Chapter 30: Unforgivable

"We're sorry..." Julian's father and mother apologized to Ivery

"Can you forgive your grandparents?" Grace asked Ivery

Ivery looked at the two of them...they changed their attitudes fast once they learned she was this empires only salvation.

She didn't know how to answer...after they held no respect for her before Hecate appeared and straightened them out. It was sad that a god was the only way to convince them that she was worth all that she was given.

And as grandparents...they sucked at being good ones.

She sighed.

Ivery didn't even forgive her parents for what they did to Inanna before she was sent to this world.

She already knew that they only treated her so gentle and acted so caring towards her because she was an infinite attribute holder, the prophesied child, if she did not have her infinite attribute and if she wasn't favored by Hecate...

She would've stayed in the Hollows Castle and would've been sent to death at age 18, she wouldn't have met Luther and he'd end up marrying Xia, he would've had several concubines and an uncountable amount of children.

She didn't want to get attached to these cruel parents she had, but she had to play the part as their daughter.

Her parents were just as cruel as her grandparents, but she couldn't get revenge for Inanna without causing trouble for herself, so she had to bear with it and let the future unfold.

Being that she lost her mother at a young age in her original body, and the biological father of her original body mistreated her after her mother's passing, adding onto that her adoptive parents treated her like dirt on a pair of expensive white shoes.

Ivery never had the experience of being in a "good" family, she didn't necessarily know what a mother's love felt like anymore nor did she ever know what a protective father was like.

Cassandra and Julian showed her at least that much but it was obviously all under false pretenses, they didn't truly love her because she was their child, they only loved her for having great power…but she already knew this.

So Ivery refused to forgive them. All of them.

"I don't," Ivery said

"What..?" They both looked at her

"Do you really expect me to just act like you didn't say those things about me and forgive you? Do you really think I believe you? I already know you're pretending to be sorry" Ivery despised people like this

"You're only asking for my forgiveness just to please Goddess Hecate, you're only asking for my forgiveness just because I'm possibly this empires only hope of surviving after father's rule" Ivery let her words flow out of her mouth freely

"Inanna dear, Ilestrie and I were just confused, that is all" Grace nervously chuckled

"Confused? You spoke as if you comprehended the situation clearly when Goddess Hecate spoke to you, yet you still desperately asked if there was any replacement for me" Ivery wasn't buying her empty words

"We acknowledge the error of our thinking, we now know you're the true sole heir of the Lilith Kingdom" Ilestrie tried to ease the situation

"You only acknowledge the fact that Goddess Hecate is watching over me, you didn't even value my infinite attribute before she revealed herself, and she revealed herself by my request" Ivery felt sickened that these two were really trying to get into her good graces with obvious lies, forcing themselves to apologize to her

"This girl...." A vein was popping out of Ilestrie's forehead again

"We're apologizing for our misunderstandings, can you just be grateful and understand?" Grace rubbed Ilestrie's back, consoling his anger

"Me be grateful? For what? Your despicable insults against your own granddaughter?" Ivery wanted to laugh

"Can you really blame her?" Julian asked

"What?" Ilestrie turned around and looked at Julian

"You meet her for the first time and start spewing nonsense about how to replace her, you even insulted her in front of the very Goddess that favors her" Julian's red eyes were filled with glowing desire to erase these sorry excuses he calls mother and father from existence

"I'm tired of listening to your orders any longer, I'm the Emperor now, I had children with those disgusting women by your orders and betrayed my love for Cassandra in the process, I created the decree that all of the children born with no magical prowess be sent to the Hollow's Castle and await execution once they turn 18, by your orders....and I'm sick of it" Julian spoke out the truth

"I already had arranged a place for the children born with no magical prowess to go since they couldn't be representative royals for the empire, and what I had in mind was not the Hollow's Castle, but you decided on your own to convince everyone that sending those children to the Hollow's Castle was the best decision, I was forced to act as if I didn't care about it all by the two of you, so I'm done listening" Julian in truth hated the person who he was made to be, he was a puppet for his mother and father till this very day...but after seeing his own daughter stand up to them, he was motivated to speak his own mind as well

"Julian! You would dare to go against us!?" Ilestrie shouted, bits of saliva sprinkled out of his mouth

"Who's the Emperor now, me or you?" Julian wasn't going to be their puppet any longer, so he cut off the strings

"You!" Ilestrie couldn't believe what was coming out of his son's mouth

"You've forced my hand to kill my children who didn't even come from love, threatening me with...this" Julian pointed at a thick silver choker on his neck with a ruby gem embedded in the center

"...." Ivery stood there in shock

Julian was forced to kill his children and put them in the Hollow's Castle..? But...regardless...is there any good excuse to kill your own children? Ivery didn't believe there was any excuse or any reason to end the life of your own flesh and blood.

