Saving The Abandoned Empress

This is the first words that Cathain heard right after he entered their bedroom to cheak up on her.

Ariande was standing beside the window and her hand was protectively wrapped around her big belly.

At first, he didn’t wanted a child. Because he was planning for rebellion and also, he doesn’t know if he was ready for it yet.

But seeing the excited Ariande, he had no choice except agreeing to keep the child.

He can already feel the enormous mana from their unborn baby. And somehow, he is also looking forward to the birth of their baby.

Cathain couldn’t spent more time with her as suddenly the number of the monsters increased and he had to join the army to keep the empire safe.

The nobles are pushing him to take out the saintess, who can stop this chaos. But he shut them all of.

How selfies for them to say this to him... bring out his wife who is pregnant with his child, to save the empire?

.....

This is why he spents more time on controlling the situation, so that they won’t told him to bring her out.

Cathain didn’t quite understand what Ariande meant.

“What are you talking about, Aria?”

Cathain approached her but Ariande slapped away his hands from her. He was really dumbfounded but then noticed a letter in her hands...

‘This seem like a letter from Arendell, D-Don’t tell me...’

“You already knew everything... Right?”

“A-Aria... listen to me first, okay?”

Cathain tried to calm her down as he could felt her raging mana, which was both harmful for their child and her.

Tears kept pouring down from her beautiful eyes and she looked at him with disgust.

His heart felt like it stopped breathing when he saw disgust in her eyes instead of warmness.

“Aria...?!”

“Don’t call me that! So, this was why you was never close with me! Because there was no need for you to do so! I was just someone that you needed to keep for the next two years!”

“Calm down, Aria... being angry right now isn’t good for you now... let-let me explain everything first, Okay? It’s not like what you are thinking...”

“Then what is this, Cain?! Tell me what?! You never loved me! You never once said this to me!”

“Aria... Calm down first!”

“I always reached out to you despite you never reaching out to me... i kept talking like a fool because if i don’t then it will be silence between us as you never share anything to me... I kept loving you and thought you loved me back too... but this was all a pretense... A lie...!”

“Aria... Let me explain okay? I didn’t intended to hide it from you... I also lov-”

Cathain’s words remained unfinished as he felt the sudden change into her mana. He looked up to her and saw her forehead covered in sweat just before she placed her hands on her belly and started to yell.

“N-No... A-Aria?? GUARDS! CALL THE PHYSICIAN RIGHT NOW!!!”

Cathain yelled to them as he carried Ariande to the bed. She kept tossing around as she felt the pain in her belly.

“This is why i told you to calm down first!”

But Ariande was not in a situation to hear him. First, the truth that her marriage was a deal for him to get help from her brother was a initial shock to her.

Then realising that this was why he was distanced from her made her heart shatter. She kept giving into him like a fool, where he knew everything!

And now the pain in her lower abdomen is making her bones cracking down.

The maids immediately rushed to the room and shortly the physician came too.

“The duchess is in labour!! Hurry up and get ready to deliver the baby!!!”

Cathain was dumbstruck. She is going to deliver now? But wasn’t the date two months later?

“Duke, please step back...”

The head maid said as he was coming in their way. He was about to step back when a knight suddenly came in while panting.

“DUKE!! You need to go right now! The situation in the capital isn’t good. They are demanding for the duchess to come out!”

Cathain felt rage in his heart. Just how heartless one can be to demand a pregnant lady to save them?

If he doesn’t go now, it might be difficult to control the situation... but Ariande also needs him here right now.

She is giving birth... how can he leave her? But if he doesn’t go then they might take her away. In the end, Cathain choosed to go.

He can’t let her risk her own life because of this selfish people.

Cathain bent down and kissed her forehead, “I will be back soon... Aria. Wait for me to explain it to you with our baby... We will be happy together.”

Ariande caught his sleeve as she vaguely understand his words.

“Cain... Don’t go...”

Ariande said weakly with a pale face. Her full body was covered in sweat and it hurted Cathain to think that she is going through all this because of him.

But he has no other way now. He has to go to keep her and their baby safe.

Cathain forcibly released her grip over his sleeve with a deep hurted heart.

“Prepare the horse...”

He left the mansion with a raging spread. He have to quickly finish this to go back to his home.

‘Home’

Suddenly thinking about Ariande waiting for him while holding their baby in her arms flashed across his mind.

Will the baby have silver hair and blue eyes like her? Then the baby would look very beautiful for sure either it’s a boy or a girl.

But after he returned, something else waited for him.

Cathain, who was full of bloods rushed towards their room when he saw all the servents kneeling down.

‘N-No... Nothing can go wrong right? I still haven’t told her how much i love her... i never thought of leaving her... I want to spent my rest of my life with her...’

As he reached the room, the big bed was empty and only a little moving creature was in the middle of it.

Even the servents who helped Ariande with delivery was kneeling down. The mansion was heavily silent except the crying sounds of a baby.

