Chapter 10

Cyra wakes up nauseous, and Crecylla recognizes the noise immediately. She rushes to the queen's side, and she's pretty sure that she's her best friend at this point. She helps the queen, and when Cyrus rushes in, she excuses herself to go outside. The royal physician is brought in, and he mentions that it's only the morning sickness since she was early on in the pregnancy.

Time runs fast, and when 9 months pass, she guards the outside of the queen's place while she gives birth. Her agonizing cries make her grimace, and finally when she hears the child's cries, she lets out a breath of relief. The child had made it safely. She's called in when the queen recovers consciousness, and Cyra smiles at her. She has her hold the child, and the baby giggles at her. She swears her heart melts. She had gotten closer with the queen during her pregnancies, and she had found that she wasn't as bad as she seemed to be.

Cyrus is by the queen's side when she gives birth, and he's there when Crecylla hold the queen's child. He couldn't help but think that could've been them. He shakes his head to remove the thoughts, and when Cyra smiles at him, he smiles back. He was glad his queen didn't leave him, and he was glad the child came safely.

Rigel shows up to see his child, and sure enough, the child looked just like him. He had his silver eyes, and had the queen's golden hair. The only issue was that the child looked too similar to him. If he wanted the child to rule in place of Cyrus one day, then the child would have to look like the king.

Crecylla knows that Rigel wants the crown, but she is unable to do anything except watch as they fall into his scheme. She knows there are issues at home, and she knows that both empires would fall before they could get rid of the adversaries. So when she lets the queen know that evening, the queen smiles at her. She knows, and she was hoping that Crecylla would be willing to help them out. But she's not surprised that she doesn't agree to. But Crecylla agrees to stay silent, and lets them continue. It wouldn't have made a difference though.

Cyrus receives news of this shortly after he figures it out. Crecylla tells him, and she warns him to take action before the empire falls, but he can't do anything about it. He had no power to throw out his wife, and he needed evidence to crack down on it. He orders an investigation and when he gets his evidence, he casts her out with no mercy. The plan is ultimately cracked down, and when he finishes, he sends Crecylla home. She was free to do whatever, and he didn't need it to be with him.

Crecylla confides in Helios when she returns home, and when he agrees to managing the kingdom, she beams. Cyrus was in need of a permanent break from life, and she was more than happy to provide that to him. She kidnaps Cyrus, the guards know, and they trust that the former princess would take care of him, and she takes him to the Floral Empire's suburbs. When he sees light again, he's surprised to find himself in a cottage.

"Where am I?"

Crecylla beams, and she explains that this was her home. The place she grew to love and take care of. The place of no worries, and the place of serenity. It was her paradise, her euphoria. She tells him that there was lots to do here, so she has him wash his hands, and join her in the field.

To Cyrus, she looks ethereal in ordinary clothes. She had him change into something more fitting, and she taught him how to tend the vegetables around. She had learned so much in the time she was gone, and she wanted to share everything with him. She hadn't realized before, but she felt much more comfortable with him around. He was her home, and he was her serendipity. He was much more to her than just a pawn in the game, he was her king, and the one she was to protect with her life. So with him around, she was finally warm.

Cyrus thinks that she's incredible. She had learned so much in the years she was gone, and she found such happiness in the small things she did. She was perfect and he was in love. So when he finds out that he was allowed to stay permanently, he was happy to remain. He was in love, and he was happy just to finally be able to take care of someone with his heart. This was his ecstasy, and it was his treasure. She would be the one he would marry, and though he had been tainted, he was sure that love could overpower that. They would create a legacy without the throne, and they would create a home that even nobles would be jealous of.

This was her euphoria, and this was his serendipity. He was just as in love with her as she was, and she was more than willing to live with him her whole life. The empires were now merged, and under Helios and Luna, they would be safe. They ruled with love and compassion, and she was sure that they would've done a much better job than she could. Love worked in strange ways.

Sometimes you didn't need to rule an empire to be happy. You didn't need all the money in the world, and you didn't need tons of people to satisfy your craving. Sometimes you just needed someone to hold you and tell you that they loved you, and that they meant it. Sometimes you just needed love, and that was exactly what Crecylla and Cyrus had found. They found comfort in eachother's arms, and they found joy in their life together, and sometimes, that was all you needed.