3. The Emperor apologised (?)

Inside the Imperial Palace...

Snow has been going in and out of this palace as far as she could remember.

At first, she used to come here as the Crown Prince's fiancee, that is, the next-in-line Empress of the Empire; then this place also became the site where she was condemned by the whole empire on what she deemed as the worst nightmare of her life, the place where her life became a joke in front of the whole world; a few years after that, this was the place she was called to watch over the wedding of the century, the marriage of her ex-fiance and his new Empress, as a royal guard of the then emperor; and now, this place had finally become a place that connected her, an Imperial Marshall with the Royal Emperor, as she had to come here and report her results of missions on a regular basis.... The one thing that hadn't changed was the palace's grandeur and extravagance, other than that, everything had changed, the Emperor, her status and their relationship... She had always wondered if the current emperor was trying to remind her of her past by calling her here, but as time passed, she just didn't care anymore.

As she grew old, she felt that her wounds have been sealed and cured, she no longer felt the heart-wrenching pain when she saw him with the Empress with her children...

Some might call it her being hypocritical, but she felt that the pair actually suited each other... the meaning behind it,... was only known to her.

Time heals the wound, but the scar remained, she was still self-conscious about that event and as a result, was only involved in her mission and left the nobility circle.

She was now at the peak of her career, in a way, her standing was even above the royal couple, but that was all....

She was still single; neither could anyone accept her, nor could she invest her time in sprouting feelings for someone else with a threat of it being unrequited, again....

She was too old for that and she felt tired of it all.

But if she went by the diary, it seems that, since her role of cannon fodder as the villainous fiancee was over, she was forgotten by the world.

It was like all her emotions were sealed, she felt like an NPC* with a designated job of protecting the empire and living her life to fulfil her task.

Usually, the three Imperial Marshalls came together, but today she was on her own. After greeting his Majesty, she reported her mission in length, she gave a detailed description of the number of corrupt officials and the number of arrests she had made, she also stated the number of executions that were conducted by her team.... just that, she omitted the part about the sudden Zerg incident; it's not that she was trying to hide it, she just thought that she should inform him about this matter after she was fully aware of the situation and directly give him her findings, this matter was far too sensitive and call it her ego, but she didn't think that this man will be able to handle it without preparation, plus any wrong step could cause unrest among the citizens, she couldn't allow it.

Just when she wanted to go out after ending her report, she was asked to stay... it seems, the Emperor had some other work with her.

........

They changed location and went into the only greenhouse garden in the empire, which was located a little distance away from the imperial palace.

They took separate suspended flying cars to reach the area.

........

The greenhouse was an imperial property, during national holidays it was open to the public but today was a working day and they could talk without any prying ears.

Just after she had taken a sip from the freshly brewed fragrant tea, the Emperor who had been brooding seriously about something since the start, opened up,

"I've wronged you, Snow", he said without his Royal form-of-speech.

Snow was startled for a second ... she didn't know if it was just her imagination, but she could almost feel the chain binding her since her birth, break.

Just those simple words and she felt liberated, the world finally let her free of its plot.

But the next moment, her calmness had returned, she didn't show any expression, she had just paused for a second before she continued her movement and took another sip. She had learnt it the hard way that she should suppress her feelings at any given time.

Seeing her staying so calm and collected, Michael couldn't help but feel helpless;

when she was young, she used to be an active and lively child, but as she grew up, maybe because of the pressure of being a next-in-line mother of the empire, and also her zeal to be perfect in everything, she became a bit cold and mechanical.

The event back then will be etched in his heart forever... because that was the first time he saw her make a face full of confusion and a face that said, she had given up on everything.

He has always regretted his decision back then, to annul their engagement in such a ruthless manner was something he should have never done,.... but back then he was young and deep down he knew that for this empire to accept his love with a commoner Omega, it was something that was needed to be done...

Only by making someone a scapegoat, by making the empire sympathise with the weak will they be accepted; back then he thought she was the best choice to become the same.

Snow was a strong woman, she will get back on her feet in no time, but now that he has grown up and has a family of his own and the responsibility of the whole empire on his shoulder, he knows that what he did back then was a sin, she never did anything wrong and she didn't deserve the treatment he gave her, she was never obliged to him...

Still he couldn't let her go, not back then, not now.

It was because she was there that he was able to choose his bride and now it was because of her that he could stay as the emperor; yes, even he was aware that, if she chose to leave him, his position as the emperor will be in jeopardy, he still used her nonetheless, he was a hypocritical coward, but he couldn't let her go, he had already tasted this bliss, he couldn't let go, even if he had to use her till her last breath.

