As you stood there, struggling in pain due to your injuries and now stuck in deep ponder due to not knowing what to do next, you jumped out of your skin as the door suddenly burst open.

You stumbled aback from the sudden foreign movement and noise, falling onto your backside, hitting yourself painfully against the ancient wooden floorboards that creaked with pain as you landed upon them. You groan in pain, looking up at the door to find a familiar silhouette stood there.

His broad and tall frame was soaked with rain, the droplets of the sky's tears falling off his figure and sliding onto the ragged doormat underneath him. He stood there for a moment or two, his red eyes pulsating into your frame with an unreadable emotion burning deep within.

After several moments of standing there in what seemed like disbelief and what felt like hours, the young man crumbled onto his knees and scrambled over to you, embracing you tightly in his arms despite your injuries as he had longed for your touch for so long. His strong yet familiar touch was difficult to fight against as always, and now it felt as though he was never going to let you go. The familiar scent of his favourite expensive cologne muddled by the smell of mud and nature flooded your senses as he held you tightly to his broad chest.

His pale fingers gently traced your facial features, his fingertips tracing your jawbone as his thumb caressed your cheek gently. You looked up, seeing the face of your husband - The Emperor.

Takahiro looked down at you, as if tears were about to escape from his eyes as he embraced you closer to him, so much so that his wet, black as night locks stuck onto your face and his warm, sighs of relief hit your [S/C] cheek.

It was obvious that you had worried him to death, so you decided that you at least owed him a hug back. So with that, you gently wrapped your arms back around him, now feeling his heart beat against your chest with deep obsession.

"I missed you dearly, [Name]," He finally speaks, his words rolling off his tongue like a blossom falling from a tree in autumn with such grace. You gently clung onto him as he inspected you, noticing the wounds that had been made on your body.

"Were you taken away by the snake group or did you run away, my dear? Whatever caused this, I will make sure to fix it," Takahiro consoles you, gently intertwining his fingers with your [H/C] locks in such a tender motion, also pushing your head closer to him as he holds you in his grasp.

"I- I was taken when I went onto the balcony," You stutter out truthfully, shocked by the emperor's presence yet relieved at the same time as this whole ordeal could finally be over.

"I apologise, this is all my fault. When we get home, order whatever you want and I will make sure your wishes become a reality. I had feared losing you, but who would have known that I would miss you this much? What have you done to me?" He sighs and lets out a sorrowful laugh, staying with you on the floor, his hand now gently patting your head as you were nuzzled into his torso.

"I had never expected to fall in love, yet look at me now. I thought that I would die without you there by my side, and, I had never felt more lonely. My dark, moonlit life was full of sunlight thanks to you, and I hadn't known how lonely I really was before you came around. When you were around, I didn't need a reason to be happy. I didn't need a reason to be informal. I didn't need anything but you. I never knew I would fall in love with you, yet I would let it happen all over again," He whispers into your ears before gently carrying you bridal style up in his arms.

His drenched black locks stuck onto his own face now and you gently pushed them out of the way, letting his facial features bleed into your sights once again after what felt like a lifetime apart from one another.

He grabs possessively onto your body, causing you to begin to ache painfully. "Takahiro you're hurting me-"

He gently leaned in to kiss you, his lips tenderly pressing against your own. You returned the kiss, feeling his touch was nearly comforting. As the rain finally died down after hours of it lingering on, Takahiro looked out the door with a foreign expression in his eyes.

"We're going home," Takahiro demands, now stepping back out of the cottage with you in his arms.

"I... I don't want to go back there, I feel trapped," You respond, deciding not to fight it any longer. You wanted to be honest with Takahiro, so this relationship could at least be bearable if not satisfying to the both of you.

The emperor pauses for a moment at these words, flinching as they hit his eardrums like firecrackers. Giving you no comment, he climbs onto the horse and holds you in front of him as he does, so that he could hold you steadily in front of him as he rode.

"Takahiro?" You say in a questioning tone, unsure of how he would react to what you just said. You attempt to look over your shoulder at him, feeling unease by not being able to witness his emotions for yourself and by his glare sinking into the back of your skull.

