His Beloved Wife

The day someone else came by

Derek was still grieving the loss of his beloved wife. His mind was wandering mindlessly. It was full of thoughts of what he could have had if not for this stupid curse. Full of thoughts of how his child would have looked like if his beloved wife birthed them. He tapped his pen on his desk as he continues to let his mind fill with these hopeless thoughts that could never ever happen.

But on such a fateful day, the day his wife had passed, his council was excited. No... his whole empire was full of joy. He clenched his fists, thinking they might be celebrating the death of his beloved wife.

The knock on his study snapped him back to reality. "Enter." He said in a low voice.

The door opened, revealing a very happy colleague of his. Mikael strut towards Derek's desk and slammed his hands on it. His face was bright. "We need you at the throne room. Now! Let's go!" Mikael did not waste any time for Derek to respond and simply grabbed his wrists as he dragged Derek towards the throne room. Walking down the hall, Derek felt uneasy as he saw the crowd forming outside of his castle through the window. What the hell was going on now?

The moment he steps foot in his throne room, the nobles were cheering. It irked him how they could keep him in the dark. The sheer audaci-

"Emperor, the Gods have finally answered our prayers!" Another colleague, Jayash, said happily as he gestured towards the hooded figure standing in front of the throne.

Derek narrowed his eyes, trying to examine the figure that stood in front of his throne. He sat down on his throne and crossed his legs. His voice filled the room as he asked. "Who are you to be worthy of my time?"

The hooded figure smirked and took off the hood. It revealed a dirty blonde hair, braided tightly and neatly. Her figure was taller and more muscular than Varin, his beloved wife. Her voice was loud and confident unlike Varin, soft spoken and shy but polite. 

"I am Talia of the Dragondom Taran, and I am here to claim as your mate." She said and the room bursts into cheers.

He couldn't help but notice how his attraction towards her was much stronger than when he met Varin. He watched as her bold behaviour intrigued the nobles around him. He could not stop hearing praises from his council even after leaving the throne room.

He hated it.

~~~~

His supposed mate, Talia she said her name was, eventually turned herself in for the night after doing her best to get his attention. For the whole day, he only wanted to visit his beloved wife's grave but no, Talia just had to prevent him from leaving the castle quietly. He never felt so insulted before. 

She should be considered as a lucky person since he suppressed his anger professionally or else she would have been burned to crisp by now.

He couldn't help but feel his heart ached as he remembered the only time his empire had been in such a joyous mood... was when his beloved wife died.

He knew Talia was his rightful mate and his attraction towards her could not be denied by anyone. Not even Derek himself. 

But his heart continued to ache every time he thought of talking to Talia. It felt as if he was betraying his beloved wife. He felt wrong to accept his mate. He wished Varin was his mate instead. He loved her too much to accept the attraction towards his rightful mate.

His thoughts screamed at him to just accept reality, but his heart could not. He could not accept that his beloved wife died. He could not accept that he needed to move on from her. He could not!

"Oh, Varin. Please wake me up from this dreadful nightmare." He whispered as he stood in front of her grave.