Chapter 108

The stare from Akira felt like a brand on Janice’s flesh, pressing her into the ground to the point that her knees were starting to hurt through the layers of fabric. She was but an ant running around under his eyes, his calm yet deadly demeanor emanating from such a small body.

Akira blinked slowly where he sat. “You have had your fun?” he asked almost like a parent to a child, instead of their true master-servant relationship.

“Y-Yes, I have, Sire. Thank you,” Janice said breathlessly. Ever since she had experienced the full capabilities of the gifts she’d been given, her respect and fear for Akira had risen exponentially. All it had taken was a few generous draws of the blood coursing through his veins for Janice to completely transform her life.

“I know your thoughts, Janice,” Akira said as he peered at her.

A butler suddenly appeared behind Akira from the shadows and pushed him closer so that she could see how the light reflected off every piece of sandy-colored hair. Janice’s flesh went cold although that particular summer evening was comfortably warm like a cozy sweater.

“What thoughts, Sire?” Janice asked, fixing her eyes on the tiled ground as she scrounged rapidly through her past ideas and plans for what may have offended the Devourer.

“Do you wish to play dumb with me, Janice? Do you take me so lightly?” Akira leaned against his armrest, a playful glint in his eye that practically cut Janice to the bone. The same instinct that made humans back away from fire and precarious ledges flared inside of her. If she could have picked herself off the ground to run, she would. The keyword being if she ‘could’ve’. Now her decision to stare at the floor worked against her as her entire body became locked in position while every muscle in her body refused to work.

.....

And one of those muscles included her heart, the most necessary of organs decreasing from its hummingbird tempo to a nonexistent one. Janice’s chest grew tight with intense pain, tears flaring in her eyes due to her low pain tolerance. But she fought through it, her head being freed from the lockdown so she could speak.

“No! No! I wouldn’t dare!” Janice gasped out, her body beginning to tremble as every part of her body begged for blood to resume pumping through it.

It felt icy cold, then burning hot all at the same time, the increasing numbness only increasing the pain in her knees. Without Akira’s blood flowing through Janice, the curse that took hold when she didn’t feed began to run its course. Age spots floated on the back of her palm, her knees ached so bad it was as if someone had nailed spikes into them. One of the locks that had floated free from her elaborate updo grew dull and dry, like the straw that used to make up the roofs of the village she’d once lived in.

“I gave you a gift, but you have not fulfilled your end of the bargain,” Akira said casually as if Janice were not about to keel over before him. “One day very soon, you shall see what becomes of those who do not properly hold up their end of a deal with me. Unless you’d prefer to find out for yourself?”

“No, I would not, Sire. Please forgive me! What thoughts have I had that I shouldn’t? I won’t dare think of it again!” Janice begged. The desperation was visible on her reddened face. She grasped the back of her hand in horror, hiding her face from the reflective tiles as she could not bear to see her reflection.

Janice prayed with all her heart for another soul to enter the lady’s room, which had somehow become empty since Akira had appeared, but the door handle did not so much as tremble.

“The emperor,” Akira said simply. “Banish him from your thoughts.”

“Sire?!” Janice half-yelled before she could help herself. Dreams of ballgowns even more stunning than the empress’, gaining the affectionate gaze of the empire’s most powerful man, and perhaps even sampling the bratty bastard princess before expelling her from the palace were shattered in an instant. Luckily for her, Akira did not seem to care, a nostalgic look overtaking his half-formed features.

“He is... one of mine.” The fondness in Akira’s eyes did not seem fake, but with even the shallow understanding Janice had of the Devourer, acquiring his fondness was not a good thing. In the haze of whatever fond memories he was reliving, the hold on Janice’s body and heart released, and Janice gasped for air dramatically as blood began to circulate her veins once more. The ugliness faded away and the beauty she now loved more than anything replenished itself.

“Yes, Sire,” Janice said, still a little out of breath. She patted her now wrinkle-free cheek and thought about Akira’s orders. Her heart was unwilling, but she understood very well that crossing Akira would mean a fate worse than death.

“As I expected, you have found yourself a way to enter the palace. Do so on a more regular basis. Become the empress’ lady-in-waiting. Keep a close eye on the interactions between the imperial family and the newest princess,” Akira instructed her.

“What? Her?” Janice growled. It was indeed a growl, a deep inhuman sound hinting at her abnormality.

But scarcely had she spoken before her throat seized up as if someone grabbed it. Janice fought the invisible assailant, but she could not feel anything holding her neck. It was as if her body was strangling itself. Janice tried to cough but nothing but a few drops of saliva made it free from her silenced mouth.

Watching wordlessly as she pounded on her chest hard enough to break an average man’s bones, Akira said, “Even if I were to ask you to slit your throat in front of me, I expect you do it without any questions. On this matter, I will not repeat myself.”

