ever knowing a single thing about my mother.

But honestly, I didn't really care.

My father was a strict man. Since I was his only heir, I was forced to go through strenuous training for both my mind, body and soul and I didn't mind because my ultimate goal in life was to become an Emperor as great as my father, if not greater.

But as a man, or even a human, I had already beaten him with my personality.

The previous Empress, my father's wife, was unable to bear a child as she repeatedly kept suffering from miscarriages and every time she lost a child, my father would remain unfazed and let her suffer alone as he continued to mingle with his other lovers.

I detested that.

She was a pretty woman, a nice one with a warm smile and despite the pain that she was suffering through, that smile was unmoving from her face. She wasn't able to have a child but just as she had no child, I had no mother and so, she became a mother to me.

And she was a good one. She would read me stories, sing me lullabies, feed me food, take care of me whenever I fell ill and she did everything else that I imagined a mother would do.

She was too good a woman for my womanizing father and so, I told myself that when I would grow up, I would only have one wife whom I would treat with the utmost respect and give her and only her all my attention.

Once I had grown up though, that intention faded into nothingness.

Forget finding one woman, I wasn't even remotely interested in getting married anymore, let alone falling in love and having an heir. Of course, I did sleep with women sometimes but it was always meaningless, it sparked no desire.

That was until I met her, Valeria.

She, who took the meaning of love to a whole new level for me. Whether it was love or obsession, I didn't know but one thing remained clear, it was only going to be her from now on. For the rest of my life and for the rest of her's, it was only going to be her.

I was crowned Emperor of the Roman Empire at the age of 16, after both my father and mother, the previous rulers, were assassinated. The assassins were publicly executed but no time was wasted for my role as Emperor to begin.

It's been 10 years since then and I, who was once known as a child Emperor am now known to be a feared Emperor by other Kingdoms while I am respected by the people in my Empire. Of course, there are a few occasional battles but they are all necessary to maintain peace and the title of the 'Strongest Empire' in the world.

And I have now surpassed the image of my father. Not only have I come to stand on the same level as him but I have gone ahead of him, making this Empire greater than it once was.

And today, I am about to gift this Empire with a new Empress.

After countless attempts at trying to woo her, my attempts were finally recognised by the gods as Valeria accepted my marriage proposal. The first marriage proposal was denied by her, so was the second and third and then, by the fourth, when I was starting to lose hope, she had finally said yes.

And so, today is the day that I make her mine in the eyes of the twelve gods and all the Roman Empire. My one and only wife and Empress, Valeria.

I had prayed to Jupiter and all the other gods every day in hopes of making her mine but now that the day was finally here, I was in a trance the whole time. From the moment I woke up, to when I was getting ready and now that she's stood beside me, I'm still in awe.

Standing beside me, she wore a white woollen tunica recta, overlaid by a white stola. The lucky woollen fabric that repelled evil along with the woollen sash that was tied around her waist, tied in the Hercules knot said to also, ward off evil.

A simple veil rested on the back of her head and beautiful flowers intricately weaved into her hair, she truly outshined everyone here today with her radiating beauty. It wasn't just me but the whole crowd was unable to look away from her.

But the difference between me and them was that she was mine.

The make-up defining her beauty, the jewellery adding to it even more and then her smile when our eyes met for the first time today proved that this was all real.

Once the ceremony was over and we were declared husband and wife, and her the new Empress of the Roman Empire, the citizens who had travelled far and wide just to see her, cheered, throwing rice grains and rose petals at us.

At the banquet hall, her family celebrated along with all the other high-class people as we sat on our thrones, receiving gifts from all these people and their prayers for our happy life and an unborn heir who will be just as successful as me.

"Are you not going to eat?" I asked when I noticed her dozing off beside me.

All the excitement had me feeling numb but as soon as I had seen the food, I realised just how hungry I was. I expected the same for her but she's barely touched anything except a few bites of the bread and a few sips of the wine.

"No," She shook her head, working to keep her eyes from falling shut.

"Are you scared about the wedding night?" I leaned in to whisper in her ear and felt her jump awake, the tiredness that I had sensed before completely gone. "I assure you that I am not terrible in bed. In fact, it is quite the contrary-" She cut me off, wildly blushing and jokingly slapping my chest.

"It's not that. I'm simply not hungry," She glared at me and I laughed.

"I would say otherwise, wife. Come, have at least a few bites with me," I said, ripping a piece of bread off before dipping it in the soup and placing it in front of her mouth.

"Come on," I nudged my hand as she stared at me for some time but eventually gave in, parting her lips as I put the food in her mouth. I pulled back, staring at her chew the food before swallowing and when she raised her eyes to look at me, I gifted her with a smile which caused her to smile right back at me.

"What is it?" I asked, chuckling under my breath as I moved to hold her hand.

"It isn't bad," She nodded her head before ripping another piece of bread off and dipped it into the soup as I had done before and placed it in her mouth, thoroughly chewing before swallowing while I stared like the proud husband that I was.

"See? What did I say?" I moved in, placing a kiss against the side of her head and her face lit up with a blush once more as the guests cheered, further increasing her level of shyness.

And today was just the first day.

The first day of our new lives of wedded bliss.

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KEYWORDS:

Brothel- A house where men visit prostitutes.

Tunica Recta- A white woven 'dress' worn by brides on their wedding day during the Roman Empire, along with a sash tied around their waist to keep evil away.

Stola- A traditional garment worn by Roman women.

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