Chapter 6 - When You're on Your Own

"Mari," Chris enters Aristia's room after talking to the King for about an hour. "Where is the Empress?"

"She's currently taking a bath, Your Majesty." The maid bows. She still seems on edge, and she's fidgeting.

"I see. Go in and let her know that I'm waiting for her." Chris commands. He felt like he spent way too much time chatting with the King about nothing of importance while his mind was stuck on Aristia's weird mannerisms when she left the room.

"I beg your pardon, but she asked that no one comes in-"

"It's a command, Mari." Chris counters, and the maid can't do anything but nod and follow his orders.

Chris goes to the sofa to sit down. He immediately notices the golden crown of the Empress on the floor, and with a frown, he stands up to pick it up. However, not even a few seconds later, a blood-curdling scream alerts him that something is wrong, so he runs to the source immediately.

He enters the bathroom with haste and the first thing he sees is the maid frantically pulling Aristia out of the bathtub. The water is blood-red, and he is as alerted as the maid as he comes closer and sees the source of the blood: the Empress' back.

The moment he sees all the cuts and bruises on her back, his insides begin boiling with anger. He helps the maid take her out of the water and cover her with a large white towel.

Aristia seems lethargic, and she doesn't say anything. She doesn't focus her eyes on him or on the maid, and her body is so incredibly cold, he shivers to the touch.

Chris takes her in his arms while he commands the maid to get the doctor quickly, and he brings her to the bed, laying her down gently with her back up.

He is hesitant to pull the towel and uncover her, but he needs to do it to assess the damage the King has done. All the lacerations he sees are deep, and he wonders how many times he's hit her.

Moments later, Hyunjin enters the room hastily, followed by Changbin, Lee Know, Jisung and Seungmin, and as they see the state the Empress is in, they become speechless.

"All of you, get out!" Chris commands harshly, and they don't waste any time to offer them privacy.

Hyunjin carefully approaches the bed.

"This looks so painful... are you in a lot of pain, Your Highness?" He asks, almost in a whisper, but she fails to reply. "I will clean your wounds first, which will hurt, but afterwards I will apply a calming salve and bandage everything, and it will feel so much better, I promise."

Chris watches from a distance how Hyunjin carefully cleans each and every cut with a clean cloth and water, and how every time the cloth touches her skin, Aristia winces in pain and whimpers, turning her head away so that no one sees her cry.

When he cleans the deeper wounds, she buries her head in the pillow and cries harder, clenching the sheets with her fists and shivering.

Hyunjin keeps a frown on his face the whole time, and in-between cleaning the wounds, he pauses briefly before breathing deeply and reassuring Aristia that everything will be alright. He sometimes tries asking her questions, but she doesn't answer. Instead, she focuses on holding her breaths, and on Hyunjin's soothing voice, hoping it will take the pain away.

It takes a while until Hyunjin thoroughly cleans and disinfects every wound. When he's done, he grabs his bag and pulls out a reverse cutting needle and some silk thread.

"There are some wounds that are in need of suture, Your Highness." He informs Aristia.

"... Alright." She whispers softly.

"I am truly sorry. I wish we could've numbed the area in some way so that you wouldn't feel any pain."

"Don't worry. Thank you." She replies in a voice just as soft as previously and grips the sheets again, even tighter than before.

Her knuckles turn white as she is waiting for Hyunjin to finish his work. He's moving fast at least, and when he's done, he applies the calming salve which cools down her back, the pain now a bit more bearable.

"I need you to sit up so I can bandage you..." He says and turns his back with a flush of his cheeks. Chris comes next to the bed and offers Aristia help, but she disregards him completely and sits up on her own, covering her chest with her right hand.

Hyunjin then turns around and bandages her whole upper body, walking Aristia through everything he's doing.

"We will have to change these bandages every day, and when we do, we will reapply the salve for pain management." He says. "It would be best to rest for the time being, to avoid reopening the wounds."

"I see." Aristia replies weakly, lying back down on the bed on her right side, facing away from Chris and Hyunjin.

She is growing more and more depressed and hopeless with each passing moment, and she doesn't understand why she should fight to be alive when everyone wants her gone.

"Then, we'll let you rest." Chris says and shows Hyunjin outside. Before he steps out the door, he hears her start speaking weakly.

"How were you planning to get rid of me? Kill me somehow? Maybe poison?"

"What?" Chris turns around, shocked.

"If so, just hand it over now. Slip it in my tea in front of my eyes and I'll drink it gladly."

