Chương 32: Map Of The Mad Queen’s ‘Empty’ Soul

* Long Chapter Alert! ... @Liam_Johnsen, this one's for you, hihi

[SAKURA]

"What did you just say?"

"Here, have a look at this."

"This is doctored. My petal is not that stupid," Sakura defended even though the truth was staring right at her. The doctor she knew wasn't one to act recklessly, but then from the reports she had received in the past two months, this wasn't supposed to be surprising.

"You and I know it's not. Now the realm is out for her because of what she said. Are you going to go after her?" Otaru asked after thirty minutes.

He had watched the queen watch the footage over and over, like she wanted to understand what the fuck was happening.

However, after the first replay, Otaru knew the queen wasn't looking at her petal, but she was mastering the faces of everyone who was there in that club.

She was doing a headcount and mastering their identities, because she was going to go after them for even thinking of her erasthai as a target.

She hated it when people threatened what was hers, but even more than anything, as Otaru had come to realize, Sakura hated it when someone made her petal cry.

Funny how she had killed her own high guards for making Kiyomi cry, when she had frustrated the good doctor for two whole months.

"No. She's an adult and a grown Lycan. She can take care of herself. Besides, what the fuck was she thinking announcing to the world that she, a mere rogue was my erasthai.

"That's stupid as fuck and she needs to deal with it on her own," Sakura said angrily as she walked out of the painting room and locked it harshly.

She looked pissed and like she was about to kill Otaru, but they both knew that wasn't the case. The mad queen was frustrated because of the video and more than anything, she hated that she had turned the good doctor into that.

She had even given the doctor her last name to protect her and yet she hadn't thought that the Lycans would ever try to fuck with her erasthai. But did the queen really care that much about the good doctor?

"Are you coming or are you going to keep staring at me when you look worse than my paintings?" Queen Sakura asked and Otaru chuckled knowingly as he followed her. He wasn't sure what she was intending to do, but he knew it wasn't going to be good.

"She is that frustrated because she went through her heat alo—" Otaru said only for the queen to slam him on the nearest wall, hands choking the enforcer she loved and trusted with her life. You would think they are enemies.

"Careful, Otaru. Heat or not, that little beautiful Petal is mine. You hear me? Mine!" Sakura growled before snapping Otaru's neck, forcing the enforcer to collapse on the floor like she had just murdered him.

Sakura didn't care to look at the enforcer or even apologize for what she had done, Instead, she picked up the tablet that had the footage and walked to her chambers, incessantly clicking like the world was suddenly full of shit.

The Lycans in the palace had smelled her anger and had steered clear of her path, for fear of being murdered or ending up as collateral damage in her battle of insanity.

"She doesn't listen, does she? I told her to live her life but she just had to go on and whine like the world revolves around her. She thinks everyone is there to serve her. I am a queen and won't be blackmailed into going to her. That little petal is crazy."

Sakura's monologue as she changed her clothes and cleaned up was interesting to say the least. She could swear on everything she held dear that she didn't care for Kiyomi Kimura and yet she was changing into different clothes.

"Now what the fuck should I wear?" Sakura asked herself as she stood in front of the mirror, a red strapless bodycon dress on one hand, while her regular clothes were on the other hand.

For some reason, she felt like looking good today, and she could probably swear that this wasn't in any way motivated by the fact that the love of her life was out there dragging trouble with her wherever she went.

Oh, Sakura was done with the chaos, and wanted to see her erasthai. But at the same time, she couldn't be seen as a caring queen. She couldn't be seen to love the woman wholeheartedly like the very ground that Kiyomi walked on was sacred.

She wanted to do a lot of things with and for Kiyomi, but she hated the whole idea of her being loved by someone.

She hated Kiyomi because she wanted the good doctor to despise her more than the realms had ever thought of, because all her life, queen or not, Sakura Watanabe had only ever known hate and fear.

Everyone hated her and she wouldn't let the woman she was flaking for love her.

That was too much of a risk.

"Fucking hell. Why the fuck is it so hard to pick a dress for this shit?" Sakura complained as she threw her clothes around, while she settled the bodycon on her dresser, carefully like it was the only thing she wanted to look good in.

"You would look hot in any set of clothes. Or we could go shopping if you think your entire wardrobe is suddenly inappropriate for whatever you're planning to do or wherever you are planning to go," Otaru said casually as he stood by the door.

His hand was still rubbing on his neck where his queen had snapped and left him on the ground. He looked as healthy as ever, though his eyes were filled with curiosity for the woman in front of him.

She looked different and determined, though it wasn't the kind of determination she took to war. This was new, like a tender kind of determination, and yet at the same time, she wanted to look fierce in her own skin. Oh, Sakura.

"And here I was hoping you'd wake up a century later," Sakura said blandly as she stared at her enforcer who walked into her room, a knowing smirk on his face like Otaru knew something that Sakura didn't.

"That, my friend, would have been possible, if you didn't use your magic to make me one of the most powerful, and impervious to magic almost like you," Otaru said as he sat on the couch, like this was home for him. Perhaps it was.

"I would go for the bodycon dress, Sakura. It makes you look… uhh… normal I guess. Makes you stand out, but at the same time, it makes you look like a human. Of course, if you're planning on going back to Odanera and see your gorgeous erasthai.

"If I were you, I wouldn't let her out of my sight for one second. And… Before you come choking me again, you and I both know I wouldn't even touch what's yours, so stay there and put the damn dress on, woman," Otaru said, his last statement earning a chuckle from Sakura.

Funny how she was struggling on the inside and Otaru could see right through her.

"Would there be a day she sees me like that too?" the queen mumbled softly. Otaru had heard her, but he chose not to say anything. Some things didn't need any voice whatsoever, not even his voice hovering.

"She's in the apartment block you bought for her. Apartment 0613 to be precise," Otaru stated.

"I'm not going to the human lands. I have better things to do other than stay whining about a doctor who can't take care of herself. She is stupid and is no match for me, perhaps it would be best if she just disappears," Sakura said and Otaru let out a laugh.

"Yeah right. That's why you decided to take the largest room in the entire palace and fill it up with drawings and paintings of the apparently stupid doctor, right? Or maybe she isn't the reason you started painting again after thousands of years, yeah?" Otaru mocked knowingly.

"You don't know anything. Shut up. I'm going to Odanera, to chat with the Russians. I'm not going to check on the Kimura girl. She's just a contract for me, nothing else," Sakura defended.

"I see. Well, your highness. I brought you Periwinkle petals, in case you want to give them to the Russians you're going to chat with alright? I doubt you'll need me with those Russians anyway. Say hello for me, will ya," Otaru said as he got up to leave.

"You're not coming with me?" Sakura asked softly, her eyes staring at Otaru, making the enforcer confirm what he already suspected. There was never a person who made the Lycan queen nervous like Kiyomi Kimura ever did.

And while the queen would prefer to choke on everything instead of admitting it, this was one that Otaru knew the queen had to do herself. She had fucked up and had to work through it on her own.

"You're a queen, Sakura. You never need anyone to come with you to make any deal, especially with the damned Russians. But… just in case, the high guards at your service are outside should you want to take them along."

"But—"

"The red bodycon fits well today. She'll definitely love that, so go with it," Otaru said as he walked out of the room, leaving Sakura staring at the empty room like she wasn't sure if she could do this.

"I'm going to the meeting with the Russians!" Sakura shouted.

"And I'm the fucking great queen," Otaru mocked before he made a run for it.

Well, perhaps Otaru was right, if she was going to the Russians, she didn't need to be accompanied.

But was she headed to the Russians really?