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our-lady-of-night-ravens · 3 years

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The Bane of Our Family: His Regret (2)

After a month long wait, it has finally come... the second part of ‘The Bane of Our Family’!

The story is inspired by @tri3tri‘s Second Wife AU along with the submission from @scorpiris-sideralis. More to say at the end of the story.

In the Valley of Thorns, lives a fae king, descended from the Great Witch of Thorns. He was feared and admired from across the lands. Whatever he desired, he could obtain through his status or his magic.

But what he truly desired was unobtainable. The love of his Queen.

When the king was a young prince, he attended an academy which proved to be uneventful. That was until the start of his third year when he met a magic-less human girl who didn’t know who he was. She treated him with pure kindness and compassion, without ulterior motives or deceitful lies. The fae prince, who had been treated like a dangerous national treasure since his birth, fell hopelessly in love with the human girl. His thoughts and dreams were filled with her voice, her smile, her kind eyes, her everything.

However, there was a key issue, the girl herself. First off, the human girl was not from this world and had every intention to leave for her world when the time came. The second was the fact that the human girl did not reciprocate his love back. In the eyes of the girl, the fae was a close friend, someone who aided her in making the new confusing world more familiar. But at the time, the Fae didn’t realize that she didn’t hold his affections as he wished for.

So when the prince confessed his heart out to the girl, she hesitated and left him heartbroken. With the aid from his trusted retainers, he plotted her capture so she may never return to her world and stray from his side.

Once he succeeded in stealing her away from the academy, he married her and made her his Queen. However, a large mass of his court was concerned why their king would ever settle with a magic-less woman and as a response, he made an example of the court by showcasing his immense power as a threat.

Eventually, he and the captive Queen sired two children, two lovely princesses that remarkably resembled him. To his delight, his wife’s compassion hadn’t faded over the years as she treated their two daughters with care and unconditional love.

Then there was his eldest daughter, intelligent, charismatic, powerful, mindful, and elegant. She was the perfect heir for the Valley and he knew that when the time would come, she would be an incredible ruler. And for years, he prepared for the day when his precious child would be ready to take the throne.

However, the court thought otherwise. They were insistent that the Valley could only be ruled by a fae of pureblood and that a half-blooded child and a princess at that would only weaken the Royal blood. As much as he would like to be rid of them all for their insolent behavior, his most trusted retainer advised against it, because the Kingdom wouldn’t be able to function properly with the deaths of such a vast number of nobles. His trusted retainer instead mentioned the numeral merits his daughter obtained, backing up her achievements with those of the Queen.

His beloved queen, though he wished to shower her with gifts and luxuries, preferred a more conserved life, she preferred more simplistic clothing and was quite the hard worker, taking the queenship lessons to heart and actively participate in government affairs as the voice of the lower classes, the human residents of the Valley. That was something he was so proud of her for doing.

But even after all that, the court wouldn’t stop and eventually, he relented. His spirit tired from their incessant demand, giving in and agreeing to make a woman of pure fae blood his second queen. As a king, he had to think of his kingdom, and marrying a lady of one of the Valley’s most prestigious households would strengthen the country.

But his mind would be plagued with regret and dismay, he promised himself and his daughter that the one who would succeed the throne would be her but to no avail. Now he stands in his office, no longer possessing the love of his daughters, alongside the love of his beloved queen.

There he stood as Renata took her to leave, baring a pleasant smile, back straight, as if the events that took place didn’t even occur, and not once did she bother to care about her father and his guards’ stunned face. Malleus, out of reflex, raised his hand to her as if he was trying to reach out but couldn’t. She had… never addressed him ‘Your Majesty’ before, it was standard to refer the monarch as such, even for the heir, but he never minded. Not when it was his precious daughter. He looked back at his hand he raised, the hand he used to… slap his precious daughter.

“Your Majesty? Are you alright?”, Malleus snapped out of his deep thought by Silver.

“Hmm? Yes, I’m quite fine.” But his face signaled otherwise as it held a grimace before he sat down in his office chair. Sebek approached him, back straightening.

“Your majesty, if there’s any consolation, I believe you made the right decision in removing her as your heir. She’s far too self-imposed and her nature is far too much like her mother’s to-“

“Sebek, you shouldn’t speak about the princess or her majesty in such a matter,” Silver interjected, cutting Sebek off.

“No, I want to know what Sebek was going to say. Finish your sentence, Sebek,” Though his words were friendly, his tone was not.

Sebek flinched at the harsh tone. He took a large gulp, “H-her highness is far too much like her majesty to… to succeed the throne…” He waited for his king’s response, worried about his mood.

“My daughter has proved time and time again that she was a suitable heir to the throne, or did Lilia’s words of praise for her accomplishments in these past few years alone, somehow went through one ear and out the other in an instant.”

“O-of course not your majesty! I deeply apologize for speaking out of turn!”, Sebek bowed his head down, the last thing he ever wished to do was upset his king.

Malleus’s eyes glared down at the back of his head, “Sebek, I want to know something, do you often criticize the queen for her behavior despite her doing her duties diligently?”

“I- I can not lie to you, my king! It’s true that I have directed some hurtful comments to her majesty. I was well aware that it wasn’t my place, especially since she fulfilled her duties as Queen by giving birth to the princesses, giving them unconditional love, and fulfilling her tasks for the people of the Valley. I beg your forgiveness!”

