Free Web NovelChapter 44: Chapter 44: The Master of Puppets
Yue-Senn POV
The underground beneath the palace felt like an eternal, freezing tomb, but as I walked deeper into the sub-levels, the air shifted. I ran a hand through my dark, messy hair, adjusting the collar of my crisp white shirt and dark vest. My green eyes cast a low glow in the dark as I finally arrived at the heavily guarded isolation wing.
Unlike the black-vaulted cell holding his traitorous spies and the dead this specific room was an anomaly. It was kept warm, a roaring hearth filling the space with a cozy, ambient light, illuminating two young palace maids who were currently leaning over a large, draped bed, meticulously wiping down a silent man with warm water and soap.
I stepped through the threshold, my boots thudding softly against the floor rugs. "How is he doing?" I asked, my deep voice slicing through.
One of the maids immediately startled, dropping her washcloth back into the basin as she bowed her head deeply. "Still no response, Your Majesty. He remains completely unresponsive."
"Well, that’s too bad," I murmured, my voice empty of a single shred of warmth. "Leave us."
The maids didn’t need to be told twice. They hurriedly gathered their water basins, soap, and linens, keeping their eyes glued to the floor as they scrambled out of the room.
I stood by the bedside, towering over the mattress as I looked down at the former King of the North. My father. He lay there perfectly still, trapped in a deep, coma, his breathing shallow and rhythmic.
"Did you miss me?" I asked, a dark, low chuckle vibrating out of my throat. "I know it’s been a while since our last visit, old man. I just came by to tell you that I finally have the crown... the very one you were so desperately trying to keep from me for all these years." freewēbnoveℓ.com
I leaned down slowly right beside his ear, my voice dropping into a sharp whisper. "How does it feel, Father? How does it feel to know that the absolute monster you hated so much the one you wanted dead is now sitting entirely undisputed on your throne?"
I pulled back, my eyes locked onto his face, searching for a reaction. Suddenly, a tiny, involuntary twitch spasmed through my father’s right hand.
A cruel, mocking smile split my face. "What was that? I couldn’t quite hear you. Speak up."
My eyes glowed a piercing, dangerous green in the dim firelight as a wave of bitter memories crashed through my mind. For years after Mother’s death, he blamed me entirely for what happened. He treated me like a monster, locked me away in this exact hellhole. Now the scales have tilted. It’s his turn to feel completely trapped, locked forever inside his own mind with no way to escape.
Suddenly, another piercing, unearthly scream of the undead cut cleanly through the stone walls, echoing from the mountains outside. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
I tilted my head, looking back down at his pale face. "I guess Mother is excited to see me finally be King. Should I bring her down here for a visit, Father?"
My jaw clenched as the dark truth of our history burned in my chest. When Ryophlira had her first massive, uncontrolled power outburst my mother and I were in the Western capital. My mother threw her own body in the line of fire, using her life force to protect me from the blast. I was so broken, so desperate, that I tried to use my forbidden necromancy to pull her back from the veil. But the magic failed transforming her into a mindless, wandering beast of the dead instead of a living soul.
My father loathed me for it. He called me an absolute monster for even experimenting on my own mother’s corpse to bring her back. He used it as an excuse to lock both her away in the mountains and me away in the dark. But now, the tables have completely turned.
"Would you like Mother to join you for lunch today, Father?" I whispered, a truly terrifying, unhinged smile touching my lips as my gaze slid down to his right hand. A few of his fingers were completely missing gnawed off to the bone by my mother.
Suddenly Ki-ri stepped into the room, his expression unusually tense. "My King, you need to head back to the main palace immediately. The Queen might be in serious trouble."
I blinked, the glowing light in my eyes fading slightly as a look of sheer disbelief crossed my face. "Are you kidding me? Who would dare?"
"My Lord. The wives of the regional Chief Ministers have arrived unexpectedly."
"Fuck," I hissed. "I completely forgot about those insufferable hags. Did you handle my uncle like I ordered? Is he dead?"
Ki-ri immediately lowered his head, his voice tight with shame. "I am deeply sorry, My King... I am simply no match for him in direct combat. Eliminating him is a task you will have to handle yourself. However, I did manage to forcefully drive him out of the palace grounds."
"You are fucking useless," I brushing past him into the corridor, my temper boiling over. "I swear, I have to do every single thing myself around here. Let’s go."
As I took my first heavy stride out of the isolation wing, I paused, turning my head to cast one final, chilling look over my shoulder at the comatose man on the bed. "You got extremely lucky today, old man."
I turned and stormed down the dark corridors with Ki-ri hurrying to keep pace. As my boots chewed up the distance toward the main level, my thoughts frantically spun, calculating the absolute best way to handle the situation without completely pissing off Ryophlira. If those noble women pushed her too far, she would turn the tea room into a pile of ash.
Finally, we reached the heavy doors of the royal tea room. I raised my hand, but right before I could grab the handle, a high-pitched, incredibly arrogant voice carried through the wood.
"...there are strict regional rules here, girl," one of the noble ladies was lecturing loudly. "You must ask for our explicit permission before building, trading, or conducting any form of business within our regions. It has been structured like this for years."
Ki-ri instinctively reached forward to throw the door open, but I firmly held my hand out, stopping him in his tracks. A wicked smirk touched my lips. I wanted to see exactly how this played out, and whether my fiery queen truly needed my intervention.
"I don’t care what pathetic rules you think you have," Ryophlira’s voice rang out, cutting through the room like a blizzard. "All the land in this kingdom belongs to the King and the Queen. The old king may have tolerated your little rules, but there is a new King and Queen in town, so those rules are now entirely void."
