Chapter 142: Curse of the throne
"Hexi, Hexi! Do you want to see how I turned those flowers red?"
King Svade’s expression darkened. If Jewel had not been useful, he would have cut her down along with her strange creations countless times.
"What did you call me?"
Jewel only pouted and walked away.
He watched as she pricked her thumb with a long nail, a single drop of blood falling onto a freshly bloomed flower. At once, its petals flushed red.
It puzzled him how the forbidden forest was so easy to find just by wandering aimlessly deeper, he always stumbled upon it. He assumed the ancient seal must have weakened after thousands of years.
On his visits, he learned much from her. Jewel spoke of lost societies, forgotten events, and fragments of culture, sometimes singing as though the past still lived in her voice.
She was not as ignorant as he once believed.
Before he realized it, his visits became frequent. Jewel lit up with excitement whenever he spoke of the current demon realm, just as he found himself drawn to her strange stories.
Gradually, he began to understand her obsession with everything red.
Somehow, Jewel knew she was different. She had nothing left except the fleeting madness of emperors who once treated her like a precious ornament, like a jewel in a crown, or an exquisite object to be displayed.
A succubus, perhaps, but only by rumor and assumption.
To a realm that never accepted her, this forbidden forest became her own kingdom. Her blood-born creations were proof of her identity, companions, guardians, friends. Among them, Jewel found peace and recognition.
And yet, even knowing he would never truly change toward her, she clung to him.
"Hexi has long black hair, straight brows, and sharp cheekbones. Jewel likes Hexi’s strong jaw and deep voice..."
"Are you singing or reciting?"
"Hehe~ Jewel just doesn’t want to forget you."
"Why? Are you finally dying?"
Jewel only smiled, shaking her head. "Hexi, after you take the throne, you won’t come and see Jewel anymore."
In an instant, black aura flared around him, shaking the trees. Leaves curled, flowers withered, and the forest trembled beneath his anger.
"I’ve ignored your rude way of calling me, but do you truly believe I’ll succumb to your curse?"
Jewel bit her lip and made a zipped-mouth gesture.
"How many times were you executed? Are you afraid I’ll do the same if I go mad?"
"Don’t remember." Her voice dropped, eyes heavy as though with sleep.
It was the first time he realized, Jewel could lie.
"If you want to remember something, then draw it. I’ll be busy now that the festival is ending, so I won’t be coming here for a while."
He let the matter go. Space twisted at his side as he conjured drawing tools and placed them before her.
Jewel’s eyes lit up. She flopped onto the ground and clutched them with delight. "Jewel will draw Hexi beautifully!"
Time passed. The festival ended.
At last, his long-desired purpose was fulfilled.
Hexion Richt Svade became Emperor and claimed the Imperial Palace as his domain.
Now he finally had the chance to see Jewel again, to take her out of that forbidden forest. Yet when he tried, a strange obstacle appeared.
No matter how far or deep he walked into the vast wilderness, no trace of the forbidden forest remained. The labyrinth that once guided him was gone.
Jewel had vanished.
---
Unable to find the forbidden red forest, Emperor Svade felt a strange, indescribable stirring within him. Annoyance turned quickly into impatience.
At last, his fury spilled over.
The Imperial forest burned. Red and black fire roared toward the sky, blotting out the stars. His aura stretched far and wide, suffocating the land and shaking the palace to its core.
The demons of the palace particularly council elders trembled in terror. Rumors spread like wildfire: the new Emperor was not only ruthless but unstable.
Whispers of fear could no longer be contained and not long after factions began to form.
Some claimed the Emperor was affected by an old curse, others that he was unfit to rule.
The council tried to pull Faris Helle, the Emperor’s confidant and his most fearsome death general into their schemes.
They urged him to betray, to replace the newly crowned ruler, but Faris answered with steel. Instead of bending, he executed every traitor without hesitation, their blood soaking the marble halls as warning. His loyalty to Emperor Svade was unshakable.
A decade passed and the truth behind the Emperor’s strange behavior revealed itself.
The vast Imperial forest trembled. The air rippled as an unseen barrier cracked, becoming visible at last to countless demon eyes. Lightning danced across its surface, threatening to shatter.
Those who knew of Jewel’s existence fell to their knees, their bodies shaking with dread.
"Your Majesty!" the elders cried out, voices hoarse with fear. "To break the barrier is to release the curse! Do not succumb to it! Seal it again!"
But Emperor Svade did not heed them. His black aura surged, and with one decisive strike the barrier shattered.
Ancient formation lines flared across the ground. Blood seeped upward, thick and endless, devouring soil, stone, and air. The surroundings turned crimson.
