The Flower of Separation

Back then her father was not as arrogant, but after her brother's passing he used that as an excuse to march onto other territories. His excuse was he now lost his heir so he has to do everything himself. In the eyes of the general public it made sense, but those who knew him better thought so otherwise.

The Zestra family's response to it disgusted her even more. They went into hiding. 'Those sly bastards. No wonder my brother and that person investigated the Zestra family.' After the incident she did the same, and what she found surprised her.

The route of corruption in this Empire is the Ageha family who are the villains of the Empire, the Zestra family who act like peace advocates but have more cruel secrets than the most. The last one would be, her gaze fell towards Ramon who seemed bothered by her question.

The Blank family, how deeply routed their family is in the corruption she is not aware of yet. Those people are very good at deception, unlike the Zestra family the tricks they use are on a different scale.. They are able to cover up their tracks quickly. But a squeaky clean track record? Who are they trying to fool by acting like saints?

Watching Ramon's worried expression annoyed her.

"I think I told you previously, if you want to survive in this world sometimes you will have no choice but to be cruel."

"Don't you think you are overdoing it though?"

"I have always been this way."

Ramon exhaled deeply. "Do you truly think you can fool me Lillian? I may not be sir Lucas. But there was a time where I was by your side a lot. One only has to hang out with you for a short while to know you are not as cruel as you make yourself out to be."

"I see, so you wish to take the path of the fool."

She grabbed the collar of his cloak and dragged him to a nearby tree and pushed him against the tree.

"Hey Lillian?"

Lillian calmly pulled out a knife from her bag and drew it towards his neck. "I warned you before Ramon. Do not take me lightly."

"Right you were that type of person. But do you truly think you can deceive my eyes? Your not as cruel-"

She slashed an area of his neck with the knife in seconds. The wound wasn't deep enough to kill him but she knew it would leave a scar.

Ramon yelped in pain. "Gahhh."

"Miss Lillian?" Zushi immediately rushed over. She looked at the sight before her horrified. "Wait did you just-"

Her eye colour turned a brighter shade of red. "Silence." It was just a single word but that was it all it took for Zushi to be quiet. This was not a mere command, as she spoke there was a black coloured aura around her.

"Kneel."

Zushi kneeled down. Lillian watched as her expression changed and she was looking at her horrified. Yes, of course it would surprise her. After all this is the power of the Empress, the power to make people submit. But unlike that power, this was a curse.

Unlike the eyes of the Empress which supposedly brings great fortune, her eyes are curse. Those who look into her eyes in this state would gradually go crazy and end their own lives. At first it would feel like they inhaled some type of poison, their facial expressions will slowly turn white. Then, the infection will spread to their brain. They will gradually lose control of themselves.

"Lillian, stop! You'll kill her if you infect her with-" Ramon's sentence fell short when she turned to him with her bright red eyes. He tried to look away but it was a second too late.

She watched as his face slowly drained of any colour.

Lillian hears Zushi choking in the background.

"Just because I am playing nice does not mean you can take advantage of me." Her words are deadly and poisonous. She walked over to Ramon. She picked up her knife that fell to the ground and drew it towards his arm. "I always thought you were a sensible one. But then when I saw how attached you were I realized how weak and powerless you could be. It is a good thing I cut you off when I did otherwise I might have killed you already."

"Lillian you don't have to let it take over you."

Her gaze dimmed as the black aura around her grew stronger. "I thought this for a while now, but why are you acting like you know everything about me? You are way too conceited."

Despite Ramon losing strength he weakly spoke up. "How can I not know? Even if you kept me by your side as a whim, we spent time together. Lillian, I never saw you as a cruel person."

At that comment she burst into laughter. For anybody who heard that laugh they would have sensed something sinister about it. Her gaze fell on the man's arm. "You told me then you value your sword skills correct?"

"Lillian you-"

"If I were to cut off your arm you would never be able to wield a sword again. Ah but just cutting off your arm will do no good. I will cut you open and then put you back together, but not after cutting off your nerves gradually. I don't have much experience in this but relax. I have done it before."

Ramon shook his head. "I am not scared of you."

At those words she became angrier and an idea came to mind. She waltz over to Zushi and lifted her face. "It seems I cannot frighten sir Ramon, but I forget. There is always you. Even if I cannot phase him by hurting him will he say the same for you?"

"Lillian, that person is still the Empress. If you truly do anything." Ramon spoke carefully. It seemed he was unsure of what to say.

Lillian scoffed. "If you are going to play the knight you should do so to the very end."

Ramon remained silent.

"I need you to win this game unfortunately, but if you lose a leg nobody will be surprised." Lillian knew that no matter how strong the Empress was. She would not escape this game unscathed, moreover the restrictions meant she could not use her full power.

'Although what I saw the other day shows she still has a lot of power. The Empress body is frail, she is far too weak to control that power.'

*Unedited*

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