Chapter 46 - [Bonus ] I Like You Queen Ariadne.

Dedicated to all my wonderful readers, it's been a month since we started this journey. Thanks for all your love and support. With you here, am sure I can get through with this.

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Queen Ariadne's POV.

The room we stepped into was dark and quiet. He told me to wait and at  the door , while he went to make a fire. I couldn't see anything but I heard noises that explained to me that he was trying to make a fire. I smiled when I heard him knock the stones together.

"Can I help your highness?" I asked politely. 

"No, thank you Queen Ariadne" I don't want you to move He said. I know the emperor was going to reject my offer. He was trying to act as a strong man, am sure this was the first time, he attempted to make a fire.

"As you wish my king" I gave him an assurance, that I was going to do what he asked of me.

After few minutes of struggle, the Emperor finally made fire. I could now get a clear view of the room. It's was a drawing site, with beautiful, huge and different paintings both on the wall and boards. There were many buckets of paint, drawing pens, brushes,  all arranged at the left side of the room. At the other corner stood the Emperor looking very tired. I laughed when I saw his sweats.

"Don't tell me you are laughing at me my queen?" He said. "I trying my best to impress you this evening"

"No am not" I said. I stepped into the beautiful site. He started walking towards me gently, suddenly I became shy again, the sight of this handsome man made me to feel unease.

"Welcome to my world. I hope you enjoyed your stay" he said. 

"Thank you but the site is magnificent. I love it"

"Yes I know. It took me years to realize this and it became my most favorite place in the world. You are the first to know about this place" The Emperor told me. When I heard his last sentence, I couldn't believed him. What was he trying to say? Am sure he must have brought his special queen on one occasion or the other.

"I don't understand Emperor. You mean not even Queen…"

"No one. Young Queen. Do you want to see your gift?" He asked.

"Yes of course" I replied. This was fantastic though strange. Was I this important to him or he was pretending because it was my birthday? The emperor's action was hard to predict and I don't want to build fake  castles in the air. Its was too early for that.

"Come here please" he urged. I moved to where he asked me to. In front of us, was a big board. It was the widest of all the boards in the room. A white cloth hanged over, and covered the whole content of it, making me see nothing.

"Are you ready?" He asked, moving towards the edge of the board. The Emperor held the clothes at the other end before looking my direction. He wanted me to give him a go ahead.

"Sure your highness" I answered eagerly. 

"Do you refer shutting your eyes?"

"I don't think so. Am quite anxious your highness, am waiting ."

It took him no time to flung the clothing up in the air, reviewing the hidden content behind it. When I saw the drawings, I became speechless and amazed by the art work I saw.

There were beautiful drawings of me in different dresses. One of them was when I laid on my sick bed probably there was no hope of me being alive again. I looked dead in that picture, no wonder everyone was scared that I might not survive it.

In the center of all the drawings, I saw the dress I wore on the ball day. They were so lovely and I really like them. Nobody has been able to do what the Emperor had done in my life within this half  year. Although he had hurt me a lot but he made up for it in the end.

"Thank you very much , your highness" I said, a drop of tear rolled down my cheeks.

"This is nothing Queen Ariadne" he drew closer to me. Please don't cry, it doesn't suit you at all."

When he said that I couldn't control my self, I started sobbing. The Emperor touched my face with his hand. He cleaned the tears that was rolling uncontrollably and of course, they stopped though I didn't want them to because I love what the way the Emperor and I were closed.

"Why are you doing these?" I asked with a hope that he might give me a reasonable answer and not a angry look. I was trying my best not to look into his eyes. 

"I like you, Queen Ariadne" he uttered. Did I hear it correctly or  my ears were making a mock of me? I used my left hand to pinched the other, I needed to wake up from all my dreams. This was no joke moment at all.

"What did you just say?" I asked. I wanted to be sure on this one.

His lips widened as he smiled "I know you heard me, my Queen. The circumstances we met were not favorable at all. Being a devil, my reception was a bad one, I just hope it doesn't make you hate me."

"Yes the way you treated me wasn't fair. I was only a victim of  our fate, then why did I have to suffer alone?" I said. Those tears came out again, I wondered if I was the cry baby the children at the village square in Camelot always sang about.

"Forgive me please" he said. The Emperor hugged me tightly. One of his hands wrapped around my back and the other ran through me  my hair gently. That cold shiver that always ran through my spine whenever the Emperor and I were together, was no longer there.. I used my hands to around his waist. Maybe this was the night, we all have been waiting for or the night he always wanted!