The King's Beloved

~ [Music Recommendation: "Hate" by Lucas King (Instrumental only) - available in Youtube or Spotify] ~ Please listen to it in loop while you read this part to experience the utmost beauty of this scene ~

"Milady, it's time to wake up," a young maid nudged her sleeping lady that was all curled up and covered with a blanket.

"It's your wedding day today! We were asked to prepare you before the appointed time," another young maid added. The joy in their voices could not be hidden.

Perhaps, it was because they were young, eager to see weddings happen before their very eyes, or the fact that they were newly hired servants … that they didn't know how wrong they sounded and acted.

Nefastus grumbled as soon as she woke up. Her eyes immediately shot glares towards the innocent maids who dared wake her up and mess with her - even laughing and giggling towards her misfortune.

"Heh!" she grinned devilishly towards the two. "So … you like weddings that much? Why don't you get married on my stead?" The muscles in her face tightened and her fists shut tight into a ball.

The two maids gasped in their surprise. They quickly bowed their heads to apologize. They didn't expect a bride to be so 'unwilling' and by the looks she was giving, 'disgusted' with her own wedding. With trembling mouths and bodies, they were reminded of how the other maids refused to go to Nefastus' room. This was probably the reason why. How horrified they were to find it out late. Now, they feared for their lives for they knew how terrifying the Reus family could be.

Unfortunately, no matter how much they apologized, Nefastus was not one to just let it go. She gathered spiritual energy in her palms to conjure a ball of lightning. With a sharp thrust, she electrocuted them and they immediately fell to their knees.

"Ughh! We're so sorry ... ahh! … milady," one of the maids begged for mercy. 

The other maid stayed silent, enduring the extreme pain she felt from the deadly voltage they were receiving.

"Hmm … which one should I kill?" Nefastus asked the young maids. "I need to kill someone to at least alleviate my anger, right?" Her tone was filled with malice and contempt.

The two maids shivered in fear as they waited for her decision. Tears fell from their eyes as they continued to beg for mercy.

"Aha! I know! I'll kill the noisiest one!"

"No! Please don't mila - Ahhhhhhhhhh!"

And so, she increased the voltage of the lightning until it finally killed the second maid who greeted her marriage. Her body dropped dead on the floor with her eyes wide open and her skin burnt hard, leaving almost no space for her real skin color.

The other maid could only cover her mouth and sob from the terrifying death of her coworker. Her body couldn't stop from shaking.

"Tsk!" Nefastus clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes. "This day is the worst".

Shortly after, other more experienced maids came to the room to assist Nefastus in preparing for her wedding since the young maid left was in no condition to serve her lady. The others took care of the dead body that was lying on the floor. None of them were shocked to see the dead body as if it was a usual thing that happened. Seeing all this, the young maid who survived was traumatized and immediately asked for resignation. Unluckily for her, it was not approved. Instead, she was asked to bear with everything.

Hours passed by afterwards and Nefastus could now be seen standing in front of an altar. She wore a white serpentina gown adorned by white flower embroideries at its top and hem. Small dark green gemstones were at the center of each flower embroidery, signifying the eye color of the Reus family. Her hair was held high in a tight bun and body filled with luxurious accessories. Despite her evil glare, and sour expression, she still looked wickedly beautiful.

It was customary for Magi brides to adore their wedding dress with the eye color of their groom to signify their love and faithfulness for one another. However, Nefastus' husband-to-be had brown eyes, very far from the color of the gemstone she used. Aside from the gemstones, it was also customary for them to use blue irises for decorations in the temple they chose to hold the wedding. They could use Verus Amor flowers as well in case they got lucky in finding many of them. But still … this, too, Nefastus broke for she had her servants replace them all with white lilies - a flower that was usually given for the dead. 

How very accurate it was …

Nefastus waited at the end of the altar for her groom, with her head held high in contempt. There was barely anyone there beside her, just a few servants, a few relatives of the groom's family, and the priest from the Sortis family who would conduct the wedding ceremony.

"Ugh … this is humiliating," Nefastus thought in her mind. I can't believe I have to dress up for someone who's gonna die. I should have worn something black instead! … sigh … Hmf! Well, since he's dying anyway, let this serve as a parting gift".

A moment of silence passed by while they all waited for the groom when suddenly ...

BANG!

The doors of the wedding hall flew wide open. A servant from the groom's family came, panting hard.

"T-the … hah … hah," he tried to speak but he was short of breath. After inhaling deeply, he shouted for everyone to hear, "The groom is dead!"

Everyone was shocked to hear the news. But their shock only lasted a few minutes. Perhaps it was because they already predicted how the Reus family would act with such a humiliating punishment from the king. The few relatives of the groom who attended the supposed-to-be wedding could only cry in the corner from the sad truth. Nefastus' servants kept their poker faces, and the priest could only shake his head in dismay - he as well, predicted as much.

 Nefastus' lips curved into an evil grin as soon as she heard the news. She quickly got up from her seat and threw her veil and bouquet of flowers to the floor.

"Pft! HA HA HA HA HA!" she laughed maniacally with a voice so loud, it resounded throughout the entire temple. Almost a whole minute passed before she finished her evil laughter and turned to the priest to say, "I believe there will be no need for a wedding, right?"

Sighing the priest nodded and answered, "Yes, there is no need. I will report accordingly to the king".

"Good. Now then, I'm out of here," she replied, turning her back towards the priest and walking herself out of the wedding hall. The echoes of her high heels, her death glares, and the evil grin she gave to the groom's family, sent shivers down their spine. They all fell to their knees in fear.

While Nefastus was busy spreading her own hatred and wickedness, her father, Avarus, was busy preparing for something … 'far' greater. Sitting back in his office, in front of him were a group of men, all dressed in black, covering their faces with hoods and masks. Due to the way they dressed, no one could really tell who they were. Despite their tall stature and well built bodies, their voices were too soft, and barely inaudible as if they're deliberately speaking in a way that only Avarus could hear.

"Hmm, is that so?" Avarus rubbed his chin, trying to process all the information that was given to him by the hooded men. Then, he stretched his lips into an evil grin. "In that case, that would be perfect!"

After saying those words, Avarus stood up from his chair and went to the middle of his office where a giant table could be found. One moment it was blank, with nothing in it, and in a flick of his fingers, a bunch of things appeared! There were maps and one of them looked like it was Gaia's since it differed from the Earth's map. There were also small clear crystal figurines placed here and there - two of them looked like the king, Calum, and the other, the queen, Azalea, standing tall, as opposed to those located at the far end of the table. Yes, there were also figurines separated from the rest which were black in color and all stumbled down - two of them looked like the old king and queen. There was also a small child lying beside them, then, Sanguis, and many others. 

The figurines of Calum and Azalea, along with the Generals and Judges, stood atop of the Earth's map while the others were on the map of Gaia. In between the two maps was an emblem of the Sortis family - probably signifying that they're traveling towards Gaia. There were also some unknown figurines scattered around Calum, all wearing black hoods. And the very top of the table laid a couple of black octagonal boxes with ominous markings on its body, sealed tightly by magic.

"All my plans are coming into fruition," Avarus snickered to himself. "And this just made it all perfect …"

Alas, he added another set of crystal figurines on top of the Earth's map. They wore battle suits with hoods on them. And in front of them was a familiar person we all knew …

"Zeid Ardor".