Janice nodded rapidly, a chicken pecking at rice. But even her agreement did not make Akira release her as easily as before.

“Besides, on this matter, I was thinking of you,” Akira continued kindly. “I simply wish for you to watch, and if you must, intervene in improving the relationship between that princess and Helio.”

He said the emperor’s name casually without any title, further displaying his godly status.

“And once you see that they have great affection for one another, to the point that Winter can be said to be the one the emperor loves the most, you have my permission to kill her.”

Janice froze on the floor. “To kill... that girl? I can kill Winter?” Her throat had been freed and she rubbed at it gently as a feverish light filled her eyes.

A fox did not dare flash its teeth at a wolf, instead preying on smaller animals. Janice was of the same mindset. It was Akira who had denied her the chance to realize the dream of becoming the empress consort. But in her mind, it was because she had to babysit Winter that she could not pursue Emperor Helio. As such, the thought of killing Winter had her salivating.

“Only once you are absolutely certain that the Emperor loves her more than all else. A tall task, considering the favor the crown prince currently enjoys. If you fail to do so, I shall take away your gift and perhaps more. My pets are often hungry for the souls of the damned.” Akira cautioned.

It felt as if Janice had been doused in cold water by his words, but she was undeterred.

“I will do what I must to make sure Emperor Helio loves the princess more than life itself,” Janice promised immediately, her mind whirring with plans to make the emperor grow some affection for his daughter.

It truly rankled her heart, Akira’s orders. To help the one she hated most would prove to be a unique kind of torture. But oh, for the sweet, sweet prize that awaited her at the end of it, Janice was more than willing.

“I am only helping him finish his end of the deal. You lot can become quite forgetful about paying once receiving my gift,” Akira mused. “But it is always my pleasure to remind you.”

He was done, just like that. With business finished, the frighteningly somber butler began to push Akira towards the doors to leave.

“And what of my price?” Janice called out to his retreating back. “You said you would tell me the next time we met, Sire,” she pleaded in a far more respectful tone.

“That? You have already to pay it,” Akira told her cryptically, a faint smile hanging from his lips. The door slammed shut behind him.

In the midst of thought, Janice somehow managed to pick up her crumpled form from the ground and stumble into the dark hallway adjacent to the lady’s room. Her back slammed against the wall, sliding down until she sat on the carpeted floor.

To have a taste of her dream by seeing Emperor Helio across the room, only to then have that taste snatched from her mouth and stomped into the ground was cruel agony.

The feeling was akin to being a child, oddly enough. You’ve come to realize that beyond you is an entire world to enjoy and explore, but your parents keep you from it by telling you to feed the horses and stay at home. But instead of the anticipation of growing and seeing the world, she was shut away from it forever.

Janice already didn’t put Count Koberg in her eyes, having seen a few far nobler and wealthier ladies in attendance that evening. So not only could she never reach the pinnacle, she hadn’t even managed to reach the next closest branch to the top. Devastation and fury went to war in Janice’s turbulent heart, so much so that she almost missed the sound of advancing footsteps down the hall towards to lady’s room. Many footsteps.

Fortunately for her, the path from the ballroom floor to the lady’s room did not cross the dark hallway Janice had stumbled into. Tugging the fluffy girth of her now crumpled silver dress completely out of sight, Janice was utterly shocked to hear the emperor’s voice.

“Clear any women in the lady’s room right now,” Emperor Helio coldly ordered, Janice’s ears easily picking up his words.

A few people marched ahead of him into the lady’s room, senior female maidservants, but they too found that the lady’s room was empty and opened the doors for the emperor to enter.

“Is something the matter, Your Majesty?” A nervous attendant who’d been off somewhere else asked as she rushed back to her post. Somehow, Akira’s magic had made all the people in the vicinity leave when he was present.

“Who has been in here?” The emperor thundered out. The natural authority in his voice was tangible, like a falcon among sparrows.

“I-I’m sorry, Your Majesty. I had just left to go to the bathroom, a-and I thought since it would be quick it would be alright. Hence, I am n-not certain about who has been in here,” the attendant immediately confessed her guilt.

The pleasing, honeyed tones all palace people learned to speak with could not withstand the might of the emperor’s anger and faded in and out of her speech as tears poured out.

“Get her out. And then all of you get out too save for the captain,” the emperor said dully.

There was a faint scuffing sound that Janice attributed to the girl being dragged out of the room. But once she got over the amusement of the emperor entering the lady’s room, the realization that took ahold of her shook the laughter right out of her.

He knew. He could sense him.

When Janice had stood before Akira, his presence and gaze had let her knew who she stood before. So it was no coincidence that almost moments, barely even a few minutes actually, after she and Akira had spoken in the lady’s room, Emperor Helio had arrived.

What was it that Akira had said? That the emperor was one of his own?

