THE EMPEROR'S RAT

CHAPTER 5- THE EMPEROR'S RAT

Whilst stirring I felt a wave of familiar DeJaVu hit me, but at the same time, I felt an unimaginable amount of comfort.

Too one side sat the male lead looking worried on the other sat a man with long blonde hair tied up in a ponytail; reaching past his shoulders and blue eyes looking back at me. His stare reeked of malice and anger, clothes resembling that of an emperor from the Roman empire, looking somewhat like a Toga.

A blue cloth about 12 feet in length, draped across the shoulders and around his body. It was worn over a plain white linen tunic.

"Looks like the little mouse has wandered a bit too far from the cheese"

I froze in fear as I realised who this was, this wasn't supposed to happen yet- Sovvia's mother was still alive so she doesn't return to the castle until she turns 10 and I'm only 6.

"You." My heart dropped before I realized the emperor had been pointing towards Sorren. "Leave us".

No please don't leave!

Don't leave me with his monster!

The giant chamber door slammed shut.

Silence engulfed the room, I felt sick like vomiting. Anywhere but here.

"You look just like that bitch, and here comes the surprise when I find out you and her are still alive after all this time..."

My mouth was glued shut. "Are you unable to talk?" His tone sounded angry?

Unsure what to do I made an awkward laugh as if I had no idea what was going on. His gaze looked distant as a smirk appeared on his face.

He reached his hand out towards me "I should kill you right now. Shouldn't I?"

I shut my mouth.

I had to hold back tears, what was I supposed to do? I wasn't the female lead with a heart so warm it managed to defrost a monster like him.

My best play is to try to act ignorant and come off as an innocent child who has no idea as to what's going on.

Yeah.

I looked at him with the most confused face I could muster.

"Daddy?.." I asked.

His hand stopped reaching out straight away a look of pure shock radiated on his face. An unsettling smirk appeared on his face before quickly disappearing "You have some guts to enter my castle and call me just such a disgusting name..."

The script never gave me an in-depth vision of how cruel the emperor truly was that he was willing to kill his own child. But after reading many stories and retellings from the maids. I've concluded that the emperor is a complete and utter monster.

He's conquered surrounding nations and slaughtered innocent people to teach one man a lesson, rumour has it he even murdered his own father to gain succession after a massive struggle in power in the family.

The idea makes me shiver.

He continued to stare at me which began to make me feel uncomfortable.

What am I supposed to do? Is he thinking of the best way to kill me?! Mother is still alive though so why am I here. This wasn't a part of the storyline.

Okay, his gaze is becoming more worrying! Why does he keep staring at me? I looked down and began fiddling with the bedsheets.

"You and your mother will be moved into the castle until I decide of a reasonable place to put the two of you"

"In all honesty, I almost forgot you two existed," He said in a somewhat taunting tone.

I looked up at him surprised. "Really..?" I sputtered out, not being able to hold back the smile that was appearing on my face.

The castle? Like THE castle?!

My luck is finally looking up, but before I could celebrate I noticed his gaze turning cold once again and I instantly froze as I felt uneasiness wash over me calming my excitement.

Squeezing my eye shut preparing for the worst.

"Your hair is very long, It drags on the ground. Have you ever thought of cutting it?"

Wait, what?

What do I say to something like that?

"You have very pretty hair too daddy!"

He gave me a blank stare, his head turned towards the door, standing up. He then reached to pick me up and began carrying me outside of the room.

.

.

.

the palace was large and shiny, God and marble decorating the walls with beautiful carpets made from the finest silks.

The female lead gets a life as grand as this, whilst Sovvia only gets a cramped tower with maids who treat her like shit! Hmph!

Where are we going anyway?

The emperor continued to carry me till we got to an area with a huge door when opened there was a plethora of mirrors and dresses hanging.

"Welcome your majesty," The maids said in unison

"Take her and dress her in something more appropriate for a princess." He then sat down in a chair nearby

What? What is he waiting for?

I felt a light tap on my shoulder, turning to see a maid smiling at me.

"Alright, princess do you like any of these outfits?" She pointed towards the rack of clothing

"I can have any of them?" I asked in disbelief

"Of course! The emperor specially ordered these, from some of the best boutiques in the empire!"

What? But didn't the emperor despise his children? From what I'm aware the prince's and female lead are currently in the sapphire palace where they lived until Lucia was 8?

Sovvia and Lucia are supposed to be around the same age with Sovvia only being a couple months younger so that means I have about 2 years before I see her? But will that even happen?

Maybe my encounter with the male lead diverted the story of its original path?

I stared a the dresses hung up the rack before my eyes caught a beautiful light blue dress with ruffles on both sides as well as a white bow centered in the middle. The corset having much smaller blue bows attached to it.

"Does this one catch the princesses fancy?" The maid said with a pleasant smile on her face

"Let her try it on," Said a voice in the back.

"Yes your majesty," Said the maid

Before I could think I have been dragged behind the rack.

.

.

.

A couple of minutes later I came back out wearing the dress, The emperor staring at me with an unamused face. "Do you like it?" He said

"Yes, I do..." I responded looking down, fingers clenching my dress trying to avoid eye contact.

"Alright then, finish preparing and come to my office when you are finished"

"Alright, daddy..."

For some reason the emperor stopped once I said that only to look back at me with a a deeper blank expression.

Before he walked out of the door.

I let out a breath I didn't know that I was holding.

What the hell is his problem? Isn't he supposed to hate me? Or maybe he's toying with me to get my hopes up!!!

From what I'm aware the emperor regularly visits the sapphire palace to keep track of his children's progress but never stays long enough to chat. However, when Lucia turned 8 she ran into the emperor accidentally in the gardens and her kindness and beauty managed to warm the beast's heart.

After that encounter Lucia and her brother were moved to the main palace. Where he showers Lucia with attention and whatever she wants, never letting anyone disrespect her or even think of looking down on her.

Then Sovvia enters the picture...

but it seems like the opposite is happening in reverse, maybe if I'm lucky I won't get a terrible ending! If I can just swoon the emperor by acting cute!

It is said in the script that despite not looking like the emperor Sovvias's looks were just as enchanting as any other nymph. But for some reason despite that people always preferred Lucia believing Sovvia was stuck up.

Looking back on it other than sometimes taking her anger out of Lucia. Sovvia never really did anything THAT BAD to warrant the death penalty. Not to mention that despite the fact Sovvia was illegitimate, she wasn't ACTUALLY the result of an affair. Leopold and Lucia's were products of an arranged marriage between Crown prince Julius(The emperor) and Lady Miranda. However, Lady Miranda died whilst giving birth to Lucia. His older twin brother who had wanted the throne had lied about Sovvia being the result of an affair to try and stir rumours to gain favour of the public. In reality Sovvia was just a lonely child who was unfortunate enough to be born into a cruel family...

And I'm currently that unfortunate child...

But don't worry Sovvia! ill do my best to give you a good ending!