"This will be your room for the duration of the selection process, so please make yourself comfortable. I will come to pick you up around noon." The same maid from before bows, opening the door to a different room from before.
"Thank you," I nod my head at her. Before she is able to leave, I question her. "What is your name? I have a feeling that we will be quite close."
The maid looks at me, astonished before clearing her throat. "My name is Sarah, my lady."
"Thank you, Sarah." I smile at her, before closing the door.
I cannot believe this is happening. I do not belong here in the slightest, but it is unfortunately too late to turn back.
"GAHHHH!" I shake my head in my hands aggressively. How did I manage to put myself in this situation!?
I take a deep breath, before exhaling loudly, feeling the migraine begin to take place in my head. 'It will be okay. Just relax.' I tried to convince myself.
I quickly ran through the whiplash that was the prior days. I came to a ball, hoping to eat good food (which I did) on the basis that I don't draw any attention to myself.
Somehow, I ended up kissing the emperor and now am participating in their selection of an empress.
How did I mess up that badly?
'Participating doesn't mean I will be selected,' I mentally remind myself. I mustn't get worked up over this. The chances are highly unlikely, and I just need to make myself seem like an awful fit for the role.
That won't be hard considering I am an awful fit for the role. I don't know a lot about the empire, I am barely a noble at best, and even during my days as true nobility, I didn't do much.
Yeah, there is no chance I will get selected.
A sigh of relief escapes my mouth at that prospect. Now, the only thing left to do is convince the emperor to allow me to send a letter back to Therasis to explain to Eliza why I am a participant.
"You are a smart girl. Figure it out."
I groan in frustration before reaching an epiphany.
'Surely he doesn't mean THAT, right?'
———
Signing off the letter in my hands, I reread it one last time before neatly sealing it within the envelope. Getting up from the little desk within the guest room, I stretch a little before walking down the hallways once more.
I had about another two hours left until noon, so I had some time to try and convince the emperor to let me send my letter.
"Excuse me, will you please lead me to his majesty?" I question a maid who is cleaning the windows outside the guest hall.
"Of course, my lady," she bows. We walk in silence, before stopping at a grand oak door. The maid bows once more, before heading back.
I give a few, quick knocks against the door before calling. "Your highness? It is Lady (y/n). I wish to speak to you."
His command is instantaneous. "You may enter."
Pushing open the oak door, it creaks slowly as I enter. I shut it behind me, mustering up my courage, before turning around.
His majesty is seated at a grand table, papers scattered everywhere. The collar of his shirt is folded down and the top few buttons are slightly undone. His hair is slightly rugged, most likely from running his fingers through it so often.
"To what do I owe the pleasure of speaking with you about?" He leans back in his chair, crossing his fingers over his stomach. I blush slightly at the sight, remembering the last time I had seen him in a disheveled state.
'No! I detest him! I mustn't be swayed!'
"I've thought about what you said on how to prove myself..." I trail off. I clench the envelope in my hands.
'I must do this!' I mentally encourage myself.
"Have you?" He drawls, the corners of his lips twitching upward.
I nod. A newfound confidence enters my body the more I think about Eliza and my home in Therasis. I must do this and get it over with!
Walking around the side of his desk, I pace myself until I am right in front of him. He swivels his chair to face me and looks at me curiously.
'Here I go!' I mentally scream at myself.
"Just do it!" I squeak at no one in particular. Squeezing my eyes shut, I pucker my lips at the air and wait.
And wait.
And wait...
"Hahahaha!" The emperor cackles after an awkward silence. I open my eyes in disbelief, feeling a deep scorch across my face at how embarrassing this situation is.
'This is the worst!!' I scrunch my nose at the absolute agony this was.
Wiping fake tears off his face, he relaxes in his chair, staring at me.
"What was that?" He asks me like I had just done the most absurd thing on this planet.
I guffaw at his question. "What do you mean? You said to prove that I want to send a letter to Eliza." I state the obvious, holding the envelope in my hand up.
"And you planned on doing that by...?" Emperor Kruos trails off.
I'm in disbelief. "By kissing you! What do you think I was trying to do!?"
"Ah. My apologies. I thought you were constipated or something!" He laughs once again, slapping his hand against the chair arm.
'This is humiliating!' I puff my scarlet red cheeks at him.
