Who will Sympathise with a villain?

Prologue “You want me to accept your proposal? Fine, I will give you a chance, but on one condition. You must help me enter the Lycan Palace as soon as possible.” “You want to enter the Lycan Palace? But why?” “You don’t need to know that. Just tell me if you can help me or not.” “Hera, I… You know me well. With my background, how can I enter the palace?” “Since you can’t help me, leave. Don’t keep bothering me with your insincere proposals.” “Hera, please don’t say that. You know that my feelings are very sincere…” “Empty words are not enough, Cassius. If you want to win me over, you have to prove that you are sincere.” *** “Hera, stop him…. You must stop Cassius. He’s gone to the life and death arena. Given his skills, I am afraid….” “Don’t worry, Ella. Nothing will happen to him. Haven’t you heard the saying that Love can make everything possible?” “Hera! How can you be so heartless? You know he’s doing all of this for you. Don’t you feel anything at all?” “What do you mean, I don’t feel anything? If he can win, I will be very grateful to him. I have already promised that I will give him my first time if he wins. Why else do you think he is trying so hard to help me?” *** “Hera, I… I didn’t disappoint you, I… I won… Now, I can join the Royal guards. I can finally help you enter the Lycan Palace.” “Amazing! That’s great news! Thank you, Cassius. Thank you so much! Once I enter the palace, I will have the opportunity to get close to Prince Loren.” “Prince Loren…. Why do you want to get close to Prince Loren?” “You are so stupid. Why would a girl want to get close to a man?” “But… but, you promised to accept me if I helped you enter the Lycan Palace. You can’t go back on your words…” “When did I ever promise to accept you? Don’t twist my words. I only promised to give you my first time. You have indeed sacrificed a lot for me, but I can’t marry you because of that. My first time for your sacrifice is a good enough compensation.” “Hera…. Does it have to be like this? You know… You know I love you…. I want to marry you.” “I know you love me, but in this life, I can’t be with you, Cassius. Only Prince Loren can give me what I want. Only he can make me the Lycan Queen.” “Is power and position that important to you?” “Yes.” “Since that’s what you want, I will help you. I will help you become the Lycan Queen, but I don’t want anything in compensation. I am doing this because I don’t want to see you sad. As long as you are happy, I am willing to do anything.” *** “Hera, you have to help me…. They have taken away my mother and sister. You know me, I am not the kind of person who betrays others.” “Cassius, mind your behaviour. I am no longer the countryside girl. You should learn to address me properly.” “My apologies, Lady Hera. Please help me clear my name. I swear I have nothing to do with spies.” “It’s pointless to tell me about this. If you are innocent, present the evidence to Prince Loren. I don’t have the right to get involved in council matters.” “But, Hera… I mean Lady Hera. You can at least talk to Prince Loren to give me some more time. If not for me, for my mother and sister’s sake.” “What has your family to do with me?” “What did you say? You can’t mean that, right? You must be joking.” “I am no longer the old Hera. I don’t have time to jest with you. If there is nothing else, you can leave.” “Hera, you…. I did so much for you…. How can you treat me like this?” “Enough! There is no need to pretend to be self-righteous. Yes, you helped me enter the palace and get close to Prince Loren, but it’s not like you haven’t benefitted from it. If not for me, you would still have been labouring in those mines.” “Hera…. Please…. you are the only one who can speak up for me. I… I am willing to accept all the blames. I can even kill myself, but please…. please find a way to rescue my mother and sister.” “Alright, I will have my personal guards escort your mother and sister outside the city. Don’t worry, I will make arrangements to keep them safe. Consider it as a compensation for everything you have done.” *** “Why Hera? Why? You promised to rescue my mother and sister. Why did you kill them? Why?” “Your mother and sister are dead…. How’s that possible?” “Yes, they are dead… they are dead, Hera. It’s all because of me. If I hadn’t fallen in love with you, they would have been still alive… I gave up everything for you. For you, I ignored my mother and sister. I didn’t even spend enough time with them because I was busy chasing after you.” “I didn’t kill them, Cassius. Believe me, I wasn’t the one who killed them. If I wanted to harm you and your family, why would I help you clear your name?” “You must have some damn forsaken reason for putting up such a huge act. How can an ordinary man like me know what a high lady is thinking?” “Cassius….” “Enough! I don’t want to hear another word. You have harmed me enough, Hera. I won’t give you another chance. Falling in love with