Warning! This chapter may contain violent and unpleasant scenes. Proceed at your own risk.
Thank you to Loli-san on Quotev for this weeks amazing fanart of Obscured! It looks amazing, thank you so much!
Your eyes widened as Octavi Kirayo's face slowly inched closer to yours, his blue strands of hair tickling your [S/C] cheeks. You gulped, remembering that you were now a married woman. Before you could even attempt to push the lovesick puppy away, somebody had opened the door of the bedroom.
Octavi gently pulled away, sitting back down on the ivory sheets of your bed. Turning towards the door, he met eyes with a palace guard. His eyes widened, and the guard stood there, frozen in his spot as he looked over to you.
Octavi immediately jumped up to his feet and tried to reason with the guard, "What are you doing intruding yourself in the Kirayo manor without permission? I can gift you a public execution as a reward of your disrespect," Octavi interrogated the guard.
"The- The Emperor has given all palace guards a permit to search every house in Intuuin, if you have any complaints, they are to be made to the public affairs office in Yunoaiu square. If anything, I should be asking what the Empress is doing in your presence. And in such bad shape at that. Do you have any excuse? I'm afraid I will have to report you-"
"You have got some wit talking to a member of the Kirayo family in such a brazen tone," Octavi spat out venom with each word he spoke, his footfalls gradually making their way to the bedroom door.
"And you have some wit to hold the Empress against the Emperor's consent!" The royal guard exclaimed.
"Tell me, did your Emperor also give you a permit to talk to somebody of high status in such a manner? How are you meant to address me?" Octavi snapped back, crossing his arms as he now stood tall and confidently in front of the royal guard.
"No- No, Sir Kirayo," The guard stuttered, knowing that he had struck a nerve with his behaviour. Before a single moment even passed from the last words spoken, the guard grabbed hold of his sword and drew it out. You gasped, the gleaming silver metal barely an inch away from Octavi's chest.
"Nobody has pointed a sword in my direction and have got away with it," Octavi stated cruelly. The sword was beginning to tremble in the man's grasp nervously.
"I demand you and the Empress come with me to the palace as soon as possible!" The man yelled out with the last of his confidence.
"I refuse," Octavi declared plainly, tapping his foot against the marble flooring.
"Have it your way!" The man proclaimed, lunging forward with his sword, aiming to stab Octavi straight in the middle of his torso. Swiftly stepping out of the way, Octavi simply hit the man's temple, causing him to stumble somewhat and his stance to falter before he eventually collapsed on the ground.
"Octavi, what are you doing? You aren't working for the black snake group anymore so why can't you just let me go?" You demanded to know, trying to get up from your bed, but you were too weak to barely even move a limb more than a few inches from the initial position.
"I'm afraid that... if I let you go, I won't be able to spend any time with you. The Emperor is incredibly possessive, is he not? No matter who the man is, he won't let us even hold a proper conversation. But... I have never longed for something so much. I have never asked for anything before; I have never yearned for anything dearly either. In fact, to many people, it was like I was a statue: moulded perfectly and only there to follow orders given," Octavi explained, taking in a deep breath. "I apologise once again but I don't think I want to let you go."
"If the Emperor finds out about this stunt you have pulled, you are sure to lose your life. If you let me go now, I will not utter a word about you taking part in my capture. I will only blame the black snake group. Octavi, I am now the Empress of Intuuin, and whether I like it or not, the Emperor has made it clear that he needs me by his side. He... He loves me, Octavi," You responded, thumbs twiddling together.
He turned to face you, his deep purple orbs fixating on your frame tenderly. "What if I love you too?" He questioned, his lips quivering. If anything, it seemed as though he were about to cry. He bit down on his rosy pink lips, containing his emotions.
"I'm a married woman, Octavi. I can't divorce the Emperor," You replied, looking away and breaking eye contact. It hurt too much to look at him, face to face - directly.
"But you can. Or you could even make him want to-"
"I'm afraid that I have no say in our marriage, whether I like it or not Octavi."
"Shouldn't a marriage be fair and equal? Shouldn't you have a say?" Octavi asked, desperation seeping into the roots of his voice.
