Emperor's Reckoning

The love of art was something she had never fully well experience. The beautiful place was brimming with solace and calmness. No matter how much stress there was in the world, this room could nullify it albeit for a moment. There was nothing more soothing than peace, at least, that's what she thought as she looked at the grand bathroom in front of her.

The king didn't hold back in furnishing the royal bath. A wide tub that could host ten people at once was presented in front of their eyes. One golden fish statue was placed in the middle part of the north side of the tub as it poured out water from its gaping mouth. The tiles were made of high-quality marble, no matter how wet it got, it won't get slippery to the touch. The mist from the hot water permeated the area as the gentle soothing of the temperature already warmth their skin.

Orchids, a flower that symbolized strength and beauty. They were adorned by the walls as if they were painting, but with one good look of observation, one could notice that they were actually alive and real. A smooth wooden tray was placed neatly beside the huge bathtub. There was a vase made of golden clay, a little cup of a bowl with a black onyx hue of color by the side of it, and a sponge, the good old fresh yellow sponge that never fails to scrub.

"Where... are we?" muttered Cecile as she put her hand in front of her breast.

"Hmm? What are you talking about? Don't you know what a bathroom is? Aren't you a maid?" said Lyon before he yawned and entered the grand bathroom. Stretching his muscle before saying, "Oh right."

Lyon turned around before pulling out a dagger from his spatial ring that god knows if it was even his or not. The dagger was plain but sharp even to the eyes that looked at it. With nothing but a cloth to cover the handle. He flipped it right in front of her before grabbing the blade by his hand and handed it to her.

Cecile looked at the dagger and saw a dark hue on the cloth of the handle. It was apparent that the dagger was used many times to have that kind of imprint. However, the condition of the cloth was at its top prime and didn't lose its vibrant color of white. Soon, she darted her glance toward Lyon with a question in her gaze.

"Go on, take it from my hand," said Lyon with a smile.

The genuine smile that seemed to never fade was upon her face. There was no hint of malice as the blade was pointed against his body instead of hers. She reached out her hand against the handle before taking the dagger from his hand.

The blade reflected her anxious face before she heard a tap of footstep leaving her.

"That's just an ordinary blade, use it whenever you feel threatened by my naked presence," muttered Lyon with a smile before he took off his clothes.

Cecile looked up only to have a red hue before she darted her glance away. Though, her maternity instinct seemed to kick in as she tried to peek forward

*Splash!

Lyon entered the bathtub before letting out a satisfying sigh. The water level was a little bit higher than his navel but his refined muscle was gracing the dull bathroom. He didn't even shade a red hue as he went in knowing that a woman was standing in front of the door. He looked at the golden statue of a fish that was the only thing that seemed to be out of place. He slowly rubbed his chin with a distasteful look that was present on his face.

"I won't turn around so get naked and enter the bath, Cecile, man what kind of ugly fish is this..." Lyon mumbled.

He had no idea how wild his words were toward the young woman that only knew betrayal and bitterness. The absurd request that was coming out of his mouth was unbelievable but Lyon was not joking at all he locked his gaze against the ugly golden statue.

"Are you done? Can I turn around?"

"Wait! Don't turn around yet!"

Lyon smiled as he knew that at the very least she had the intention of going inside the water.

"Bring that dagger with you, if I try to do anything funny against your smelly body you can pierce my heart and I won't fight back."

"B-But! How do I know if you are not going to fight back? You think I don't know how strong your hands are?" asked Cecile as she recalled how the man in front of him tried to destroy the thick wall that was basically structured to the entire island.

"You don't, that's why you have to trust me. If you want to be a fool one last time and walked toward the same thin line that cost you your freedom and dreams, at least go toward me now. I cannot promise you riches, I cannot promise you eternal happiness, I can only promise that it would be fun, you might feel sad, you might feel happy, but know this. I'll always be someone you can trust, my word may seem weightless now, but just you wait, when you cry out my name, I'll be there."

Lyon could only hear silence after he ended his words. However, despite having no reaction, his lips turned into a grin before he heard a plop from the warm water he was in. He closed his eyes as he let the water inside the grand bath calmed itself down. He took a deep breath as he could feel his heartbeat raced. He opened his eyelids saying, "I will turn around now."

He received no answer but he turned around anyway. The golden statue of the fish reflected his body turning around and approaching the back of the woman from its wide forehead. Thus the reason for his grin from before was revealed.

*Thump

Cecile's heart raced as she could hear him approaching from behind. Her body was still dirty but her arms trembled despite one of her hands holding the dagger. She decided to be a fool and walked to the same thin line that Lyon was speaking of. She couldn't help but had her lips slightly tremored even with the warmth of the water from the tub. Her eyes were tightly closed as they scrunched and revealed lines of creases on the edges. Expecting something that would happen between her cold shoulders, but it was nothing.

Lyon didn't reach out to embrace the woman, instead, he walked past her without even turning around to steal a glance.

Noticing that the young man didn't do anything to her she nervously opened her eyes before founding his strong wide back in her view. His muscular hand reached out the golden clay of a vase before pouring the content toward the little black-onyx bowl. Golden thick liquid came out from the mouth of the vase. The sweet honey-like liquid permeated a vibrant fragrance that was not too strong and not too weak at the same time. It gave off a feeling of peace to whoever inhale its smell.

He put down the golden clay vase to the wooden tray. Cecile didn't blink even once before Lyon reached out to the fresh sponge and sink it into the water for a quick dip before being plunged into the filled bowl.

He took out the sponge before he glanced against Cecile. His charm was unbelievably strong that she was stunned before she realized that her breasts were open for view. She quickly covered them before turning around. Her shoulders risen up as her face was fully red, she couldn't help but taking a gulp as she heard him approaching her.

Lyon leaned in toward her ear from behind before a single breath from his nose made her goosebumps rose. "Stay still."

Lyon touched her body with the sponge that was foaming. The tingling sensation caught her off guard but his other hand grabbed her shoulder to make her standstill. He gently scrubbed the sponge against her body and washed away the plain dirt.

He splashed the back before applying the scrub once again. He grabbed a floating bucket before rinsing her body from the top. Her auburn hair went down passing her face as she looked below against her own reflection. Her eyes were bubbling with tears as she felt the warmth of care that she had never received before in her entire life. Her trembling hands soon let go of the dagger before it slowly pierced down the water and hit down the tile then resting there. She tightened her tremoring lips to hold imploding her emotion.

*Splash!

"Hm?" muttered Lyon as Cecile suddenly turned around.

She let her arms down and she covered nothing. She was bare but his eyes locked against her head. He couldn't clearly see her emotion but once her head bumped and stayed on his chest he heard a wailing cry.