"You'd still defy us..knowing we could kill you right now or at any time for going against your orders!" Ilestrie held up his hand and on his ring finger was a silver ring with a ruby gem in the center

"I already have an heir..what's there to fear? Kill me if you wish, I'm done following your orders" Julian was prepared for anything, including what he tried to avoid the most..

"So be it" Ilestrie smirked as the ruby on his ring glowed bright red

....

"Stop" Ivery said out

"!?" Ilestrie couldn't move any part of his body and the bright light in the ring died

"Father...what is that around your neck, is it not jewelry?" Ivery asked

"This...is a death collar placed on me by my father after I became the crown prince, if it is activated by the ring my father wears, my head..." Julian ran his finger across his neck

"Oh...I see" Ivery walked up to Julian

"Crouch down a bit for me father" Ivery said to Julian

Julian didn't give it a second thought and crouched down at his daughter's request.

Ivery slipped her fingers underneath Julian's 'collar'. In her hands, the collar slowly dissolved into silver particles.

Ivery wasn't ready to manage the empire yet. She wouldn't let Julian die so easily and too early before she herself was ready to be Empress.

"H-How! T-That collar is supposed to be unbreakable!" Grace's eyes were paralyzed with shock

"Maybe it was unbreakable, but, sure enough, it wasn't undissolvable" Ivery smiled at her grandmother

"How about you two suffer the consequences of insulting me..." Ivery walked to her grandfather

With her height being currently short, her feet lifted up from the ground and she hovered above the floor.

She reached forward and held IIestrie's neck in her hand..

"You're really going to kill me? Your own grandfather?" Ilestrie nervously laughed

"Of course not, this is simply a gift from I to you" Ivery released her grip on his neck

A thin golden choker wrapped around Ilestrie's neck, and the two parts connected to a small ruby gem as the centerpiece.

A golden ring with a ruby gem materialized in Ivery's palm. Ivery threw the ring over to Julian. He effortlessly caught it.

"You are allowed to move" Ivery released him from her divine commandment

"How dare you!" Ilestrie felt the choker around his neck and tried to pry it off

"Try as much as you want, unlike the one you put on father, mine can only be broken by another infinite attribute holder, so try to ask my fiance if he would be generous enough to help you with that" Ivery mischievously smirked at Ilestrie struggling to remove the death 'collar'

Julian smiled as he put the golden ring on his right ring finger.

"Your life is now in my hands" Julian flaunted the death collar's activation ring to his father

"You insolent child! Do you realize what you have done!?" Grace screamed out, she pointed her finger at Ivery and Grace's finger glowed with a blue light

"Don't you dare" Cassandra pointed her finger at Grace and a thin golden chain shot out of her fingertip

The golden chain wrapped around Grace's body, rendering her unable to move.

Grace tried to break out of the chains but they were too strong and she couldn't use her magic to break them...Cassandra was stronger than her...

Ivery flew over to Grace who was standing in front of Cassandra.

"Don't think I forgot your present, grandmother" Ivery grabbed Grace's neck and a thin golden choker appeared around her neck and a beautiful red ruby rested in the center

Another golden ring with a ruby as the gem in the middle, laid in Ivery's palm.

Ivery tossed the ring to her mother.

Cassandra held her hand up, not intending to catch the ring but to have it slide onto her finger and the ring successfully slipped easily on her middle finger.

It was a trick she learned at her wedding when the ring bearer tripped and the ring was launched high up in the air.

...

"Now, both of my parents hold your lives in their hands, it was very unpleasant meeting the two of you, and I hope I don't meet you again" Ivery descended to the floor

"...." Ivery said nothing more as she walked away from the 4 of them and exited the throne room

....

She saw the guards in front of the throne room doors, still on the floor, unconscious.

Ivery twirled her index finger around and the golden chains around their bodies broke into pieces.

.....

"I'm impressed," A familiar voice said

Ivery turned around and saw Luther.

"How much did you see?" Ivery felt embarrassed

"I was watching ever since you left my castle, but I hid my presence and decided to watch the show up close" Luther was proud of her for standing her ground today, it seems she learned one or two things about how to be merciless against people who gravely insult her from him

"Continue acting like that, no one will ever dare to disrespect you again, I can confirm that my own guards are terrified of my name alone," Luther said to her

"It's somewhat satisfying...putting others in their place" Ivery liked standing up for herself against the guards and her grandparents

"It surely is" Luther sadistically grinned, who would dare go against supreme authority when displayed?

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