How To End This Marriage-Chapter 120: Entangled Desires

Author’s POV:

The princess stormed into her father’s private chamber, her frustration evident. "Father, what are you doing? Are you going to keep watching everything without doing anything?" she shouted, her anger palpable.

The emperor, irritated by her abrupt entrance, retorted, "Vixara, have you lost it? It is me, the emperor, whom you are talking about, and you are entering my room abruptly? Have you indeed lost it?"

"Yes, I know you are the emperor, but before that, I am your daughter. You should listen to me as a father, not just as an emperor. Don’t tell me about the rules; I know them better. You should look after my wishes better," the princess yelled, her frustration pouring out.

The emperor, equally irate, questioned, "What more do you want to do? You have every freedom, and you still want more?"

"Yes, because I still have nothing. Why don’t you do something about that woman? She has gotten on my nerves. I didn’t call her for a tea party so she could brag about being the duchess. I brought her here to humiliate her, but she humiliated me instead, and you are doing nothing. Why? I am your daughter. Your daughter just got humiliated by a mere woman," she gritted her teeth, seething with anger.

The emperor, growing angrier, asked, "What do you want me to do? Isn’t it you who did this on your own in the first place?"

"What? Are you blaming me now?" she raised her brow defiantly. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

"I will not blame you, then whom? Who brought this situation in the first place?" the emperor raised from his seat, walking toward the princess.

"Who told you to run away with the mere guard? Did I say? If you weren’t doing something like this, then this wouldn’t have happened. I already prepared everything to make you the duchess, but you chose to be a beggar. Now you are crying? Who will listen to you now?" the emperor pointed at the princess in frustration.

"Father! That was a mistake. Don’t you ever make mistakes?" she questioned without acknowledging her own error.

"No, that was not something I could reverse. Now go to your lover and cry about this. Why me? Didn’t you insult my name in front of all the people of the empire when you ran away with the guard? And you dare to question me? You dare to question my authority? I didn’t raise you like this, Vixara. You don’t resemble my daughter at all," the emperor said, disappointment evident in his voice.

"Listen, Father! I am not here to get lectures from you. I want Alexavier, and I will get him either way. Either you do that, or I will kill that woman who took my place. Decide on your own which one you want to do," the princess declared in anger.

"I am doing whatever I could do. Stop pressuring me further if you want to have the duke, your cousin," the emperor said, letting her leave his room.

"What should I do?" he mumbled as the princess left. "I know I can convince Libena, but what about that woman? What about Bernice Balliol Agnes? I don’t think she will budge this way," he muttered.

He delved into deep contemplation over the unfolding situation but found no clarity. Eventually, he issued orders to a guard.

"Yes, Your Majesty, what can I do for you?" the guard inquired.

"Inform the former Duchess of Ablia. Let her know I wish to see her as soon as possible," the emperor commanded.

"As you say, Your Majesty," replied the guard, poised to depart. However, the emperor halted him with another query.

"What is the news from the war? What is happening?" he asked.

"I have no idea, Your Highness. The last information I received indicated that the empire’s side is facing a severe defeat. Many knights have fallen, but the duke continues to fight relentlessly, seemingly indifferent to the losses," the guard reported.

"Any word from his side?" the emperor pressed further.

"No, Your Highness. It appears that messengers are failing to reach the battlefield, hindering the flow of information regarding the war," the guard explained.

"Very well, you may leave now," the emperor dismissed him.

"Still no results! It has been four years. I shouldn’t have sent him to the war, but he is one of the empire’s warriors. If he hadn’t gone, we might have lost the empire. However, the situation is becoming increasingly complicated," the emperor muttered to himself.

***

"What does she think of herself, the duchess? If she became the duchess, then I am the princess of the empire. Can she overshadow me? No! If I want something, I will get it, even if it means snatching it from her," Princess Vixara declared upon entering her room.

"Princess, you have returned! I have been waiting for you for a long time," a person in a black outfit greeted, holding her from the stomach.

"You! How did you enter my room? Did anyone see you?" she questioned abruptly.

"No, Princess! No one has seen me entering the room. Don’t worry. You just need to concentrate on me," the person assured, turning the princess towards him and kissing her lips.

"Umm!" she moaned as their lips met, melting in his embrace.

"Oh, Princess, I have been dying to have you alone like this," the person spoke, carrying the princess to the bed and laying her down, consumed by her desire for him.

"How long do you want me to wait? Hurry!" she demanded.

The person sensually removed his shirt, tossing it aside, and drew the curtain down, climbing onto the princess like an animal, showering her with kisses.

He skillfully raised the princess’s leg, his fingers tracing sensuously over her body, eliciting moans that reverberated throughout the room.

"Princess, lower your voice. Someone might come in to check," the person cautioned.

"No need to care!" the princess arrogantly dismissed, surrendering herself to the intoxication of her desires.

"Will it feel the same if the duke were to do this to me?" she mused in the throes of pleasure.

The person spoke, "Princess, I am your husband!" The princess grunted in anger.

"Know your limits! Do you want to reveal yourself, risking execution by the emperor?" the princess warned.

"Still, I am your husband, princess. You can’t deny that. And the duke, I don’t think he will leave his wife to marry you," the guard remarked. The princess, angered by his words, kicked him in the stomach as she rose from the bed, glaring at him.

"You are forgetting your place!" she scolded him.

"Vixara!" the guard called her by name.

"You are a mere guard, my intimate companion. How dare you call me by my name!" she retorted, walking towards him.

"Is this why you took those vows with me in the church?" he questioned.

"Those vows? I was a fool back then, thinking it was love. I left everything for you, or else I would have married the duke, not you, and you would be suffering in the cells of this empire," she admitted.

"Vixara!"

"Don’t take my name!" she snapped.

"Now, get lost from my face. If you don’t, I will be forced to call the guards and send you to the cells. The choice is yours, my dear lover," she threatened, looking closely at his face.

"No need! I will walk away on my own," he said, jumping out of the window as the princess grunted in anger.

"Guards!" she shouted as her lover left.

"Yes, princess! Do you need anything?" the guards asked.

"Inform the maids I wish to see them," she said as she went inside the bed. Soon, the maids entered the room with cigars.

"Here, princess, as you ordered," the maids handed her the cigars, and she lit them up, smoking in frustration.

"All are overestimating me. How dare a mere guard lecture me? He wanted me, and I gave him the choice, but he wanted to lecture instead. No, I can’t let it happen. That person should no longer live in this world," she muttered.

"Maid, hire an assassin!" she ordered.

"Assassin? Why, princess?" the maid asked.

"Do as I said! Hire them, and I will tell you everything they need to do," she commanded, instructing the maid to proceed with her plan.

"These two people keep getting on my nerves. Bernice Balliol, I will not let you leave! How dare you get on my nerves? Can’t you leave quietly, like you don’t even exist? Can’t you just disappear? Why are you hanging on my throat like a death clock? Just disappear and hand your husband to me. Is it so hard for you to do? Is it so hard?" she ranted while throwing a water jar at the mirror in front of her.

The mirror shattered into pieces.

"I will shatter your life just like this. Just wait and watch what I am going to do. It’s my turn now," she declared, intensifying her smoking.