CHAPTER 12: BETRAYAL

As soon as princess Aria entered the Throne room, she could see the difference between a small kingdom in the north and an Empire. The throne was so humongous she could imagine fitting Coplay’s throne room five times in it. Not only was it huge, but beautiful too.

If they gave Coplay the money used to decorate this throne room, we wouldn’t have been a third-class kingdom that could be destroyed easily. Aria thought in her mind as she was stunned by how beautiful the room was.

She saw four giant pillars placed vertically on both sides of the hall, and in between these pillars were huge Thorka empire flags hung on the walls. giving off an aura of power.

As aria got closer to the throne, she could feel sharp gazes from the nobles as she walks between them toward the emperor.

As a princess who had experience in the world of nobility, she could tell what each gaze meant. Some were full of lust toward her beauty, while others were full of curiosity and disgust. She ignored them as she continued walking toward the throne.

In front of Aria were four knights clad in golden armor, and long swords in their hands. standing in front of the steps leading to the throne.

Aria bobbed a curtsy. “Greetings emperor of Thorka empire.”

A voice emerges behind the knights, blocking her from seeing the emperor. “Princess of Coplay, where is the item you promised?”

“Your majesty the ‘Vampire’ is stored in a safe place and ill be willing to tell your majesty where it is if you agree to my terms,” Aria replied in a bold tone.

“Preposterous!” a loud voice yelled.

Aria looked in the direction of the voice. She saw a handsome man standing among all the seated nobles. From a glance, she could tell how important he was. He wore a navy-blue suit with a beautifully designed red vest. Both are made with top-quality wool. Coplay was a kingdom that relied on wool as its main source of income. so, Aria could tell the quality of the suit the moment she saw it. If he can wear such a high-quality suit that only royals could buy, he must be a duke or…

She remembered.

“Black hair and red eyes,” she muttered unconsciously. There was only one person with such features in Thorka Empire. it was Archduke Lelouch, the empire’s only third-class Aura user. He is also known as the Dark knight of death on the battlefield.

“Your majesty I don’t see the reason why we would make enemies with Giggadon Empire for a woman like her. She has nothing to offer us than an imaginary weapon we can’t even see ourselves!” He said while staring at Aria with a cold glare that sent shivers down her spine.

“Princess Aria, the Archduke makes a good point. In the letter you sent, you talked highly about a weapon. What-what was its name again?” the emperor asked in a doubtful tone.

Aria frowned at the emperor’s tone. “It is called vampire, your majesty,” she replied.

“Ahh. yes. Vampire. It supposedly has the power to increase a person’s strength by a hundredfold. Princess Aria, you know what this sounds like?” the emperor asked.

Aria did not respond to the question. She could hear the sarcastic tone of the emperor’s words. These people never believed anything she said whether it was true or not.

So why did they rescue us from the Giggadon empire? Aria contemplated in her mind.

“It sounds like the run-away princess of a fallen kingdom desperately trying to survive.” The emperor said in a mocking tone.

Aria, angered by how she was treated, looks up towards the throne. “Why did you save us? If you never believed” she asked.

The emperor laughed. “hahaha. Save you… I thought you would have figured it out by now. I did not save you… I took you. Emperor Maximus is a man who likes to be perfect in everything he does. So, imagine my surprise when I received a letter from the princess of a kingdom he destroyed, saying she was alive with a son and wants to take back her kingdom. I knew that when he found out he would do anything to kill you and your children, so I just obtained the prize before he could. With your son as the bargaining chip, I can get what I want from Maximus.

Shocked by the situation she found herself in, aria’s feet gave out, causing her to fall. but before she hit the ground K’len caught her. Aria looked into k’len’s eyes and placed her right palm on his cheeks. “I am sorry, K’len. Your mother is not able to give you the life you deserve,” she said in a sad tone as tears rolled down her cheeks.

“Mother. don’t say that. You tried everything you could.” K’len said. While holding his mother, who lost the power to stand.

“What a touching moment. Guards! Take the child to the dungeon. Oh. don’t forget the blind one too.” The emperor ordered. “And take the princess to my chambers.”

“Yes, your majesty.” The two knights blocking the throne marched toward Aria and K’len. They tried pulling the both of them away from each other, but Aria desperately held onto her son. But in the end, they got separated.

“Mother!” K’len yelled as the knight dragged him off

“I won’t let you take him away from me!” she yelled while the knight dragged her son away.

No, my son, how can I save him? It’s all my fault, if only I wasn’t greedy for a wealthy life. Ah. yes. I have the vampire with me. Since father said it could make a person a hundred times stronger, I can use it to save my son.

Aria brought out a small transparent bottle with red liquid from between her breasts.

The king shouts. “What’s that in her hands? Poison. Stop her from drinking it.”

Before the knight could stop her, Aria drank half of the substance. After drinking it, she started shaking on the floor for ten seconds, then she stopped.

“What happened? Is she dead? Someone check if she’s dead.” the emperor yelled with anger.

Archduke Lelouch walked towards Aria, who was lying on the ground lifeless. He squats and touches her neck with his index and middle finger. “There is no pulse, your majesty. She’s dead.”

“No-no-no. Mother! You can’t leave me alone. You can’t die.” K’len yelled while staring at his mother’s dead body.

“Someone shut that boy up and get rid of this thing from my sight.” The emperor ordered.

Another knight came to assist in moving Aria’s body but as soon as they lifted it, they dropped it back down and fell to the ground themself with, fear in their eyes.