He shakes his head even if she is not able to see him, and leaves without another word.

~

"How bad is it, Jinnie?" Chris asks, his eyes darkened. "Will it scar?"

"I'm afraid so. Especially the bigger ones. She has so many faded marks on her back, I wonder how many times she's been through this."

"I can't believe her own father would do something like that... That bastard."

"Yeah... it must be so painful. I feel sorry for her."

"Mhm. Thanks for treating her, Jinnie. I'll count on you to make her better."

Hyunjin leaves with a short bow and Chan turns around to see Lee Know and Changbin staring at him.

"What's up?"

"Your Majesty..." Changbin starts with a long breath. "... What happened to her?"

"As you might have heard from my conversation with Hyunjin, it appears her father is not only a monster to us, but to his own daughter as well."

Lee Know lets his head fall down, while Changbin clenches his fists.

"What are you going to do about this?" Lee Know asks.

"Nothing." Chan shrugs. "War might break out if we-"

"Your Majesty!" Changbin exclaims loudly, getting into Chan's face, and Lee Know begins pulling him back.

From the corner of his right eye, Chris spots someone, so he signals him to come.

"Your Highness, I apologise for my lowly behaviour." Aristia's guard gets down on his knees and bows low.

"I bet you are, you fucking coward-" Changbin starts, wanting nothing more than to punch the guard square in the face. However, Lee Know pulls him back once more, and Chris begins talking.

"Enough. Lee Know, Changbin, go send the King's guards away and make sure he doesn't go anywhere. He's caused enough problems for today. And you," he turns to the guard, "get up and guard Aristia. Let no one enter the room besides her maid, Hyunjin or I. Is that clear?"

Changbin bites his tongue back. He wants to ask Chris how he can trust that man to take care of her, when he's abandoned her so conveniently earlier, but he can't cross him in front of a subordinate, so he holds back.

~

The next morning, Chris visits Aristia and has breakfast with her. He tries to initiate small talk, to talk to her about anything, but her eyes are unfocused, and she's not even touching the fork. Her shoulders are slouched, she looks tired, and she's extremely pallid.

"Is the food not to your liking?" He asks with a worried face, but she doesn't even look at him. In their brief interactions, she's always challenged him, but now... it's like that light sparkling in her eyes has faded away, and any fight she had in her is gone.

Although he comes back for lunch and dinner, the scene repeats itself, and he's getting worried. Maybe he should let Felix see her, after all, and that might make her feel better.

He sits down at her desk and waits for her to fall asleep, the storm within his chest ravishing everything inside of him, and he feels utterly powerless faced with this situation.

What should he do?

What is the best course of action?

He didn't want to make any decisions the previous night, when his anger was fresh, but now, he knows he has to do something. All the muscles in his body are screaming at him to go knock some sense into the King, but he can't be rash.

Chris is deep in thought when he hears Aristia's even breathing, and he knows she's finally fallen asleep. He stands up, and then he sees the drawers of her desks and remembers something.

Carefully, he pulls out a small golden key from his pocket. He found it in the King's room, the chain tied to it broken, and he picked it up and was meaning to return it to the Empress. He puts it on the desk, on top of a library pass he's issued with her name on it, and then glances once more at the drawers.

"She keeps them locked in her drawers and carries the key at all times around her neck." He remembers her maid saying, and he gets curious.

What type of stories are you writing? He wonders, glancing up to the sleeping girl, and decides to invade her privacy one more time. He unlocks the drawer as quietly as he can, taking out the first few papers he sees, and begins reading.

He reads of marvellous adventures in fantasy lands, of strong and bright individuals who bring change wherever they go. Every character in her stories is blessed with a strong light inside of them that shines brightly, with remarkable skills that help them overcome every difficult predicament.

Chris looks one more time at Aristia as he puts everything back in the drawer and leaves the key on the table. He realises that she always seemed to have that fighting spirit of her characters in her before, but now, she looks completely defeated.

It all becomes clear now. Even if he disregarded her as his bride, his behaviour towards her has been completely unwarranted. The moment she stepped foot in the Empire and married him, she was no longer part of the Kingdom. She became one of his people, and he's failed to protect her.

He's failed as the Emperor, and he's not one bit better than her father, the King of the South.

However, there is still time to amend, time to do something to help her heal the pain in her heart, and he lets the boiling anger consume him for the first time in his life.

