The Story of Our Evil

III

Sucrose sat in the rose garden of her castle. A sad sigh escaped her lips as she lifted a cup of tea in her hand. Although the remnants of a calm expression littered the young girl's face, her thoughts were racing. She loved this spot, with all the lovely roses in different colors, but tonight they did not seem to allow her to calm herself.

If it weren't for the nobles who ruled her country, she presumed, she would most likely be living a peaceful life down in the village as a baker's daughter. But alas, life wasn't fair that way. When Sucrose was young, she was forcefully taken away from her parents to live in the castle as a princess, simply because she was very pretty.

Now, just any young girl would die for an opportunity to live as a princess. But not Sucrose.

The first few days living in the castle were very...uneventful. But, there was one day when she learned the true meaning of why she was taken away from the village. The nobles that ruled her kingdom had been plotting to create dispute and eventually a war between the kingdoms, and Sucrose was supposed to be a mindless puppet in their evil plans.

Sucrose made another downcast look down at the teacup she held. She hated having to decieve a prince that she didn't even love, but she had been forced to. This would most certainly cause a chain: the Princess of Light would most definitely be angry and kill her.

Sucrose knew that her death would surely cause a war, and that was exactly what her masters wanted. As must as she tried to resist the evil plans that she was being fit into, she just couldn't.

The smiles that she gave Albedo never once came from her heart. However, the smile that she had given to Aether a day ago was a true smile; it was a genuine smile of her sincere love and adoration for him.

Her eyes traveled to the Inteyvat flower that Aether had given her. Upon her special request, the flower had been planted in a beautiful and crystalline vase that sat on the table outside.

Sucrose was lost in her thoughts for a while longer, as she stared at the beautiful flower in front of her. The sudden snap of a twig broke Sucrose's concentration, and she whirled around.

A hooded figure came out from behind the tree in her garden. Sucrose knew that this day would come, but she was still a little scared as she said, "Who are you?"

The figure made a motion, as if they were trying to speak. An odd sound escaped from the hood, and for a second, Sucrose had an absurd thought that whoever was behind the hood wasn't human.

Despite the darkness, Sucrose could make out a shining, golden dagger being drawn from a sheath under the person's cloak.

"...are you here to kill me?" Sucrose finally managed. Those words took a lot of courage, but finally, she got them out of her throat. In response, the hooded figure nodded. Another weird noise escaped from beneath the hood as the person raised the dagger.

The hooded figure froze, and they made another weird noise. This third time, Sucrose realized it - the person beneath the hood was crying. And, to confirm her suspicion, the figure raised their free hand and stuck it into their hood to wipe a tear from their eye.

"Um..." Sucrose began, with uncertainty tainting her tone. "If you're here to kill me...why are you crying?"

"Because...I really don't want to. I just have to. And it's very painful." the person said. Sucrose gasped. She recognized that voice. She had just heard it a few days ago, from a certain young man who had given her a beautiful flower.

A light breeze blew through the garden, sweeping the person's hood off their head. And for the first time, Sucrose saw that the person beneath the hood had been Aether all along.

Sucrose couldn't help but raise her hands to cover her mouth. For a moment, she had forgotten that Aether was there to kill her.

She helplessly watched as Aether's tears continued to fall. She desperately wanted to tell him that maybe, the two of them could disobey orders together, but then she realized that she might face consequences worse than death, and who knew what would happen to Aether if he disobeyed his own orders.

Aether's hand shook as he tried raising the dagger again. "It's no use, Sucrose." he said dejectedly. "I promised my dearest sister that I would carry out all orders entrusted to me, and I always have been able to. This time, though...I can't carry out my orders...I really don't want to kill you."

Sucrose nodded, tears welling up in her own eyes too. "I don't want to die, either...but the orders come from your sister, if I am not mistaken. From what you've told me, you want to be a loyal brother to her, and a simple girl like me shouldn't get in the way of sibling loyalty."

"But why shouldn't you?" Aether cried, swiping at tears with his free hand. "I just can't kill you Sucrose...because ever since the day we met, I fell in love with you."

A slight smile found its way onto Sucrose's face as she said, "I'm glad you share the feeling, Aether."

Sucrose began walking towards Aether, and without warning, she circled her arms around him and hugged him tight. As she looked into his eyes, she placed a delicate fingertip to his face and wiped away his tears.

Aether was caught off guard. The woman who was hugging him knew full well that he was supposed to kill her, but she didn't mind that at all. As Sucrose's soft golden gaze found Aether's shimmering golden brown eyes, they both noticed that their faces were but mere centimeters apart.

Both of them had tears pouring from their eyes as they leaned in for a long and sweet kiss. Their first and their final.

But suddenly, as if the moment was shattered, Sucrose grabbed a hold of Aether's hand that held the dagger, and she brought the blade through her stomach.

Aether couldn't help but cry out as Sucrose fell to the ground, coughing. He picked up her slowly dying figure and he cradled Sucrose in his arms.

"I thank you very much, Aether." Sucrose said weakly, as she slowly placed her hand on Aether's. "I have never remembered the feeling of true love since all the drama in my life began...but thank you for reminding me about this feeling...I love you truly...but too bad it wasn't meant to last."

•°•°•°•°•°•°•

Albedo was frantically running along a path towards the garden in the castle of the kingdom of Wind. He had been notified that the kingdom was under attack, and all he could think about was the safety of Sucrose.

When he reached the garden, he called out Sucrose's name, only to recieve no response. He had no sooner taken two steps into the garden, when he saw her lifeless body laying in the dirt.

Panic coursed through Albedo's veins as he ran to Sucrose's body. The panic was suddenly replaced by a rousing anger, as he knew exactly who planned this attack and who killed Sucrose. His idea was confirmed as he saw a golden dagger lying a small distance away from the body of his love.

He cradled Sucrose for a little bit longer, until he got up. He made sure that she was buried in a nice place before he did anything else.

After this, he strode over to a tavern on the outskirts of the kingdom of Wind. Surprisingly, although the building seemed battered, it wasn't completely destroyed from the attack, so Albedo went in.

Immediately, he caught sight of a red-haired man behind the counter. The man lifted a disinterested eyebrow, wondering why Albedo came here during a time of panic in the city. He began wiping a glass, but Albedo raised a hand to stop him.

"I know that you used to be part of that army." Albedo said. "And I, fortunately, need your assistance..."