In the meanwhile, Takahiro had found himself at a small village at the foot of a mountain. The trail ended by a certain house, which he chose to inspect. He peered in through the window and walked around first, wondering if he could spot anything suspicious. Of course, he paused as he spotted a shattered window from the master window. It was clear that somebody had broken out of this cottage rather than tried to get in. The shards of glass lay on the dirt outside, and upon closer inspection, they appeared to have droplets of blood. Looking at the faint trail of blood, he noticed a disturbance in the field leading to the woods.
He made his way through this path of disturbance, most likely created by some sort of person or animal. Once he had approached the edge of this wood, he noticed a steep incline and a blood-stained white cloth at the bottom of it, trapped beneath some rocks in the stream below. This is also where he spotted horseshoe marks at the edge of the wood, which he had not been able to see due to the overgrown grass.
Deciding to investigate this further, he slid down the muddy incline and grasped the white cloth from the pond. His pupils enlarging, he spotted little crimson flowers carefully embroidered upon it. It seemed as though you had been here, especially since he had all your clothes specially made. There were no other pieces of clothing, quite like the ones that the Emperor had provided you with. The chances of somebody having the same piece of expensive clothing, more notably in a poor rural town like this, were one in a million.
He took the ripped part of your dress and gently caressed it in his hand. Oh, how he missed you so. Just looking at the cloth made him feel sorrow in his heart. He clenched the blood-stained tissue in his palm and stuffed it snugly into his pocket. He could not just stand around doing nothing if he were to find you.
Making his way back over to the cottage, he recognised the same brand of horseshoe having left a trail further down the road. If this ended up being of no use to him, he could always just interrogate the villagers. However, following the trail at the moment seemed like the best course of action, especially since it was getting cloudy and would most likely rain later on.
Mounting his dark horse once again, the Emperor used his new steed to quickly make his way down the trail. Thankfully, it had rained not too long ago beforehand, and with the mud dried out, the path was less difficult to lose. It seemed as though this trail led him on for hours before he reached the horse which had made these trails. The horse had been tied to a tree in front of a fairly large, dark manor that had no sight of light spilling from it. He had never seen quite the building, only to notice a figure whip past a window.
Sparking his interest, he decided to enter the suspicious building. He was the Emperor after all, and he could do just about whatever he pleased. He strolled past the overgrown garden before kicking the door down, not bothering to knock on it first. As he did this, he took out a dagger from his pocket just in case there was anybody planning to do him harm lurking in there. A young man sitting on a grand staircase jumped and immediately attempted to scurry away. The Emperor threw his metal dagger, piercing the main in his left leg and causing him to fall over.
Making his way over to the man, Takahiro ripped the dagger out from his leg, causing the man to cry out in pain. Upon closer inspection, the man had a tattoo of a black snake across the back of his neck. The Emperor grinned sadistically, knowing full well that this was a black snake.
"If you want your life to be spared, tell me what this place is." The Emperor demanded, tightly gripping onto the man's locks of hair in order to hold his head up. Takahiro pressed his blade threateningly against his neck, awaiting his answer.
"This is the main post of the black snake group! Have you heard of us, fool? If you kill me, my comrades will come chasing after you and will repay you with a slow painful death," The man looked up at Takahiro and endeavoured to spit at him, only to have his neck swiftly slit open.
He choked and suffocated on his blood before falling utterly limp on the floor. "How filthy," Takahiro muttered to himself, gently cleaning his dagger on the dead man's clothing as if he hadn't a single care in the world.
"Stop right there! Get on the ground with your hands behind your head!" One of three men hollered from behind the Emperor. They each seemed to have their own unique weapon, and one was strategically blocking the door in hopes of keeping Takahiro from escaping.
"State your name and business! How dare you intrude here!" Another man exclaimed, his fiery temper piercing the Emperor's ears.
"The Emperor, here to find out which one of you black snake scum has taken my dear Empress," Takahiro stated confidently, standing up from his crouched position.
"You make me laugh, fool! You are no Emperor-!" The man was cut off by a dagger being thrown directly into his throat. He stumbled aback and fell upon the floor, beginning to pass away.
The other two tensed up and rushed over to Takahiro, only to find him taking out two more of his daggers and hitting them directly in their necks as well. As they choked and struggled before soon becoming lifeless and motionless, Takahiro regained his blades, cleaning them on their clothing.
