( T.W : Trauma and self harm. )

Midnight :

Valentina - *Gasp* *Gasp* ( *Whispers* ) This can't be-

Valentina was having a nightmare of her past life all of a sudden. The events that had occurred in her past life were surfacing again making her body shiver and shortening her breaths. It was her memory of the past combined with all the extra information the goddess had presented her with about the events that had occurred.

Flashback :

After Valentina got married to the emperor her happiness knew no bounds, having gotten married to her first love life seemed like a fairytale, until their first night together came up. They were supposed to share the same room but on the night Feliz walked out of their room after threatening her leaving her in tears.

Feliz - ( *Grabbing her arms tightly* ) Listen here! Even though I married you I have not even a least bit of interest in you. So if you even try to inform the duchy about anything happening here then I won't let it slide. Live as if you are dead until I don't need you anymore! Dare to tarnish my image and I'll make you suffer to no extent. ( *Whispers in her ear* ) Even if you are the princess, do not forget I am the emperor and I can do whatever I want.

Feliz left the room leaving her behind. Valentina was standing in the middle of the room in utter shock completely horrified with whatever he just said. Her most beautiful dream had suddenly taken a turn for the worse and she didn't even know what to do.

Valentina - ( *Slumps down* )( *Grabbing her face* ) What- is happ-ening? He-He doesn't love me?...everytime he whispered lovely things into my ear when I came to visit him were nothing but lies? ( *Gasp* ) This-this can't be-

The night was spent with Valentina crying her eyes out till the morning. At some point she had fallen asleep but was yanked out of her sleep by Feliz who had stormed into the room at dawn.

Feliz - ( *Looking at her red and puffy eyes* ) How pathetic! Fix your eyes right now. I will send the maids to attend to you, do not show them such a shameful image. Just do as I say, it's going to make your life easier.

Valentina - ( *Nodded silently* )

Valentina's innocence leading to her inability to use her name which naturally held a lot of authority from being born into a powerful family proved to be an advantage for Feliz. He never liked how she came to always visit him before their marriage because of which he had to put on a mask of a loving fiancé to avoid any possibility of annulment of their engagement. He already knew that Vercil wasn't happy with the engagement and any prior mistreatment would immediately give him a chance to call off the engagement and place the blame on the imperial family. But after their marriage, he was free from any such bounds thus giving him the freedom to treat Valentina in any way as he pleased.

Every day he would demean her and leave no chance to remind her of how much he hated her. The servants had to some extent picked up on the fact that there was some rift between the emperor and empress and being the ones who only feared the emperor, the empress falling out of his grace gave them a chance to slack off.

Maid - ( *intentionally tripping and splashing the water over empress's head making her dripping wet* ) Oh my- I apologise to her majesty I must have slipped because my head suddenly felt so heavy. I'll prepare the water again.

Valentina - ( *Sitting still and staring into the void* ) ( *Nodded* )

The maid went away and as soon as she was out of the room, Valentina heard a few of them giggling and gossiping about her.

Maid - Isn't the empress such a pushover? It's a pity that someone belonging to such a reputed noble family could be such a loosehead.

Maid 2 - I feel bad for the emperor that his majesty had to marry someone like her. Tsk! Tsk! He must be suffering so much.

The maids went away while Valentina kept sitting on the bed, completely drenched in water recalling how Feliz looked at her in disgust.
Her eyes started watering and not being able to take it anymore, she ran to the washroom and locking it behind her started crying her heart out.

Valentina - Why?! Why do you look at me like that?! What don't you just kill me instead? Why are you making me suffer like that? ( *Crying* )

Taking out a razor she started slicing up her flesh and her expressions immediately changed as soon as she saw her blood gushing out of the cut.

Valentina - ( *Staring at it and smiling maniacally* ) How delightful! How splendidly red my blood looks. Ha-ha-haha I wonder how will it be if I slice up my neck with this will the dripping blood look so enchanting ( *Looking at the blood dripping from the cut on her finger* ) like this? Ah-the pain is killing me but it feels so good. I wanna slice away every inch of my body. ( *Insanely giggling* )

The maid suddenly knocked on the washroom door bring her back to consciousness.

Maid - Your Majesty please come out. We have to get you ready for your birthday banquet.