When Oriole, his Empress had confessed to him about his mistakes from back then about a month ago, sobbing, in a mess and pitiful state; he was first shocked, but he also felt that his Empress wasn't at fault and needed to be protected by him; Snow being a scapegoat was something that was needed for their love story to be perfect, it was fate...

Anyway, it's not like he wasn't aware of what went back then.

Snow was never someone to hurt others because of personal gains, she has always been a kind and strong girl and maybe, that was the reason he could never love her.

She was someone who could make decisions on her own, someone who didn't need his protection, but his vanity and ego couldn't accept someone as strong as her.

So, he decided to let her go.

When he had heard the rumours, that she was using mean methods to harass Oriole, at a subconscious level, he knew that he could use this situation in his favour, irrespective of the genuineness of the situation. When Oriole had come to him and said that he was pregnant with his child, he became scared, but he knew he could let Oriole go... So, he exaggerated some facts and humiliated her in front of the entire empire, the result was she was disowned by her family, who were afraid of her powers and irk of the imperial family, because of him and his happiness, she had lost all hope and abandoned.

But that hadn't stopped her... she still became the youngest Marshall and her reputation soar beyond his reach..... he had a passing thought that 'he could never reach her, he didn't deserve her'...

But still, he had used her till this day...

Though he couldn't do anything about it anymore, and even thought that it was fine for him to do it, as 'didn't she get back on her feet?'; still, he thought that as a responsible man, he should apologize to her because what she was now was given to her in a silver plate, she had worked from the bottom to get it and he had no rights over her fame....

....but maybe the real reason was to make her believe in his benevolent heart, to tell her that he was someone who was worthy of her loyalty because he himself was the same and in the way, serve him forever; the truth? Only he knows...

Snow had always thought about what had actually gone wrong back then for a very long time.

But as she grew older and older, she also felt that it was destined to happen, it seems she was the villainess of their story and so, she had given up on this situation, but now that this man in front had said what he did, the mask of submission she had kept for years finally cracked, this man who had a self-righteous attitude at the moment didn't seem like the man she has decided to love, the man she had given her youth and life to serve; this man was just a self-righteous and hypocritical existence, how did she ever think of him as someone worthy of her loyalty?

It was like a thick layer of smog was blinding her vision and thinking, now that the blindfold was gone and the magic reversed, the beautiful boy with a warm heart, who was the only 'light' in her lonely road, became an ugly goblin.

She was aware of being used and that the man was certainly lacking, though under the manipulation of the previous emperor, she still had gotten the warmth from this man when her family had feared her because she was too strong... Everyone had something that they were not good at, so to return her gratitude, she had helped this man....

But looking at it, her life till now was worse than a joke.

A self-deprecating smile that looked ugly than a smile surfaced on her face for a second which then condensed into a cold light.

'She had made a wrong choice back then, but she had suffered enough', she thought...

'It's time to let go'...

Without caring for what he meant with his words, she asked him a completely unrelated question, "What are your thought on the zergs, Michael", she let go of the title, he didn't deserve it.

The emperor paused for a second, though he didn't like to be called like that by anyone except his closed ones, because of the identity she had created for herself at the moment, he let it go and replied, "they are the enemy of mankind, they need to be exterminated"...

As if expecting such an answer she directly told him, " I would like a permission grant to use the library of the highest order, this is my answer to your apology earlier? "

"What-", Michael was thoroughly surprised, she wanted something from him.

The Imperial library, as the name stated, was the property of the Royal family.

It was open to the public and other aristocrats, but only the Royal family was allowed to enter the deepest part of it, which held some secrets that couldn't be displayed in public...

Snow has gone there many a time as a child with both the previous Emperor who supposedly 'doted' on her and the current one who needed a companion to play and study with, back then.

Her asking to be given the permission grant in itself wasn't a huge issue, but to suddenly ask for it out of nowhere, Michael couldn't answer it...

He himself never liked the library, it was just on a whim and to have a good impression on his father that he went there.

After he grew up he never went there, it wouldn't be a joke to say that he was a foolish Emperor, literally!

Snow finally put her thoughts into words, " I have known it for years now. Back then I was at fault too, I shouldn't have said or done what I did to the Empress."

She paused for a second, as everything was becoming clearer and more vibrant, she could see that she wasn't sane, if she was, she wouldn't have done that; the 'Snow' of back then looked like a puppet who was controlled to do what she did, no, she wasn't finding excuses, she just felt that she was never a person like that.

" As a noble, to disregard my status and comment on a commoner's upbringing just because they were informal in front of you, it was beyond me that you had allowed it; I don't know what happened to me to act like that, I have always considered that as a sin and have been repenting for it since then... but except for warning him once or twice, the rest of the accusations were not true ", she had a melancholic voice, but it was not due to her love for the man in front, but because she was too foolish to have ever loved this man, and was used to this state.

