Episode 17

She wonder how she arrived in this situation.

'Was it because I didn't compromise with the first option and whatever forces out there decided to mess with me and make it worse?'

Sakura felt her soul leave her body when she knew no escape or help will save her.

'I wish I was born in a seven year old body or something. Then I can use that I'm a big girl and don't need help'

She watches as Raphael and Mihkael arrive by the emperors bath. Especially made besides the emperors chamber.

'Wahhh~! Now this is what I call a royal waste of money.'

She wonders how much had to go with creating such a large bath.

'This fucking place is bigger than my apartment house in my past life.'

She squints from the pure luxury that the bath was.

The area long and wide, the ceiling supported by colum looking things, each one decorated with different images of people, they were positioned as if holding the wall up, their clothing and image so detailed it was hard to believe they were just statues.

The surrounding walls having different carvings than painted, the walls were golden and red plated with different images that seem to be based on battles. The bath was right in the middle, as if it was a outdoors pool.

'This reminds me more of a chinese emperors bath from dramas I've seen' sakura looks at the rose petals with lavender ones gently being tossed into the water, and different types of scents of rose water and lavender lightly filling the air.

'Now this is a bath worthy for royalty.' She had a deadpan look in her eyes. She knew there was no escape.

'The only thing I can do is not glance down.' While trying to not be specific of what she didn't want to see. She notices the flower women, the one throwing the flowers in the water and made eye contact with her.

A feeling of being shocked throughout her body was felt. The women had the same soothing eyes as the heroine did, the facial structure showing some similarities, yet the heroine showing more of a prominent and was definitely a greater beauty than this women.

"Chu..." 'you...' from a shock of meeting face to face with the women who can be easily said as the sole cause of Sakura's suffering, she ended up messing up her words and fully fail in her wording.

Noticing his daughter's behavior, Mihkael glances at the area she is fully focused on and make eye contact with that women, noticing the emperor looking at her, she quickly bows while a blush fills her face, feeling a pleasant sensation overcome her stomach, she waited for what he will say, but what she expected never occured, only the opposite.

"Who dares allow you to take another step inside this bath area?! I remember quite correctly that I informed the head maid to not allow you to work anywhere near me. Ever. Again."

The room heats up even more than the bath water. The water seems to boil from the very heat in the air. Taking note of his friends rage reaching a dangerous point.

Raphael swiftly surrounded himself with his magic while holding Sakura close to his chest, so she won't get burned by her fathers anger.

"Mihk-! Your Majesty! Please calm yourself. Sakura would end up injured if you don't keep your anger at bay!."

Raphael took steps away from his friend, keeping Sakura close and away from Mihkael's leaking magic.

Hearing his friends urgent calls, his eyes turned away from the trembling women kneeling and shaking on the floor, unknown to him, she was holding her stomach.

But that didn't escape from Sakura's eyes. 'So she already conceived the heroine and must have planned to tell my father or blackmail him with it.'

Knowing the progress of the story, sakura really wants to give a round of applause to this worlds setting from still keeping in track, even with the changes she created. 'I think even if I wasn't here, this scene was about to occur for the progress of the game' she remembers that this was a side memory of the emperor when he discovered Rose to be his daughter.

In that scene, he didn't give her time to speak and almost killed her there and then, but still felt pity for her and just dismissed her, after she thanked him for his mercy, she left far away.

***

Mihkael called for the head maid to demand why she let that woman appear before him if he has directly said not to allow her ever to be near him.

"Is my words just decorations to you? Do you believe you have higher authority than the emperor!?"

He was furious, he remembered what that women has done, giving him an intense potion that erased his rationality and made his limbs grow a bit numb, he remembered what happened after and furiously slammed his fist down in the armchair of the throne.

Kneeling even lower the head maid tries to explain "I-I would never your majesty! I had to allow her because the child in her body had the royal seal! The power emitting from her stomach showed it was a royal child so I had no choice but allow her to go when she showed me just a minute before your bath time, so I had no time to inform you and she stated she wanted to inform you personally."

Finding out that that women was pregnant with his child, Mihkael's mind grew slow, taking in this information. But Seraph was the first to respond and sent word for the search of the women, to bring her back with any cost needed.

But for some reason or how I remember Someone hid her and helped her raise Rose till her 13 birthday. And then brought her before Mihkael. Then the story truly began from there.

