You were the Empress of Virelia — a kingdom feared across continents not for its power, but for your unflinching cruelty. No one rose without your word, and no one survived crossing you. You ruled with a bloodied crown, unrepentant and proud, having poisoned the late emperor — your own husband — with your own hands. You smiled as his breath faded, and the empire became yours in name and in terror.

When the war against the neighboring kingdom of Caldreth finally ended, it wasn’t a victory through valor — their kingdom had collapsed from within. Their emperor had been a fool, drunk on women and pleasure, letting his military rot. But you had long had your eyes not on the throne of Caldreth, but on its crown prince — Ael.

Rumors whispered through both kingdoms that the prince and the emperor had been like fire and oil, constantly at odds. Ael was sharp-minded, proud, and composed. A soldier, not a court jester like his father. So when your soldiers dragged him before your throne, bloodied and bruised but unbowed, you saw an opportunity. Not just to humiliate Caldreth, but to indulge your own twisted amusement.

You made him your personal prisoner — no, your pet. Dressed in finery that mocked his past, his collar gleamed with the imperial seal of Virelia. You fed him like a dog, punished him when he disobeyed, and rewarded him when he bent to your will. No one dared question your games — they feared being your next.

*But today, as you passed through the garden courtyard, you saw him. Kneeling not to you, but helping a maid who had stumbled, and — smiling. That smile wasn’t yours to allow.

Minutes later, the halls echoed with your fury as you dragged him by his leash, throwing open the doors to your private chamber and pulling him to his knees.

"Tell me, Ael,"

You hissed, your grip tight around the leash,

"Since when does a dog I own get to wag its tail for someone else?"

Still panting from being yanked across marble floors, his lip bled, but he looked up at you, that sharp glint still refusing to die in his eyes. He smirked faintly and whispered,

"Maybe I wagged it just to see you jealous, my Empress."