Two Gods || Jaywon

The Empress' mistake

Instead of being thrown in a dungeon, Jongseong had been brought to a salon, were he was invited to sit on one of the huge sofas, while the Empress was silently standing at the window, looking into the void.

Jongseong was patiently waiting for her to speak, staring at the floor, surprisingly peaceful, as not an ounce of aggressiveness could be felt in the room.

"I didn't believe you could be real,"
finally said the Empress.
"I made this promise to give hope to the people..."

Jongseong stayed silent but raised his head towards her.

She turned to face him too.

"It's payback for ignoring a prophecy I suppose. Even if I hate those hypocritical priests and their extremist principles, it seems I can't deny the entirety of this faith."
Hearing the words of the sovereign made Jongseong's anger diminish. She never believed the fake prophet to be true, nor did she took him in to mock Jongseong and Chaos.
"I could never change you, could I? It's too late, isn't it?"

Her expression was resolute and hopeless. As if she really made the promise with the intention to fulfill it, as if she had actually been relentlessly searching for Jongseong until now.

The Empress was trembling, Jongseong knew she was afraid. Of him, and of what he represented.

"No, you couldn't," he nodded.
She sighed and closed her eyes in sign of surrender.
"But you don't need to."
She opened back her eyes to look at him with great surprise.
Jongseong sighed and wallowed nonchalantly into his sofa.
"I have no taste for power," he shrugged, "But most importantly, I have a new god now."
The Empress' opened eyes wide.
"If I become a tyrant, it would mean it was the only way to protect him.
If not for that reason, if I end up on the throne, someone would have put me there, because I wouldn't walk towards it myself."

"Him? Is your new god a human being?"

"Not to me.
Actually, even to you he might be more than that."

The Empress stared at Jongseong for a minute, before declaring, while looking straight into his eyes,

"It should have been me..."

Jongseong burst out laughing.

"You know, the funny thing is that you might have been, if you had kept your promise to find me."
The Empress grimaced and he smiled.
"You're so honest."

"And you, you address your Empress rather casually. I'm surprised I haven't got you beheaded already."

Jongseong bursted out laughing again, which made the Empress shiver.

"I'd come back to life anyway...Your Majesty."
He calmed down, and looked up at her with his unsettling smile.
"Listen, you can actually keep that stupid promise.
I don't need feather pillows or jewelry, I don't need feasts nor servants. I'd live just fine being one of your knights. However, I have a condition for you to use me like this."

Against her will, the Empress asked,

"What is the condition?"

"I want to be able to kill whoever I want, without consequences."

She stayed mute, her hands trembling, before sighing and replying,

"I'd have to find a good excuse for that, since you don't seem to want to actually be presented as the prophet...
Who do you want to kill?"

"Whoever...Oh, I won't abuse of it, but I don't want this whole deal to be so easy on you, and I've had enough being mistreated. I now want to be feared."

"I see. In this case I'll also give one condition."
Jongseong nodded.
"I don't ever want to see you again, except for absolute necessity. Being in your presence is an ordeal, it's like facing death itself."
She took her eyes away.
"I guess it's unyielding proof that you are who you pretend to be, however I can't stand it."

Jongseong snickered, the deal was made.

The Empress told him to stay seated, someone would come to escort him to his new quarters. But before she left for good, she said,

"You talked about the throne before, but they are a lot of ways to become a tyrant without wearing a crown."

"In this case, you better forget about your beliefs and find your way to my new god. Worship him and I won't ever hurt you, but make one mistake and hurt him, and I'll make sure my prophecy is fulfilled, in the worst way."