Chapter 33 Freaking Perfect
Aiden closed the distance between them until he was right in her face; the only thing stopping him was her huge chest that stood in the way.
Olena opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. For the first time in years, she found herself at a complete loss for words; she couldn’t deny anything Aiden said, and every point he raised shattered the confidence she walked into the room with.
There was only one way she could get out of this situation right now.
"I... Ahem... I didn’t... I’m..." Olena stammered before stopping. She closed her eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, and cleared her throat before speaking again.
"Please forgive me, Your Holiness. I have no idea what came over me; I acted without thinking and overstepped my place. I sincerely apologize for everything I said"
Olena lowered her head in a deep bow, her heart beating violently against her chest, and for the first time in a long time, she genuinely felt afraid.
If Aiden doesn’t forgive her, then all the work and everything she had put in over the years would be for nothing. Since the Head Priest was in charge of the church, it was within his right to let go of anyone he deemed unfit for the church as no one would bat an eye.
Even if she somehow managed to keep her position, her dream of gaining more influence within the church would end in this very moment.
And even if Aiden chose to forgive her, she knew things wouldn’t be the same; the trust she had hoped to build in the first place was gone before it even began.
Instead of seeing her as an ally, Aiden would see her as an ambitious woman willing to manipulate him for power. Instead of furthering her cause, she had ruined her own plans.
’Why did I let greed get the better of me...?’ Olena bit the inside of her lip as she waited for Aiden’s response, but Aiden’s mind was totally in a different place.
’This is freaking perfect. Now, how do I punish her? Forgiving her and not doing anything seems stupid, and letting go of her is impossible; those jugs are never going anywhere’
’I need to find a way to break her, break her good, so good she’ll be willing to do anything, and I already know what she wants, so this is going to be fun’
Every second that passed felt like an eternity. Olena didn’t dare raise her head or speak again. The room was so quiet she could hear the sound of her heart beating against her chest, and then Aiden finally spoke.
"You know, I think this is all a big misunderstanding, wouldn’t you say, Lady Olena?" Aiden spoke, and her eyes widened.
Aiden hadn’t called her lady, and he just called what happened a misunderstanding, so she raised her head, and Aiden actually had a smile on his face, a very innocent smile.
"It is, Your Holiness. I can promise you, something like this would never happen again," Olena spoke, her heartbeat slowly settled like a load was lifted off her chest.
"Oh yes, it’ll never happen again because this would be your last day as the Head Priestess of the Western Church," Aiden spoke, and her jaw dropped.
Olena blinked a few times, convinced she must have misheard what he said, "Y-Your Holiness...?"
"I believe I spoke clearly," Aiden replied, his smile never leaving his face. "As of this moment, I’ve decided you’re no longer fit to lead the Western Church"
Color drained from Olena’s face, and she instinctively took a step forward. "No... Your Holiness, please... I admitted my mistake, and I apologized"
"And?" Aiden replied calmly. "You attempted to manipulate the Head Priest on the very day he assumed office, you tried to use your position as leverage, and you even made a binding scroll, or did you forget?"
"Tell me, why should someone like you remain the Head Priestess of the Western Church?"
Olena trembled; she wanted to argue, she wanted to defend herself, but she couldn’t even come up with an excuse. Her ambition itself wasn’t wrong, but trying to achieve it through manipulation was the problem.
If she had found out what Aiden did and acted like it was nothing, Aiden might have trusted her, and with that she could work on their relationship and further her cause.
"...I...I..."
Aiden folded his arms, waiting for her to speak, and when she couldn’t, he continued. He wanted to break her down until she was pleading, offering up everything, then he would push in.
"If I overlook this today, what message or lesson would that teach you? I can be threatened, or you would just come up with a better plan to control the church, isn’t that right?"
Olena’s entire body trembled, her breathing became heavier, and she spoke, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Please, Your Holiness... I’ve served the church faithfully for years; I’ve worked hard. I protected the Western Church during the attack, I know I overstepped, please forgive me"
"I know you’ve worked hard, but that won’t erase the stunt you tried to pull today. You thought I was going to sign the scroll and then you’d get to control the church. And you know what disappoints me the most? You believed I was foolish enough to fall for it"
Olena knew this wasn’t working anymore; she needed to do even more. She wanted to get on her knees, but her pride couldn’t let her do that.
"I’ve spent years taking care of the Western Church; I gave it my everything, please... don’t take it away from me." Olena pleaded, but Aiden didn’t say a word.
The silence was even more terrifying than when he was replying; now she knew he was dead serious, and there was nothing more she could do. Olena’s legs slowly weakened, and finally her knees gave out, and she sank to the floor.
Olena tossed away any trace of pride she had left, and lowered her head until it touched the ground, and she finally touched him as both of her hands touched his feet.
"Your Holiness..." Her voice shook uncontrollably as she began to cry, though he couldn’t see her face.
Aiden knew she was sobbing, and for a brief moment he even began to feel sorry for her. But pity wasn’t why he pushed her this far, he wanted what she had to offer.
"I beg you... Please don’t remove me from my position. I’ll accept any punishment. I’ll do whatever you ask. Just... Please, don’t remove me from the Western Church"