Tyrant of the Ruined Sun-Chapter 184: First Proper Introduction

The culmination of my words was another silence, wherein she said nothing back to my final stirring speech, but only remained in her stance in my arms, before she again rested her head on my chest, a small satisfied smile decorating her captivatingly angelic features, that would’ve all but ensnared had I seen it.

And I, for my part, merely indulged myself in her addictive presence for this precious, but ultimately fleeting moment, as the call of responsibility and chores was sure to soon summon us; so I just further tightened my arms around her, delivering a single peck on her pale blonde hair, not bothering with much else, confident that all would eventually come to resemble the joy I once held with her, but without the faults and regrets of the past, with all it’s missed time we spent at odds with each other now redeemed, and utterly free of the tragedy that ended it all; I will make sure of it, even if I have to scorch the world a second time to achieve it.

Yet as time continued to trickle past us in annoyingly accelerating rates, as if to specifically deny us of the lasting of this simple happiness, my eyes caught the fading light trickling warmly through the nearby window, and I noticed that the sun was swiftly beginning to dip dangerously low into the horizon, and we haven’t even begun readying ourselves for tonight’s ball.

Realizing this, a sigh inadvertently escaped me, making her lift her head in concern to me, silently asking me what was wrong.

A question I immediately answered, by saying "Though I would’ve preferred not to my love, but we must stop for now, if we don’t want to be late."

Hearing my words, she merely nodded in return having already felt the advent of the night, by feeling the stretching of the surrounding shadows, as well as the usual resonance of her bloodline, proclaiming the imminent arrival of her ancestor’s domain.

Yet before I could fully peel myself away from her, she suddenly strengthened her hold over me, and ever so slowly, almost meekly, began to trace her comfortably cold and nimble fingers over my face.

I was admittedly momentarily confused by her sudden action, before it then dawned on me, like a hammer strike, making me feel foolish for overlooking such an obvious detail, which was indeed that she had yet to even realize what I even looked like. So I remained as still as possible, allowing her to continue sketching my features into her mind.

And once done, she pulled away her hands, and took a step back, prompting me to teasingly ask, in a vainly narcissistic tone of voice that seeped of utter confidence "Satisfied?"

"Good enough." She retorted in a nonchalant manner, with a thin smirk drawn upon her red lips.

I lightly chuckled in reply, starting to turn my back to her, to go and begin donning my wear for the night, when I suddenly felt a disturbance of divine origin behind, prompting to instantly swivel back to her, asking as I beheld the various shadows begin to excitedly coalesce around her, clinging to her like zealous worshipers desperately wanting to simply graze the edge of their idol’s clothes "Where are you going?"

She looked at me in confusion for a moment, and answered in a plainly obvious type of voice "To go fetch my costume for the night."

Hearing this, I flashed a smirk I knew she could not discern, and asked in return "Do you really think I would allow you to attend tonight’s celebration in the same attire you’ve been wearing so far?"

The reason I said those words was not as an insult to her clothing, since all the costumes were individually prepared by the Astrapi Kingdom, and were all of the finest make and highest calibre.

No the reason I said those words, was that every costume was designed with the individual who would don them in mind, meaning it was also created to reflect the person’s rank, to portray the weight of their duty, showcase their achievements, and even portray their preferences, all within those intertwining threads.

So how could I allow her, on the night of her official debut before the whole world no less, to dress in such an unworthy dress, that would both fail to reflect her true self, but instead showcase a mere creation she had used as a cover to infiltrate the Banquet, while also utterly failing to proclaim her new identity as the new future empress of the Eclipse Empire.

So without further ado, and before she could voice her doubts about my words, I took her hand and led her to a nearby closet, before unlocking it and pulling out a brand new costume and mask, that I then gave her to silently inspect with her hands for a moment, before she asked "When did you have this prepared?"

"The day I arrived in Katai-Verta, I asked queen Aella for an additional costume for another member that might be be joining me at a later date." I explained.

Eve again, but with far more meticulousness, began to outline the black mask’s and dress’ perfect contours and the strategically placed decorative gems, which she didn’t know what type they specifically were, that only served to further highlight the masterful flower embroidery intertwining elegantly around the images of vanishing suns, the infamous sigil of the Eclipse Empire, clearly marking her as a member of the southern power, which inadvertently brought a sweet smile to her lips; before she then heard the unmistakable sound of cloth hitting the floor, and instinctually turned her in that direction, saying with a faint blush beginning to bloom across her fair skin "What are you doing?"

"Changing." I replied in a matter of fact of voice, though the brazen grin I now wore revealed my impure intentions of making her adorably blush again, a pity she couldn’t see it herself, before I then shamelessly continuing "You’re welcome to stay if you like."

