Everyone in the room was silent as we watched Evelyn cry, yell, and scream herself into a state where she was reduced to a whimper. Her once-perfect hair hung like wet straw, her cheeks blotchy and streaked with tears.
The drama of the moment faded, replaced by Noah and me watching Evelyne struggle to escape her situation when she had completely tired herself out with all that crying and screaming.
I leaned into Noah and whispered, "You know… They're probably going to cause even more trouble in the future if we just let them leave like this."
He gave me an affirmative nod as I tilted my head at the scene.
"Maybe it'd be better if Thoggur just…" I made a slicing motion with my hand, "…killed all three of them, right here and now."
After Noah looked my way for a moment, his eyes took in the three who tortured me for all of my life.
Then he nodded slowly. "You make a good point."
But just as I was about to speak again, a memory bubbled up to the surface. One that she had repeatedly threatened me with to get my compliance, something so vile no female should ever have to encounter it.
I looked at Evelyne with contempt, hanging like a fat pig about to be bled out.
"You know," I said casually, "one of the vilest threats she used on me when I refused to obey is perfect for her."
Noah turned towards me with a face that said, "Tell me now so I can dish out justice."
"Evelyne used to say she'd strip me naked and throw me into the slums. Let filthy and desperate men do as they pleased with my body."
The temperature instantly dropped by about twenty degrees; the walls started to shake with the presence of someone very powerful. His blue eyes darkened, sharp as a drawn blade, and then the most powerful killing intent I've ever felt from Noah erupted out, blanketing the room.
Evelyne's eyes rolled back into her head, passing out within the matter of a few seconds. Thoggur had realized this, so he just dropped her; she was so lucky, barely avoiding snapping her neck.
After some time had passed, she woke back up, looking around in a panic. As soon as she locked eyes with mine, she showed an expression I've never seen on her before. It was fear.
Noah's voice ripped through the room with words I'm sure none of the people were expecting, besides me and probably Thoggur.
"Want me to do it?" He asked seriously. "Strip her down and toss her into the filth where she had threatened to send you? Let the slum rats use her like she wanted them to treat you?"
I couldn't help but let out a strained laugh. While I do hate Evelyne, torturing her in that way isn't something I'm willing to lower myself to do.
Evelyne screamed instantly, thinking I would agree to it. "NO, PLEASE DON'T!" She scrambled backwards on the floor, trying to get away from Noah's presence and this situation altogether.
Once she hit a wall, she started speaking again. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! We'll leave! Disappear! I will never bother you again!"
Her parents knelt on their knees, hands outstretched. "Please, Lady Seraphina and Archduke Velmoure. We're very sorry for our actions, so please don't do something you might regret."
I raised my hand to silence the room; even Noah, who was holding his killing intent to that side of the room, calmed down a bit. After a deep breath, I smiled at them, which got mixed reactions from all their faces.
"How about we do this instead?" I said sweetly, as if doing them a favor. "We toss all of them into the estate dungeons for a month."
All three of them blinked slowly at my words.
"One meal a day," I added. "Nothing more; let them feel what it was like to be me for a while, being cold, starving, and forgotten by the very people who should have been protecting me."
I looked over at Noah. "That way they're gone for our wedding and can't cause any interruptions.
He tilted his head thoughtfully at my words.
"Not a bad idea."
"If they can't handle it, add another month until they go at least thirty days without complaint." I couldn't help but look at them coldly. "You never let me complain without punishment, so live by your own rules."
Noah didn't let me talk anymore.
He looked at his guards and simply said, "Throw them into the cells and do as Seraphina just recommended." He gave a wicked smirk. "At least one month without whining, complaining, and fully complying or there will be another month added onto their sentence. If they act out of line, beat them till they accept it."
"Throw them into the cells."
Thoggur saluted.
But I couldn't let this opportunity go just yet, so I quickly yelled, "Stop!"
Everyone looked at me in confusion, some with hope and others with expectations.
"Thoggur, it's not right that they have no injuries; please fix this dilemma." They should be heavily injured to truly understand the way I felt. "Please break at least one of their limbs; I don't care which one. You can choose." My smile was wicked as I watched them all fall into deep despair as they looked at me, then at Thoggur.
He didn't waste any time breaking my father's leg, who tried to run, and then snapping my stepmother's arm as she used them to defend herself. Evelyne, on the other hand, being the obvious biggest instigator of my troubles in the past, had all ten fingers snapped.
The silence that had once enveloped the room had now turned much louder in an instant. The screaming and yelling from the three family members who deserved death now will have to struggle for a while before that sweet release.
I watched them being dragged away; feeling like karma was finally coming back around for this devil-like family.
With the trash finally being hauled away and the dungeons sealed behind them, Noah spent the rest of the day doing exactly what he does best: pampering me.
A day full of massages and sweet foods, he even invited some of the street performers I was interested in before. I have to say Noah is quite adept when it comes to my feelings and seems to know just what to do to get me to calm down.
Of course I will never stop him from spending money on me because I refuse to be one of those pathetic female leads who refuse to accept the littlest gesture from the male lead. I want it all!
I mean, I'm going to be an archduchess very soon; shouldn't I have at least this much? If he doesn't give me half the world, what's the point of even having all that power?
