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"Princess!" he called entering the room, Irisa frowned, this was the first time he was entering her room.
"What are you doing?!" she yelped as he marched toward her. "I am not playing your games anymore are we clear?!" Irisa pulled the cover unto her nose.
"Why are you in my room Aaron shouldn't be here! I ordered you not to come near me again!"
"Well, I am sorry for what I did okay, but starving yourself will not make you feel better and it will not change the fact that I lied." Irisa turned away but he pulled her by hand into his arms.
"W... What are you doing?!" She yelped, her eyes widening. She tried pulling her hand from him but he used his hands to circle her waist and pulled her closer.
"You have been so much, trouble princess!" She blinked, her heart pounded ten times faster, "Ju... Just... Lea... Leave me alone Aaron!" she stuttered and tried to slap his arms for him to release her.
"I am tired of this, Irisa. I said I was sorry for lying and I know that I lied to you but please just try to understand our situation. I didn't know you very well." Irisa looked away not wanting to hear.
"I am just, how could you not tell me when I was dying? I understand that you wanted to keep yourself safe. But I am your wife and I am just... I was going to die thinking that you were paralyzed. That is something I cannot get over." Aaron sighed and yanked her hands away.
"I need my space, Aaron. I am just going to go to sleep, you should too." Irisa sank into her bed.
"The crown prince is hosting a small feast in your name." Irisa looked toward him.
"What are you talking about?" She sat up and he looked away almost clenching his jaw.
"I tried to make him not do it but he didn't listen. He said he owes you his life and he doing this to show that he appreciates you."
"I do not need his appreciation." Irisa stated and Aaron nodded in an 'I-told-him-so' manner.
"I tried to tell him, you were not going to be happy about it but he already invited everyone."
"The empress won't be happy about this development, I do not want to cross the woman Aaron, she threatened me on the night of the crown prince's feast."
"You never told me about that! What did she say to you?" he asked seriously and she looked up to the ceiling of the room trying to remember what had happened that night.
"I can't remember much, to be honest, she called me into the grand hall and asked me to stay in my lane by my crippled husband and that I was lucky to be here." Aaron scoffed.
"That bitch!" he said venomously.
"Don't say that Aaron! That your mother!" Aaron looked back at her, "she isn't."
"What? What are you talking about Aaron?!" Irisa asked with her eyes wide. Aaron signed, "come, spend the night in my chambers and I will tell you everything. Please!" Irisa stared at him for a while, watching him closely.
"I want to know everything, Aaron, do not leave any detail out." he nodded and smiled. "So will you come with me?" Irisa nodded.
He grinned and took her hands lifting her without effort making her yelp and fall into his arms.
"M'lady... Oh, I am sorry..." she turned away, "Aaron put me down!" Irisa whispered into his ears but he shook his head. "Nope, it is good that Nancy is here, get Irisa a nice gown. We will have to arrive at the Palace early to have lunch with the hasten royals and The royal family." Nancy nodded smiling.
"I will get right to it first thing tomorrow morning," she bowed as he walked out of the small room with ease. Silence reined over them as they journeyed towards a part of the manor she had made sure to avoid since she entered the manor.
They climbed a flight of stairs higher than she has been before, he walked toward a hallway and the light suddenly switched on, and she gasped looking around. The room was huge, the biggest she had ever seen before. Even bigger than the Duchess's quarters.
"You... You stay here?!" she couldn't believe that this place was part of the manor. He dropped her enabling her to walk around the room, "I do."
The chamber had a mini office that was bigger than her room, with a well-furnished sitting area with four big chairs and a center table. A four-poster bed to the left further away from the office and the sitting area and a huge art piece near the nightstand on both sides of the bed. A huge top to bottom balcony door to the right of the room that she was sure was the lead to the balcony.
A dimmed chandelier in the center of the room and candles lit in every corner of the room, she turned back to him even more disappointed, "this is why you didn't want me here?" she asked and he sighed looking down and walking toward her. He took her hands and pulled her tongue toward the sitting area.
Everything was too shiny for an old manor, "I am sorry that I lied..."
"Why did you lie? What is all this? I have lived with you for almost four months now and it feels as though you have lied all through the time. I thought we were finally getting somewhere but you just messed it up. I do not know you Aaron and it saddens me!" Aaron nodded understanding where she was coming from.
"You have to understand me too Irisa, I didn't know you as I said before, it was very hard to trust you. I just... When I had an accident when I was fourteen, I almost died, I was on my death bed when my caretaker ran to the former empress for help, my grandmother had denied me any sort of help.
It was so painful to know that my family didn't care about me. With my face burnt and my legs unable to function, I couldn't take it anymore so I crawled to the river bank to jump, to end it all. I was going to do it when a man, master. He drew me back and yelled in my face saying I was so stupid for thinking of doing that.
He carried me back to the manor and as soon as my caretaker saw me, she busted into tears and cried her eyes out. My master explained what. Had occurred making the caretaker tear up more. I felt so guilty watching her cry bitterly, my master, said he could heal me, I was so shocked because the physician my caretaker managed to find was so sure I wouldn't be able to walk ever.