Even though Royal, he had actually engaged in infidelity with a commoner and had accused her of it, he had said, ' I didn't know you were such a person. I'm disappointed at you', Snow had a sarcastic smile, this man was worse than a dog who betrayed its master.

But now that he had apologised, no matter what the reason may be, she finally felt that the dead weight she had been carrying all her life was finally gone....

She felt free for the very first time in her life.

" Now that you are aware of it and know that it was not just 'me' who was in wrong, I'll gladly accept your apology... About the permission grant, I'd like it by tomorrow... If there is nothing else, I'll take my leave", without waiting for his answer, she gave a salute and went away.... leaving a man, who felt like he had lost an important part in his life, it's just that, it would take another few years to know, what it was.....

.........

It has been 6 months since their meeting, Snow who was granted permission has been going in and out of the library regularly, but because she always had a cold face no one knew what she was thinking about.

Her team has been in contact with her and in recent days they have been quite on alert because the seemingly cold Marshall has been very serious and at edge...

As if, a storm was brewing somewhere and could cause irreparable havoc on the Empire anytime...

Snow went through all the books, no matter how irrelevant they looked, they were the last remains from Erth and her only clue.

When she finally found about the truth, she fell back on her seat exhausted.

"How could this be?"

Knowing how their lives came to be, she felt nauseating pain, she felt worse when she thought that similar blood ran through her, she felt ugly.

"No wonder the Imperial family prohibited people to come inside this place. It seems Michael isn't aware of it", she wanted to cough blood when she thought that she was serving such a man, truly a foolish existence.

She took a deep breath.

She couldn't let anything happen to this place, the empire might not treat her well, but it was after all her birthplace...

Her determination strengthened and she went out of the library, going out she gave a longing look at the place, this was the place where everything started, she blindly fell in love with Michael here and it seems everything is going to end here too.... It will be the last time she comes here.

"Goodbye, my ignorant and foolish past..."

..........

.........

"Are you sure you want to do this, Snow?", asked the man on the other side of the virtual screen; the man was donned in a military uniform and was a four-star general, who was assigned to the border stars. His face had righteous look on it and his sword eyebrows and Phoenix eyes were sharp as always; this man was the only brother of the Emperor, Louis de Eloten.

After she watched the man for a second, she couldn't help but sigh...

In the blind pursuit of her 'love', she had hurt this man.

This man who had an unimaginable talent, fortitude and profound vision, was sent to the border stars when Michael took the throne, he was unofficially banished...

If not for her presence, this man would have been the best choice for the throne, but she had decided to follow Michael back then.

Her old eyes dimmed as she said, "I've wronged you, Louis... Even if I'm condemned by the rest of the future generations, and even if this will be the last thing that I will do, I'd like to repay you back... You deserve it"

The man on the other side sighed.

He had seen this girl grow from a little girl to a beautiful maiden to a cold Marshall, even though she had aged a lot, her eyes still remained clear of impurities...

She still had that fascinating twinkle on her eyes that set her apart from all on the empire, it was as if, she could see something beyond this world...

He opened up, "Snow, I've never thought that it was your fault and if anything, our family has wronged you and even now, when you are fighting to safeguard the Empire, we still can't do anything to help you... "

Snow softly chuckled, it has been years since she last smiled, her old face crinkled up, "I'll leave our motherland in your hands, Onii-sama*"

Treating this as the last time they could talk this carefreely, his eyes slightly reddened, "I'll take full care of it in your stead"...

........

It was in the next three days, that a bloodless Coup* took place.

The military surrounded the capital and of course the Imperial Palace...

The star network gave an emergency notification...

"The reigning Emperor was forced to abdicate and the new Emperor will give a message through the network."

There was unrest in the Empire...

The people in the Empire were prone to a peaceful life, they never knew what it meant to in be in a Wartime, after all, the only enemy of the human-kind seemed to be the zergs and the war against them occurred light years away...

Common people had no connection to these wars and had an illusion of peace.

Except for the military, this whole world was far too ignorant!

.......

NOTEs:

*NPC: It stands for 'Non-Player Character' and is a type of mob character in a game, which is used to interact with players, provide instructions, and run game commands

*Onii-sama is a very respectful form of calling someone elder-brother, they may or may not be related by blood; I don't think many use it... It sounds very formal, there days 'Onii-chan', 'nii-chan', 'nii' and 'aniki' are in trend? Well, if you've seen or read, the Irregular of Magic High (MKnR), Miyuki calls Tatsuya the same way. Another formal form is 'Aniue'. This is my knowledge after reading tonnes of manga and watching tonnes of anime~

* Coup - It is a French word. It means to overthrow, or regime change..so, bloodless coup becomes overthrowing the current government without bloodshed! It is different from Coup d'etat, which involves violence.