CHAPTER 203: WHERE POWER DOES NOT BOW

[Emperor Cassius’s Pov—Imperial Palace—Later]

Rey lounged across from me, draped in shadows as though the darkness itself bent to cradle him. His lips curved into that infuriating smirk—half amusement, half blasphemy.

"The tea is... fantastic," he drawled, swirling the cup lazily. "As expected, the royal palace never fails. Your desserts, your tea... truly the best in the Empire."

Ravick scoffed, folding his arms. "As if you’ve ever had the desserts of the palace."

Rey’s smirk deepened, eyes glinting with mischief. "Oh, I have. The princess always feeds me... whenever I visit her."

"What—?!" My chair scraped against the floor as I surged up, hand flying to my sword. My voice thundered like a storm breaking over stone. "You dare—YOU DARE wander around my daughter’s chamber? YOU FILTHY—PERVERT!"

Rey didn’t so much as flinch. His tone was flat, maddeningly calm. "Both father and daughter have already given me the ’pervert’ title, it seems."

Ravick quickly stepped forward, bowing. "Your Majesty... please, calm yourself. He is only provoking you—"

"Calm? You dare speak of calm, Ravick?" My glare snapped to him, my fury a blade honed to kill. I inhaled slowly, forcing the tremor of rage into cold, deliberate words.

"Listen well. Post dozens of knights beneath Lavinia’s balcony. Day and night. No one—NO ONE—sets a foot near her chambers without my command." My voice dropped, sharp as a guillotine. "And if a single shadow crosses her window... drag it into the courtyard and burn it alive."

I turned back to Rey, letting him taste the weight of my wrath. "No perverts," I spat, each syllable drawn like the stroke of an executioner’s blade, "will ever crawl their way into my daughter’s chamber."

Rey blinked once, then had the audacity to murmur, "...Then how am I supposed to meet her?"

A cold laugh tore from my throat. "That," I sneered, leaning forward, "is your problem." My gaze sharpened, my voice a hiss of death itself.

"But understand this well, Rey—NO. MEN. WILL. EVER. STEP. INTO. MY. DAUGHTER’S. CHAMBER."

Rey tilted his head, that insufferable smirk tugging at his lips. "Don’t you think you’re being a little... overprotective of your daughter, Your Majesty?"

I leaned back into the couch, crossing one leg over the other with a slow, deliberate motion, my gaze never wavering.

"Overprotective?" I repeated, tasting the word as if it were venom. "When the world is filled with men who see innocence as prey? When serpents coil in shadows, fangs dripping, waiting for a single slip of her guard?"

My hand curled into a fist. My tone sharpened into an icy decree.

"No. A father does not think of overprotection. He becomes the shield, the sword, and the executioner. Where there are men circling my precious daughter—" I bared my teeth in a smile that wasn’t a smile at all. "—a father has no choice but to become a tyrant."

Rey chuckled lowly, as though testing how far he could lean into the flames.

"And what about the day I marry her, hmm?"

The words hadn’t even left his tongue before my hand was already upon my sword. The blade whispered against its sheath, a deadly promise half-bared.

"Say that again," I growled, my voice dropping into a pitiless abyss, "and I shall carve the breath from your lungs before it stains my air."

For the first time, Rey faltered, a nervous chuckle escaping him as he lifted his hands in mock surrender.

"I... I was only joking. Put the sword down, Emperor. Your daughter needs me alive."

I held the blade steady, its steel catching the firelight like frozen lightning. Then I leaned closer, voice low, venomous, and final.

"My daughter needs no one but me. And if you think otherwise, Rey... you are already a dead man walking."

I let the silence drag, the tension coil tight, before I exhaled slowly. My tone shifted into something quieter, far deadlier.

"Now—answer my question. And if you dare riddle your words, I will throw you into the deepest pit of the dungeons. You’ll rot there until even the worms refuse your flesh."

Rey only smirked, infuriatingly calm. "I am always honest, Emperor. And—would you really throw the one who brought you and your precious daughter back... from the dark?"

I smiled coldly, almost lazily. "That is precisely why I haven’t killed you yet. Consider it mercy that I have not carved your tongue out already."

He blinked—slowly. Then said flatly, "Yes... you’re right. Thank you... for your mercy."

My eyes narrowed, sharp as steel. "Now, why does Osric recall the past?"

Rey hummed, tilting his head as if weighing my words. "Perhaps... because he was guilty."

My brows furrowed. "Guilty?"