He advised that I be patient with things and got a map, he said it will lead us to the lake of the ancestors so I could heal. After fifteen days, we entered blooming and prosperous. I was in awe of what I saw, my master hid me and on the night of our fourth day there, I followed the master to a cave."
"Wait! A cave in Bayal?" Aaron nodded, "but how come we found the lake in the small village near Omoral?"
"I do not know too, I checked the books and there was nothing, it was strange when I found the tomb exactly like the cave that I went to as a kid."
"You seem to be skilled in fighting creatures? Have you seen them before?"
"Yes, I have, in my childhood. They attacked us when we entered the cave and my master thought me a tactic. He threw me inside the water and I felt my legs it was working again, I managed to get out of the pool and my master managed to get us out of the cave when we got back to the manor, he made me make a promise that I will not tell a soul that I could walk and my scared face was healed."
"Wait so why are you still wearing the mask then?" he sighed and pulled the mask off. Irisa took him in, he started at her worried, "what are you thinking? Are you..."
"You could have told me that your face was healed too, God you are gorgeous, why hide behind a mask?" Irisa asked not believing that he had hidden all this while.
"I made a promise, I would never tell a soul."
"But Raymond and Anita..."
"They are from my sect, the master had trained the three of us."
"Where is your master now?"
"He was in Silicon Valley the last we spoke, through a letter." She nodded.
"I still don't get it, why did the maiden say you should take me to your real home?"
"I..." he shut his mouth, hesitating on telling her his plans, "I have a home of little children, they learn literacy and they are given food, and whichever one wants to learn how to fight or join my army can when they are sixteen." Irisa raised her eyebrow.
"You... You have an army?" she asked incredulously.
"I do, they were created for our purpose."
"Our purpose?" Irisa asked blinking, "are you talking about what the messenger said? Us? Becoming Emperor and Empress?" he nodded making her stop for a moment.
"But... You already had the arm before we went to Omoral? Were you planning on over the throne before we went to Omoal?" he nodded making Irisa frown.
"All this is too overwhelming! I cannot believe you kept all this a secret for this long. How did prince Donald or the Empress not find out?" he scoffed and walked toward his reading table, he used a glass of water before turning back to her.
"Irisa as much as they treat me lowly I try as much as I can to accept everything without getting angry or even feeling anything at all."
"Well, how do we even take the throne? Prince Donald is the crown prince, he is the heir the king has announced to be his successors, we cannot change it." He smiled and walked toward her. sitting next to her, he smiled and touched her skin analyzing her face critically.
"I have ways Irisa, the Emperor will not want his first son that he has wronged to not gain his rightful inheritance, would he?"
"I do not know Aaron, he didn't make you crown prince because you were paralyzed, do you think if he knows he would give your position back?" he tilted his head and smiled at her conversation.
"He will not, and that is not the reason he didn't give me the throne Irisa," he dropped his cup and leaned into the armchair.
"What other reason could it? You are his firstborn son aren't you?"
"But the real question now is am the Empress's firstborn son?" Irisa squeezed her eyebrow in confusion.
"I am just so confused Aaron. If you are the Emperor's firstborn son, why is your maternity in question?"
"The Empress isn't my mother Irisa, she hated my mother so much."
"Wait! Wait! Wait! How is that possible? Are you telling the Empress isn't your mother?!"
"She isn't and she knew it but took me in to punish my Silkon Valley and for my father to show strength after she had lied to my grandfather that was pregnant."
"This is so messed up! And how is Silkon Valley all involved in this?"
"Don't you usually think of the reason Kaley and Silkon Valley never see eye to eye? Why do they hate each other so much?" Aaron asked but she should her head, "I just... I never thought of it. My caretaker told me of the Kaley conflict with Silkon Valley and told me Vallians were even people and I could never associate with them." he scoffed at her naiveness.
"Well, looks like you didn't listen to your caretaker because I am half Vallian, my mother was a princess from Silkon Valley."
"How did you find out?" she questioned curiously. He looked away, his meeting the balcony of his chambers.
"I have reliable sources, but I do not know much about her, I feel as though I am in a loop, it never ends. I just want to know what happened to my mother, how did she die? I mean what relationship dies she and my father have and why did she vanish like that?"
Irisa started at his stiff shoulder and placed her hands on it softly, "you gone through a lot Aaron. I now understand why you want the throne." Aaron shook his head, "that isn't the only reason I am taking the throne. We have had the notion that the Emperor owned the whole of Kaley and he rules as he sees fit but I do not want that. I want to be more open to the lifestyle of the people."
A smile touched Irisa's face, her hands raised to his face, and she held his cheeks, "you are a good man Aaron, and I am proud of you." he pulled her into a tight hug, feeling as though it was the safest place he could be.
"I am so tired honestly, the burden of humiliation I have consistently suffered, I have tried to listen, obey and do what am told maybe she would ax ord me the respect she accords palace servants, it so tiring." she nodded and hugged him tighter.
"It's alright Aaron, you are going to be fine, everything is going to be fine." he nodded softly, closing his eyes.
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