The Crazy Tyrant Wants To Kill Me

5

I opened my eyes to a familiar, demure woman next to me. Her scruffy brown hair was left in tangled locks falling limply down her shoulders, eyes swollen from sobbing and her lips cracked and parched. I didn't recognize her at first, but when my eyes adjusted, I realized she was the kind lady who had plead for my innocence earlier.

"Your awake," she whispered, her voice hoarse, acknowledging my presence. I nodded, the bitter taste of guilt in my mouth, eying the blanket she clenched in her hands. 

"I'm sure your child's alright," I offered a word of reassurance. I didn't believe it myself.

The woman shook her head, scruffy brown hair falling over her face. "The emperor won't spare her," she whimpered, her nails digging into the soft fabric of the blanket. "My daughter. My baby..." She swallowed a sob. "She's only two years old."

"I'm sorry." Remorse gnawed at my insides. I knew I wasn't the one who took her child, but the reason she was gone was because her mother had tried to defend me. I reached for the woman's trembling hand. 

She heaved a sigh, sweeping at her nose with the back of her hand. "At least she's in a better place now. She... I'm glad she didn't have to grow up in this environment. Under the rule of this emperor." She strained a smile. "My name's Violetta, your Amanda, right?"

"Yes."

"It's such a surprise your alive. I don't know why they let you go... did they listen to me?" Hope flickered in Violetta's eyes, desperate to hear that her daughter didn't die in vain. 

"I don't know," I replied. "The emperor came and he started acting all crazy. He was touching me-" I shuddered as I recalled his hands running all over my body "-and he started screaming and calling me... calling me Julia."

Violetta froze, the blanket slipping from her emaciated hands. "He was calling you... Julia?"

"Yes? What's wrong?" 

"Julia is the dead empress."

My heart nearly stopped. I must have heard wrong. That's right, I'm tired and stressed that my hearing must have become weary and started playing tricks on me. I chuckled nervously. 

"Julia is who?"

Violetta's face was a pale as a sheet of paper. "The empress."

My smile faded, my blood running cold.

"H-he was calling me the empress?"

"That must have been why he spared you," Violetta whispered, her eyes inspecting my disheveled form. "Perhaps you resemble the empress in some way only the emperor knows. After all, he and Theo are the only ones who know what Julia looks like." 

I recalled Cedric's previous behavior. He was definitely obsessed, desperate to possess Julia and claim her as his own. He loved her so much he was willing to kill for her and deny her death. "What happened between them?"

"You don't know what happened?" Violetta gasped in disbelief, pressing her hands to her mouth. "When the empress ran away with Theo, it caused a massive uproar in the kingdom. It was all people could talk about. Rumors were spread, it was the hottest, top pick gossip... It was also when the emperor went insane.

"It all began five years ago when the emperor saw the girl he claimed was the "love of his life." The articles described her as a demure and reticent lady that captured the emperor's heart immediately. They went out for several romantic dinners until the emperor asked for her hand in marriage.

Shockingly, the lady, Julia, refused and fled. When the emperor found her the next day, she protested she wasn't Julia, but her twin sister." Violetta tousled her hair with a scoff. "What a lame excuse. The emperor seized her immediately and arranged a marriage. But Julia and the emperor's stepbrother, Theo were found missing on the night before the wedding.

The emperor had always despised Theo. He kept him locked away on his own floor, forbidden to step foot outside. It turned out Julia discovered the imprisoned prince and they fell for each other."

Understandable. Who would be willing to marry a ruthless, emperor? 

"However, Theo was captured almost two days later after their escape, terribly injured. Faced with the emperor's enraged inquires, Theo revealed they had gotten into a carriage accident and Julia had lost her life."

I gasped. How could Theo be so reckless? So rash and irresponsible? Julia had ran away with him, it was his responsibility to keep her safe.

"The emperor refused to believe Julia was dead. He was determined to find her. His resilient led the heartbroken man to loose his sanity. Poor man clung to the sliver of hope  that she remained alive. He wanted to find Julia to murder her; force her to pay for her betrayal, but he also wanted to take her as his bride."