Valentina - ( *Wiping her eyes and the blood.* ) Birthday?! Oh?! Yeah sure! It's a happy occasion isn't it?! ( *Widening her eyes* ) Why am I sitting here crying like this? Shouldn't I be happy?! Be grateful?! For my birthday?! Hah! Yes! It's my birthday! It's the empress's birthday! HA-HA-HAHA AHAHAHAHA ( *laughing insanely* )

Valentina washed her face and opened the door to let the maids in. They all completed their work and after dressing her up, left the room.

•__________•.•.•.•.•.•.•__________•

Emperor's office :

Maid - ( *Knocked* ) Your Majesty, it's the empresses head maid.

Feliz - Come in.

Feliz - Do not mix the medicine in her food today, I don't want her to behave oddly infront of all the nobles.

Maid - As you wish your majesty.

Feliz - And how has it been going thus far?

Maid - It's working well your majesty. The maids heard her majesty laughing as if she were insane. The medicine is working well and is slowly driving her majesty to insanity. Everything is going as per your majesty's orders.

Feliz - Ok. Keep the dosage to how much I've ordered, I'll say when to increase it.

Maid - And ( *Hesitating* ) your majesty we found a few more fresh cuts on her majesty's body. It seems she has been harming herself even more these days.

Feliz - Let her do whatever she wants. Just keep an eye on her that she doesn't commit suicide, I can't let her die just yet. She has to suffer even more, it's too soon to end everything especially when she hasn't even fulfilled her duty yet. ( *Smirked* ). You can go now

( *Maid left the office* )

Feliz - This is just a precaution but in the worst case if that women plays some tricks and refuses to divorce me, I will have no choice but to prove that she is insane and blame the Isidor duchy for hiding such an important information and keeping the empire in dark. I don't want to use it since I don't want to loose the ties with the duchy but I will have to use it in the worst case scenario. I hope she doesn't cause trouble during our divorce. ( *Sighs* )

•__________•.•.•.•.•.•.•__________•

During the banquet, Valentina succeeded in putting up a happy face and even though Vercil asked her if she was in any sort of problem, she smiled at him and denied it.

Vercil - Sister are you sure you are okay?

Valentina - ( *Smiled* ) Ofcourse I am fine~ Everything's going well. Why wouldn't it? Afterall the emperor loves me so much ( *Empty eyes* )~

•__________•.•.•.•.•.•.•__________•

The banquet soon came to an end. Feliz and Valentina were left alone in their room and he came towards Valentina eyeing her like a prey.

Feliz - I don't want to admit this but ( *yanked her hair* ) you were looking fine in the banquet. Presentable atleast. Perhaps it won't be half bad if you dressed up everyday like that. Atleast I'll able to look at you.

Valentina hissed in pain for a moment but her feelings were feeling too numb to respond to any of it.

Feliz - It's the night when we should make the heir to the throne. Isn't it? Are you ready?

Valentina - ( *Looked at him* ) Does my opinion matter?

Feliz - Ofcourse it does ( *Smirked* )

Feliz - ( *Thought about something* ) Well not that much. But you still can give it if you want.

Valentina's lifeless eyes moved away from his face and knowing what was coming up next, she braced herself not wanting to ever remember the night. The unfortunate night was torturously long and all she could think of was the scene of Feliz kissing another woman passionately that she had witnessed accidentally.

She had gone to the balcony to get some fresh air when she accidentally saw both of them in the garden expressing their love under the warm moonlight.

Valentina - How nauseating. I hope someday you feel the same helplessness I am feeling right now. I hope someday you both cry tears of blood. ( *Looking down at them* )

•__________•.•.•.•.•.•.•__________•

Shortly after, she was pregnant and her pregnancy period was one of the loneliest periods she had ever faced. Somewhere deep down in her heart, she maybe expected him to show up and care about her even a little bit but he didn't.

Valentina - Only if he could treat me with half the warmth he showed that woman ( *Snickered* ). What even am I? Only a scapegoat? A sacrifice? A mere pawn? What even am I?

Throughout her pregnancy, she often had emotional breakdown but even they got numbed with passing time.
And after nine months, she successfully gave birth to a healthy baby boy.

The emperor came to the room and ordered everyone to vacate the room. He picked the baby up and looked at him.

Feliz - Yes. This is how it should be. Atleast the child has inherited the traits of the imperial family. Congratulations your child seems useful, unlike you.

Feliz - I will name this child - Lucian Ezra Von Alasdor.

Feliz walked towards Valentina and handed her the child.