Malleus glowered at him but ended up resigning to a simple sigh, “Sebek, do you know why I asked you to be their main guard?”

“Please forgive me my lord but I can’t say I do.”

“My queen and my princesses are the most important people in my life. I needn’t have to remind you of that. When it came time to pick a guard for my queen, I remembered that you were in the same year back in Night Ravens and spoke with her the most due to joint classes, I thought you would be the best fit to get her to open up to life in the castle. However, it seems that I failed to put into consideration your opinion on the human race as much as I should. You have my apologies.”

Sebek looked up at his king, “Please don’t apologize my king! I should have known why you appointed me the position from the start!” The guard was practically sweating at that point. He should’ve realized that he had been neglecting his duties in keeping her majesty feeling safe and secure. He allowed his pride to get the best of him and in doing so, wronged his master. “I’ll accept any punishment you deem worthy for my impudence!”

Despite his actions, Sebek’s loyalty to him is next to unparalleled to any other retainer in his royal guard. Removing him from his duty would only deplete a valuable resource so Malleus would have to be light on his punishment. “Very well, Sebek. From now on, I’ll be removing you from the first Queen’s guard. You’ll be in charge of the Second Queen’s guards once she arrives but for now, you’ll return to my guard under Silver’s command. But you will have to ask for forgiveness towards the princesses and the Queen. Do you understand?”

“Yes, your majesty!”

“Oh, dear. Could it be that I am interrupting something important?”, heads turn to find Lilia, Malleus’s closest confidant and retainer with a stack of papers in hand.

“Lilia… No, you weren’t interrupting anything. I was just finishing a decision I made regarding Sebek’s station. I’m assigning him to be the second queen’s guard once she arrives...” he trails off before noticing a stack of papers in his hand. Strange. He didn’t recall asking Lilia to bring any paperwork...

“Lilia, might I inquire what’s in your hands?” He stars down on the documents.

“Oh, these. I received these from her highness. She meant to give these to you but understandably forgot due to the recent news. I told her I was more than willing to send it his majesty’s way, so here you go.”

He hands the documents to him. A brief inspection gives him enough context of what the document stated.

“These... these documents go over a plan on how to relieve the long-standing conflicts along with the border villages of the Valley...”

“Why yes, they do. She kindly informed me that the plan she has included small short term initiatives to quell civil unrest among both the commoners and the fief lords as well as a long term directive to prevent and counteract any further unrest in the future. She allowed me a chance to glimpse through it and I must applaud her for such a well-coordinated plan.”

Glancing through her plan over and over he couldn’t help but sigh before sitting down in his office chair.

“Your Majesty, is something the problem? Was the plan not suitable or inadequate in some way?”, Sebek asked.

“No, it’s quite the opposite. This proposal is practically immaculate.” And yet... he shooed off the incredible mind that thought of it. He placed his hand against his face as the face of his other daughter crossed his mind. “Lilia, I have an inquiry for you.”

Lilia’s smile spread, “What is it that you inquire, Your Majesty?”

“How’s Sherrie doing? Is she still participating in swordsmanship?”

“Why indeed she is. Her highness is performing splendidly in the way of the sword. She’s practically running circles around young fae knights and even the more experienced knights as well.”

“I see... it seems that Renata and Sherrie are succeeding in their respective fields... it makes me question why on earth the court can’t be satisfied with those two...”

Lilia tilted his head before sighing “Malleus, I think I speak for everyone in this room when I say that there’s a clear and obvious reason as to why they refuse to acknowledge either princesses.”

He was right. Lilia knew it. Silver knew it. Sebek knew it. They all knew it.

They simply didn’t approve of the idea that a half-fae would be on the throne in the future. Both his princesses were born before her transformation, resulting in the two being half-bloods.

The Fae have naturally low fertility rates, nature’s way of balancing out their exceedingly long natural lifespans. Dragon faces such as himself had an even lower rate than most fae. Because of that, his queen had yet to become pregnant since her transformation. A fact that troubled the court and caused them to badger on and on to their king.

He could only sigh, “Lilia. Silver. Sebek. Could you all leave my office for a moment? I don’t mind if you’re outside the room I just need a moment by myself to collect my thoughts.”

The three turned to each other, nodded, and without any words they bowed and took their leave.

Malleus sat there by himself, contemplating his recent decisions. He’s already the engagement official through royal documentation so he has no choice but to go through with the marriage. But the thing he worries most were his family.

His wife was already distant as it was and the arrival of a second woman would only create a greater gap. His daughters, born from their connection, would no doubt want as little to do with him as possible now.

It feels as though the beautiful scene in his head of his precious family was being torn apart by his own hands. It was frustrating, to say the least, that he, one of the top wizards in the world and grandchild of the Great Witch of Thorns herself, was torn in such a messy predicament.

All he could do was sigh as he hid his face away from the rest of the world with one hand. “This whole ordeal is a mess...”

At least it couldn’t get any worst than this...

Part Three is officially in the works. Though I might put it on hold to work on the next chapter of ‘Our Lady of Night Ravens”. If you want to read that, it’s the pinned post of my blog and follows the story of my OC, Marianna.

#malleus draconia #twisted wonderland #yandere malleus draconia #twst malleus #malleus draconia x mc #no beta read #twst #My writing #twst oc #sebek zigvolt #Lilia Vanrouge #twst silver #Bane of Our Family

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