That Miscreant She-Devil

"So, what did you think of him, it was quite like a meet-cute after all," Louis asked.

Sophia shot Louis a glare.

"It was NOT a meet-cute, Louis," she refused.

"Besides, he's not that big a catch, Louis," Sophia retorted, a twinkle of unfamiliar emotion in her eyes.

Louis chuckled, before he said amusedly, "Keep telling yourself that, sister."

'BANG!' came the sound of the slamming of doors, an interruption to their conversation, and a cue someone was done with their meeting with their least favourite - and only - daughter-in-law.

Out the door came Julia, storming out the room as she flounced away, most likely retreating to her quarters after being provoked and agitated.

"She seems positively livid, what do you think that evil witch did this time?" Louis asked, earning a scoff from Sophia.

"Seeing as that's her infuriated walk, nothing good," Sophia replied.

"You don't think she's contesting our right to the throne again, is she? She's got to start realizing she hasn't got a legitimate claim at any of this. This is the seventh claim and I still don't know why grandmere's putting up with her," Sophia said coldly.

She snorted in disbelief, wondering how her father had the capability to fall madly in love with someone as cruel as Emilia.

She hadn't known how the two had met, although Sophia adored her stepmother at first, until she saw her true colours, seeing her for the scheming, manipulative, maniacal witch she could be.

Her graceful act was just a facade. It didn't take much for one to find out what she truly was underneath all the layers of acts and cosmetics.

Sophia muttered to herself, 'If only there was divorce in h*ll. Maybe we wouldn't need to put up with someone like Emilia, if not for the prenuptial agreement.'

What Emilia had done to her gave her all the right to feel this way about her. It was a recurring theme in the nightmares Sophia had as a child, and the thought of it still gave her chills, even to this day.

"Brings me back to the days where their squabbling every morning acted as efficiently as an alarm clock to me. Years later and nothing's changed," Louis said with a scoff.

Sophia laughed softly.

"Your sense of humour is going to be the death of me," she muttered aloud.

Louis laughed.

"And when did humorous jokes ever hurt anyone."

Seeing as Sophia remained silent and ignored his question, he asked daringly, "Nevertheless, what do you think of Nicholas, sister?"

Sophia rolled her eyes.

"Other than him seeming like a real jerk and an indecent windbag, he's not on my list of people I'd go out with," she admitted, before muttering, 'Although the fact that I never went on a date before does play a part in that.'

"Real jerk and an indecent windbag? Damn, you really don't want to end up marrying the guy, Soph," Louis said, not too surprised his spontaneous sister was behaving this way. She never opposed the idea of marriage, although an arranged or forced marriage was the last thing on her mind. Either way, it seemed far-fetched, although this family had never once been normal in their entire lives.

Louis wrapped a hand around his sister's shoulder.

"Well, let's cut the chit-chat, since grandmere's got her turn already, she's waiting for us in her evil lair, just waiting till we arrive," Louis reminded.

"So, you ready, Soph?" He asked.

"Ready to enter that witch's lair? No, not ever," Sophia admitted, being honest with the only person she'd be truthful with.

Sophia looped her arm around Louis', as they made their way to the threshold, the doors opening right in front of them, almost automatically as they saw their stepmother in all her glory, or in her case, her modesty.

"Children! Come in," she called, her voice clearly insincere.

From gritted teeth, Louis managed to greet Emilia politely.

Sophia, on the other hand, kept quiet, her fists balled, her eyes narrowed, and her teeth clenched so hard she couldn't utter a word, much less greet her evil stepmother.

Emilia hadn't replied nor acknowledged Louis' greeting; the tension in the room so thick one could cut it with a knife until Emilia spoke.

"What brings the two of you… children here?" She asked in a fake tone, probably meaning to call her stepchildren something much worse than 'children'.

"If you're here for the exact same reason that old hag came, I'm not letting this throne go to anyone else, even after the interregnum expires," she said with a scoff.

