The Royal Deal

Chapter 266

Amethyst didn’t waste any time. “Thank you for meeting with me. I hope I’m not interrupting your day. There is something I need explained and I think only you are able to do that for me. There has been so much going through my head. What is reality and what is a dream? What is the truth? I remembered that when I once came to you, you told me the information you had was all you could tell me then. So, I assumed there was more. Please, Your Majesty, tell me what it is that you only know. What am I?”

Belice sighed. “It’s going to be a long story.”

“That’s ok. I have more time than you think.” Amethyst sat, waiting for Belice to continue.

Belice looked at Amethyst, then carefully began.

“From the beginning, the princesses reigned over the Sehar Empire. It was because only they bore a special ability. And only one princess with that ability was born in each generation. That tradition continued, until now. The previous Empress, my mother, had twins. The first time this had ever occurred.”

Amethyst knew that Alexcent and Belice were twins already, but she let Belice continue.

“Thankfully, I still became the empress, but honestly Alexcent had the better skill and the stronger endowment of the ability. If he had been born as a girl, he would have become the empress instead of me. This is something Alexcent is aware of, but he is fine with the situation and still offers his assistance from the sidelines.” Belice’s voice wavered slightly with emotion.

“I realized that as I became happier in my life, Alexcent went the other way. The pressures of supporting me and trying to live his own life were too much. I realized then that I had made him into a monster.”

And with that acknowledgement, Belice broke down crying.

***

“I think I mentioned to you once that the guilt you held was because of your children.”

“Yes, you did.” Amethyst remembered the time.

“If your guilt is because of your children, then mine is because of Alexcent. I wanted him to know what love is. I wanted him to be happy, like I was. But his fate didn’t belong in this world. Maybe that’s why he was able to ignore his emotion and became cruel. I decided to use my ability to explore other worlds, for someone who could soothe Alexcent. One day, I heard someone’s truthful voice through the void. A voice that called to the heavens ‘I want to disappear. Like I never existed.’”

“That was me!” Amethyst exclaimed.

“Amethyst, my ability has limits. I can’t challenge the Goddess’ authority. No matter what world we speak of, only the Gods can create a soul. But I thought maybe I could take a little piece of that soul. Just one small piece, out of the many that make up a complete soul. I took the piece that suffered the most pain in your world—Heeyeon’s. Just a single piece, to give you a chance at life. And I mixed it with Amethyst, whose soul was disappearing so you could be her.”

“A disappearing soul? Then what happened to real Amethyst?” Amethyst asked in wonder.

Belice smiled bitterly and continued, “You said your name was Heeyeon. Yes, I know who you were. I was the person who brought you into this world. The real Amethyst’s life, unfortunately, ended the day you came here. She had been destined to become the God’s guide. I put the piece of your soul into her disappearing one.”

“That means, even if it wasn’t Amethyst, I…”

“That’s right. Even if it wasn’t Amethyst, you would’ve still come into this world.”

Amethyst couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“The person you are right now is neither Heeyeon nor Amethyst. You’re a new person. So you don’t have to feel guilty. You didn’t run from your previous life. You were chosen to come here, and it was my duty to fulfill that choice. Actually, I think it was the Goddess’ will. So, if what I did is a sin, then it’s something I have to carry.”

“I was chosen?” Amethyst thought for a moment at the absurd notion. The only reason why I came here and met Alexcent was because of Belice? She couldn’t understand what made her so important. Why this all centred around her. She had so many questions.

“Then what happened to the version of me that was living in my previous world?” Amethyst asked.

“You already know,” Belice said, cryptically.

“What do you mean?” Then she remembered her dream—her other self asking if she was happy like her other self was.

“The piece of soul that I brought was so little that it would not have even been noticed by that version of you. Your soul contains so many different versions for each aspect of your life, like when you went to work, you as a mother, you as a wife, a daughter in law, one for every different situation. It’s likely that the piece of soul that created depression was the one that I took, so you’re most likely living a happy life as a lovely wife, good mother, wise daughter in law, and a competent worker. I just took the one piece of soul that allows Heeyeon to live a satisfying life.”

Amethyst didn’t know what to say. It was hard to comprehend that she was a completely different person than both Amethyst and Heeyeon were. Belice could see the confusion in her eyes.

“Amethyst, why did you come back here now? Is it because you were curious as to who you are? I can’t think that was the only reason.”

Amethyst remained silent

“It’s because you love someone so much, you need to overcome all of this, isn’t it?” She thought about the past year since she first left Alexcent. She had always wanted to go back but knew that she couldn’t. The endless thought of him had been an unbearable torture. No matter what she did, or how far she ran, he was always there.

“You’re right, I love him. I love him so much that I don’t care if I’m Heeyeon or Amethyst or someone completely different. No matter where I was, I wanted to see him, to be by him, to be loved by him. In the end, it was always about him.”

Belice smiled. “That’s what’s most important. In the end, there’s nothing more important than you obeying your feelings.” The empress took hold of her hands.

Tears streamed down Amethyst’s cheeks. “You’re right. That was what was always important. I’m not Heeyeon or Amethyst Lohikin. I’m Ash Skad.”

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