"No thank you." She immediately replied, before she calmly enveloped herself in a cocoon of shadows a minute later, shielding herself from both my constant teasing, and the sounds of me so audaciously changing before her, all of which elicited a hearty laugh from me.

Following this I continued, though annoying when done by your lonesome, since the costume was an annoying amalgamation of straps and buttons, I still manged to do it with the aid of a full body mirror, despite the awkwardness of some of the belts that needed tying.

And just as I finished the last few touches I needed, the veil Eve had constructed began to dissipate, revealing her ravishing form, fully dressed and ready. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"You look gorgeous love." I complimented, as I walked to her side.

"Thank you." She replied, before she calmly ran her hands over my own clothes, not in any indecent way, but simply to gain a visual of what I wore.

But as she did that, her hands inadvertently brushed past a single tie on the mantle draped across my shoulders, that was not fastened properly, and so she ever so slightly tightened it, prompting a sweet smile to grace her lips then, as if pleased with the outcome.

"Thank you love." I said after a light chuckle, and a quick, stolen kiss from her cheek.

We then left the room, with her arm confidently hooking mine, as though it was a natural thing for both of us, without a hint of awkwardness or diffidence showing in any of her actions.

And this, when we emerged into the sight of those waiting outside, mainly being Isaac, Abraham, Darius, Leonid, and Horus who were clearly beginning to grow agitated at our continued absence and the clock’s quickly arriving due time, desperately fighting against their own solemn duty as my closest confidants, defenders and advisors, with their own desire to not disrupt us in this moment, thinking it to be an undoubtedly special moment for our supposedly fledgling relation.

This was especially the case for Abraham, Isaac and Darius, who visibly breathed a sigh of relief seeing us ready, glad that they needed not need to choose between their currently conflicting fealty to the empire, and their own sworn allegiance to me.

Yet once their feelings of relief and calmness passed over them, washing away their earlier concerns, they returned to their stoic selves, and bowed deeply in greeting, with Leonid and Horus quietly nodding in appreciation to their new empress’ demeanour, again admiring my increasingly splendid and wise looking choice.

Once past them, we made our way to the reception room of our wing, where we found my two brothers, already dressed for the evening in their costumes, and sitting opposite each other overlooking a chess game mid play, with the winning party clear to tell from where we stood, and without the need to even glance at the board; as Nizam was looking particularly smug with a pleased expression on his face, undoubtedly retaliation against our younger brother for his constant teasing of him, meanwhile Cyrus appeared to be utterly agonizing over his current position.

"Brother! Come and help...!" Cyrus jumped from his seat the instant he heard our footsteps getting closer, yet he paused halfway through his sentence, once he saw the additional, unexpected presence among us, that just so happened to be of the same one he had been most eager to meet, and finally quench his curiosity.

Nizam was a second slower, but once he also noticed her, he too stood up before they then simultaneously greeted her with a bow, saying in full adherence to tradition "Sister."

Eve was not surprised or perturbed by their sudden address, and neither did she hold any airs before them, replying with a calm smile that also upheld tradition, which made her akin to an older sister to them now "Hello little brothers, it’s nice to finally, officially meet you."

"Likewise sister." Nizam politely replied for the both of them.

"You can call me by my name if you like." She suggested lightly.

"Will do sister Eve." Unlike the more reserved Nizam, Cyrus had no issue already acting carefree before her, as he replied with a toothy grin.

Eve chuckled at this, before she then let go of my arm and approached the two, reaching out her hands to them and saying "Could come here for a bit?"

Cyrus was the first to unflinchingly move, before he then asked, noticing her reaching for his face "What for?"

"She wants to know how you look like, so stay as still as you can." I explained a second later, making him release an understanding sound, before he then let her do as she pleased, followed shortly by Nizam who calmly followed suit.

Which was a scene that I greatly enjoyed in that moment, nearly bringing a tear to my eyes, since such a pleasant introduction between those I most cherished had never happened in my past life, as my brothers had tragically passed by the time Eve entered my life, with only Alisar remaining by then.

But I quickly shooed the memories away, before then glancing at the board behind the two and said, just as Eve finished drawing a mental sketch of their appearances "Having fun I see."

And as if stimulated to remember his grievances, Cyrus instantly turned on his heal and yelled out "Brother! Nizam is bullying me."

"You deserved it." Was all our brother responded to defend against the allegations.

"No I don’t!" He loudly retorted, his voice peaking in agitation.

Yet before they could continue down their spontaneous spat, I glanced at the clock on the nearby wall, before interrupting them, by saying as I pointed at said clock "I think you better stop now Nizam, unless of course you want to keep your betrothed waiting."