The Emperor Who Loves Me Dearly

In a dimly lit spacious room, one could hear m.o.a.ns and slapping sounds of skin that could make anyone be buried in the ground due to embarrassment. Laying on an enormous canopied bed, two souls were entangled, having forgotten that what they are doing can cause their lives...traitors. 

"Ahh! Grayson, be gentle please..."

A delicate and fair lady pleaded while m.o.a.ning and panting heavily. The man in front of her curses every time their world crashes.

"Damn Astrid, you always make me lose my temper"

His tanned body hammering over her slender waist. How come doing something bad feels so good?

"No! Ngh, please...I'm going to...ahh...break." The woman panted and gasped her plea when his mouth found one of her n.i.p.p.l.es and bit it playfully. 

If only her husband is doing his duties, she would not be here...on Grayson's place. Her p.l.e.a.s.u.r.ed soared high every time he enters her cave. 

The euphoria was mind-blowing and the two of them took their time lingering on it. She felt full from his explosion and her body was tingling all over. He never pulled out his member since they started making out and it was already almost dawn. 

After resting for a while, it was Grayson who broke the silence. His back against the soft sheets of the canopy bed. 

"I'm getting married next month," he said, his eyes looking directly at the ceiling. He should not be mentioning it to Astrid, they agreed to stay away from each other's personal lives. Astrid has been his bed warmer, nothing more, nothing less. His feelings for her were long gone, only the s.e.x.u.a.l p.l.e.a.s.u.r.es are what he has for her. 

The whole room was devoured in awkward silence. Astrid gulped a few more before finally replying, "Should we end this?" she asks in her usual soft-toned voice. 

Grayson nodded slightly, "We can't keep doing this forever. You have Logan, I have a duty to do" 

The woman smiled sadly, Logan? 

The name of her husband seems foreign to her ears, that man never even glanced at her! Many times she tried to seduce him but it all went down to nothing until she grew tired of it.

Every day, waiting for the workaholic emperor to come back and to make love to her yet ended up staying all night with his presence nowhere to be found. 

Astrid stood up, grabbing the white sheet cover from the bed. She gets one cigarette from the round glass table, lighting it up and puffing smokes. For a woman who has everything in her, money, power and beauty she looks rather sad. 

She regrets removing love from Logan's system because now, she realized, she will never stand a chance. She will grow old with no touch of love felt from her sole husband. 

In those days that passed, he never touched her nor shown her any kind of affection. Can he still be called a  husband if he failed to serve his purpose? 

"Say, Grayson, if I get cured, will I not regret it?" she says, looking through the sun that's beginning to show. 

"There's no more pain...but also no more joy. Like my feelings for you long ago, they got stuck in a block of ice, preventing me to feel anything for you again" he said matter factly as if he's not disclosing his longed secret feelings towards her. 

"If you are ready to live in a black and white, I urge you to do it" the man continued and it even made the woman mournful.

A miserable life is what she currently lives, a loveless empire, children that did not come out from her and a husband whom she rarely sees. 

 Now, even Grayson, the one who always followed her will be out of her reach.

Grayson Rowan who accepted the scarred and broken Astrid, the man who once said that the scar she has on her back is beautiful, the man who once showered her with affection. 

"Can I stay here longer?" she requested, afraid to go back to that big empty and cold castle. 

"Sure...but I must go, I have an important meeting early this day," the man said, his brown eyes dull as he looks at her, very different from when they were children. 

He gets up in all his glory and started to prepare for another day as the emperor of the Alutia empire. 

'What have I done?' this question was what struck Astrid every day she gets up. Sure, she loved that she won against Celestia, but if this is what it feels from gaining a victory, she would've reconsidered everything. 

Tears started to blurry her vision, she must pay for she's the one who caused her sister's death. 

'Mother said I was born to be empress, I thought with it comes happiness, how wrong am I'

Twenty-six years of existing yet all she gets is a tiny drop of love. Her true father, King Froilan of Thusha was even stripped off his own title, now, the love kingdom no longer exists just like how love can no longer be found in their progressive empire. 

The phone on her right side lighted up, it was hers. 

"Your Majesty, we got a message from the school, Aiden got into a fight again" her assistant, Anna reported. 

Astrid composed herself for a second, although her hand is unsteady, she managed to speak with her straight voice. 

"I'll be there..." she replied before hanging up. 

She never gained the favor of the twins even though she tried doing all sorts of stuff to please them, buying them whatever they like and spoiling them too much. At first, they adored her, but when the twins realized that their mother, Celestia, is never coming back that's when they started to get distant. 

They were only four years old back then...yet their memory is too clear, too vivid to forget their loving mother. 

Finishing another stick of cigarette, Astrid decided to prepare for another day ahead. 

"I hate this damn life" she muttered after giving a deep breath.

 Karma sure is fast.