Above them, the sky answered. The twin blood moons blazed, casting their eerie light over the empire.
A cold, sinister wind swept through the land, whispering one truth across mountains and seas:
Jewel had returned.
Undeterred, Emperor Svade strode forward, blind to the horror of his subjects. His steps were steady, unhurried, regal.
At the edge of the ruin stood the forbidden forest, unveiled once more in all its twisted beauty.
"Jewel," his voice rumbled, low yet commanding, "come out while I am still patient."
The grass shivered. Flowers swayed innocently as though nothing had changed. Then, silence.
With a flare of his aura, he sensed her instantly, hiding behind the great red tree with its drooping, blood-soaked branches.
Jewel stirred, turning as if to flee, but with the faintest motion of his finger she was drawn toward him, helpless as a marionette.
"Why are you running away?" Svade’s voice was ice.
Jewel blinked, her wide eyes flicking past him to the terrified demons kneeling in the distance.
"Your Majesty is making a grave mistake," she whispered softly. "Restore the barrier... forget about Jewel."
His hand shot out, gripping her delicate chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. His aura bound her in place, heavy as chains.
"So you, too, look down on me?" His tone was sharp, laced with danger. "You dare think that you, a frail creature can bring about my downfall?"
Jewel’s lashes lowered. She blinked once, slowly, her expression unreadable. "Jewel has heard those words many times before, Your Majesty."
A vein throbbed across Emperor Svade’s temple as fury seared through him. Her calmness, her insolence, it was the same as her words.
A quiet echo of all the emperors before him who had once believed themselves untouchable.
Her words implied only one thing: their arrogance had led to their demise.
And now, she suggested, he was no different.
Emperor Svade carried Jewel back to the palace by force, his grip unyielding.
He never noticed the fleeting curve of her lips, the glint of mockery in her eyes as she looked past him at the terrified demons. The corner of her mouth rose in silent provocation.
The once-forgotten curse of the throne had returned and now, the entire empire knew it.
Fear spread like plague. Whispers of rebellion stirred once more. Some noble demons plotted in shadows, certain that Jewel would soon become the true power, with the Emperor reduced to her puppet.
Yet none dared act openly.
For all their schemes, it did not change the truth: Hexion Richt Svade was the strongest demon alive, the one who had slain all rival demon kings in his conquest for the throne. His reign was carved in blood. His presence alone was enough to quell most defiance.
No one dared, until the day Emperor Svade declared Jewel as his Empress.
The empire erupted.
War tore across the realm. Noble houses rose with fury, some seeking to usurp the throne, others desperate to end the curse that had poisoned the throne for millennia.
Many refused to believe that Jewel could not be killed, that she was the root of every emperor’s madness.
But the strength of the imperial palace was unmatched. Led by Faris Helle, the Death General whose loyalty was beyond question, the imperial forces crushed rebellion after rebellion.
And when Emperor Svade himself stepped onto the battlefield, the very air withered. His death aura was suffocating, so absolute that even the proudest demons were forced to kneel.
This was the difference.
Normal demons could fight and bleed. Noble demons could rise and fall. But the Demon Emperor could make the realm itself bent to him.
The walls of the palace, the ground beneath their feet, the spiritual core of the land itself, everything bowed to his will.
The war ended swiftly. Those who rebelled were either executed or broken, their houses shattered, their bloodlines disgraced.
Jewel watched it all with indifference. War and carnage, she knew, were nothing new in the demon realm. Empires rose and fell. Thrones were soaked in blood. The cycle never ended.
And yet, peace followed.
The empire prospered, even with Jewel crowned as Empress. Despite Emperor Svade’s notorious tyranny, he ruled with clarity and strength. He did not lose himself to madness as the books had once claimed.
Still, the palace had changed.
One day, cloaked and wandering outside the palace walls, Jewel found herself intercepted.
"Your Majesty, the Empress," a deep voice called.
It was Faris. He stepped forward, his tall figure unmistakable, his expression calm but sharp.
"Leaving the palace is not permitted."
Jewel turned, her smile sweet and innocent. "Ah, Faris~ Why is everyone so busy today?" She gestured lightly to the bustling crowd of demons in the capital’s central square.
"This is the heart of the empire. It is always busy," Faris replied politely, his tone neither warm nor cold. "Now, come back with us to the palace, Empress Jewel."
She tilted her head, letting her gaze drift toward the towering black palace in the distance, its vast crimson gardens spilling outward like rivers of blood.
"How did the Empress escape the palace?" Faris lips curved faintly.