~

Huh... did I fall asleep? Aristia opens her eyes slowly and glances around the room. No one is sitting at her desk anymore, and she wonders when the Emperor decided to leave.

It's a struggle to get up, for her empty stomach hurts and she's nauseous, but she does it either way and tries her hardest to not wince in pain with every step she takes. Her back hurts again, the calming effect of the salve long gone hours ago.

There are no stars in the sky tonight; the sky is grey, covered in rain clouds she is only able to see due to the thunders that light everything up every now and then.

As she steps away from the balcony and approaches her desk, she notices the glimmer of her key, and she instinctively pats around her neck, only to find it's missing.

She hasn't even noticed it's been missing, that's how out of it she's been ever since she got beaten black and blue by her father.

Next to the key, a small card that reads Library pass – Empress in golden letters glistens in the dim light of her room.

She almost wants to laugh.

She's been begging for this for months, and only now is the Emperor generous enough to offer her the one thing she's asked for.

Right, the Emperor.

Aristia realises that she needs to come to terms with the fact that she's on her own, that the Emperor doesn't and won't give a shit about her, nor will anyone else. That's why she's been treated so badly her whole life. That's what apparently happens when you're on your own: people step on you, and you can't do anything about it.

No one loves her.

Not even her father - her own family. The same father who hit her mercilessly for years.

She can't believe that not even the highest title in the Empire a woman could attain was able to protect her from her father. Nothing is able to protect her. The only person who could... doesn't care about her to do so.

She remembers how she felt when her father was hitting her, how the realisation that no one would come cut her deeper than any blade, and she figures it out, finally. She must accept once and for all that she is on her own, and that no one will ever protect her. No one.

Yes, that's right. She knows that now.

She only has herself. She can only count on herself, and no one else will ever love her.

The only one who can save her is herself, and she has a cruel realisation: she is faced with only two choices:

One, she has to accept this merciless destiny. She will never be more than a puppet everyone easily discards as soon as they are tired playing with her, and she will suffer greatly. First, by her father's hands, and soon enough, by her husband's, who's been probably planning her demise ever since he sent that marriage proposal to the Kingdom.

Or two... she takes up arms and she gets revenge on everyone who's ever wronged her. But how? In order to do so, she needs power.

Power? She starts laughing out loud like a mad woman. Why would she even need that to stand up to her father? It would be so easy to get rid of him, if only it wouldn't start a war.

War? She laughs again, as a sudden realisation rushes over her, as if all her feelings disappeared, but the seething anger deep in her soul.

Screw everyone else. Screw the Kingdom, screw the Empire, screw her husband, and more than anything, screw her father.

He doesn't deserve to see the light of tomorrow's day.

It's like a light bulb turns on in Aristia's head, and she no longer cares about anything.

Peace? The people of this Empire? The people of the Kingdom?

Who cares about any of that?

No one was fucking there when she needed them to protect her, so why would she protect them?

She gets out of her room and startles her guard, who immediately gets on his knees and apologises.

"Stand up." She commands, and as soon as he does, she extends her hand towards him.

Confused, the guard looks at her with a slight tilt of his head.

"Your sword." She looks directly at his scabbard, and he instantly puts his hand on it, as if protectively.

"Your Majesty... you wouldn't..." The guard starts, his eyes getting watery, and she rolls her eyes.

"I'm not going to slain you, although you deserve nothing less." She smiles insincerely.

"Then... what do you wish to do with this sword?"

"How dare you question me?" She lets out a horrifying chuckle, and once their eyes meet, the guard freezes in his spot. "After how cowardly you've acted, the least you can do is follow my commands without barking back."

As soon as the words leave her lips, the guard bows and pulls out his sword, giving it to her.

"Good boy. Now, stay here and don't make any sound. Wait for your master to come back, like a good dog would."

She starts walking towards the guest rooms, dragging the sword after her on the marble floors.

It's way heavier than she imagined, and her body is extremely weak. Still, she will definitely be able to wield it against her drunk father's throat in his sleep. That much she can do.

Once she reaches his door, she's surprised to see Lee Know and Changbin in front of it. Her gaze drops, but still, she is their Empress, and they must obey her.

"Good evening." She smiles sombrely.

"Your Highness, what are you doing here at this hour?" Changbin asks, his eyes wide as he sees Aristia in a white, almost see-through nightgown, dragging the sword with her left hand.

"I could ask you the same." She answers. "Is my father inside?"

"Yes, he is."

Lee Know eyes her sharply but doesn't say a word.

