Thy Kingdom Come
two - unseal thy fate
THE DAYS IN THE RUBY PALACE WERE FAIRLY PEACEFUL.
Cyrus never heard from the Emperor or even seen a strand of his hair for months he lived after reincarnating as a baby. He must have really forgotten about his children. Not that any of them cared though, this was totally fine.
There were okay with the golden toys inside their room that Lilian took from the playroom because she thought that the babies like sparkly things.
'Just goddamn crawl! Why is that so hard for you to do?!' If only Athanasia could yell that to herself, she would've already.
After months of teaching themselves from the basic again and trying their best to do their own instructions, the twins could crawl now.
Cyrus thought it would be great if he could walk already. That way, he could collect their escape fund faster. Athanasia thought the same too. She would like to run away with her brother and live a life away from the Emperor.
But was it just them?
Seems like some trinkets kept disappearing from their room. From the small picture frame to a candle holder. They wondered if Lilian was putting them away so they wouldn't get hurt as babies were fragile.
"The sorcerer of the tower had the strongest power among all the sorcerers in existence." One morning after having breakfast, Lilian sat on the couch with the twins carefully placed on her lap. She was reading the words aloud from a picture book.
'A sorcerer! So there are sorcerers in this world!' exclaimed Athanasia, looking at the book in wonder. 'I knew this wasn't just some random foreign country! I'm really in a fantasy world!'
The left page had a drawing of a tall stone tower covered with vines. "The sorcerer was so powerful, they could easily bring an Empire to ruins. And for that reason, they freeze their own hearts. Because such powers could be used for trivial things if passion overcame reason and emotion overcame rationality," recited Lilian. "There are theories that the sorcerer from the tower destroyed the kingdom before our Obelian Empire."
'I'm going to see magic someday with my own eyes!'
'They got powerful magic.'
On the other page, it showed a gold-haired man standing, leaning his weight on the sword beside him. His face was neutral and he wore an extravagant outfit.
"Oo dis?" asked Athanasia.
"Oh my, do you recognize who he is?" Lilian seemed excited at how the Princess questioned who the man was. "Yes, that's right. It's your father, Your Highnesses."
'What?!' Athanasia was beyond shocked. 'That damned bloke who left his wife and children and is out there doing god knows what?!'
She began hitting the book. "Bee baa! Tash!'
Translation: Bastard! Trash!
Cyrus pushed the book away in pure distaste.
Athanasia and Cyrus looked at each other in puzzlement, clearly confused at the action of the other one. Now, they really wondered if they were the same.
"My my, our sweet Princess and clever Prince are certainly bright young children." Lilian sounded like a proud mother. She didn't know what the twins were truly saying and thought that the children were happy because they finally got to see their father.
'The current Emperor of the Obelian Empire is the hero who brought an end to the tyrannical, devil-worshipping evil Emperor before him?! This scumbag who left his daughter and son out here, after massacring a palace full of people is portrayed like some kind of great heroic Emperor?!' Athanasia deeply rejected the description of her own father with a heavy heart full of anger. 'I know it's just a storybook, but come on!'
"That reminds me, I've never told you His Majesty's name. Would you look at this picture again?" Lilian was able to pick up the book and pointed at the picture of the Emperor again.
'I'm not curious! What is there for me to know about that dirtbag?!'
"Your father, Emperor Claude de Alger Obelia."
Cyrus seemed slightly terrified, internally. 'Why does he have the same name as the Emperor from that book?'
Their heads were filled with question marks.
Looking at each other then at Lilian, their heads began to throb from confusion.
Lilian felt their curious gaze and smiled again as she stroked their head. "And your names are Princess Athanasia de Alger Obelia and Prince Cyrus de Alger Obelia."
'I have the same full name as the Prince from that book?'
'Why do I have the same name as the Princess who got killed?!'
"Princess and Prince, you both are the Majesty's precious children."
It was uncanny for Athanasia how identical things were. And how annoying it was . . . Was it just her?
'Why am I getting shivers down my spine? Haha . . .'
_____________
Well, let's see, how did those novels go?
'Lovely Princess' was a romance fantasy novel that was a big hit online. It contained similar scenes and characters from the novel 'The Fate of Crown Prince Cyrus', but that novel was centered on Cyrus and his point of view.
The 'Lovely Princess', however, was centered on the two Princess of the Empire. Like the title, there were lovely Princesses in the book. Among the two Princesses of the Obelian Empire, the Protagonist is -
The second Princess, Jennette de Alger Obelia.
The Princess was a beautiful lady with an angelic heart, and she was beloved not only by her nation, but by the whole continent. And among those who adore Jennette, was her father, Emperor Claude.
