How To Tame An Empress (BOOK I)

Chapter 4 - The Weight of His Words

--Valeria POV--

Loyalty. I had once thought that it was not much to ask of from a man who could potentially become my husband, but I learnt quickly that I was wrong, too wrong. 

In this world, the more one has, the more one wants, and these people wanted a trophy wife rather than a lifelong partner, and I was not scared to show my disgust in that.

My father and mother loved each other dearly, I thought I could have what they had, but it seems that my father is one of a kind. All the marriage meetings that I have had always went south when I realised that those men wanted another wife because I alone would be unable to satisfy their needs. Just how many needs does a man have that he needs multiple wives?

But since a few weeks ago, that man, the emperor of this land in which I live, seeming to be from a completely different world than mine; that same man has shown me otherwise. He said that, like me, he wanted loyalty more than anything else in a relationship, but could I trust him?

"I will make you mine... I very well plan on keeping that promise." 

His voice echoed in my memory, deep and certain. I did not doubt that he meant those words, what I doubted was time, power, and temptation. The nature of all the men I have seen has raised me to believe that loyalty could be divided, but I could not accept that.

"Did you not sleep well, Valeria?" 

I had been sitting in the central courtyard in my domus as I do every morning, keeping my father company as he did his gardening, but unlike my usual self which is always chatting to him, I was lost in thought today. He must have found that odd.

"Do not worry, I slept well, father." I answered with a small smile as he hummed, accepting my answer before returning to tending to his roses. Since his retirement, he has taken up a number of different hobbies where gardening was his favourite, and he loved gifting the flowers he planted to my mother as a gift.

Seeing these flowers now reminded me of that day I had gone to visit my brother at the palace with only the desire to make sure that he was all right, but somehow, I had caught the interest of the emperor. Anastasius, that man who stood at the top of the world. I walked with him in that beautiful garden, speaking my mind as though he weren't an emperor, and it would be a lie to say that I did not enjoy it.

When I spoke, he listened, replied, and reacted in a way that made me feel as though I were all that he saw, and every time I looked at him, his eyes were already focused on me, forcing me to see that he meant every word he spoke.

He was unlike anyone I had ever met before. Tall, with lean yet carefully constructed muscles, perfect golden-brown hair, much lighter than mine that seemed to have been woven of golden threads. But contrary to that light, his eyes were the darkest shade of brown that I'd ever seen, like fresh compost, almost black, and the very air around him was both powerful and unnerving. Yet despite that, he was gentle in speech, and startlingly attentive, as if assuring me that I had nothing to worry about.

So just why was a man like that interested in me? I am certain that there are other women more willing than myself to be his wife, but he had made it known that he was only interested in me. But just how long will that interest last? I regret that I was unable to muster the courage to ask him at the market.

"Father, why did you wed mother?" I curiously asked, my question taking him by surprise as he paused his gardening for a moment to spare me a glance.

"It was an arranged marriage. We were both from respectable families, and they wanted to unite, so we were wed." His answer was boring, to say the least.