"Changbin, open the door, will you? I want to have a little chat with my father."

"Your Highness, you are carrying a sword-" he starts, but Lee Know puts his hand on Changbin's chest and stops him from talking.

With a slight bow, Lee Know opens the doors, and as soon as Aristia is able to see inside, her eyes grow wide.

"DAUGHTER! MY DAUGHTER! YOU'VE COME TO SPARE ME!" The King screams and begins crawling towards her, leaving a blood trail under him.

His right hand is cut off, and he's desperately clenching a dagger with his left hand, but he looks ridiculous and small. The absurdity of the situation almost makes her laugh again, as she can't believe she's been scared of this little, pathetic man.

On the big armchair right next to the King, Chris is cleaning off his sword with an amused smirk playing on his lips.

"Oh, you came too?" He asks Aristia, who's staring in shock at the sight. "Ah, look at this worm crawling and dirtying my floors. Tsk." He says with disgust and stands up from the chair, stepping on the King's back to stop him from moving any further.

"You little..." The King starts, but Chris just shakes his head.

"I hope you were not trying to touch my precious wife again, were you?"

"I really... didn't know... you have a good... relationship. You didn't even... sleep with her..."

"How is that any of your concern? How dare you hurt your own daughter, hm?" He steps on his back with more force, and the King starts coughing. Then, he steps on his hand and forces him to let go of the dagger.

"I... I'm so sorry, Aristia. My daughter. I was wrong. Forgive me."

"Tsk. Not even a please? It's your life at stake, King. Still hanging onto that useless pride?" Chris mocks, then looks at Aristia and chuckles. "Besides, look at your precious daughter, she was ready to come and end your pathetic life herself."

As he says this, Aristia's sword falls out of her hand and slams on the marble floors. The sound it makes rings in her head repeatedly, even seconds after.

"Want to give him the final blow? Here, take this, it's way lighter than that sword." He hands her the small dagger on the floor, and as she picks it up, she notices it's stained with blood.

"Why are you doing this?" She asks Chris, looking into his dark eyes.

"Why?" He tilts his head. "He dared hurt my wife, the Empress of this Empire, in her own home, at that! Do you think he deserves any mercy?"

"Your wife...?" Aristia hugs herself and looks away. She doesn't want her heart to flutter, or to feel anything but disgust. These are mere words, and Chris is just putting on a show in front of her father.

"Mhm. My wife." He replies quietly and brushes his fingers against her cheek. They stare into each other's eyes for a few moments before the King's groans distract them.

"Please..." he begs. "I beg of you, spare me this one time..."

"Give me one reason not to kill you. One convincing enough for both me and the Empress."

"War... war will break out if I die."

"I assume both of us were already aware of that possibility when we decided to come to your room tonight." Chris grins. "Not good enough."

He grabs Aristia's hand and puts his fingers on the dagger, silently conveying that if she doesn't want to do it herself, she doesn't have to. She slowly lets go of the dagger and lets it fall in Chan's hands, but as he turns around, she grabs his wrist to stop him.

He looks back at her and he's expecting to see weakness or hesitation, but instead, he's met with the most burning pair of eyes he's ever seen before. She bends down and grabs the sword that's fallen from her hands moments prior and channels up all her force to deliver one final blow right through her father's chest.

He's dead.

He's finally dead.

~

Chris escorts Aristia back to her room in silence. Her anxiety is slowly rising in her chest.

What if this is exactly what he wanted – for her to kill her father, so that he has a reason to drive her away, to murder her with no repercussions?

That way, he'd get rid of the King as well, putting all the blame on her. He'd send her back to the Kingdom where she'd be executed for treason, which would give him enough time to put his hands on the emerald mine.

All his enemies, gone at once.

Did I fall right in his trap? Aristia bites her nails, a bad habit showing her nervousness. They taste like blood.

But... how would've Chris known I decided to kill my father?

He couldn't have.

"Well, then, you should get changed and rest well." Chris says once they reach Aristia's room and turns around to leave. "And you-" he looks at her guard that's kneeling down in front of the door, "-stand up. This is unsightly."

She grabs his wrist to stop him.

"Can you... come in?"

"What for?"

"I need to talk to you..."

Confused, he nods and follows her inside. They both stand awkwardly in front of the sofa, unsure if they should sit down, and the sight is quite gruesome, as they are both covered in the King's blood.

"What is it you want to tell me?" He asks after a few seconds of silence.