***

'Ah... I just remembered the scene of seeing a half sister appearing out of nowhere, the look in Sakura's eyes were daunting, she already thought it was hard to gain her fathers love, but then a half sister comes along the way and almost held everyone in the palm of her hands with just her common innocence. In a way, no wonder she was snarky and cold to people. Everyone treated her as some type of villain when she corrects Rose in etiquette or any type of behavior.'

It caused her nothing but grief with the difference of treatment and that in the last scene that took her rationality and caused her to injure her father was the string snapping.

'And the reason it snapped was because of this very women in my presence.' Sakura narrows her eyes at the pleading and shaking women, seeing how the women pleaded for leniency, caused Sakura to shake in anger.

However to Raphael and Mihkael, it seems as if she was shaking in fear, while the truth was the complete opposite.

Mihkael closes his eyes and does a few breathing exercises, he opens his eyes and pointed to the door, his eyes narrowing dangerously to her.

"Leave, I do not want to see you take another step here, or else." His eyes were cold, like a fire burning incased by frozen ice. And the women, knowing that she can't get what she wanted, hurriedly left but not without sending a glare to Sakura.

But Sakura didn't back down either and sent one back, her iris darkening and her pupil appearing as if it was growing. Witnessing the change in Sakura's eyes the womens eyes widen in fear and she quickly turned away and left through the door.

'Shit! Not good.' Sakura closes her eyes and does her own breathing exercises. 'I let my anger consume me again, she saw my eyes change.' Sakura knew that was bad news, because in the game, the women used Sakura's emotions to break her, allowing the corruption to consume her conscious easily.

That moment when Sakura heard what that women did to her mother, the fury of knowing her father slept with such a women and allowed her to live angered Sakura to no ends, so it was the cause of her entering her fathers office and attack him.

'We need to calm down, I don't know when the corruption started to watch Sakura, so I don't know if he started when he finds her as a child or when she meets her half sister, but I need to watch my emotions, especially anger.'

Knowing full well what the corruption consumes on, she calmed herself and tries to reassure herself.

'But then again her mentality was a bit fragile.'

She didn't know her father loved her. And people surrounded her for benefits, not because they actually liked her and a bonus is she was back talked by almost everyone because she held herself in high esteem, because she was taught to, not because she wanted to. And it especially became bad when Rose appeared, by then everyone treated her as some type of villainess.

'Well, she was made to be by the game creator'.

Knowing the factors against the other Sakura, she can understand how the corruption decided to target her.

"Sakura? Papa is sorry for scaring you like that, will you forgive me?"

Before she knows it, she was now in her fathers arms, his chest exposed through the robes he was wearing.

The sleeves moved up and exposing his strong arms. His hair in a bit of a mess from his normally combed back one, a few strands falling in his face and giving him a more youthful look. His eyes held guilt and worry when Sakura doesn't answer him, giving him a poor puppy look.

'Wow, that is a deep contrast to his expression a while ago.'

"Aye!" Sakura quickly assures him while nodding her head. Seeing his daughter forgiving him, he smiles and you can feel the warmth from it.

"Ugh!" She felt like clenching her chest but stops herself while accidentally letting out that noise 'his looks are destructive, especially when he is this close.'

"Mihkael, you ok?"

Raphael closes the door behind him and walks toward his friend, wondering if he is doing okay. He was glad the princess was fine and it doesn't seem any type of effects stayed.

"Mihkael, I understand how infuriating it was to see that women, but you have to remember who else in is your surrounding. What if I wasn't able to enshroud her with my magic and it causes her to be injured?"

"I know, I'm sorry." Mihkael eyes lower down in a child being scolded manner, even when he was a bit taller than Raphael, he still seem as a child scolded by their mother.

"Hahh~ don't worry my friend, as long as you understand. I should go out and inform my stewards to drag the head maid to the throne room for interrogation."

Raphael eyes held a cold glint when he said that only to be stopped by Mihkael.

"Don't, it was already a tiring day today, we will see to it tomorrow morning, so for now, let us rest."

Mihkael holds Sakura more steadily and starts walking toward the bath. Seeing his friend go to enter, Raphael nods and goes to leave.

'Damn!! I thought from what happened just now, they would forget all about the bath!!!'

While trying to squirm away, Mihkael can only assure her it will be a quick bath and she can then go to sleep.

