Kel sat on her bed frozen as she stared in disbelief at the man standing inside her room. Even as he stood with his hands on his knees, panting for breath, he looked like a work of art. It could be because she'd been away from those brilliant looks for so long, but she'd nearly forgotten how incredibly handsome the Dragon Emperor was.
When she finally came back to her senses, Kel exclaimed, "Your Majest-"
"Shhhh!" The emperor dashed to the bed and tackled her, clamping a hand over her mouth.
Holding one of her arms firmly above her head with her entire body pinned below his own, the emperor hissed between breaths, "Just.. be.. be a bit quiet."
Kel's own breathing deepened underneath the man's weight. He was using his knees to brace himself so it wasn't quite so heavy, but Kel still found herself unable to even squirm. She couldn't tell if the loud thudding against her chest was from her heart or the emperor's.
"Mmph mm," she grunted in agreement.
Finally, the man let go of her mouth and rolled off her body, flopping down next to her.
"Haaa," he sighed. "I thought they'd catch me for sure."
He lay with one hand draped over his eyes, his chest rapidly rising and falling. The familiar warm scent of his skin tickled Kel's nose. She couldn't take her eyes off him. Was this real? Had she finally fallen asleep and was simply dreaming right now?
Slowly, she reached her fingers toward his smooth cheek. It was an extraordinary ivory color, the same frosted hue as Soren's torso.
Eek! Kel instantly pulled her hand back, blushing as the unwanted memory popped into her head. Why had she touched Soren at that time? And was she really about to touch the emperor now too?
"When did I become such a pervert!" she mouthed, pounding her fist into her forehead.
"Hmmm?" the emperor's throat rumbled lazily as he was roused by Kel's antics.
"Nothing!" she squeaked.
The emperor nodded leisurely, continuing to catch his breath. Only inches away, Kel was imploding with shame and embarrassment.
When she finally got ahold of herself, and the silence between them had grown awkward, she cleared her throat and turned back toward the emperor.
"Um, Your Majesty?" she whispered hesitantly.
"Mmm. What is it?" he murmured, peering over at her.
"Ah.. well.. that's…" Kel trailed off.
There should have been an infinite amount of questions pouring out of her mouth. How did he get here? No, why was he here in the first place? And why did he sound like he'd been running like death itself was after him?
Out of all of that, however, there was only a single thing she could manage to say.
"I missed you, Your Majesty."
What am I saying!! She screamed at herself. Wasn't I literally just pondering how untrustworthy this man is?
The emperor studied her eyes for a few moments before reaching up and gingerly patting her head.
pαпdα-ňᴏνêι·сóМ "This place is hard to stay in, isn't it," he replied softly.
"Yeah.. let's go with that."
Kel wasn't sure if she was relieved or upset the emperor had glossed over her bold words so easily.
Stupid girl! She bit her lip as she scolded herself again. What were you expecting? Him to say it back?!
"Don't do that."
Kel flinched as the emperor's thumb gently tugged her bottom lip away from her teeth.
"W-why are you here?" she finally managed to ask, brushing the man's hand away as his fingers lingered on her chin.
"For you," he answered flatly, his scarlet eyes flashing as they locked with hers.
Kel gulped and glanced away, pushing herself back into a sitting position. She fiddled with her fingers in her lap for a few moments before changing the subject.
"Soren said-"
"I told you not to say that name."
The emperor's voice was dark.
Slowly, he sat up next to her, his gaze burning the side of her face.
"A-anyway, he told me about this place" Kel stuttered, "And he, well, he told me about…"
She trailed off, turning back to her fidgeting hands.
"Told you about what?" The emperor prompted.
"...About you," Kel whispered.
That's right. She'd momentarily gotten carried away by the emperor's sudden appearance, but now she was regaining her rationality.
Based on what she learned from Soren and Lila, the emperor being here was most likely the equivalent to his retrieving a stolen toy. If he was indeed like Soren, he only intended to use her.
Unsurprisingly, the emperor didn't respond to her words. Instead, he sat in silence, eyes still glued to her face.
After a while, Kel continued on. In a voice just above a whisper, she spouted off the many things she'd come to know over the past few days--everything from the origins of the emperor's mother to the fact he and Soren were brothers. She even touched on the subject of Itzae and his supposed dual identity.
"So what?" the emperor replied coldly when she'd finished.
"Excuse me?" Kel questioned. After everything she'd just explained, how could that be his only response?
"If it's all true," the emperor clarified, "so what? What are you going to do?"
"What am I going to do?" Kel echoed.
Well, before the Dragon Emperor randomly burst through her door, she had been planning to just run away and start a new life. Perhaps that was still the best course of action, though telling that to the emperor would certainly defeat the purpose.
The more she thought about it, however, the more a concern she'd buried in the depths of her mind made its way to the surface.
If it was all true, everything Soren had told her, then what did the emperor truly feel toward her?
Was she a toy he intended to use? Was she the weakness of The Yellow Marguerite that he could exploit freely?
Or was she even less than that?
"When you said that you wanted me," Kel began, her breath catching uncomfortably in her throat as she spoke, "what did you mean by that?"
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