Feliz - ( *Whispered into Valentina's ears* ) You should've died during childbirth. What a pity!

He walked out of them room leaving her all alone with the newborn.

Valentina looked at her child with love filled eyes and hugging him, urged him to never be like his father.

Valentina - My child. I won't ever part from you. I love you the most.

The days went by and a few months before Lucian's first birthday, Feliz finally declared about the divorce after making Lucian the crown prince of the empire.

Feliz - ( *Keeping the divorce papers infront of her* ) Sign it.

Valentina immediately signed the papers without saying anything, finally ending the relation between them.

Feliz - Oh! I didn't expect you to sign it so fast! You truly are pathetic aren't you? ( *Smirked* )

There was many protests against the divorce and Feliz's second marriage but he paid no attention to any one them. Soon after the divorce, temporarily her child was restrained in the palace, stating that the duchy wasn't prepared enough to provide necessary protection to the crown prince and no matter how much she begged for her child, nobody listened to her. Vercil was trying his best to help his sister, but he was bound by the emperor's chains for the safety of Lucian. Soon after, Valentina died due to an assassination attack.

Vercil was heavily injured during monster subjugation, which was pre-planned by the new empress Isabella but right before dying he succeeded in summoning gods for once since he had discovered everything that his sister had gone through.

Vercil - The creators of this world, the ones who look over every existence, I summon you, please hear my plea.

The goddess showed up hearing his sincere plea and was heartbroken seeing his painful condition.

Vercil - ( *Begging* )Please give my sister a second chance. Please make her so, that can avenge everything that happened to her. If you truly love your every creation, serve justice to her. The ones who made her life hell are still living a good life. If you want to, then take my remaining life away! In my next life and the ones coming after I'll serve you as a slave. If you want war, I'll go as a meat shield to the battlefield, if you want peace, I shall present my flesh and bones as a present, I will do anything you want me to. If you want, I will sacrifice myself every single time but plea-please help my sister. Her soul won't be able to forget any of it...if you do respect your creations and truly want fairness and justice to prevail then listen to my pleas!!! ( *Desparate begging* )

Seeing the desparate attempts of the young man, the goddess teared up and granted his only wish.

Goddess - Your sister- Valentina was a child loved by me. I couldn't stop her suffering but I'll help her to take her revenge and do what she truly wants. Child, you don't need to sacrifice yourself, the devotion and love you have for your sister has touched my heart. You can rest in peace now...

Vercil closed his eyes forever and finally after a few years, prince Lucian who had a terrible childhood under Isabella without the support of his mother and uncle and was often subjected to assassinations and mistreatment, was killed in a carriage accident.

Nightmare ends :

The scene of the carriage accident and her child's dead body instantly woke her up. She was gasping and trying to catch her breath while tears were flowing down her eyes. Suddenly she felt like throwing up and running towards the washroom she threw up due to the scenes she had witnessed and the emperor's face she had seen in her nightmare.

Wiping her mouth, she smirked thinking of the emperor and his lover.

Valentina - ( *Wiping the mouth* ) ( *Snickered* ) Someday in the future, I will surely make you both cry tears of blood.

It was still not dawn yet, but there was no way she could sleep normally after seeing all that. Thus taking her sleeping pills she again tried to drift back into her sleep.

•__________•.•.•.•.•.•.•__________•

Lynn - Lady please wake up. You have to get ready for the tea party.

Valentina - ( *Mumbled* ) Don't wanna

Lynn - Lady please, lady Vaspertine might be waiting for you. Or should I send a letter that my lady doesn't want to attend the party?

Valentina - ( *Jumped out of her bed* ) What?! No! I am definitely going there!

Lynn - Thank goodness my lady is awake. ( *Ordering all the maids to start working* ) We don't have much time everyone. Make your hands faster.

Valentina - ( *Thinking* ) Damn I almost overslept because of those pills but thankfully I didn't get any such episodes after sleeping again.

•__________•.•.•.•.•.•.•__________•

A few hours later, Valentina was finally ready and left for the Vaspertine duchy.

Valentina - ( *Exhaling* ) I just hope everything goes well with lady Artemisia today.

•__________•.•.•.•.•.•.•__________•

Hey everyone, I really hope you liked this chapter and if you did then don't forget to leave a few words of encouragement or constructive critisism. Love you all<3

Then I'll be back with another chapter, till then byeee~.