What would I even do with half the world? Who knows, but I will let future me figure it out.
That night, I had a sudden craving. "Let's go stargazing," I said with excitement.
Noah looked at me with a smile just as we were about to separate to sleep for the night, "Right now?"
"Now," I confirmed with a nod of the head as I grabbed his arm and pulled him.
He didn't argue and just went along with me.
Minutes later, we were lying side by side on a soft sheet stretched out across the garden grass, the fountains still doing their thing in the background.
The stars above us were so clear I could trace the constellations with my fingertips. Of course I didn't recognize any of them in this new world, but I could create my own.
"Do you think we'll ever reach the stars?" I asked curiously.
Noah glanced at me sideways. Then he smiled like I was the most ridiculous and interesting person he'd ever met.
"Reach them?" He echoed.
"Yeah," I said with dreamy eyes. "Like, build a massive ship with three boosters attached. Launch it up high enough that it breaks through the sky and then land on the moon."
He blinked at my words as if I were a crazy person.
"Why three rockets?"
I grinned. "Its how we did it the first time. Well, back in the 1960s on Earth. First manned moon mission, a very big deal! Rocket was Saturn V."
Then I paused dramatically.
"Lift off! Smoke went everywhere, the ground shook, and then boom, off into outer space."
Noah's gaze was blank; as I'm sure he has no idea what I'm talking about.
I just giggle at his astonished face.
"You've thought a lot about this?" He asked with intrigue.
"I've lived it," I said loudly, then caught myself.
He raised an eyebrow.
I quickly covered it up. "I mean… I've dreamed it; your future archduchess has an extremely vivid imagination, obviously."
To my surprise, he just chuckled. This is the power a woman can hold over an obsessed man. He will just believe everything you say without questioning its authenticity.
"That explains the space obsession and why you nearly fell asleep at that play."
I gasped, "You remembered?"
"Of course, how could I forget the look on your face? If I had to guess, you wanted to run up there and destroy the set."
"Because I did, the plot was so thin I could see right through it."
He laughed and then rolled toward me, pulling my body into his arms without warning.
I let out a soft, delighted noise as he kissed me a scene like this under the stars—who would have thought how amazing it would truly feel? I let myself indulge in the moment fully.
My hands found his chest, then his hair; my breath caught as his lips devoured mine.
After a while we just stopped as I used his chest as my pillow and he wrapped his arms around me.
Bodies tangled together and my head tucked beneath his chin. The stars didn't feel so far anymore.
Later that night, still lying in his embrace, I found myself talking nonsense again. Stories from my past life, whether fiction or nonfiction—he wouldn't know any better.
I would always claim I knew it from a book or dream; he just smiled and accepted it.
He was completely oblivious that this whole time I was explaining a parallel world to this one. They weren't just stories for me but stuff I've lived through.
But in this life, they were perfect bedtime stories, and he seemed to enjoy them all. People here couldn't even comprehend the entertainment value of my past world.
The grass cradled our backs, the blanket barely separating us from the ground, and I could feel Noah's breath warm against the top of my head.
After I spoke for a few hours, we finally went silent and just took everything in.
His voice then came out with a gentle tone.
"Seraphina," he murmured. "All this time we've been together…" I looked up at him slowly, expecting him to say something important; at least I hoped so.
"… I've tried to figure out what you are to me."
My eyes widened at his words, understanding something big was about to come out of his mouth. He looked serious, raw, a man with his heart opened up and nothing to shield it.
"But the truth is I can't picture a life without you anymore."
I couldn't help but get choked up at his words.
"If I could go back," he continued. "I'd want to find you sooner and rip you out of that nightmare you were living and make sure no one laid a hand on you ever again."
He looked away, eyes glistening with something quiet and sharp.
"I hate knowing you had to go through all of that garbage alone before I could protect you."
I didn't even know how to respond to that.
Because the truth was if he'd found me earlier, there's a chance I would have never even come to this world. Would he have loved the original Seraphina the same way? Who knows, but I at least hope he would have.
It's only been a little over a year since I entered this body before that party, which changed everything. I had only just begun to understand this life, the pain, and make it my own.
Part of me wanted to tell him the truth.
To look him in the eyes and say, 'I wasn't always her; Seraphina had to die for me to be here now.'
Would he care, feel the same way about me? I don't think it would matter that much because he never knew the original version.
He loved me, not her, and I knew that, but I still wondered in the back of my mind.
Noah had always accepted everything about me, even the strange way I saw the world.
But… could I take that final step and tell him the truth? The thought of that still scared me.
I wasn't just reborn into a world and started another fresh life. There was baggage I brought, but at the same time, I honestly don't even view myself as male anymore. My body and soul have completely merged and created who I am now.
This body, voice, soul… it was all mine. I had claimed it the second I found myself in this body. I've begun to truly love this new life, now that I've gotten out of my own personal hell.
So I let my head rest against his chest, and I smiled quietly into the night. One day, I will tell him everything when the time feels right.
Closing my eyes, I couldn't help but think about the original Seraphina. I wonder if it was possible to somehow have her be my first daughter. Whatever power brought me here, can't you do me this favor?
So I can love and cherish her the way she was always meant to be and give her a fulfilling life so that she will never remember that horrible past ever again.