"I know you must be tired, but you have to take a bath or else you will be irritated by the dirt that may stick to your body." Mihkael isn't really good at reassuring a child and wondered if he should have asked Raphael to stay and help, but threw that thought away and wanted to try his best for his daughter.

Knowing that there was no real escape she can only cry internally about being bathed by another person, and a handsome man to add.

While having finally being placed in the bath, she was placed in a step thing that allowed her to not end up falling deep in the water. She looks up and sees her father remove his robe and enter the water, he sinks in and raises up, his crimson hair wet and glistening, his body well toned and maintained was truly a sight for sore eyes.

'I have died and gone to heaven.'

while thinking that with a deadpan look her father walks close, the water thankfully or not, was just an inch below his navel, and the flower petals covered the sight bellow.

'I'm a horrible example for a human being, to actually simp for my father.' Feeling a part of her die inside she just sits in the step and feels her father grab a soft scrub and gently wipes her face and then her back and the rest of the body.

'I'm quite surprised he isn't trying to remove my skin off, he is actually doing quite well.' Then she here's a soft chuckle and looks up at him.

"This reminds me of your mother. She was furious when I scrubbed to hard, so she scolded me till I did better."

His eyes held nostalgia and he continued "she was the only women I thought would ever be infuriated with the emperors scrubbing, even more so to actually complain about it to his face."

He chuckles and holds her hand while scrubbing it.

"I actually thought she would be the only women I'll ever help to bathe, but look at me now. Now I have another important one who takes control of my heart too." He chuckles while gently scrubbing her neck as well.

'Wow. If he ever said those lines to someone other than his daughter, they would have thought he was flirting.' She tries to tell herself she was imagining the heart fluttering and just allowed her father to scrub away the dirt.

While hearing the history of her father and mother, she started to get curious about the Empress.

'The only think I can remember about her, was that she was consumed by some type of deep sleep, her body in a comatose state with no real solution, even with so many resources used for her.'

The emperor never gave up on his Empress, that it surprised many when they saw how much he treasured her and how much he was willing to wait for her.

That's why the heroine appearing surprised many and it caused rumors to circulate that the empress will be discarded soon, and a new one will take position. And the game Sakura heard those things and felt some type of hatred eat her.

Sakura can only sigh from the factors that were aiming for her destruction and notices her dad finishing.

"Now close your eyes, I'm going to use shampoo for the hair ok?" She nods and covers her eyes. He smiles at the sight and gently starts to spread around the shampoo on her scalp and then begins to rinse it out.

".... and that should be it. Why don't you play with the water while I clean up ok."

"Ok." She nods and starts to gather the flower petals in her reach and played with them, she looks up and sees Mihkael scrubbing the soap in his head, his eyes closed and the soap sliding down his body.

'He really is a piece of art work.'

While admiring her fathers well trained body and wondering when he even has time to train, she noticed a change in her emotions.

'Oh? Rather that ogling him like I did a while ago, I now just feel admiration? Isn't my emotions changing too quick?'

While understanding how much she really is changing, she starts to feel like her adult side is losing to her child side, yet she hasn't really felt any moment of lost memories. 'I'm just regressing in the emotional side rather than the intelligence.'

While thinking that, she notices her dad just scrubbing his arms and chest and the rest, he did a bit of his back but there was parts he couldn't reach.

"Papa. Come here. I'lth helph you" while still having words mixed, she actually found out why. When she was eating she noticed that she had 3 tooths missing, they are just a quarter away from growing, so her words slurs a bit.

"Oh? You'll help papa clean his back?"

"Aye!" She does a small salute with a serious face, making her father laugh and just nod. He sits in a step lower from her and gives her the rag.

She holds it and starts to rub her dads back with close to all her strength, because she knew if she did it softly, he won't be able to feel a thing with her strength.

While having a peaceful daughter and father moment. The bath finished and he wrapped his robe around himself and a large towel around her, he helped her get dressed with a nightgown that Raphael left in the large bed of the emperor and then he got dressed too.

Both of them laid down and the moment her head hit the pillow, exhaustion took over, she yawns in her hand and snuggled close to Mihkael, causing him to chuckle a bit and gently patted her back, so she can go to sleep.

"Goodnight my tiny treasure."

"Goodnighth papa." After letting out one last yawn, she succumbed to her dreams.

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