He nodded, lips curving faintly. "Just like you. Just like Sir Ravick. You both recalled through nightmares, didn’t you, Emperor? Osric too—except his nightmare was guilt. Guilt for failing to protect her."

I stilled. Was that the reason?

Ravick’s voice cut in, steady but probing. "Then... what about the others?"

Rey’s eyes flicked to him, narrowing. "Others?"

Ravick nodded. "Marquess Everett. Count Talvan. Caelum. Eleania. Do they remember, too?"

A silence stretched. Then Rey chuckled low. "Are you afraid, Emperor? Afraid that just like you... they too have recalled?"

I met his gaze unflinchingly.

Rey’s smirk sharpened. "Do you truly think the power of Rakhsar is so feeble? No. Only those who truly sought to protect her—but failed—were given that chance. Rakhsar does not waste its blessing on cowards... or conspirators."

Ravick exhaled slowly. "So that means..."

"Yes." Rey leaned back in his shadows. "You need not worry about traitors. Rakhsar gives privilege only to those who bled with sincerity towards his master."

My jaw tightened, and then I leaned forward, my voice colder than ice.

"What about my Lavinia?"

For once, Rey went silent. His smirk faltered, and he lowered his eyes into thought.

"Well?" My voice cracked through the chamber like a whip.

He finally lifted his gaze. "The answer lies only with the princess, Emperor. Even the consequences of turning back time... are hers to bear."

My eyes widened. Rage surged. "WHAT!!! But Why!? Why only her? I was the one who turned back the time—for her! I was the one who begged Rakhsar. I was the one who requested you. So why should she be the one to bear it? Why must she suffer?!"

Rey’s expression turned solemn, almost pitying.

"Because..." Rey’s words uncoiled slowly, heavy as chains dragged across stone, "...she is the master of Rakhsar. And everything tethered to it—its power, its curse, its consequences—all of it... belongs to her. Remember this well, Emperor: nothing in this world comes without a price. Not even the mercy of a second chance... not even the luxury of reversing death itself."

His tone slithered, deliberate, as if he wanted each word carved into my skull.

"When Rakhsar chooses its master..." he continued, eyes half-lidded, voice dipping low, "...that person is granted more than just... strength. They are given protection, yes... but also chains. The good and the bad come as one, inseparable. The light... and the rot that festers beneath it. Do not... forget that."

My hand tightened against the armrest until the wood groaned. I felt Ravick stiffen at my side, his voice breaking the air.

"What... could be the consequences?"

Rey leaned back as though he sat on a throne of his own, fingers drumming against his knee in mock thought. His lips twisted—not quite a smile, not quite scorn.

"She must have already... tasted them," he murmured, voice low, almost reverent. "From the moment we tore her back from the jaws of nothingness... consequences would have reached for her."

He tilted his head, his gaze turning distant and contemplative.

"I wonder..." his tongue clicked, slow and deliberate, "...what it was she faced? What shadow brushed against her soul? What did Rakhsar demand of your precious daughter... in exchange for reversing her life?"

A bitter chill clawed down my spine.

"What did she face?" I growled, my voice a whip.

Rey’s lips curled, faint but deliberate, as though he delighted in dangling truths just beyond my grasp. His smile widened, silk over steel.

"Anyway..." he drawled, "...rest assured, Emperor. Your daughter remains safe. In fact, she has already begun to grow beyond what you imagine. Her power cannot be suppressed. She has reclaimed the fate that was stolen from her... and she grows stronger each day, just as she was always meant to."

His eyes glimmered with a predator’s amusement as he leaned closer, smirking.

"And... until I draw breath... no one will ever harm my dearest princess."

I hate the way he talks like she belongs to him.

I rose, slow but thunderous, every step radiating command. My shadow stretched long across the floor as I leveled my gaze upon him.

"My daughter," I said, each word heavy as iron, "needs no guardian. Not you, not fate, not any cursed relic that binds her. She is my blood. And if the world itself conspires against her, she will not just endure it—she will conquer it. She will sit upon the throne not as my heir... but as my equal, with power greater than mine."

Rey’s smirk twitched, but I did not give him time to answer. I turned, my cloak snapping behind me as I strode away.

"You may take shelter here tonight," I commanded without looking back. "But hear me well, Rey—set one foot upon my daughter’s balcony again, and I will strike you down without hesitation. Even if you were once our ally... even if you hold her secrets."

My voice dropped to a deadly whisper, the words echoing in the chamber like an oath carved into stone.

"This is my last mercy. I do not warn twice."

And with that, I left him in silence, my steps carrying the weight of a closing verdict.