"A black snake hideout, hm?" He uttered to himself before continuing to explore the building. Walking up the grand stairs, he spotted a somewhat run-down yet still magnificent door at the end of the corridor. For it to be the main post of the black snake group, this place was terribly guarded. Humming your wedding song to himself, Takahiro made his way down the creaking corridor.
"To the fall of the Wang bloodline!" Yelled a collection of voices from downstairs, ensuing a flood of applause and cheers. It seemed as though they were doing an early toast and celebration as if taking you meant that this was the end for him. He rolled his eyes in annoyance, seeing this black snake group as nothing but a swarm of stingy pests that needed taking care of.
The Emperor broke down the large door, to be met with a study with a large window behind a metal desk. Just about everything there was dark, and the metallic smell of blood hung in the air. It was plain and made mostly of concrete, no riches to flaunt for the grandness of the room. At the divine leather seat of the desk in front of him, sat none other than the man whom the Emperor hated the most.
"If I knew to find you would be this easy, I would have done it long ago," The Emperor affirmed. The old man was sat smugly in his seat, the wrinkles on his pale skin and the white strands of hair amongst his pitch-black ones showing his old age.
"To what do I owe the pleasure of a visit from the Emperor himself?" The man asked, his dark void-like eyes containing no emotion within them whatsoever. It seemed as though this man had already passed away inside, a very long time ago.
"I believe you have taken something that belongs to me," Takahiro stated, his eyes now holding a predatory gleam in them.
"Your Empress? How pitiful that you have come all this way for nothing, Your Majesty," The way he responded sounded as though he were mocking the Emperor, a dark smile growing on his pale face.
"Ah, just like when you had come into my palace in search of your murdered wife? I'm afraid you still appear to be too slow to save anything. Kidnapping the Empress is the best that you can do?" Takahiro countered, provoking the man in front of him - the leader of the black snake group.
He stood up from his seat, rage presently burning in his eyes. "You must speak to your elders with respect, young man."
"I hope you realise that I greatly overpower you, old man. If you cannot tell me information on [Name]'s whereabouts, I will kill you myself. I hope your wife will be proud to see the disappointment whom she had married to die by the same hand she did," The Emperor hissed back.
"I have given my full faithfulness to the black snake group. I have a hundred men downstairs, who I am sure will be glad to greet you to the end of your life," He laughed, sneering at the Emperor. He looked over to the bell, utterly aware he could not win against this man. He had barely managed to escape him before, but this time, he had nowhere to run.
The old man kept his mind focused on the bell and immediately rushed in its direction so that he could alert all his men. The Emperor's eyes widened as he realised just what the man was doing. Throwing a dagger, he pierced the man's back. He took out another dagger, hitting him this time in the back of his skull. As he did so, the man gripped onto the rope and pulled down on it with the last remaining strength in his body before falling to the ground, his blood forming a pool around his body.
The Emperor rejoiced - he had finally killed the source of the problem. Surely, the black snake group would fall without a leader. However, he was now in some big trouble. He could hear a tsunami of footsteps thundering towards the office. He felt panic in his veins, only to ease up. "Why am I so afraid? I'm the all-powerful Emperor for God's sake," He snickered to himself, turning around as men began flooding into the room, rapidly beginning to attack the Emperor.
Unfortunately for them, the Emperor was much more skilled in combat and had much more experience, dodging and attacking, it was less of a hassle than he had expected. These men were amateurs, just swinging their fists and weaponry around without a single strategy planned out in mind. After all, most of the men were peasants or other low-ranking figures just blaming Intuuin and the Emperor for their suffering.
Due to the crowd, the men struggled to all get to the Emperor and ended up pushing past and fighting one another as well, desperate to land a punch on the man whom they despised most in this world. They were all fuelled with rage.
"This is taking longer than I would like," Takahiro sighed, continuing to dodge and attack at the various men. He decided to break away, having the flood of men following after him, all shouting obscene words and curses at him. He got a capsule out of one of his pockets, that seemed fairly heavy. He used his mouth to pull the small piece of metal rod that kept the capsule from falling apart before forcefully throwing it towards the middle of all the men.
Purple gas flooded out of the capsule, and the men began to cough. Even more panic arose, and now, they were running in the other direction. However, the gas was fast spreading, and it was difficult to run away effectively.
