"Cat got your tongue?" I said, not caring one bit about status. I know here, in this strange world, titles and respect mean everything. But why should I care? As long as I'm Aria—even if deep down I know I'm not—I'll keep pushing, keep digging, until I find the real Aria and end this game.
"What did you just say?" he asked, voice sharp.
"Nothing, your royal highness. And even if I did, you wouldn't understand. Just like the three simple questions I asked you that you couldn't answer. Even if I spell it out, you won't get it."
"Aria, you've changed since the day you came back to me," he said, face flat, eyes hard.
"I haven't changed, your highness. You just don't know who I am. That's why I feel different to you. I'm not your wife, and you're not my husband. My husband was a mere hunter. He knew me. He knew who I truly was."
"I know you, Aria. But this is not you. This is not the woman I met in the village. You were never like this. You've changed into someone else. Someone distant."
"Of course I'd feel distant," I said, leaning closer until my face was inches from his, warning him to stay away from me and Elian. "Because I'm no one to you. Not anymore."
"Aria, you can never control me," he shot back like it was a counterattack.
I laughed, sharp and short. "Ha! I can't? Then who was it who said I was getting on his nerves? If I don't have control over you, then tell me—what else is this?" My finger pressed hard into his chest, my smirk curling at the corner of my lips.
"As I said, I'm not your wife. I'm Aria, but different. I can do everything she couldn't. I can make you force me and my son out of this palace with your own two hands. And when you do, you'll finally see just how much control I hold over you." My finger dug deeper into him, daring him to deny it.
"So you want to play a game?" he said, gripping my wrist and stopping me.
"You can say that," I replied, smirk still on my lips as I looked away.
"Fine, Aria. If you want this game of hide and seek so badly, I won't stop you. But remember this—I'll make you admit you are the Aria I married. I'll make you say you are my wife, and Elian is my son." His jaw clenched, his eyes locking with mine like fire to fire.
"We will see, your royal highness!" I said and brushed past him, stepping out of the chamber without once looking back.
Even though I was already far from him, my anger refused to fade. It felt like fire was crawling under my skin—hot, alive, uncontrollable. Talking to him was like standing in the middle of a blaze while someone kept pouring oil just to see it burn brighter.
"Your wish will never come true, Darius Alexander Blackwood," I muttered under my breath, my voice trembling with rage. My feet carried me down the long corridor as if they already knew where to go—toward the garden.
But how?
How could I know this path? How could every corner feel like something I'd already seen, already walked through, already breathed in? Aria lived in a small village, far away from the palace. She had never stepped inside these walls. If she had, she would have known her husband was Darius—the emperor, the man once crowned prince.
Then how does everything feel so familiar to me?
"No… I have to find the truth," I whispered, gripping my dress tightly in my fists as I walked faster.
And that's when I heard it—
The same voice, soft but close, like it was breathing right beside my ear.
"You shouldn't be here, Aria. Run! Run from here!"
The whisper sent shivers down my neck. My heart thudded. The air around me froze.
"Stop it!" I shouted, pressing both hands against my ears. "I said stop it!!!"
Gasps echoed nearby.
"What's going on with her?" someone murmured.
"Is she… mad?"
Their whispers stabbed like knives.
"Hey, shhh! Don't you know who she is? The emperor brought her here himself and declared her his wife. Do you want to die for saying such things?" another voice hissed, pulling the first one back.
"But if she's not mad, then why would she scream like that when there's nothing there?"
"Shut up, you fool! Do you want to get executed?"
Their voices faded as they disappeared down the corridor, leaving me alone again.
My knees trembled. I tried to steady myself and push off the ground, but before I could, I saw a pair of feet stop in front of me.
Soft, graceful, covered in silk.
A woman's voice followed.
"So, who is she?" she asked.
I lifted my head slowly, the sunlight behind her turning her into a shadow. I couldn't see her face—but something about her presence made my heart twist.
"This is the woman the emperor brought with him," the maid said to the woman standing before me as I struggled to get up from the ground.
The woman the emperor brought.
What a remark.
So that's what they whisper behind closed doors. Even after hearing I'm the emperor's wife, they still choose to lace their tongues with venom. That alone tells me enough about how welcome I truly am here.
"Oh… the poor woman," the stranger said, her lips curving into an amused smirk, "the one the emperor took pity on because her husband happened to look exactly like him?"
Her tone was sweet — too sweet — the kind that dripped poison even while sounding polite.
As I stood up straight, I finally saw her face under the light.
A beauty.
An undeniable, refined beauty. But behind that flawless skin and perfect smile, I saw it — arrogance. The kind born not of confidence but of power and indulgence.
"I believe you're misunderstanding something," I said, my voice steady as I met her eyes.
"Misunderstanding?" she repeated, tilting her head with mock curiosity. "Then, enlighten me. What should I understand to clear this supposed misunderstanding?"
"The thing you need to understand," I said, brushing the dust off my dress, "is that I didn't come here by choice. I was forced to come here. With my son."
Her smile froze.
"Son?" she repeated, her voice no longer playful. The amusement in her eyes flickered — gone, replaced by a spark of disbelief… or was it jealousy?
I watched her lips twitch slightly before she masked it with a smile again, the kind that said this isn't over.