"You're staying with me forever whether it be in that palace or not," Takahiro demands, looking down at you with a blank look in his usually fiery red eyes.

"Please, at least give me some freedom while I-"

"If I give you freedom, something like this will happen again!" He roars, nearly causing you to fall off the horse if it wasn't for his tight and intense hold on your body between his arms as he held the reigns of the dark horse.

"But Takahiro-"

"Not a single word! You will love me, I will love you, and we will be together, even after death," He commands, biting his lip so hard with stress that his rosy cushions even began to bleed.

"I thought I was going to go crazy without you, [Name]! Do you think I'd ever let that happen again? No! I have been too lenient, I have calmed myself down too many times after things like this happen, but no! You! Are! Mine! And this time, do not expect me to be gentle with you!" He bellows, his voice resonating throughout your senses painfully.

"Takahiro, what has happened to you? I understand that you must have been worried but calm down, please!" You beg of him as he now ushers the horse forwards. You gently cling onto his shirt as he rushes down the dirt path, not caring about your objections.

"If you speak another word, if you dare object to my wishes once more, I will personally cut off your tongue and put it with the royal jewels," Takahiro hisses, immediately shutting you up. Judging from his tone and his demeanour most of the time either ways, you knew not to mess around with the Emperor when he was like this. However, it seemed as though this time his behaviour was not dying down.

Upon your arrival, Eli was taken aback to say the least and ended the relentless search for you, finally giving the guards and investigators a well-earned break from their non-stop searching for the lost empress. Takahiro still carried you in his arms, rushing towards the infirmary before flinging you upon the bed roughly despite his wounds, not hesitating with his movements this time. Eli chases after the both of you in a perplexed state, questioning the emperor the best he could.

"You managed to find her, Your Majesty?" Eli asks among many other questions that went unanswered before the emperor looks at him with a dark glare.

Eli immediately stops talking and clings onto the clipboard in his clutches as though for dear life, even him being frightened by the intimidating glare in the emperor's bloodthirsty orbs.

"Call the doctor to check up her wounds, and then I demand some alone time with her in the evening," The emperor demands before taking a seat beside you on the bed.

"Very well, you heard His Majesty," Eli ushers on a butler by the door, not wanting to leave just yet.

"Takahiro, I'm sorry-"

The emperor turns his head towards you, his gaze painfully dark yet obsessive. You choke on your own words and cut yourself off, feeling so oppressed just by his very gaze that you can't help but look away in fear.

"Eli, you've done too much. Go and have a rest for several days-" Takahiro offers his loyal first assistant, who had done much more work than he was initially meant to do, especially in the last few days.

"But Your Majesty-!"

"I insist. This kingdom can't run very long without you, but you deserve some rest at the very least. So, please. I have never given you a holiday after all. It is well-deserved. However, before you go I have one last task for you." The emperor responds.

"What is it?" Eli questions.

"Tighten the security, get more knights doing a daily parole. I want nobody coming near my Empress besides me. If there is even a single threat to her health or to her being taken away from me-"

"Will it happen again?" Eli cuts him off, his voice fearing the worst.

"Yes it will," Takahiro replies before Eli bows and takes his leave at long last.

You turn to the emperor, biting your lip before finally speaking up. "You can't stay like this forever, Takahiro. At least tell what this 'it' is!" You object, clenching onto the ivory sheets of the infirmary's single bed.

"You have no right to tell me what to do. And it is what you are going through right now," Takahiro whisper shouts at you, now gripping your wrist painfully tight, causing a bruise to begin to form.

"Ouch! Takahiro, I said I'm sorry-"

Takahiro pulls you into a deep kiss, much like the first one he had given you. It was rough and forceful despite his lips being so soft like the most expensive of cushions. You struggle to breathe, and despite your lungs begging for air, you finally regain it as he pulls away.

"I love you, [Name]. I'm tempted to just lock you up in a cell where nobody can find you," He purrs, as though you would somehow find his dark words romantic.

"Takahiro-" You can barely even get a word in due to him cutting you off as he was obviously afraid to hear you speak words of rejection to him ever again.