A pleased smile on his face as the men struggle, the Emperor shattered the window with a book on the large metal desk and hopped out of it, landing perfectly upon the ground. He heard the cries of floundering men as they drowned in the poisonous and fast-acting gas, not having expected such a move.
Deciding to finish off this job quickly, the Emperor pulled out a handheld flare and set it alight, smoke immediately beginning to spill from it. He then threw it with all of his force into the building, that already had the rich purple gas spilling out of it and spreading like wildfire.
The moment the gas came into contact with the sparks and heat of the flare, it combusted and exploded into a terrifying fire. Thankfully, it looked as though it were about to rain. However, the Emperor widened his eyes as he realised he had not explored the manor for you. Immediately, he rushed to the front door, to see the fire having barely reached downstairs just yet.
He quickly yelled out your name, running around the first floor before finding a staircase leading to a basement. He prepared himself for a moment before running down these steps, finding empty cells left and right. Thankfully, there was no sight or trace of you to be found anywhere.
He ran back to the basement door, only to find none other than Eugene's right-hand man, Vernon, standing tall and proud at the door. "I hope you burn in hell, pig," He hissed at Takahiro before slamming the door shut and locking it behind him. His footsteps could be heard running away and out of the building.
"That-!" Takahiro cut himself off, and kicked the metal door, only for it not to budge. Smoke was beginning to enter through the cracks, warning the Emperor that time was of the essence. Takahiro repeatedly kicked the door, hoping that he could break the lock. If not, he would have to resort to lock picking if he still had time left.
Whilst the Emperor was struggling for his own life, you continued to rest on the bed provided to you at the Kirayo manor. Octavi had left to buy several things from the market before he were to take you back to the cottage with him. It hurt just to move, but you were starting to get used to the pain.
Only now were you able to properly take in the room. It was mostly made of silver and ivory, with simple and high-quality furniture decorating the room. Your bed had been placed a meter or two away from a large window that overlooked the golden front gates of the manor. There were a fountain and a large, colourful garden. The sunlight beat in through the window as it was slowly becoming midday, only to be swallowed and dimmed down by the grey clouds piling together in the sky. It might've been about to rain, but you were sure that Octavi wouldn't let some rain get in the way of bringing you with him back to the cottage.
You were not sure how long the two of you would stay there. Though what you did know was that you were too weak to run away or fight back due to how weak the last stunt you had pulled had left you.
You soon saw Octavi return through the gates and suspired, acknowledging that it was about time for the two of you to make your way back to the cottage. He had told you that he had already prepared the wagon much more nicely and had stocked it with some blankets and food for you to enjoy as you both returned to the cottage.
If anything, you felt as though you missed the Emperor dearly. He was near and dear to your heart by now and it seemed as though without knowing it, you had developed romantic feelings for him. Now, you could only wait and see what horrors would take place in your absence as you had no strength left in you. At the very least, you hoped he wouldn't hurt Kai. Kai was your only family left after all.
Sooner than you had hoped, Octavi entered through the door and approached your bedridden figure. He smiled graciously at you from cheek to cheek; he seemed incredibly happy to have you with him once again. As always, Octavi was dressed in a neat uniform or type of suit. However, this one didn't flaunt his countless badges nor have any trace of gold. It was rather basic yet still dark-toned like most of his gloomy outfits.
He approached you and gently swept you up in his arms bridal style, walking with you in his arms to the same stolen wagon he had prepared outside. Even if you didn't want this, you were too weak to fight back. After all, he was the head of the military during his time at the palace.
He walked past the walls that had ivory and silver wallpaper upon them, much like the bedroom that you had been contained in. You could barely even focus your mind on the details of the interior due to how weak you had gotten and the amount of blood you had lost that day.
Octavi stepped out of the colossal and intimidating ivory mansion to place you gently in the wagon, prepared comfortably just like he had promised. He knew you couldn't jump out or barely even move for that matter, so he decided not to restrain you. As much as he hated keeping you against your will and going against your wishes, he had no idea what to do with these romantic feelings still inside him, and he hated the idea of the Emperor causing harm to you.
Climbing into the front seat, he sent the horse forward, and you both began on your journey back to the cottage.