Scarlet's Awakening

Scarlet woke up in her bed the next day, her mind disoriented and aching like two mini-devils were continuously b.u.t.t slamming her head.

Ugh! The headache was killing her!

Why is she having a hangover when she didn't even drink last night?

Scarlet g.r.o.a.n.e.d, propping herself up using her elbows and immediately winced when the pain inside her head intensified.

She badly needed some hangover medicine at the moment. Some Aspirin would do the trick. Ibuprofen is fine too. She'll take Naproxen if her choices were narrowed to one.

Scarlet tried not to move too much. She didn't want to trigger the headache and make herself suffer.

Scarlet stayed still like a statue, her back leaning on the headboard of her four-postered king sized bed, her eyes closed, thinking about what happened last night.

She can still clearly remember the contract she did with Jasper in the palace gardens. The sensation she felt when their bond was being formed. And the husky baritone voice that softly whispered in her ear right before she lost her consciousness.

Scarlet remembered every tid bits of what happened yesterday. And she couldn't stop her own heart from hammering inside her c.h.e.s.t when she remembered that voice, and the very three words he whispered in her ear...

'You're mine now...'

Those were his exact words.

Scarlet looked outside the window.

Who was that person? Am I just hallucinating him?

Scarlet's eyes were dazed as she looked outside, her eyes focused at the dark skies of the Dark Dimension. It was then when Scarlet realized, it was always dark in this place.

Time works differently in the dark dimension. The two full moons and the stars never left their places in the sky, like time stopped in this exact moment in time and continues to be stuck in it for eternity.

Good thing the light from the twin moons were bright enough for people to see the crimson colored barren land outside the city walls.

And for 490 years, Gehenna has been using white crystals that were individually powered- wirelessly, by a powerful stone- an ancient artifact that everyone can see floating above the northern tower, glowing so brightly that people can see it from miles away.

The stone is called the heart of the Goddess Istis which is the Goddess of Light. It was found by Scarlet in her expedition for ancient artifacts in the realm of the elves and she was very lucky to have found it first.

In this world, there are 9 realms: The Human Realm, The Fairy Realm, The Realm of the Orcs, The Realm of the Giants, The Elven Realm, The Dwarven Realm, The Beast Realm, The Realm of the Angels, and lastly, the realm where Scarlet ruled as Queen, the Realm of Gehenna- formerly known as the Demon Realm.

Each one of the realms has different ancient artifacts buried in each of their territories. They were left there by the gods before they disappeared in this world thousands of years ago.

Scarlet was the very first person to hunt down the artifacts. She did that by traveling around the 9 realms; growing her strength, gathering allies, dethroning the Demon Clan from power, conquering the Demon Realm as a whole.

She made it a hobby of collecting artifacts and discovering each of their powers. It brought a huge advantage as she grew powerful and her quest for the ancient artifacts got the attention of the other realms as well. They were late, but they started hunting down for the artifacts. They competed fiercely and as time went by their greed for the power of the artifacts lead to the start of the great war 500 years ago.

"My queen, are you awake?"

Scarlet's thoughts were interrupted when she heard a knock on the door.

Scarlet cleared her throat and gave her permission to come inside. Shortly after,

the door was pushed opened and a stunning Eireen wearing a magnificent curvy armour for females came in.

"Eireen?" Scarlet was surprised to see her this early. And in battle armour at that. "Are you leaving for Donatel already?"

Eireen directly kneeled on the floor to greet her upfront. "Yes. I came here to say my farewell before I depart."

Scarlet stared at Eireen's bowing head with concern. "Are all preparations for your task complete?"

"Yes, my queen. I also did a doubled check yesterday so I wouldn't worry doing a fast thorough checking for good measures before leaving."

Scarlet nodded, impressed that Eireen was responsible enough to do her job seriously- even though she didn't want to take it in the first place.

"Then I'll be waiting for the good news of your success in battle."

"I will not disappoint your expectations, my queen."

"I know..." Scarlet stood up from her bed, hangover forgotten and gently patted Eireen on her shoulder. "Take care of yourself there. Come back to us safely."