"Are you... planning to kill me?" She replies with a blunt question. There's no point in beating around the bush.

"No." He denies immediately. "Not anymore."

"Then, to send me back?"

"After you've just killed your father?" Chris chuckles coldly.

"You'd get rid of me easily." She says quietly, forcing the words out of her mouth. Frankly, she is scared she's given him the idea if he hadn't thought of it already.

"I won't send you back." He answers just as quietly.

"I see."

Silence befalls them once more for a few short moments, while Aristia tries to make sense of Chan's conflicting actions. He hasn't paid her any mind until now, but ever since he found out that her father beat her, his behaviour towards her changed drastically.

"Well, if there's nothing else-"

"This will start a war." She cuts him off, and they stare at each other again.

"I know."

"So then, why? You married me to avoid the war, and now..."

"Weren't you ready to start one yourself, Aristia?" He asks, and it's the first time she's ever heard him say her name. Her heart flutters again, despite her inner protests.

"The Empire... has never once protected me, so... I decided I don't care to protect it either." She looks away after the confession, aware of the implications behind her words.

"Fair enough."

"... What?" She asks with confusion, looking back at him. She didn't expect him to agree with her motives.

"You heard me. Although I doubt you don't care about the people." He averts his gaze briefly. "I also had a selfish reason for visiting the King tonight."

"... Care to elaborate?"

"When I saw the state you were in... I just couldn't let this pass. It's the least I owe you as your husband."

"My husband." She chuckles bitterly. "You've never once been a husband to me, Chris."

"You're right. I wasn't."

She involuntarily holds her hands together, keeping her fingers as tight as possible in her hold, so as not to fidget. She breathes in and holds her breath, which is somewhat relaxing.

It helps her stop any unwanted thoughts, and she wishes she were underwater.

"Although it might not be my place to tell you this... Aristia, don't let anyone harm that spark in you. Not the Empire, not your father, not me... It's all you've got, and it's far too beautiful to let it fade away. Stay strong, be true to your title as the Empress."

With these words, Chris starts walking towards the door, before turning around for the last time.

"Felix will eat with us starting tomorrow morning. I can't keep him away from you any longer."

"What about-"

"Don't worry about the war. We will be prepared." He cuts her off and nods assuringly, before opening the door.

Aristia doesn't know how to feel about this short talk with Chris. She puts her right hand on her chest and feels her heart beating abnormally fast, realising that tonight, Chris has acknowledged her as his wife and the Empress for the first time.

"Wait!" She exclaims and follows him in a rush, bumping her palm against the door and closing it again.

Chris turns around and looks at her, and in the slight glimmer coming from outside, what he notices the most is the burning in her eyes. It's back, stronger than ever before, and he's relieved to see something familiar on her face, instead of the dreadful emptiness in her expression.

His heart skips a beat.

"Yes?"

"There are a few things... I still want to tell you."

Chris nods and waits for her to speak. Her back is on fire again, she feels like crying, but she chokes back the sobs and doesn't allow them to pass between her lips.

"I want Changbin to be my personal guard."

"Changbin?" Chris widens his eyes in surprise. "Why?"

"I trust him."

"... I will think about it."

"My father's army... I know a lot about it... Just enough to lead you to victory with the fewest losses."

Chris widens his eyes again. This information would be crucial for a good outcome of the upcoming war, and he wants to hear more.

"What do you know about it?" He wants to thread carefully, but he doesn't realise the Empress is just as cautious.

She chuckles briefly.

"Should I simply tell you? What's in it for me? You confessed to planning to kill me mere minutes ago."

"And I also added that I'm not planning it anymore, if I recall correctly."

"Maybe not with your own hands, but everyone in this Empire hates me, including your two advisors who are probably plotting my demise right as we speak."

"I guarantee you nothing will happen to you. I give you my word."

"How much does your word weigh, though?" Aristia scoffs. "You vowed during our wedding to love, cherish, and protect me no matter what. So far, none of your vows were respected. You said it yourself. You were never a husband to me."

"Neither were yours. In sickness and in health, I will stand by your side. With all that I am and all that I have, I pledge my loyalty and my love to you." Chris scoffs as well.

"You didn't give me any chance to get close to you. You've put up your barriers and thought of me as your enemy since day one." She comes closer to him.

"I had no idea we shared an enemy instead, Aristia. Truly. I thought you were a spy."

"You didn't even ask me anything. You dead bolted me."

"How could I have trusted you? You are the daughter of my enemy." Chris frowns.

