How To Tame An Empress (BOOK I)

Chapter 41- Terrible Lies & Villainous Deeds

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"Where is my wife?" I asked the palace bodyguard after having composed myself.

"Her imperial majesty was last seen near the throne room, I believe she was engaging in conversation with sir Julius, her brother," I didn't let him finish and was already heading towards the stated destination.

All we needed to do was talk a little bit, make love, and then everything would be alright again... We've both made mistakes but all mistakes can be forgiven if enough regret is shown.

The throne rooms doors were left open and I walked in, pausing by the open door as I looked into the room, at my sobbing wife... And I realised, only now, that she was so much more hurt than she let me see.

Sitting on the ground near my throne with her legs pulled up to her chest and her face berried between her knees, she quietly sobbed, cradling herself. She cried, whimpered and hiccuped, ignoring the tears that stained both her face and her clothes.

"Ria-" I cut myself off in approaching her when I noticed the presence of another man in the room and my once saddened chest quickly hardened up in anger.

An unquenchable, furious and disastrous anger.

"You must not cry because of the man that has broken you... It is as you have said, crying will take you nowhere... You must calm down and think with a rational head and once you have done that you must make a decision that will either make or break your future,"

Claudius stepped forward, squatting down in front of my wife, and I put a strain on the word 'my' because that is just what she is, she is my wife and only mine. Not his and not anyone else's, not for as long as either of us shall live.

"What do you mean by that?" I whispered but judging by their reactions, one would think that I shouted it at the top of my lungs. I might as well have...

"Y-Your imperial majesty..." Claud quickly turned away from Ria and to me, kneeling down with his head tilted down as I tilted my own head to the side, amused by his sudden fear.

"Tell me... What you just said," I ordered in as calm a tone of voice as I could currently muster with my raging blood and angrily shaking body proposing to do otherwise.

"I-I... Do not-"

"I am warning you, speak the truth... You know that I do not like liars, Claudius," I stepped forward, outstretching a hand as I ruffled his hair and he visibly gulped and I bit the inside of my cheek to hold back a smirk at the reaction.

"S-Stacius... He meant no harm..." I looked away from the man and to my wife who was now cautiously approaching me, her body shaking like a leaf. "...It-It was all my fault, I mean it... So, please... Do not hurt him," She shakily breathed out.

"Now, now, Ria... You are the one that started all of this drama," I smiled at her and she flinched, taken aback by my calm exterior and loving smile.

"What are you-"

"You were crying," I cut her off. "You made me forget the reason as to why I slept with that slave in the first place... You are the one that made me jealous first... All I did was return the favour and now... When I was about to apologise to my beautiful wife for making her cry... she goes and seeks comfort with a man she knows I dislike,"

She stepped forward, quickly holding onto my forearm.

"No, that wasn't my intention... Stacius, this isn't what you think it is?... Claudius is just a good friend-" She cut herself off as if having said something she didn't want me to know. "No, that's not what I mean... He's not a friend, he's just my bodyguard... Yes, that is all-"

"-Darling," I suddenly called and she jumped, catching my eyes with her own trembling ones. I leaned down and smirked at her beautiful, fearful face, brushing her hair out of the way and whispering in her ear.

"You. Are a terrible... Liar,"

"No... Stacius," She bit her lip, holding back her tears and tightening her grip on my arm, as if trying to prevent me from doing anything to Claud, not knowing that the more love and concern she shows for him, the angrier I got.

But I guess that is why she's been trying to hide this friendship from me all this time. With every person that gets closer to her, my potential victim list grows a little longer... and she knows that.

"Do not be afraid, darling," I kissed her forehead and by now, she wasn't even trying to be subtle but was starting to lose her patience. How adorable.

"Don't hurt him," She moved her hands away from my arms and to my chest, trying and failing to push me back and away from Claud and while she did that, it felt like I could see how she was having flashbacks to the time I murdered Linus in front of her.

That was a fun day.

When everything was about to fall into place.

But every single time... Some damn brat always has to get in the damn way and paint me out to be the villain... But would you look at that?... Maybe I am a villain. The thing is that I don't care; not one bit... As long as I have Ria by my side in the end.

I am willing to burn this whole Empire down for her.

And getting the blood of a few idiots spilt along the way is a small sacrifice that I'm willing to take, a sacrifice that I'm not even a little bit against nor afraid of.

"Oh, Ria... Ria, my darling little Empress..." I cupped her cheeks in my hands and she paused, clenching onto the fabric of my tunic and tilting her head back to meet my gaze.

"You said you cannot be tamed... But why is it that when someone you love is about to meet their end by my blade, you suddenly become my adorable little wife who does as told?"

"If you don't know the answer to that then are you sure that you're fit to be Emperor?" She punched my chest, making an attempt to move away from me but failing when one of my hands moved away from her cheeks to coil around her waist.

Leaning down, I placed a light, feathery kiss on her shoulder and she froze... It is as though the days she would revel and laugh under my touch are long gone as if they were never here. Now, she only ever flinches under my touch as if it were poison.

"I told you to just let me go, Stacius... Neither of us is happy with this marriage anymore," She growled and I tutted, telling her to shut up as I ran my thumb along her bottom lip.

"You see, my love, I am quite happy... As long as I have you to myself, I will always be happy," She narrowed her eyes into a glare, looking at me as if I had lost my mind which I probably have... That's what's bound to happen when you try taming your wife.

"Letting you go means becoming a memory, and I do not wish to become a memory for you," And I will never allow for myself to become a simple, forgettable memory sleeping in the back of her mind. Never.

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