He slowly approached the baby with heavy footsteps. It felt like his feet was tied up with heavy rocks.

“Where is Aria?”

Cathain asked the servents in a low but cold voice that they shivered. They couldn’t open their mouth to speak.

“I ASKED WHERE IS ARIA?!”

This time, Cathain yelled out loud, forcing them to speak.

“D-Duke... Right after you left and the young lady was born... A royal order came... asking the duchess for help... we couldn’t stop the duchess.”

“BUNCH OF TRASH!!

WAS A MERE LADY MORE POWERFUL THEN YOU ALL WHO JUST GAVE BIRTH?!”

“D-Duke... the duchess... used her saintess powers to teleport, we couldn’t...”

The servents couldn’t speak anymore. Cathain’s face turned dark and he was about to left when he suddenly noticed a loud explosion sound from outside.

The explosion sound was loud but it spread warmness and the sky become bright golden for a moment after the explosion.

‘A-Aria?’

Cathain’s eyes widened in shock as a tear drop left his eyes. He was about to rush out when he suddenly hear the giggle of their child.

He gritted his teeth and took the baby into his arms, as he was covered in blood, he made the white blanket that was wrapping her up red too.

He thought of placing her down but as she opened her eyes and stare at his red eyes with her blue eyes, Cathain was stunned.

‘Her eyes is the same as her...’

The child smiled at him and then he felt the enormous mana coming out from her.

‘Wait... isn’t it teleportation magic? H-How can a child who was just born do this?’

Cathain was immediately transported to the area where everything was destroyed and Ariande was weakly sitting on the ground.

She was coughing out bloods and Cathain rushed towards her. Tears kept pouring out from his eyes as he felt her weakened mana.

He knew she was about to leave them.

“ARIAA!!”

.....

Ariande weakly looked at him and smiled.

“Cain... you have come? I thought i wouldn’t be able to see you for the last time...”

Ariande leaned on his chest and glanced at their daughter, who had black hair and blue eyes.

She weakly moved her hands and stroke the baby’s face.

“She is so beautiful, Right...?”

“Yeah, So you have to stay and watch her becoming more beautiful...”

“I know, you will take great care of her.”

“We will take care of her together!”

Both of them fall silent. Ariande was breathing heavily and tears kept pouring out from his eyes.

“I have never seen you smile before... Can you please smile at me one last time?”

“I will... I will smile as much as you want... i will keep talking until you are satisfied... i will take you out on dates, invite you for tea, taking strolls in the garden... But, Please... Don’t leave me Aria!

I can’t live without you... I was wrong. I shouldn’t have hide things from you... From now on, i will tell you everything you want to know... I will share everything with you... It’s okay if you don’t want to talk with me anymore, hate me... But give me one last chance, Okay?

I want to spent the rest of my life with you... With our daughter... We will grow old together...

Don’t leave me, Please?!”

Cathain forced a smile on his face as tears kept pouring out from his eyes. Ariande cupped his face with both of her hands and kissed his lips one last time.

“I love you...Cain.”

“I love you too... Aria?!”

In the end, Ariande couldn’t hear his confession. She took her last breathe in his arms and died peacefully, leaving the desperate Cathain.

Sensing no mana coming out from her, Cathain understood that she has left him forever.

But unexpectedly, no tears came out from his eyes anymore. In one hand, he hold his daughter who was crying, where his other hand hold his dead wife.

‘She died because of this empire...’

The knights, who finally reached him was shocked to see his dark aura.

Ariande just didn’t left this world alone, but also took away his all sanity.

‘T-The Duke is a Devil?’

That day, Cathain went to the imperial palace of Rua all alone.

His sword in his one hand and his daughter in his other. There was no emotion in his eyes.

The tears he shed for Ariande was yet to dry before he bathed in blood.

Only eternal darkness was seen in his eyes as he kept killing every imperial members. In just a night, The royal palace was completely massacred by him all alone.

He divided two empires even before they could bury Ariande’s body.

Cathain didn’t lost his mind completely just because of their daughter, who not only didn’t got scared from his bloody appearance but also smiled at him whenever he looked into her eyes.

He hugged his daughter as bloods dripped down from his sword.

‘You are the only will for me to live now.’

He become the first emperor of his newly founded Valentino empire along with Ariande’s brother as the first Duke of the empire.

He kept Ariande’s name as the first empress; which didn’t changed till now.

He never embraced any other women and spent his life with their daughter, Athenesia Cathain De Valentino.

Because deep down in his heart, he was insane. He needed to tell her that he loved her, he always loved her.

He have to destroy this world that took her away from him. If he does so, wouldn’t she come back to save it again?

Everytime a devil appears, a goddess appears too, to save this world fron chaos.

So, he can just become the demon to make the saintess re-appear.

Yeah, he should just do it.

She should know that, Cathain will only love her in his all life’s and...

...she can only be his.