"I don't know. How can I trust you now, then? You are a man who hates me for simply being born as a princess of the enemy kingdom."

"... I assume you can't."

"Why did you marry me, anyway?" Aristia scoffs again, but quickly shakes her head and begins talking again. "My father tried to prevent me all my life from living outside of my room's walls. What he couldn't do, though, was make me stay away from interesting things and become knowledgeable in lots of different areas."

"You did mention you read a lot about the sugar canes..."

"A mere 15-year-old girl should have no business knowing everything about a Kingdom's military strategy. But I did. After my father beat me till I bled and left me on the floor barely conscious, I heard the commander of his troops and him talking. For years, this has been at least a monthly occurrence, Chris. They thought I couldn't hear them, and that even if I did hear them, that I wasn't smart enough to know what they meant anyway."

Chris looks away briefly before letting his eyes fall back on Aristia's.

"But if I was blessed with something, it was intelligence. I know everything about my father's military, all about their strategies, the approximate number of soldiers they have, how they plan to strike back in case you attack them for the emerald mine. It's valuable information to you and to the Empire, and I'm willing to share it with you."

"...What do you want in return, then? If my word that you'll be safe from now on is not enough..." He shifts, which causes them to be even closer.

His eyes get stuck on hers as he sees that bright burning once more, and he involuntarily moves his right hand, resting it on her neck. To his surprise, she leans into his touch.

"I want to be a proper Empress. I want power. I want you to let me do my job, because I'm rotting away here, and I honestly can't do it anymore."

"I gave you a library pass, though. You can get right back to your passion for books."

"That library pass might've made the foolish woman that only cared to lead a quiet life away from the world's gaze somewhat happy. But you see, Chris?"

She raises her right hand, touching the blood-stained gold emblems of the Empire embroidered on his shirt. She rubs it with her thumb, watching it get back its shine, reflecting her image.

For the first time in her life, she feels confident, even though she's in front of the most powerful man on the continent. She is surprised to find his eyes no longer holding contempt at the sight of her. Instead, they seem fascinated.

Their proximity is close enough to feel each other's breaths. Their eyes are silently fighting, their lips are so close, they're almost touching, and Aristia's hand lays comfortably on Chan's broad chest.

"Months ago, it would've been enough. But for the woman I am today, it falls short. I am sick and tired of being a fake, a replaceable thing in the Empire's eyes. Either make me a true Empress and use my help, or go fight this war completely blinded and lose all the men you have. For all I care, you and the Empire can go straight to hell. I have no reason to protect any of you anymore."

With these harsh words, Aristia separates herself from Chris and turns around, signalling that she said everything she wanted, but he is not willing to let it go like this. He grabs her wrist and turns her around, pulling her body into his, and keeps her close.

His right hand finds her neck again, and lifting her head, she notices they are even closer than before, which she didn't think was possible.

"What use do I have of you as my Empress, hm?" Chris whispers, cupping her left cheek with his hand. "My advisors are good enough in handling the bookkeeping and the budget, as well as managing the staff and making sure they look out for any suspicious patterns in the noble's activities. With such competent people, what would I do with you?"

"And here I thought the military tactics of your most powerful enemy is enough."

"What you're saying is, you want the Empress' duties as your reward for trading information with me?" Chris chuckles. "You really are clever, I'm gonna give you that."

"I'd say you should decide quickly. You won't be able to hide my father's death for long." Aristia continues challenging Chris, but if she was able to keep strong so far, her body is now giving up on her.

The pain in her back is once again unbearable, and the fact that she hasn't eaten in days is making itself known in the weakness she feels. Her knees are almost giving out.

She has to keep strong for only a few more moments.

It's getting hard to breathe. It's suffocating, even. And who thought keeping your eyes open would be so difficult?

She instinctively raises her hands to grab onto Chris as her body is finally succumbing to darkness, and she falls unconscious.

Chris is quick to take her in his arms, picking her up.

"You're all talk." He chuckles softly.

He couldn't deny the newfound admiration for her. She demanded something from him, confronted him, and even proved she could be useful to him.

He was willing to give in to her demands from the moment she mentioned she wanted to be a real Empress, but it was fun to keep her engaged, to challenge her some more.

If only he realised how weak she still is, he would've not pushed her as hard tonight.

Still, perhaps it was better that she collapsed. It would force her to finally get the rest she so desperately needs.

~

(A/N) Progress?!?!?!?!

Love,

Storm