Louis tightened his hold on Sophia.

"If you dare call our grandmere an old hag again, I'll-"

Emilia let out an evil cackle, or what seemed like one, its purpose to interrupt her stepdaughter.

"You'll? You'll what, stepdaughter dearest?" Emilia taunted with a smug smirk.

Sophia dug her nails deeper, blood almost seeping from her skin.

"See, your daddy chose me as his queen, and it's going to stay that way, no matter what you do," Emilia provoked, wanting a reaction.

"This throne is rightfully mine, and since daddy's gone, I'm here to stay," Emilia said, her voice increasing by octaves.

Sophia took a breath in and out, wondering how long she'd keep spinning her web of lies.

"Let's see, Emilia," Sophia said, fully determined to prove her wrong, shooting her a glare that could kill.

"We both know that no matter what you do, by Beldovian law, that throne is rightfully MINE. I will take that throne from you, and you will be forced to abide and step down the throne, whether a group of armed guards has to force you to step down, or if I have to do it myself. I'll rule Beldovia fairly with the help of Prince Nicholas, and I'll make sure you see it happening all from your dark, dreary cell you'll be locked up in till the day you expire," Sophia said coolly.

Emilia charged at her stepdaughter, yelling, "HOW DARE YOU!" before slapping Sophia right in the face.

Louis' eyes widened, and Sophia instinctively cupped her cheek that had been struck by her stepmother before she stepped forward, grabbing her stepmother by the hair and yanking her backwards.

"DON'T EVER TOUCH MY FACE, YOU MISCREANT SHE-DEVIL!" She shrieked before Emilia screamed in pain, her hair seconds from being torn apart, and depilated.

Sophia's blood boiled at what Emilia had just done, seeking revenge as she smiled in satisfaction seeing her stepmother in brutal pain. Emilia deserved this.

Louis intervened, pulling Sophia back as he separated the two ladies, being the peacemaker of what was to become a brawl.

"ENOUGH!" He yelled, giving Emilia the evil eye before making sure his sister was okay.

"No fighting and this applies to the both of you ladies!" Louis exclaimed.

He had had enough of this. Constant fights and disagreements between the two of them and their stepmother were what made both him and Sophia leave the palace in the first place. He wouldn't let history repeat itself, and let Emilia have another reason to send him and his sister away like she did the last time.

"It's not my fault, Louis dear, blame it on that hot-headed sister of yours, after all, she started it," Emilia said haughtily, nose in the air, tricking herself into thinking she had done nothing wrong, that she wasn't the guilty party.

"Hot-headed?" She scoffed, looking at her brother who mouthed 'No' just as about Sophia spat back, trying to get into Emilia's head, "Says the person who smacked me. You're just terrified about what's going to happen to you next, about your uncertain future. Considering, wives seem to just come and go around here."

She added, "We both know I was born into this family. The only way you could've made YOUR way to the throne was by-"

Louis intervened just as another fight was about to start, "Sophia and I will be going to take our leave now, I hope we didn't cause too much trouble, goodbye stepmother," Louis said as he took Sophia and brought her outside the room, away from Emilia.

As soon as they were safe from hearing distance, Louis looked at his sister straight in the eye.

"Seriously Soph?"

Sophia sighed before apologizing for her doings, knowing her brother was about to possibly reprimand her, "Yes yes, what I did was wrongful."

Louis shook his head.

"It isn't your fault, Soph."

Sophia blinked, flabbergasted at his sudden remark.

"It's undeniable now, whenever you're around her, you're a completely different person. Besides, she made the first move, regardless if you... taunted her into doing so," Louis reasoned.

Sophia muttered, 'Fact.'

Louis scoffed.

"She really does bring out the ugly in you, Soph," Louis said.

"And why do you think that?" Sophia asked curiously; deep, deep inside her, a small part of her still blamed Emilia for everything. For her mother's untimely death, for her father's actions, for how she and Louis had their childhood almost without their parents.

She just didn't know how right she was.