To his people, he was raised as a hero and savior of the nation. But in truth, he was a heartless man who killed his elder brother, the proper heir, and sat himself upon the throne.
Jennette was the kind of person who could melt the heart of even a cold-blooded man like him. Claude only learned of Jennette's existence when she turned fourteen. Jennette's mother was Claude's former fiancée.
After enraging him and losing her place as his bride-to-be, she died while giving birth to their daughter. Jennette's Aunt tried to protect her niece from Claude by hiding her away in the care of the Alpheus family.
After realizing her existence, Claude was cold towards Jennette at first. However, Princess Jennette, being an unbelievably lovable person due to being the protagonist, eventually melted the cold icy fort that was Claude.
Suported by her father, the Emperor, she was wed to Ijekiel, the best man in the Empire fit to be a husband, and lived happily ever after . . .
'Ew, so cheesy.' Athanasia bit into her blanket. She was pissed just by remembering that book. 'On the other hand, what about the treatment of the first Princess and Prince?!'
Both with golden blonde hair and jewel eyes, Athanasia was the first born Princess while Cyrus was the first born Prince, both were the same age as Jennette. Born from a lowly dancer mother who couldn't even become an official concubine, they experienced a totally different childhood from Jennette.
Unlike Jennette, the twins' existence were informed to Claude the moment they were born.
But he left the children in the Palace for concubines. Thus, they grew up being scorned and ignored. For that reason, Athanasia grew up to be a fragile Princess, always having to care about what others thought of her.
On the other hand, Cyrus grew up with the pressure of becoming the perfect heir in order to have power that he could use to protect his sister.
The first time Athanasia ever saw her father was on her ninth birthday. Claude held a ball for the emissaries of foreign countries, completely forgotten about his children's birthday.
Led by the lights and the noise of the banquet, she left the Ruby Palace late that night where she took a wrong turn and accidently met Claude in the garden of the Emperor's Palace.
Of course, Claude turned away and left, uninterested.
But to a girl like Athanasia who never received any affection, that was quite a fateful encounter. She tried with all her might to be loved by her father, thus growing up into a beauty with both skill and grace.
Meanwhile, when Cyrus reached the age of ten, he started training from dawn to dusk. He was determined to show everyone that he was worthy of the crown. Claude would only call for him to criticize him whenever he would make a mistake during sword and magic training. He never missed to tell him to read everything in the library.
Cyrus took all of his father's words into heart. It pained him deeply but he didn't let it get to him and focused on himself, thus he grew up as a perfect and handsome Prince. He was the most talented man in the Empire, only second to his own father.
On the day of Athanasia's debutante when they turned 14, the twins wanted to entertain their Father and make him proud. But during the Debudante Ball, Duke Alpheus presented Jennette to the world and all hopes were shattered into pieces.
Athanasia and Cyrus with their gloomy and foggy disposition, and Jennette, bright and cheery as the sun.
Perhaps it was inevitable that everyone loved Jennette more than the Obelia twins.
As the story continued on, Athanasia became even more timid as Jennette was emphasized as the perfect Princess.
'Athanasia was a really nice girl too, just that Jennette was supposed to be the best girl in the book. And Cyrus, he did everything to earn power that he could use to protect his sister.'
Instead of being jealous of Jennette, Athanasia taught her the ways of the Palace.
'Ah, you dummy! You should've looked out for yourself!'
But Athanasia, she lost the very thing she ever wanted to Jennette, her father's love. Well, I suppose you can't lose what you never had.
On top of everything, the poor Princess got killed by her own father, accused of putting poison in Jennette's glass. She was framed, of course. Jennette's aunt was behind it all. An elaborate scheme to make her niece the first heir to the throne, which was unnecessary since Claude didn't gave Athanasia a single thought for the seat in the first place.
The Aunt intended to kill Cyrus that day too since he was going to be crowned as the Empire's Crown Prince, his title would soon become official. She planned on poisoning him and blamed it on Athanasia so she would receive a heavier punishment for poisoning the heir to the throne, so she would be called greedy and crazy for trying to steal the throne from her own brother.
But Cyrus wasn't there the day it happened. He was away on an important business.
On the contrary, if Athanasia knew it was poisoned, she would have gladly drink that glass herself to save Jennette. Because if something bad happened to Jennette, it would have gravely saddened Claude.
As you can see, Athanasia was a poor, foolish princess.
Jennette's aunt only expected for Athanasia to be incarcerated or simply dethroned of her position as the first Princess . . . but Claude cannot be underestimated. While Jennette was on death's door, he filled for her execution even before she was found guilty and killed her himself.
It was her eighteenth birthday, exactly nine years after she met him for the first time in the garden.
Cyrus suffered and killed himself, leaving behind a letter that describe his hatred for his father.