"Fine! I guess that wasn't the right answer and you don't want a kiss!" I turn my head at him, too embarrassed to try once more.
"I never said that, I was just surprised at what you were doing." He made the situation worse. Sue me, I've never kissed a man before until yesterday.
At my angry silence, Emperor Kruos urges me. "Go on, I'm waiting."
I whip my head back around in surprise. He actually meant it. Not feeling as bold as before, and very much embarrassed, I shifted nervously.
Leaning down, I can feel his warm breath on my face. My clammy hands move behind my back to grip the envelope tightly.
I close my eyes again, giving him a light peck on the lips before straightening up.
Somehow, this kiss felt much more embarrassing than the last, though I was so full of anger last time that I didn't think much of it until after it happened.
This time, I was just embarrassed, which only intensified as I felt more mousey than the time prior.
Clearing my throat, I bring my hands to the front of my body, before extending the object to him. I try to ignore the raging blush on my face as I stare anywhere but him.
"Please make sure this gets to Eliza," I place the letter on his desk beside him before beginning to speed walk off, desperate to get out of that room.
"Wait." His voice makes me freeze in place. Refusing to turn around and face him, I wait for him to continue.
"From now on, you will be addressed as a Lady of Therasis, since the (L/n) Kingdom ceased to exist." I opened my mouth to retaliate against that, since I still valued my kingdom's title, but I quickly shut it. I needed to be on his good side, so he can grant me more privileges, like sending letters back home.
Plus, I just shared a kiss with him, so I didn't feel like prolonging my stay.
Besides, I've already resided at Therasis for a year, so I guess it wouldn't hurt to introduce myself as a noble lady from there, since I wouldn't have to explain where the (L/n) Kingdom is, and my whole backstory of why I was even here.
"Yes, your majesty." I agree before rushing out.
Once I've arrived back at my room, I collapse in my bed. It was barely scratching noon and I already felt so fatigued from the events of today. I don't know how I will last through this selection process.
I must get myself eliminated first.
———
"So, this is just an introductory brunch?" I question Sarah at my side as we walk comfortably together.
"Yes, my lady. The other noble ladies will also be there, along with his majesty, so you can all get to know one another," she confirms.
I grimace slightly at having to sit through a noble lunch. The ball was already bad enough and I didn't have direct contact much with any nobles save a handful.
Now, I will be eating and forced to socialize with them. How awful.
"You will be fine, my lady. Just keep your head up and don't let the other ladies bring you down," she heeds to me at my silence.
'What does she mean by that?' Before I can question her, we arrive.
A rectangular, grand table stretches out across the room with five chairs on each side, one at the end of the table.
Emperor Kruos sits at the end of one side, while the other remains empty. A few ladies who I don't recognize have already seated themselves as close to him as they can, the closest seats to the left and right of him already occupied.
I guess they came early to secure a spot.
'Perfect!' I can't help but grin. Makes my job much easier!
The chattering quiets as the few early ladies and the emperor look at me. I clear my throat, bowing and greeting the emperor, "Your majesty." He nods at me, though I don't realize as I swiftly pass, walking to the other end of the table.
Grabbing the seat furthest from him, I sat on the opposite end of the table, far away from everyone else. The spots next to me and across from me were empty, no doubt the most unpopular seats, since they were furthest.
I hear chatters near his end of the table begin again, the few early ladies' undivided attention solely on him and their attempts at creating conversation with him.
Through all of that, I can feel his piercing stare on the side of my head.
I furrow my brows and look down at my lap, pretending to be deep in thought so I don't have to speak to anyone, though I wasn't actually thinking about anything.
As I attempt to make myself look too busy to socialize, the chairs begin to fill up as more ladies arrive.
"May I sit here?" A gentle voice snaps me out of my pretend thoughts. I look up, staring into the eyes of a pink-haired girl.
I give a small smile at her. "Of course!"
'She seems kind.' I can't help but wonder if she had the same idea as me to sit furthest away from the emperor, since there was still a seat available that was closer to him.
'That or she also doesn't want to socialize.' I can't help but smile at my propositions.
She smiles back at me, before pulling the chair out and sitting down.
"Nice to meet you! I'm Lady (y/n) (l/n), from the Kingdom of Therasis," I turn to greet her, and she looks at me in surprise.