you was the biggest mistake of my life.” “The moment I got the news of their death, my heart died. There is no love left for you, only hatred.” “I am leaving now, but one day I will return. I will make you pay for everything you have done.” *** “Little Princess, it’s pay up time.” “Cassius, you? What do you want?” “I just want to take back what is mine. Remember what you had promised me when I won? Your first time is supposed to be mine, right?” “That… that was back then… Now, I am already Loren’s wife. You can’t possibly….” “I can’t possibly what, Little Princess. Don’t worry. I have already told Alpha Loren about this. We made a deal.” “Deal? No, that’s not possible. Loren wouldn’t do that to me.” “Why do you look so surprised? If you want to use other people, you should be prepared to be used. I am no longer the useless guard… I am the Alpha of the Crescent Moon Pack. It’s only natural that Loren wants to please me.” *** “Hera, as my wife, you should be more open-minded. You have to put the interest of the pack before yourself.” “If it was Clara, would you have said the same thing?” “How dare you compare to my Clara! She is my mate, the true Luna of this pack! Hera, I am warning you. If you ever dare to insult my Clara, I won’t spare you.” *** “You can’t do this, Lady Hera. If Prince Loren finds out…” “If he finds out, I will bear the consequences. All you need to do is follow my orders.” “Lady Hera, you….” “What? You are not willing? Why didn’t I hear you complain when I saved your son from those rogues?” “I am sorry, Lady Hera. I will execute your orders right away.” *** “You were the one who poisoned my drink with wolfsbane, right? You were the one who killed my baby.” “Princess Clara! Mind your words! You can’t accuse me like this without any evidence.” “Evidence…. With your meticulous planning, how can I find any evidence against you?” “You think you can get away with all your cruel games just because you are cautious, don’t you?” “Mark my words, Hera! One day, everything will be returned to you a hundredfold. You will die in desolation and loneliness.” *** “You are not Charlotte Brown, you are Hera.” “How did you find out?” “That is not important. What is important is that you lied to me, your mate.” “Norton, please give me a chance to explain myself. I didn’t tell you the truth because I didn’t want you to judge me because of my past. Trust me, I am nothing like the old Hera, I….” “Enough is enough, Hera! Do you think I am a three-year-old kid? Do you really think I don’t know about the things you did behind my back?” “I… I just kept ignoring them because you are my mate, the mother of my daughter. I really didn’t want everything to come down to this, but Hera, you are far too vicious. Letting a woman like you stay in the pack is like breeding a venomous snake. So, for the sake of my pack and my daughter, I have to draw a line.” “Norton, please don’t say that… I know I have made many mistakes in the past… But, I promise that I will change.” “It’s too late to repent now, Hera. I don’t have the courage to accommodate you any longer. I, Dylan Rottweir, the Alpha of the Dark Haven Pack, reject you as my mate. This day forth, you will have nothing to do with me or my daughter.” “No! Dylan please don’t….” “Guards! Take this woman away and lock her up in the prison. We can’t let her destroy any more lives.” *** My life flashed before my eyes as I lay in the barren cell. My body felt stiff and I could feel my vitality draining. The constant consumption of slow poison had started taking its toll on my body. “Hello, is anyone there?” My voice came out in a hoarse whisper as I tried to hold on to the last shred of my life. “Call Liana…. I want to meet her.” When there was no response, I crawled to the iron bars and grasped them. With the strength of sheer willpower, I shook the rattling metal. “Hello, is anyone there?” “What is it?” A guard walked over, his expression a mixture of anger and ridicule. “You are already on the verge of death. Why do you still have to bother us?” “I… I just want to meet Liana once…. Please call her….” “You want to meet our princess? What a joke? Do you really think someone like you deserves to meet her?” “But… but she is my daughter….” Clasping the bars of the prison cell, I made one last attempt to call out to the guard, but he ignored my muffled grunt and left. Who would sympathise with a villain? My weak body dropped to the ground like a deflated balloon. My eyes turned blurry and soon everything was plunged into darkness. How did it turn out to be like this? When I was a child, my family and friends loved and adored me alike. How did I end up being forsaken by everyone? One mistake, one wrong decision, and I got caught in a spiral of wrongs and misgivings. I wanted to grab the moon but ended up only with darkness. Now, it was too late to regret, too late. If only I knew that I would have to pay such a huge price for my ambitions, I would have rather led a simple life.