Eventually the truth was revealed that it was actually the Countess, not the first Princess. But it was already too late, the first born children were already dead, falsely charged.
"Is that so?" But Claude never felt an ounce of guilt or regret on killing his first daughter and the death of his son.
The angelic main character Jennette felt responsible for her siblings death, and she was riddled with extreme guilt . . . but with the consolation of her lover, Ijekiel, she was able to put the ordeal behind her and 'Lovely Princess' ended with a happily ever after.
Meanwhile, the novel 'The Fate of Crown Prince Cyrus' ended with two broken siblings who knew that the world turned against them.
That it was the world versus them, and they had lost.
It was a tragic ending that left many people at loss. Some didn't know which one to like more. The novel where it told the story of Jennette and Claude's familial love or the novel of Cyrus and Athanasia, which showcased their sufferings and dark inner feelings.
Due to having different endings and descriptions of the characters' personalities, the novel received some backlash because the readers of 'Lovely Princess' didn't like the way Cyrus hated Jennette in his novel. But the Author, who had the pen name 'Moon', announced that they didn't care about what anyone say.
The novel was solely for Cyrus, focusing on his feelings and side of the story, so if they wanted to make it about Jennette, then they should make their own story.
The Author didn't reveal themselves to anyone and dedicated their time on that book and sharing it to the world. But after some time, it lost its popularity, topped by the 'Lovely Princess' novel.
Athanasia held on her golden ball tightly, in a sour mood. 'Pisses me off again just thinking about it. I just don't get why Athanasia and Cyrus have to experience such meaningless deaths.'
Well, it wasn't like she really liked Athanasia and Cyrus, they were just better than Jennette and Claude. And she could careless what happened to the other people in this world as long as she was happy with her brother.
But she just couldn't stand by and watch.
Why, you ask?
Tears built up in her eye and rolled down her cheeks. 'Because it seems I've become that very Athanasia, that's why! And my brother killed himself because of me!'
"Uwang!" She cried much louder. Cyrus looked at her, confused.
She had to convince herself that it wasn't true but there were limits in escaping reality. There were too many similarities to that novel.
'Even if they're all coincidence, how could they be all the same?' She tried to ignore the uneasy gut feeling, but it wasn't easy.
"Princess!" Lily entered the room at the sound of her anguished tears. She carried the baby in her arms. "Why is my Princess so upset?"
Athanasia buried her face in Lilian's familiar arms and kept crying. She was already in an emotional rollercoaster and became sadder when she saw Lilian's face.
Lilian York.
The first person from the book 'Lovely Princess' who claimed Athanasia was innocent. As a result, she had died along with Athanasia and Cyrus.
Lilian was the second daughter of an influential Count family, so she didn't need to be a maid. But despite being aware of the Ruby Palace incident, she still volunteered to become Athanasia's and Cyrus' nanny. The reason was because of the twins' mother who passed away.
As she was talented enough to perform a solo stage at an Imperial Ball. Lilian, who was sick of the stuffy Palace life, respected and admired Diana, who was as free as a bird.
But Diana died right after giving birth and Claude shockingly massacred everyone in the Ruby Palace.
"Waaaaannng!" As Athanasia cried louder, Lilian became flustered.
'Claude, you piece of scum.' Athanasia couldn't stop crying. No matter how much she thought about it, this was definately the world of those novels.
'Lilian and Diana's friendship appeared only a few times in the Lovely Princess, but I was deeply moved by it. A beautiful friendship, like the one I saw in Anne of Green Gables when I was invited at a birthday party. Yeah, I didn't have any friends, that's why I admired their friendship! But in the end, Lily also died because she was on the twins' side!'
"Is it time to change the diaper?"
'Wait, I didn't pee!'
"So, it'a not food nor the diaper . . ."
'No, it's my innocence!' Athanasia began to twist her body as hard as she could after being forcefully undressed and started to cry again.
'She's been whining a lot these days.' Cyrus lay on the ground, staring at the golden chandelier.
Lilian was frustrated because she couldn't find out the reason why Athanasia was crying. But Athanasia was frustrated just like her.
She checked the room in case there was some kind of bug that scared the child but there was nothing. The babies' room remained clean and sparkly as ever.
She looked over at Cyrus, who gave her a blank look before he shook the rattle. 'Better play with this before I get accused of hurting her.'
'Oh Lilian. Wherefore art thou Lilian. Wherefore art thou Cyrus, Cyrus. And wherefore art me Athanasia? Just why?'
"It's okay Princess, I'm right here." Athanasia continued to cry upon hearing Lilian's consoling voice.
'Call me Jennette. I don't want to be Athanasia!' If only she could say that outloud. 'I was right! I should leave this damn palace with my brother! Time, make haste!'