You can say that I am a fool, that I like you very much,
Is this what people call ‘love?’, tell me, my rubied jewel”.
He was standing in front of Xia Ronghua with a sword in his hand, his imposing figure shadowing as it swallowed her whole frame in his mighty self. His once beloved concubine, now on her knees, kneeling like a wet rat caught in a mouse trap begging for its life.
Pathetic, he thought seeing her being reduced to nothingness without his affection. He questions her patiently, waiting for her to say something, anything. His voice was sweet like sugar to ants, yet there was danger lurking around like a spider waiting to ambush the same ants hooked onto sugar. One wrong move and their heads be on the floor, the next second. That's how offended the emperor was right now.
He was looking down on her trembling frame as she asked for mercy. Not for daring to escape but for getting caught while trying to escape from the palace, from him. His jaw clenched, his eyes turned icy sharp, his hand tightened around the handle of the sword, every second the concubine was silent, refusing to answer his question.
The tension grew more,
The more it grew, the more it was difficult to breathe for everyone present there in the court.
The more the situation became suffocating, the more it was unbearable to be present there. The courtieres present there were sure they would lose their heads today. Fearing for their lives, hands clutching to their sides, holding onto their clothes to find an anchor despite the internal turmoil going on, faces wrapped in slight worry reflected in their eyes, the same eyes that were now refusing to witness the dance of danger that emperor wang xi luxian was orchestrating, their mind refusing to acknowledge the fact that he is trying to obliterate his woman in front of other men and the mouth that refuses to oppose no matter what.
The silent tension was brewing more in the background.
That's what emperor Wang Xi Luxian’s court is like. Authoritarian and Dictatorship at its core. You dare to oppose it? you’ll get killed!. You dare to move against his wishes?, same fate. Killed. slaughtered. Murdered. Man-hunted. Every punishment you think is beyond evil? He’ll present you a platter of more.
Where every offence leads to the same fate, no matter your status. a noble born, a royal blood or even a commoner farmer. No one is beyond the emperor’s reach. No one. The emperor believes in ‘equality’ as one of his many virtues, said his courtiers. To present him as dignified like an ancient dragon god blessed by the seven seas and beyond.
He does not kill, he eradicates evil. He does not order execution,he brings orderly peace to his world. Everything he does is for the greater cause, it's for his people, not his selfishness and arrogant nature that derives his actions..
The emperor got fed up with the stillness, nothingness enrages him. He doesn't tolerate people disrespecting him like that, not especially if it's his own concubine, that too publicly. He has to show her who's in power here, not her, but him.
Daring to defy his order publicly, daring to decide to flee from his grasp yet she doesn't dare to answer a simple question now? Where does she get the boldness from? How can she think she’ll use him and throw him away like a prostitute on the street. All while looking like a pathetic trembling sewer rat that is her right now in his eyes.
The Emperor releases a short breath. Thinking about How exhilarating! How amusing! This situation is right now.
She, who defied him, is finally at his foot begging for her life right now. While he is completely feeding off of her fear. His attention narrowed down on her, fixated solely and only her,
There wasn't anyone around but them.
The tension around him started to dissipate, replaced by the very stillness he hates to see coming from others. He relaxes his posture, drops all the tension in his body. Lowers his gaze.
His gaze now locked on to her like a predator watching and analysing his prey before killing it, there's no blink just blank stare. He smirks, finding this amusing like a child's play, his eyes narrowing as he draws his sword, placing it under her chin, lifting her face to meet his intensity filled fun gaze.
There!!!!
There it is!!
The reaction he was craving for!
The fear in those doe eyes, Fearing for her life now.
How fun it is gonna be, playing with her till she breaks, till she gives in and becomes his, till he's in complete control of her body, mind and soul. Owning her as his broken doll.
“Scared, are you?” he cooed, his voice was soft and sweet, layeyerd with danger, waiting for her, to set foot in the trap he set specifically for her.
He continues,
"Where was this fear when you decided to run from the palace's security?" He was smilling with warmth yet it never reached it's recipient, Her. Because the courtiers doesn't exist right now. Only her and him, in his web of traps.
He softens his voice more as he shows signs of sympathy, worriness etched in his face. Eyes moist with tears.
Trembling frame as he tries to anchor himself.
"You know" he begins his display of love, voice breaking as tears were almost falling now, he wipes away one tear escaping from his left eye with his right hand looking at the ceiling. Clenching his heart as he continues to spew his lies.
"how worried I was?!" His voice, a mere whisper, had a tone of betrayal, a sadness to add. A tear to escape. A pain to hurt.
"I thought-" his voice breaked, he releases a sigh, trying to control his tears from falling more, he takes a moment to anchor himself, his lips begins to tremble as he couldn't bring himself to actually say the worst case scenario he imagined.
He drew in breath and releases, calming himself to continue,
"I thought" his voice now soft, his eyeslashes were wet, his gaze was cast downwards, he gets down on his knee and cups her face with his arm. Feeling the soft warmthness, a telltale sign of her being alive.
"I really thought that someone kidnapped you! My rubied jewel" he smiles, reassuring himself that she's really safe, that she's infront of him and in his embrace. now he won't ever let go of her, won't ever let her escape so what if she tried to break free from him once?
He won't ever let her dissapear from his sight ever again, he won't tolerate this repeating, her defiance, even if he has to break her legs and chain her in his room, a golden cage. He doesn't care even if she doesn't like to be helled down, she isn't a bird, she is his possession. She isn't a butterfly, she's is his recipient of obsession.
She isn't anybody's Because,
she. is. his.!!
And no one else's...
No one can own her like he does.
No one can hurt her like he wishes.
No one can see her except for him.
.
.
.
The courtiers were uncomfortable with the emperor's public display of love especially in the court. Where men dealt with politics, military and law.
Where not even the empress is allowed to meddle in let alone a mere concubine to wrap the tyrant emperor around her fingers.
Maybe that's how Concubine RONGHUA became his majesty's favourite, by playing a pathetic, undigified lady. Throwing herself at him and letting him treat court and men as a children's play.
They begin to exchange looks with each other when the situation escalated before them. They couldn't meddle in it knowing how dangerous it can be as meddling or interrupting emperor's buisness could result in instant death. Emperor wang Xi luxian is someone without any restraint, he doesn't have any moral compass nor anything to ground and anchor him. Those who try to play that role without his direction ends up meeting with getting gutted out alive as wild dogs feed on their flesh alive. That's how the emperor is. He is someone who will actually do it without any mercy shown or a flicker of emotion except boredom or satisfying expression.
As the full threatrics now began to unravel infront of their eyes where a smitten emperor on his knees holding a mere concubine in his warmth embrace publically in court. The tension among the courtiers could be felt with unease and unsure movements.
If someone dint know the emperor, he would surely think it's genuine worry and not a performance. Everyone in his court is already aware of him being unstable mentally as he just doesn't bother to hide the fact that he enjoys performing. He derives pleasure from this display of leading people on, other people trying to guess his actions and still gets it wrong gives him an edge as he dances in pure bliss, red with wine.
Those who fell for his performance are marked as his preys to be hunted down and be played with.
Those who bow down before being hunted becomes his associates to be used till their death arrives or be orders an execution
and
Those who mirrors him ends up having the same fate as Xia RONGHUA, his concubine. His rubied jewel.
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(Thankyou for reading, I'll update this later, or might upload part 2. please leave messages. This is dark romance so it will have dark themes and adult fiction stuff. Thankyou, love you! Muah muah muah!!)