Shadow Empire

Chapter 5

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Her new chambers were furnished exactly the same way as her old ones. Though slightly smaller than the previous, with the silks, velvet and elegant details—it is still, no doubt, a room fit for a queen. Open, airy and plush.

It's almost the same room but different in so many ways. In this new room, none of his belongings are present to constantly remind her of him. Memories of him shared in the old room will not haunt her. And in this new room, his scent doesn't linger.

She was extremely tired yet sleep does not take her. Lisa doesn't know how long she's been peering outside. Anyone who'd walked in would've thought she was a statue of a miserable queen sitting up on her bed staring beyond the drapes of the window.

But no one had been in the room, except of course for Christian who brought her there and took it upon himself to bring her food.

Her masked had slipped, the mask that she'd tried to keep and protect for as long as she could. But people have now seen how weak she is. People who are now fully aware of how broken she is inside. And people talk.

She had validated every doubt there is about her rule. Everyone else was thinking it. They had to be.

But despite that...she didn't care. No, at least not anymore.

"How often does this happen?" Christian finally spoke. He'd been leaning onto the dresser arms crossed since he brought her food, he shared her silence for who knows how many hours. Perhaps he couldn't leave her be, afraid that she might do something if he did.

"Every time I close my eyes."

Her voice sounded lifeless, much like her form that is still looking outside at nothing in particular. She knew he was referring to her nightmares, but the distinctive line between nightmare and reality had long faded.

"I have this dream... this nightmare every night wherein I'd relive that fateful day. Sometimes I'd be looking at a different perspective where I could see myself cry as I stab the dagger through my heart and not his, wherein I'm the one drowning with the dagger on my chest and not him." her voice was so small, so defeated that you could barely hear it if not for the thick silence around the room.

"Sometimes it's my very own perspective where I can see life slowly dim away from his eyes, wherein I kept reaching out but he just kept falling down the ocean. And if not that, I'd dream of the moments we shared together and then I'd wake up realizing that reality isn't like my dreams. Because when I wake up from a beautiful dream, he isn't right there beside me."

She paused, working her courage to continue talking without breaking down.

"But last night... last night felt so real." this time she turned her head so she could look Christian in the eye.