Chapter Text
"Give me ONE reason... why I shouldn't. Break. You," he huffs through gritted teeth, bright blue glowing eyes burning into yours, sludge fist just barely missing your face, and instead landing on the wall you're pressed against.
"Please... Emperor Belos, I – I didn’t mean to come in, I just-"
"Ugghh,” he groans in pain, and through labored breaths he manages to say "You shouldn't have been here, I could've seriously hurt you –" He coughs and falters, but you run to support him and keep him upright.
"Emperor Belos, what do you need? How can I help you?" you ask.
He’s too weak to push you aside, and instead he says "Just help me to my room..."
So, you do, ignoring the way the guards' stares follow you as they turn their faces to look at you, after the emperor told them sternly not to interfere.
After you reach the room, the emperor sits on his bed and takes off his mask, sighing. "Why did you walk into my study, scout? You shouldn't have been anywhere near it. That's my private area where I work on highly classified projects, guided by the Titan," he says, frustration lacing his voice. "You're lucky you dodged my attack."
"I-I'm sorry, Emperor Belos, it was a complete accident, please believe me! I was misdirected, I only wanted to get to the northwest cabins to deliver the laundry!"
You hear the emperor sigh. "That's not relevant now. In any case you should leave. My curse is still volatile, so long as you're around, you'll be in danger."
"But, Emperor Belos – I'm sorry, but I can't just leave you like this! I need to help you, what can I do to soothe you?"
"Didn't you hear me?" he says, frustrated. "You're in danger. Go. I could hurt you –" Suddenly, his green scar spreads over his face, and his left arm wildly changes shape and size for a second, before he reels it back in place with considerable effort.
But you stand your ground, despite your beating heart. "No, Emperor Belos, I will gladly risk my life to help you. Please, if there's anything I can do, tell me!" you call out proudly, ignoring your shaking legs.
Finally seeming to be at the end of his rope, he orders you to call the Golden Guard, who hurries over quickly, holding a bag. He promptly pushes you out, shutting the door behind you. You stand outside the door for a moment, hoping your emperor is okay, before quickly turning and leaving.
That night, the events of the day replay in your mind. You think back to that terrifying face you saw glaring at you with murderous intent, those bright, dangerous glowing blue eyes, and that huge monstrous sludgy green arm slamming into the wall behind you, audibly cracking the impossibly resilient stone... and you can't help the feeling of genuine thrill you felt at that moment, the feeling of being completely at the mercy of this terrifying incredible man, and his horrifying curse... it seemed oddly erotic to you.
The realization causes you to flush, turning red the instant you feel your body so lewdly reacting to this train of thought. You decide to focus on doing your actual job: keeping the cabins organized by delegating the janitorial obligations, sending out rations, and keeping track of the inventory.
However, every once in a while, your thoughts drift back to dark green sludge and glowing eyes, instantly sending your heart into overdrive, beating fast and hard in your chest.
You even – at first to your horror – find that this encounter keeps worming its way into your fantasies under the cover of night and sheets, and you can't help but imagine how it might feel to be pinned to the wall by the emperor in his cursed form, how tight and restrictive that sludge would be, how your wrists would ache, struggling and failing to break free from his grasp, as he snaked another slimy sludgy arm up your thighs, slowly but steadily moving up... up... up...
These thoughts plague your mind and fill your dreams, and worse still, you find that they start to pop up during the day, leaving you dazed and distracted. But you refuse to get hot and bothered on your shifts, so you try your best to push them down, and hope that with time they will fade with the memory. After all, it was preposterous enough for you to have these thoughts about the emperor himself during your own private time, but during your job? That's just unacceptable!
At least your post was pretty far removed from the emperor, so you most likely wouldn’t have any more chance encounters with him. After that incident you weren't trusted with any more emergency laundry runs – even though you still believe it was the guards' fault for allowing you through. Yeah, you said it was an emergency and you had clearance, but you didn’t mean clearance to the emperor's personal study!
In any case, your little infatuation was sure to fizzle out soon enough, though your interest in danger was probably something you need to explore more... that is, until you receive a special request signed by the emperor himself, requesting you to be his wing's... laundry collector.
The cruel jokes this universe pulls on you to make your life miserable will never cease to amaze you.
You start your shift at the Emperor's Wing with your heart damn near beating out of your chest, collecting laundry from the guards' rooms, then the coven heads' rooms, and onto Kikimora's room, followed by the Golden Guard's room, and all the while your heartbeat picks up speed after every room, until finally, you reach his room... the emperor's room.
You go in, heart practically in your throat, expecting to see his gleaming gold-clad body, wrapped in an ostentatious cape, or perhaps just the man, unmasked and struggling to regulate his breathing, or even... another episode of rage, sludge fist flying at you, intending to hurt you...