"Pleasure to meet you, too, Lady (y/n). I am Princess Aria Cecil from the Kingdom of Cecil." She introduces herself, bowing her head slightly.
'She kind of reminds me of Eliza if she was less rough,' I can't help but smile in fond remembrance of how she and I first met.
Kingdom of Cecil? I've never heard of it, so it must be like Therasis where it is a smaller kingdom on the outskirts of the empire.
As if she read my mind, Princess Aria continued. "My home is just on the northeast outskirts of the Kruos Empire. I am not sure why I was chosen, if I am being honest. We don't have much to offer and I've never spoken to his majesty much." She squirms in her seat in nervousness.
I laugh slightly, putting her at ease. "At least you are a princess! I am merely a lady from a kingdom on the southeast outskirts."
"And besides," I continued. "I only spoke to the emperor for the first time at the ball," I whisper to her.
Princess Aria widens her eyes at that before looking at me, her eyes lighting up in realization. "That was you who first danced with his majesty! No wonder you looked so familiar! You must have really swayed his majesty with your dancing skills!" She gushes out.
"Oh, hardly! I learned how to dance right then and there from pure fear!" I whisper-exclaimed, causing the both of us to giggle.
"Ahem." Emperor Kruos's voice brings the table to silence.
He glares at the both of us slightly, though I oddly don't feel as frightened of him as before. Maybe it is because I was in such close proximity to him three times and nothing bad has happened to me...yet.
Princess Aria, on the other hand, looks frightened. I pat her hand which lay in her lap, giving her a reassuring smile. She calms down at that.
His majesty's stare seems to be piercing spears through my skull at this point.
"Almost everyone is here, save for one person." He announces the obvious.
'Why get all of our attention just to point that out?' I can't help but be annoyed since I was finally talking to someone who seemed nice.
As Emperor Kruos takes his seat, the doors to the room open once more, the last lady walking in.
"Hello, your majesty," the lady purrs out. "Sorry for my late arrival, I wanted to make sure I looked presentable."
We all look at the last incomer, and I can't help but groan internally at the person.
Lady Annabeth.
'Great.' I can't help but mope in my head.
"Please take a seat, Lady Annabeth. We are about to begin," the emperor's cold voice cuts through the silence.
"Of course, your majesty," she curtsies, lifting her dress with her fingers to reveal her ankle. Looking at the seats next to him, her prideful smirk disappears at their occupancy.
In fact, all of the seats closest to him were taken, as she was the last one.
The only seat that remained was the one directly across from me, which, along with mine, happened to be the furthest from the emperor.
I look at the empty seat, and then at Lady Annabeth.
She scowled at the unruly sight before her, and in that moment, we both shared the same thought.
This is horrendous.
———
A/N: I wrote this while 💩🚽 so you better believe it is a true work of art (it's not). Don't mind the grammar, spelling, punctuation, yada yada yada you get the gist. I wanted to get this out because my midterms are coming up so I won't be able to update until most likely middle of next week. 😢
I got a lot of feedback on my last post, so thank you to everyone who gave their honest thoughts and opinions! For the most part, a lot of you guys are satisfied with the way things are moving and the overall story, so I am very thankful for that!
One thing I do want to address though, is the length of these chapters. This was something not exclusive to wattpad, I also got this on quotev. My chapters range between 1000 to 3000 words, roughly 4-9 pages. Some will be shorter, some will be longer. That is because I try and break my chapters into different events rather than just meeting a specific word goal. It's hard to make the chapters longer without cramming a bunch of plot into one chapter, and I don't want to do that because it doesn't give me a lot of time to come up with ideas and make sure everything is cohesive. I hope that clears that up!
Another thing I would like to address: this story is NOT depicting healthy relationships or individuals. Please do not romanticize this behavior in real life, this is purely for writing. My characters (specifically the male interest) is NOT supposed to be a romantic, lovey dovey, healthy minded person.
With that being said, please take these characters with a grain of salt and don't find yourself getting too worked up over them. I am super happy you guys are into the story and my characters/writing is good enough to impact you guys emotionally, though I do want to remind you guys that this is purely fictional.
Constructive criticism, comments, messages, etc. are always welcomed!
Love yall ❤️