Emperor's Reckoning

Cracking sidewalks and watery moonshine struggled past the clouds. A combination of dragon and waterfall braid of auburn was holding its tail in place as she walked. Her auburn eyes were starking and sharp. Her eyebrows were akin to a blade of her emotion. She was taller and muscular, she was, lithe. She wore nothing to resemble her royal status, but the presence that she exuded just for being, was something not even the queen of the Sverine Kingdom had. A true and foremost deadly woman. A femme fatale.

No one would ever dream to have this kind of woman by their side. She was both a dream and nightmare due to her strong presence and strong battle instinct. She was decisive and cold in the situation that was needed. She was an independent woman that made the majority of the male cultivators corner themselves and sought shelters due to their incompetence. Almost every male cultivator that was.

"Cecile," Lyon called out.

"Hmm? Is something in your mind?" asked Cecile with a smile.

"You?" Lyon smirked.

Cecile chuckled. "You think that kind of flattery works on me?"

"Yes," Lyon smiled and nodded.

"Well, you are not wrong," Cecile smiled.

Lyon looked at her loose hands before he gulped as his heartbeat quickened. The word romance had been the back of his head for a long time but when it was the time, he, like any adolescent young man, got nervous. (W-Wait, why am I nervous?! She is my wife! She is not just any woman in the street that... I.... don't know... so why am I nervous?).

The young man looked at the face of the auburn woman before his cheeks turned red. She had slept with him but every time he looked at her face, there was something that drew him into her. She was a starlet with a fierce light, and he was the only one that could touch her face.

(Why am I not myself... Why are you so... enchanting...).]

His heart fluttered yet he was at peace. The rhythm that he felt with her was nothing compared to any woman that he had spent his time with. Not the princesses, not the queens, not the beautiful cultivators. She gave out a different feeling from the rest.

He gulped but his eyes won't blink. He refused to spend another split of a second without seeing her. The stern gazes and the contempt thoughts of the onlookers were nothing but silent flies. He was the world, and she was the stars.

(Is this the feeling... you get... when you have spent an entire lifetime with a woman that you love?) The peace, the warmth, the one he could depend on, the woman that by his side, even in their second ventures, second lifetimes.

Lyon's hand moved before he touched Cecile's palm.

Cecile raised her eyebrows before he could feel his fingers entwined with hers. She looked at the young man beside her with a surprised look.

"Hm~" she smiled before she tightened the grip and locked it down.

"You know, I envy Selena sometimes," said Cecile.

"Hm?" Lyon raised his eyebrows as Cecile looked forward.

"She gets to meet you in your teenage years," Cecile smiled. "But now, it's my turn."

Lyon was silent but his eyes wandered. He had not known the past memories yet but what made him slightly irritated was how close he was in opening the door. The secret that was so massive, even he himself from the past swatted him back to reality.

"Hey, I was wondering."

"Hmm?"

"When we were together, do we have like a lot of dates?"

"Hmm..." Cecile furrowed her eyebrows as she contemplated. "I guess you can call it dates?"

"What? What are you talking about?"

Cecile shrugged her shoulders. "We are technically on a really long date after that fateful meeting in the prison."

"Really?" Lyon raised his eyebrows, "I vaguely remembered what happened, though, again, vaguely."

"Well, we did have a lot of adventures together, a really long but fun adventure," said Cecile as her eyes looked past what they were seeing.

"So like, we formed a band of adventures, just the two of us?" asked Lyon.

"Oh, yeah, we did that, we joined a local guild at the time where we are ranked by our cultivation, ah what a time that was," said Cecile as she let out a longing sigh.

"We can always do it again, right?" asked Lyon as he raised his eyebrows.

"Becoming an adventure? Again? That is indeed intriguing, but sadly we have something to take care of first. Being an adventure to you now is nothing but a hobby."

"A hobby, eh?" Lyon raised her eyebrows. "Do we have some ranking system in the adventure world?"

"Absolutely, though our party was actually you and me alone we climb the ladders like a cat on fire," Cecile chuckled. "How do you think I got the War Maiden] nickname? I didn't procure it myself, our fellow adventurers did."

"Really?" Lyon grinned.

Cecile chuckled seeing his face, "I bet you want to know what they used to call you right?"

Lyon furiously nodded. "What do they call me then?"

"Do you really want to know? I doubt you would like it," said Cecile as she smiled. "You have always hated it too back in the day."

Lyon furrowed her eyebrows as his glabella folded. "Wait a minute, how come you have a cool nickname and I don't?"

"Oh, you assume that it's bad already? Cecile chuckled. "But it describes you perfectly."

Lyon squinted his eyes, "What is it?"

"You really want to know?"

"I'm dying."

"Hehe, alright, give me your ear," said Cecile.

Lyon furrowed her eyebrows but he gave her what she wanted. He could hear her breath before she said softly.

"The Perverted Adventurer."

Cecile smiled before she slowly pulled herself away from his ears. She then chuckled seeing Lyon's disbelief eyes and grimace expressions.

Lyon raised his eyebrows as he blinked twice. "I-I guess, it's not that surprising."