"You cannot do that!" the noble woman shrieked back defensively. "You think just because you are powerful and killed our last queen that you can simply do whatever you want? The people of the North will never kneel to a foreign stray like you!"
My blood instantly turned to liquid fire. Shit. This is bad. Really damn bad.
A dangerous mixture of blinding fury and intense dark excitement flared in my gut simultaneously.
How dare that useless bitch mention my mother’s And how dare she challenge the absolute authority of the Queen—my Queen?
Through the wood, I could hear the sharp, rhythmic clack of Ryophlira’s high heels stepping dangerously closer to the women. "Say that again," she whispered, her voice laced with heat.
I need to get in there right now, or she is going to slaughter them all.
I grabbed the handles and violently flung the double doors open.
The tea room was a battlefield of tension. Ryophlira was standing mere inches away from the trembling noble women, while Ari stood directly behind her like a shadow ready to strike.
"Darling," I said loudly, breaking the suffocating silence.
I closed the distance in three massive strides, stepping right up behind Ryophlira and wrapping my arms firmly around her waist, pulling her back against my chest in a tight hug. She stiffened instantly, completely caught off guard. I could feel the surprise radiating off her, but as I squeezed her closer, I caught a fleeting glimpse of her eyes there was a tiny, hidden hint of genuine sadness buried beneath her irritation.
I slowly let go of her waist. The moment my hands left her waist, Ryophlira spun around to face me, her eyes blazing, and threw a stinging, resounding slap straight across my cheek.
The four noble women in their exaggerated hats let out a collective, horrified gasp.
"Where the hell have you been?!" she demanded.
I leaned my head back slightly, a dark, thrill shooting through me. God, I thoroughly enjoyed her physical abuse. Hiding the wicked smile that threatened to break across my face, I leaned down and pressed a slow, firm, affectionate kiss straight onto the top of her head.
"Had to see my father, honey," I murmured smoothly, keeping my eyes locked on hers. "I certainly didn’t expect any unannounced visitors today... considering we are still technically on our honeymoon."
The four ladies instantly dropped to their knees, their heavy coats pooling on the floor rugs as they bowed their heads in a panic. "Greetings, our King," they stammered together in a trembling unison.
Suddenly, the defiance in Ryophlira’s expression melted away. She shifted closer to me, her eyes widening into a pair of soft, heartbreaking puppy dog eyes. She extended her small hand, slowly running her warm fingers down the center of my vest, her touch sending an immediate jolt straight to my groin.
I froze, my mind short-circuiting. What the hell is she trying to do right now?
"Honey," she whined softly, her voice dropping into a sweet, vulnerable tone that was completely abnormal for her. "They were being extremely rude to me. They even called me a barbarian."
Before I could even process the sudden change in her behavior, she stood up on her tippy-toes. Her hands slid up the front of my shirt, wrapping snugly around the back of my neck to forcefully pull my head down. She pressed a soft, lingering kiss against the side of my neck, then trailed her lips up to my bruised cheek, before finally landing a devastatingly soft, sweet kiss directly onto my lips.
My heart hammered against my ribs. I wanted more. I wanted to bend her over the tea table and fuck her right in front of these fools.
Ryophlira slowly pulled back, a tiny smirk dancing on her lips as she raised a single, slender finger to her mouth. "What exactly are you going to do about this, darling?" she asked coyly.
She was driving me absolutely, completely insane. The sheer, calculated manipulation mixed with the intoxicating scent of jasmine entirely broke my restraint. I turned a cold, pitch-black glare onto them.
"Ki-ri. Ari," I ordered, my voice dropping into a flat, demonic rasp. "Kill them all."
"No! Wait! Please, wait! We are so sorry!" the noble women immediately began to shriek, their regal arrogance entirely shattering into pure terror.
Ari didn’t hesitate for a fraction of a second. She smoothly pulled a wicked, curved dagger from her sleeve and began approaching them with a cold, vacant expression, while Ki-ri silently rolled up his uniform sleeves, his eyes glowing with an light.
The woman in the oversized pink feathered hat scrambled forward on her knees, desperately grabbing a fistful of Ryophlira’s midnight-blue skirt, sobbing hysterically. "Please, my Queen! Please, spare me! I have children at home... please have mercy!"
Ryophlira looked down at the weeping woman, completely unbothered, and rolled her eyes with a heavy sigh. Ari lunged forward, grabbing the woman by her collar to yank her back. The momentum caused the ridiculous pink hat to fall off, scattering feathers across the floor as Ari pressed the cold, gleaming edge of her blade directly against her exposed neck.
"Stop," Ryophlira commanded quietly.
Ari stepped back instantly, lowering her weapon, and Ki-ri paused his advance, his face a mask of disappointment.
"What are you all still waiting for?" Ryophlira said, her voice turning completely icy and as she stared down at the trembling nobles. "Get the hell out."
The four women scrambled wildly to their feet, tripping over their heavy coats, pushing and shoving each other out of the double doors in a frantic sprint to escape the palace.
Ryophlira turned around slowly, crossing her arms tightly across her chest as she fixed her gaze on me. "You two... get out, too."
Ari and Ki-ri bowed their heads quickly, stepping out into the corridor and pulling the heavy doors shut, leaving the two of us completely alone in the roaring warmth of the tea room.
I stood there, my breath hitching as I looked at her. Seeing her like this standing in that beautifully cinched blue corset, her curls pinned up, her eyes blazing with a dangerous, dominant fury was the most absolutely sexy thing I had ever witnessed in my entire life. I wanted her more than I ever had before.
A slow, feral grin broke across my face as I took a step forward. "Well, well, my Queen... that was quite a performance."