"Let's not forget that this didn't just happen because of me. This also happened because you were not careful. So, you better be careful from now on. You don't want to lose these after all, now do you?" He whispers into your ear, his large pale hand dragging over your right thigh.

You shiver at his words, a frightened chill racing down your spine as you attempt to edge away from your husband. You knew he would grow obsessive and lash out from time to time, however this time it seemed as though his behaviour just wouldn't die down.

Finally, the doctor arrived to see you once again, giving you a much needed checkup. Takahiro stands up, and just his aura is enough for the doctor to know not to utter a single word.

He squeaks at the sight of the emperor, keeping his head low and rushing to replace your bandages after a much needed checkup.

Takahiro glares at the man's hands as they do so much as graze your [S/C] skin. Takahiro taps his foot before eventually losing it. He grabs the chair and flings it over at the doctor. The cracking of bones resonates throughout the room as the doctor falls to the ground, gasping for dear life as he struggles upon the ground now in a growing pool of his own blood, the chair laid beside him in a disorderly position.

You gasp, both hands now clasped over your mouth at the scene unfolding in front of you. "The- The doctor-" You stutter, unable to process the horrific sight as the emperor now finishes the job up by his self, simply kicking the dying body of the man out of his way.

You shiver and flinch at Takahiro's touch, unsure how to react to him after the sudden outburst that he seemed not to mind whatsoever. Several moments later, another doctor enters the room. "Your Majesty, I was sent to prescribe-!" The doctor cuts himself off at the sight of his colleague slowly dying on the floor, and immediately rushes over.

"Treat the man, but just keep him out of my sight and remind him not to get hands with my girl ever again. Next time, I will not let him off so leniently," The emperor states bluntly.

Soon, it was fairly late into the evening and you were sat in the bed that the two of you both shared. However this time, Takahiro walked over to the balcony door and locked it before proceeding to check all the other windows and such to make sure there was no easy way in this time. You said nothing about this behaviour and new routinely check, since it helped bring peace to his mind after the incident after all.

The moonlight glowed on the ivory bedsheets and upon the fine details through the translucent fabric that was surrounding the bed. For once, the emperor had put down the curtains that could conceal the bed, and it made it feel all the more cosy. You could barely make out Takahiro's figure drifting from one end of the room to the other with the sound of metal and as well as windows being locked.

A shirtless emperor soon joins you in bed with nothing but his baggy pants on that were specifically tailored for sleeping, obvious due to the fact they were made of a vibrant red silk colour. Climbing into bed with you through the curtains, he took his place sitting next to you on his own side of the mattress. His long hair was pushed behind his shoulders and he handed his red ribbon to you, motioning to you to tie his hair.

Turning his face away, you decide to braid his hair this time. You feel his cool strands of fine, black hair stream through your fingers as you braid his hair, feeling like a river of soft silkiness in your clutches. Once finished, the emperor felt the pattern with his hand and let out a small chuckle, "I better take a shower in the morning or else I'll have wavy hair tomorrow due to the way you have tied my hair," Takahiro mentions, now changing his position to lie down, "Yet of course, I'll have to always take my showers with you now."

You remained sat up, your back pressed upon the cushioned headboard as the dim lamp on the bedside table gave the large room a small, warm glow. You were still shook to your core due to the events of what happened in front of you, barely able to speak peacefully. before Takahiro rests his head on your lap and you gently stroke the side of his face, stroking him with your fingertips as he rested his head on your thigh.

The emperor's once perfect skin had eyebags beneath his red orbs due to tiredness and lack of sleep. During the several days you were gone, it was surprising to see his mental and physical state decrease so rapidly.

"Get some rest, Takahiro," you tell him, pursing your lips as you look at the young man resting upon you. You knew he was incredibly fatigued and worn out, so you atleast wanted to grant him some rest tonight. If you did so much as say a single word to set him off, you now knew what would happen. After all, you had witnessed it and heard his stories.

"I'm scared that if I close my eyes, you'll disappear," He mumbles, his large hand now gripping onto your nightgown tightly, as if he was fearing your departure from his side once again.