Thinking of the killing aura the emperor had and his legendary status on the battlefield, Janice connected the puzzle pieces together. Just like her, the emperor could sense Akira’s presence. Just like her, the emperor had drank Akira’s blood and obtained abilities. He just had not yet paid for the gift and now Akira was setting a game in motion that would bring the greatest pain from Emperor Helio in return. Janice stood up, her unnatural grace showing itself as she managed not to make a single noise as she rose. She had to leave, lest Emperor Helio somehow managed to sense her as well.

But just before she left, she heard a piece of hushed intel between the emperor and Captain Wolfgang of the Royal Guard.

“Your Majesty, there is urgent news from the north. The Lord Protector’s men have found traces of Bromely although it is unknown what matters he has so far from the capital. The Lord Protector sent a message requesting a meeting as soon as possible to discuss countermeasures.”

Bromely? It was a name Janice was unfamiliar with but would be sure to ask the count she was now tied to once she returned. It was the least that overweight widower could do for her since she could potentially be stuck with him for a good while longer than she had hoped.

Janice advanced down the halls, opting not to take the most direct path to the raucous dance floor where more and more people were getting drunk by the minute so that she didn’t get caught by the emperor. She could tell from his gaze alone that the man was sharp. Even if she used all her new talents, she could still be caught by him.

“Janice!” a surprised gasp echoed before her during her escape through the labyrinth of the palace hallways. Thinking it was a guard, Janice pretended to be a lost and tipsy guest until the voice registered in her memory.

But unlike the previous time her name had been called, a sense of faint euphoria and smugness filled Janice although she had learned to hide it better in the past few years.

“Felix! My truest companion!” she squealed. Janice looked up at the pimply freak who seemed to love her more than life itself, betraying his fake and real master just for her. Her pride, which had been dampened in the face of Akira, reared its head at the utter infatuation that hung in Felix’s eyes.

He looked like just as much of a fool as when they met which was good for Janice because it meant his heart had not been swayed by anyone else since she had tearfully convinced him to return to the palace so she could pursue wealthy men in peace.

Even now, Janice managed to squeeze out a few tears as if she were truly moved to see Felix.

“Tell me, how have you been? Are the other servants treating you rudely?” She bombarded him with questions, patting his cheeks and shoulders quite modestly but overwhelming Felix with her closeness.

Felix’s eyes danced over her cleavage, but he was honest enough to drag them away after a peek. But his cheeks grew red and he stammered out a response Janice couldn’t quite make out. Stifling a sigh of annoyance, Janice said, “What was that you said?”

She fully expected an asinine response, but instead Felix threw another question at her after seeing her for the first time in 8 months and sending her countless letters of general palace news.

“You are with the Count now?” he asked timidly, a pathetic expression overtaking his face. Janice vaguely recalled their professions of love and the kisses she had bestowed upon him when she had needed him to do things for her when she was nothing.

But now, Janice could not help looking down on the stupid manservant who thought he could obtain her affections. This time, she couldn’t hide the curl of her lip and she pulled out a handkerchief to hide the expression until it disappeared.

Above the handkerchief, her eyes fluttered until they could produce a few tears. “You doubt me so easily? I am but a poor girl with a pretty face, my fate was meant to be tragic. How could I resist when such a boorish nobleman came to the Red House and said he would take me back with him? I fought him! I did! But that man-”

Janice paused as if she were too emotional to speak. Just as she was cursing Felix for making her eyes potentially turn red from all the fake crying, he began to fulfill the role she had laid out for him.

“Don’t cry, my love. Please, it hurts me so. What did that man dare do to you?” Felix asked angrily.

Janice smiled under the hanky. “He killed his wife! What kind of awful soul is he? Just to bring me to his home. A perfectly good woman, dead just like that. And now... now he wishes for me to marry him before the month is over!”

“That man!” Felix clenched his fist tight. “I have learned some skills while in the empress’ employ. Fear not, Janice, I shall poison him tonight and free you.”

“No, don’t!” Janice hastily yelled. Seeing his foolish confusion, she continued, “How could I let such a crime fall on your head? If a count dies at the Celebration Ball, they will waste no effort finding the culprit. What shall I do without you alive in this world? If you are killed.... then I shall follow you to the underworld! Just let me suffer with the count and keep writing me your sweet letters.”

Felix looked genuinely moved by her profession, patting her hand over and over again as if it were the most precious treasure. “I understand. You suffer for me and for our love. No soul in the empire can compare to yours.”

He looked like he had moved past it, prompting Janice to implement the first steps of Akira’s orders.

“Very well then,” Janice said swiftly, sweeping the matter under the rug to get to what she really wished to know. “You still report to the empress, don’t you? Find out what kind of candidates she is looking for concerning her replacement lady-in-waiting and let me know everything. After all,” Janice dangled a carrot in front of the man who was stupider than the village idiot. “If I can become her lady-in-waiting I can come to see you more often in the palace, Felix. Wouldn’t you like that?”