But of course, the room is lifeless. Empty of all living things, just like all the other rooms you just went through, and you slump with disappointment. Still, you're here because you have a job to do, so you proceed with collecting clothing from all over the corners of the room, taking note of some dark green stains on the white linen shirts, which you pick up, and... sniff. You couldn’t help the curiosity. You'll never get the opportunity to be in close proximity to the emperor again, so you might as well take what you can get (this will surely fuel your fantasies later).
Just when you bend down to pick the last one up, you hear the door behind you slam shut, which spooks you enough for a small "eep!" to unwittingly escape your lips, after which you hear the unmistakable sound of a chuckle.
"I didn't mean to scare you."
You turn around, horrified to find the emperor, golden mask lifted off his face, leaning against the closed door.
"UHH-UM-UH E-EMPEROR BELOS! HELLO, YOUR UM, HIGHNESS...?" You say stupidly, entirely unprepared to be formal, and quickly stumbling down to your knee.
"Oh, don't worry about all that, I did catch you off-guard. Actually, I was hoping to bump into you," he says, and was he always this charming? You’re used to seeing him standing tall, wrapped in gold and silk, commanding authority, respect, and fear. But now, he's smiling, totally relaxed, and... friendly even.
"Oh, uh, yeah? I – I MEAN, YES, EMPEROR BELOS, what did you, uh, want with me?" You ask, momentarily forgetting you’re talking to the emperor himself, but quickly over-correcting yourself.
"Well, firstly, I wanted to apologize for the state you had to see me in." His smile wavers, and you notice that his eyebrows seem a bit strained.
"NO! Not at all, my emperor! I am very okay! All I was concerned about was your health! And... I'm glad you seem to be doing alright now."
"Thanks to you, my dear. If you hadn’t been there, and shown great bravery, I don’t know how badly this would've ended. In the end, no one got hurt, and I was able to get my curse under control," he says, less tense now
In all honesty, your head exploded as soon as you heard the words "my dear". Still, you managed to reply "M-my emperor, it was the least I can do, I am so honored to be able to help you!" Your heart swells with pride, and you finally begin to relax... this is so different from the man you know. What happened to the regal emperor, and the cursed beast?
Your thought process gets cut short, as the emperor begins to speak again. "That's another thing I wanted to discuss. You see, our little incident made me realize… I probably need a failsafe, some way to protect the castle and myself from being overtaken by the curse, and possibly taking the lives of the residents of this castle. So, I wanted it be you," he finishes, looking at you expectantly and seriously.
You bow your head and answer: "My emperor, I am delighted to have such an honor bestowed on me, but could I ask – why me?"
He responds, "Well, you stood bravely in the face of my curse, despite being unprepared for it, and I haven’t heard of any rumors circulating after that day, so I trust that you will be able to face me if this ever occurs again and that you’ll be quiet about it after the fact."
You look up at him and nod your head. "Yes, Emperor Belos, I promise you I will do my best to help you in any way I can!" you exclaim enthusiastically.
"Good," he says. "Your duty will be very simple. If you see or hear any indication that I have lost control, you are to call the Golden Guard and to keep me contained until he arrives. This means you will be risking your life in order to protect others. Are you prepared for that responsibility?" he asks seriously, now standing tall and closer to you. It reminds you of his regality and authority, despite the mask not obscuring his features.
"Yes, my emperor, I accept. I will gladly lose my life in service to you," you answer seriously, bowing again to show your respect, hand on your heart.
"Excellent. Oh, and one last thing," he says, now leaning forward to speak to you, his eyes narrowed dangerously. "I have eyes and ears everywhere in this castle, so trust me, if any rumor or gossip does spread, I will be the first to know. And I will not be happy." He whispers the last part, but you hear the threatening, venomous statement loud and clear.
"Understood," you say quietly.
"Good," he says in the same volume. "You will guard my private study, my personal quarters, and accompany me in the throne room. I have dubbed you my servant so as not to raise any suspicion, but you will only be responsible for keeping my room clean. The other rooms will be handled by other servants. You start tomorrow, and you will be moved to the guard rooms to sleep here. For now, you can go take a break."
You respond with a “Yes sir!” and promptly turn to leave, brimming with all sorts of emotions, but before you can walk out of the door, he calls after you.
"Wait." You turn around. "Don't forget to take the laundry out on the way," he says, and you pick up the basket of laundry, turning one last time before you hear him say quietly, "I'm sure you know they smell." You can practically hear the smile when he says that, and you freeze for a moment, before quickly leaving, stumbling on your way out.