Eireen's face immediately flushed red as she vigorously nodded in reply. "I will, my queen." She shouted, her tone light and her face bright with happiness.

After exchanging a few words and reminders, Eireen stood up and giddily left the room. Afterwards, Scarlet made her morning preparations by calling the help of the palace maids through a bell attached on her bedroom wall.

Shortly, the maids arrived, bowing to greet her before they started to do their work on Scarlet. At first, she didn't want their help in bathing, dressing, and brushing her hair. She can do it all by herself since she grew up as an independent woman in her past life.

However, Eireen insisted that the maids do the 'daily' work for her which includes her self grooming and hygiene. It was part of the package deal for becoming Queen.

Scarlet's eyes were closed the whole duration of her morning preparations.

Half an hour went by and the maids behind her stepped back, sighing dreamily at her reflection.

"Your majesty, your preparations are complete."

When they said that, Scarlet opened her eyes and saw her reflection on the full length mirror that was being held by two maids.

She smiled...

The first word she thought when she saw herself was... 'beautiful'.

Even though her dress was simple, as per her instructions to the maids, it didn't lessen her overall beauty even a tiny bit. In fact, Scarlet looked even better wearing a white dress with a simple design.

Compared to the black gothic dress Eireen made her wear during the meeting yesterday. She looked less imposing and more refreshing to the eyes.

She also ordered the maids when they were picking her dress for her, that she will be wearing minimal make-up and only one jewelry on her body for the day.

The maids were adamant to comply to her request at first, but Scarlet was very insistent with what she wanted. She didn't want her movements to be hindered by all those bling and she stood her ground.

"I'm pleased. Thank you for the hard work." She smiled at them.

The maids were about to say their goodbye and leave when Scarlet remembered something. "Oh wait, before you leave... I have a question, where is Talon?"

"We saw Lord Talon earlier inside Lord Eigeel's study." One of the maids immediately answered.

Scarlet's eyebrows rose up. "Really now... Do you know why?"

"Yes... He was caught sleeping in the meeting room while on duty yesterday and Lord Eigeel saw to it to reprimand him of his mistakes." She reported.

Scarlet bit the inside of her lower lip in contemplation. If Eigeel's just scolding Talon with his mouth then there's no use in worrying about him. "How about my guests, Jasper and Anselme, where are they?" she asked next.

Seemingly remembering something, the face of the maid contorted and answered with a scowl, "Her majesty's honoured guests rudely left the palace early today. Before they left, Lord Jasper left a letter addressed for her majesty to read."

Scarlet looked down at the letter that was immediately offered to her by the maid and accepted it. "Thank you. You can leave me now."

The maids bowed their heads in perfect unison and left her room in a straight line. When Scarlet was finally left on her own, she looked at the letter and saw her name written at the back of the envelope. Her name there was written in a clean and cursive manner. Who could have written this? She thought. It couldn't have been Anselme. Jasper's still a kid. His penmanship wouldn't be this pretty, right?

Brushing away her thoughts, Scarlet opened the letter and immediately read its contents.

Surprisingly, the sender was Jasper. And The message inside was short and very straightforward.

It read...

Dear Scarlet,

I apologize for not saying goodbye to you in person.

An important matter came up and I had to leave and take care of it personally with Anselme.

I promise when the matter is resolved, I will come back and see you again to say my apology in person.

Be safe and don't smile so easily infront of other people until I come back.

Jasper

"..."- Scarlet

Scarlet stared at the letter in her hands, dazed.

She was speechless.

She wasn't expecting him to leave so soon.

She knew they were going to separate in the future. And she also understood that he had important things to take care of, personally.

But Scarlet couldn't stop herself from feeling sad that he left the palace, that he left her.

Scarlet folded the letter and put it back inside the envelope when she noticed something bulging inside it.

Curious, she took the small object bulging inside the envelope and saw a necklace dangling in her fingers.

Scarlet inhaled sharply.

The necklace was so beautiful! Especially, the black teardrop stone dangling on its thin silver chain. The size of the stone was as small as a marble and it was mesmerising to look at.

Did Jasper leave this for her? Why? Is this his peace offering for not saying goodbye? Scarlet bit her lower lip, deciding whether to wear the necklace or not.