"I'm not going anywhere, Takahiro," You reassure him, yawning after you spoke due to feeling quite fatigued yourself. He yawns in return, turning around so his eyes now faced you.

His striking, blood red eyes shone a bright compassion for you as they met with your own [E/C] orbs. "I love you to death, [Name]. I hope you stay with me for a long long time if not forever," He mumbles sleepily, drunk with fatigue. "But we know I'll make sure that it is forever."

"Why do you keep looking at me, hmm?" You ask him playfully, glad that he seemed to have somewhat calm down from his outburst of rage, lightening the mood as you stroked some loose strands of his hair out of the frame of his face.

"Because I'm so lucky to have you. I could admire you forever. I told you, every time I look at you I feel myself falling in love all over again," He pauses and closes his eyes as you gently let your touch drag upon his pale skin, "Your touch feels like the sunlight dancing upon my skin. The only other time I have admired such a feeling is when my mother would fix up my hair in the garden."

"Does it? I'm glad you think so," You reply, a small smile on your lips from his comment. Was this all a facade at this point? You thought you were growing certain, yet you were unsure how you could now be feeling both fear and love.

"My life is a landscape of death, pain and suffering. I never knew you could make such gorgeous flowers blossom within it, bringing the first spring in a lifetime to my world. Thanks to you, I now see the beauty in Intuuin, and I believe that it is you," Takahiro tells you, a smile on his lips in return to yours.

"I find myself dreaming about you all the time, Takahiro. Whether I'm asleep or awake. When I was gone, funnily enough, all I could really think about is you," You reply, a small laugh leaving your lips as you now began to realise that you had very much began falling in love with the emperor.

"That makes me so happy to hear. After all, I can say the same. I didn't want to lose you. My life has become so much better with you in it, so much so that I don't want to go back to the way things were. Every piece of me ached for you," Takahiro replies, a sad glimmer in his eyes as he thought of the time without you.

You decide to finally adjust yourself, now lying down next to Takahiro as he moved to rest his head on the cotton pillows next to your own head.

Takahiro wraps his arms around you, holding you close to him as he plants a kiss upon your forehead.

"You're my little piece of heaven, you know? You're the closest to heaven I'll ever be honestly, especially after all the things I've done," Takahiro whispers sweetly, "Yet the gods still graced me with the one who would complete me."

"You're still quite the enigma to me, I wish I could read your mind sometimes," You respond, a small laugh leaving your pink lips.

"You wouldn't want that, the only thing on my mind is you," Takahiro replies, holding you closer as the night grew deeper and the moon shone high in the sky, spilling into the room blissfully as you slowly felt your eyelids become heavier and eventually close. "But you must forgive me, as you were most likely not expecting this."

Your eyes break open after his strange comment and as you feel a cold metal on your wrists. You look up to see Takahiro, giving you that chilling predatory gaze with his glowing, blood red eyes that shook you to your very core. You yelp at the sudden sight, only realising what was now occurring. Takahiro had attached a chain onto your wrists that was fairly long, with the end attached to somewhere you could not see but leading out through the curtains, most likely under the bed so you would be unsuspicious. He had taken advantage of the fact you were fatigued and weak to pull of such a stunt like this.

"What- What is this?" You stutter out in disbelief, tugging on the cold silver metal that now blinded your wrists together.

"Did you really think what happened would really end with no consequences? From now on, you'll never leave my sight. Not even once. In fact, you are not to leave this room without me. I'm not risking losing you ever again. So let us get this straight - if you ever try to disobey my orders or leave my side, I'll keep my promise and cut your legs off. You understand, yes? It's only whats best for the both of us," He sighs dreamily, a twisted grin on his face as his head cranes closer to you. "After all, my dream is to control you and steal away your freedom so I can have you all to myself."

"What- Do you have no self control? Let me go!" You demand in a fiery tone, your fatigue instantly melting away.

"This time, I am not backing down. And this time, everything is going to go the way I want it to go."

Takahiro looks at you with pleased yet sadistic eyes and a soft expression, happy that you were with him once again. And this time, he was not going to let you go.



fin.

𝐎𝐁𝐒𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐄𝐃

𝐛𝐲 𝐦𝐢𝐧