Cursed Monarch

Chapter 5

        She felt like she was floating on water, relaxed, and her mind was clear without worries. Then, a memory flashed on her mind, remembering the scene where Prince Karvin strucked her abdomen with a sword, asking a question. She couldn't recall what he asked yet the pain was evident, as if he knew it all along and tried to warn her.

        "Are you awake now?" an unfamiliar voice asked. "Just open your eyes. I know you can hear me."

        She obeyed the voice and opened her eyes. The white ceiling was the first thing she saw. Then, she turned her head to search for the voice she heard. As the blurr from her eyes starts to fade; a lady with a messy bun brown hair, black shirt and denim pants, pale white skin with dark lines under her eyes because of lack of sleep was busy eating a pint of cookies and cream ice cream.

         "W-who are you?" Zolia's voice was weak. She's scared. Her surrounding was something that she's not familiar with. Huge teddy bear stuff toys were on the right corner, there are lots of books on the other corner, and the girl was sitting with her legs crossed like an Indian in a swivel chair.

        "You can just call me Rose. In your perspective as a mortal, my title would be Goddess of Reincarnation, something like that." After eating her ice cream, she throw her rubbish into the trash can and fortunately, it was inside the bin. "Score!"

          Zolia's face was crumpled. The woman's clothing is unfamiliar to her, especially the way she speaks, "What do you want from me?" She tried to stand up, and to her surprise, her body felt light. "Am I... dead?"

        "Of course! Prince Erman killed you, remember?"

         "T-then, if you're the Goddess of Reincarnation, will you... reincarnate me?"

          Rose flashed a playful smile. "Sure. Do you want to be reincarnated? Or you want to live a new life in a new body?"

         Zolia froze for a moment, reminiscing her past full of harsh judgement from other people, and the worst, betrayal of the man she only loved. "I... I don't know? Maybe, I need a new life?"

         "Before choosing what you really want, I want you to remember this. This is a one in a million chance event. My job is to wipe your memories and reincarnate you to a new life. But... Because you're my favorite mortal, I'm going to give you a chance to be Zolia once again." Rose's voice was bubbly, and with a flick of her finger, the monitor in her room started to open. "Watch this..."

         Zolia's eyes were focused in the monitor. It's her first time seeing one. Her eyes were brimming with curiousity. "Wait... Was that... Prince Erman?"

         Like a movie that was carefully edited, it flashed scenes that made her shocked! After her death, her father's execution was inevitable. Their house fell apart. The people serving them was murdered because of Prince Erman's schemes. But, it's still the tip of the iceberg. Prince Erman poisoned the King and Queen, usurping the throne with evil means. And as he held the crown, Eugene stabbed Prince Erman's chest. It was revealed that Eugene was actually the Azure Kingdom's illegitimate son of the king, and his job is to spy for his father. With Prince Erman falling for Eugene's charms, the Toquen kingdom fell into chaos as a result. It became a subjugated country of Azure. The people were crying for help because of hunger, both woman and children are sold to be sex slaves, the land became barren because of the noble's neglect.

          "Please... Stop..." Zolia's tears started to rush, and despair cracked her voice. "What is this?"

          "This is the future, my dear Zolia." Rose turned off the monitor and smiled coldly. "What do you think?

          "What? The future? You mean... my people will suffer, simply because of my death?"

           "Every action will result to a consequence. So... Prince Erman's greed and blindness to love was his downfall. So... What do you want to choose --"

            "Hey! I have my new guitar! Do you want to listen to me?" A man with black long straight hair, wearing a blue hoodie jacket, black jeans, and holding his white guitar was smiling like a child, bragging a new toy. "Wait... Who is she, Rose?"

          "Oh! Liam! Her name is Zolia. You know, the female knight from Toquen Kingdom," Rose answered. "She's crying because she saw her future."

          "I see..." Liam sat on a black beanbag and started to strum his guitar without a care.

         Zolia stopped crying because her mind was filled with questions to the entities right in front of her. She wanted to ask so many questions. But, she knew that it is not important. Her resolved was hard as her courage.

        "I want to come back as Zolia!"

        "Whoa! Nice..." Rose clapped her hands and smiled victoriously. "I won the bet Liam. Give me a pack of Hersheys chocolate later."

         Liam narrowed his eyes and sighed. "Fine!"

         Zolia wanted to cuss to the two but she chose to keep silent. Her profanities may dismay them and decide to throw her soul to the dark abyss, or something. "So... What should I do now?"

         Rose smiled again. "Because I'm happy, I'm going to give you three blessings as a parting gift. What do you think?"

         "S-sure..." Zolia smiled reluctantly.

         "Then kneel before me, my female knight."

          She obeyed Rose's instruction and knelt. "As you wish, my goddess."

           "First, I'm going to give you a paralled beauty. No one in the mortal world would be more beautiful than you. Your hair will be a shade of gold, orange and red -- a sign of a god's blessing."

          A warm light within her heart shone, blinding her. The warmth and light from within spread to her whole body, as if she was being reborn and a new life was emerged from a shell.

          Liam spoke with a harsh tone. "I am giving you the power to control your opponent's mind whenever you made an eye contact so you will never be played again. I am also giving you the blessing of taming the beasts, the half human-half wolves in your world." The God of Beast kin, Liam, looked at her with empathy.

         Zolia's eyes became an auburn color because of Liam's blessing. She thanked him afterwards. For the last blessing, Rose lift her finger and formed a heart shape.

          "Thanks for the blessing, Liam. Last, but definitely not the least, I am giving you eternal youth and a body that can withstand poisons and any physical attack."

          "So... You mean, I will be an inmortal?"

          "Nope..." Rose grin for a moment. "Your fate will be at the palm of your own hands because..."

           Zolia opened her eyes. She checked her body to see if it was alright. There were no wounds or signs of blood anymore. She looked at her surrounding, she was sleeping on her bed chamber. With a lot of questions on her mind, the first thing she recalled was to check her father's wellbeing.

         "Where is my father?"

          She's still wearing her night gown yet she rushed to her father's office. She wanted to ensure his safety. But to her surprise, there was no one there. Nothing but a crumpled paper on the floor. She read the contents of it and it was really the same letter of lies and accusation from Prince Erman.

        "I need to see His Majesty!" Zolia exclaimed. As she turn to go to her room and change to some decent clothes, her attention was caught by the reflection of a mirror on his father's office. "Wait... What? Is this... me?"