***
I said that I would make her mine and I very well plan on keeping that promise.
But how the hell can I expect to move forward with my plan of wooing her if I cannot even get away from these Senate members? I glared at every single one of them as I sat, slouching on my throne, waiting for all of this to be over so that I could go and see Valeria.
I had told her to come to the palace to spend some time with me and she seemed reluctant but agreed nonetheless. She should be arriving any minute but this daily briefing was dragging on longer than necessary.
I was getting annoyed. How much longer must I stay here?
I sat up from my slouching position when I noticed one of the guards walking into the room and watched as he walked over to Julius who didn't stand very far from me, he whispered something in his ear and Julius nodded before silently walking over to me.
"Valeria is here, your imperial majesty. She is waiting in the garden," He whispered in my ear and I perked up at his words. She was a few minutes earlier than expected, I wouldn't have even been surprised if she didn't show up.
"That's enough for today, I'm leaving," I said, standing up and getting ready to make my way out of the room but then everyone started protesting.
"But your imperial majesty- This is an important matter that needs your attention!" The Senate member who had been talking started and people around him agreed, begging me to just give them a bit more time to come up with an idea to fix the problem.
"Please reconsider!" My brows twitched, jaw ticking as I tried to keep patient until I eventually gave in and waved my hand for him to continue talking then went to sit back down on the throne.
"I'll have someone go and inform Valeria that you will be a bit late," I grumbled my reply to Julius's words and he went to do as he said.
The few extra minutes turned to hours as everyone gave their opinions on the matter only to have it shut down and in the end, when I was given the final say, I had to take some time to think it all over and weigh the options out to see which would be best for the Empire.
"Are we finally done?" I grumbled.
"Yes, your imperial majesty," The man said, bowing his head down.
"I'm leaving," I sighed, standing up and walking down the room as everyone parted ways, Tiberius, one of my generals standing by my side as I walked since Julius was busy and left the meeting early to go do something.
"She's probably gone by now," I mumbled walking down the porch and looking into the garden which stood behind the large columns, the warm Italian wind helping in calming down my now foul mood which was once excited.
It's been a few hours so she wouldn't still be... Waiting...
I came to a halt, turning my head to look towards the olive tree that stood in the garden, or more specifically, I stared at the woman that sat under its shade as she leaned against its bark with her eyes closed, she must be sleeping.
"She's still here," I heard myself whisper.
"Tiberius," I called.
"Yes, your imperial majesty," He didn't waste a beat to reply.
"You are free to leave," He seemed reluctant at my words but when I turned to look at him, he quickly nodded his head, dipped down into a bow and then scurried off and I didn't waste any time in watching after him.
I climbed down the few steps from the porch to the garden and made my way over to the sleeping woman who had been infesting my dreams ever since I first saw her.
Kneeling down in front of her, I carefully pushed a few strands of hair away from her face and for the next few minutes, I found myself not wanting to wake her up or even touch her.
All the faces she's shown me, her shy personality and then her mischievous and confident self, all of that looked so fake now that I see her sleeping face, I don't think I've ever seen her look so defenceless. I can't say I don't like it.
Placing a hand on her cheek, I stroked my thumb across the softness of her skin and when I felt her stir, I paused in my actions but it was too late since she cracked her eyelids open, her hazel eyes meeting my grey ones and not moving for some time.
"Is your meeting finally finished?" She asked. "I've been waiting for a long time and then I accidentally fell asleep. Your garden is really beautiful so I'm not complaining," She smiled a small smile and I felt my adam's apple bob up then down as I gulped.
"...I don't want it to be just my garden anymore," I mumbled out before I even knew it.
"Pardon?" I heard her whisper, surprised. The tiredness which had been lacing her face a moment ago disappeared all of a sudden and I found myself feeling so alive at this moment.
"Valeria," I called.
"...Yes..." She replied, rubbing at the tiredness in her eyes.
"Can you..." My finger trailed down to rub her bottom lip and my eyes followed not a moment later. "Can you just stay with me... for the rest of my life?" When I next raised my eyes to meet hers, I gave up.
After seeing that adorable look on her face again, I gave in and moved to kiss her forehead. My lips lingered there for a few belated seconds until I finally pulled away and she slowly fluttered her eyes open to meet mine once again.
"Why?..." She started. "Why are you doing this to me?... There's nothing special about me. You are the Emperor of the greatest Empire so why would you want a woman like me who doesn't know how to do anything right?"
"People don't look for reasons to like someone when they fall in love... I heard you before I saw you and I fell in love with the sound of your laugh. I wanted you to myself; your beauty, your smile and the very sound of your voice, I wanted to be able to tell everyone that this woman was mine," I moved to sit properly on the grass in front of her and she followed my every action with her eyes.
"You were seducing me in both my dreams and reality. I want you by my side all the time, I want to hold you and kiss every inch of your body, I want to call you mine and I want to show you off to the world while wanting to keep you hidden from the world at the same time," She blushed at those words and the corners of my lips perked up into a satisfied smirk.
"There doesn't need to be anything that specifically makes you stand out amongst others. Just know, that at least to me, I'll easily be able to find you in a crowd of over a hundred people. Because whether you want to or not, I have already become dedicated to making you mine,"
"So... What are you going to do?" She asked.
"One way or another... I will make you mine," I whispered, placing my palm against her cheek and slowly leaning in, pausing for a moment to see if she would pull away but when she didn't, I felt my heart leap in joy.
"Are you not going to move away?" I whispered, hovering above her lips.
"If I did that... I think I would regret it," And that was all I needed to hear to lean in and touch her lips, the feeling of her pouted lips touching mine was more euphoric than I had envisioned.
All those dreams were nothing compared to this moment.
"Valeria..." I called, hugging her body to mine as I paused in my kiss.
"Yes..." She moved to hide her face in the crook of my neck, clearly shy but putting up a brave front in front of me as I chuckled, running my fingers through her hair.
"Marry me,"
...
KEYWORDS:
Senate- The Roman Senate was a governing and advisory assembly in ancient Rome. It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, being established in the first days of the city of Rome.
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