WMEEM Ch 1

When You Desperately Need Me

Sunlight dazzled through the swaying canopy whenever the wind brushed the leaves aside. Beneath the trees stood a man brighter than the sun itself.

Tears welled in my eyes as he stroked my hair. He was saying goodbye, leaving my younger self with nothing to do but weep.

[Celeste] "Mister... will we never see each other again?"

He offered a gentle smile, silently denying my words. He was the most beautiful person I had ever known, second only to my mother.

Shunned for being different, I could never play with other children. My mother worked constantly to support us, which left me alone. Yet I was resilient. Whenever Mother left for work, I ran into the forest, a magical place where animals felt far friendlier than humans.

I sat in the grass, gathering fallen leaves and petals to play house and foraging for tiny berries hidden among the bushes. I shouted freely, ran until my legs gave out, and napped under the open sky.

Solitary games, however, had their limits. Just as loneliness began to wear me down, he appeared.

The moment I first saw him, fear never crossed my mind. Instead, I stood spellbound. He was even prettier than Mother. He had captivating eyes, an intoxicating scent I had never encountered before, and long, impossibly soft fingers offered toward me.

I felt no threat from his breathtaking presence and approached him without hesitation.

He always waited for me in the woods, making our daily reunions the highlight of my life. With him there, I no longer had to play both roles in my imagination.

I napped with my head in his lap and tasted fruits that had previously hung far out of reach. From atop his shoulders, I gazed across the vast, distant canopy.

He taught me how to scent the shifting seasons in the wind and how to listen to the forest's song.

As our shared laughter grew, I loved him enough to wish he were my father. To a lonely child, he was my first and only friend.

And now, he was telling me we could never meet again. No matter how much I threw tantrums or begged him to stay, he offered only apologies. It was my first heartbreak.

I clung to his hem and refused to let go.

[Celeste] "I don't want to play alone..."

He gently peeled my hands away with sorrowful eyes and pulled me into an embrace.

[Man] "I will return."

[Celeste] "When?"

[Man] "When you desperately need me, I will surely return."

I need you right now.

I saw his grief and swallowed my words. Fear choked back my sobs. If I threw a fit, he might disappear even faster.

Yet he left anyway. I waved goodbye obediently at first, but panic seized me as his figure receded into the distance.

Barefoot and desperate, I sprinted after him until I tripped hard. He never turned around. Not once.

Please don't go. I hate playing alone.

I buried my face in the dirt and wept for an eternity.

---

[Celeste] "Gasp!"

A sudden shock shattered my stupor. Freezing water poured over my head, stinging my eyes and blinding my vision.

[Raff] "Sleeping so peacefully... you really are cold-blooded."

Raff's voice snapped me back to reality.

It had been a dream, a memory buried in the distant past. The man's face and name had long since faded. Even that painful farewell was a cherished memory, yet the searing agony in my back instantly erased its lingering warmth.

How many days had I been locked in this dungeon?

Raff, Emperor of Calyx and my eldest half-brother, summoned me periodically just to lash me. Whether he was relieving stress or harboring venom for a half-sibling with a different mother, I had no idea.

Born a bastard of the late Emperor, I lived with my mother before being brought to the imperial palace.

Naively, I believed only bright days lay ahead. Though two half-brothers and the Empress waited there, I was ecstatic. I thought I would never be lonely again, that Mother and I would stay together forever, and that I finally had the father I had always yearned for.

That foolish hope crumbled almost immediately.

Shortly after our arrival, Mother passed away. My father, the late Emperor who had shielded me, followed her soon after.

Raff's torment began then. What started as cruel pranks rapidly escalated. Though he rarely laid a hand on me himself back then, every order from the young Emperor was executed ruthlessly.

Once I reached seventeen and came of age, he took matters into his own hands.

Crack!

The whip, tipped with jagged beast fangs, scorched my flesh like liquid fire. Still, I refused to utter a sound. The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth as I bit my lip to anchor my silence.

Raff forced my chin upward.

[Raff] "Scream that it hurts!"

[Celeste] "..."

[Raff] "Beg for your life!"

[Celeste] "..."

He gripped tighter.

[Raff] "Ask for forgiveness!"

A hollow laugh welled inside me.

What crime could a prisoner confined to an isolated annex possibly commit? Raff wanted to see me grovel on the floor.

[Celeste] "Never."

I did nothing wrong. I will not yield to you. This is the only resistance left to me.

Did I not want to escape this agony? I craved an end to this hell, even if it meant death.

Long ago, I had screamed, begged, and asked forgiveness for imaginary transgressions just as he demanded. Yet my compliance yielded only mockery and humiliation.

He sneered as I crumbled, hurling insults at my deceased mother. I soon realized that even if the whipping stopped, his desecration of our dignity never would.

So now, I gave him nothing. In a world where everything bent to his whim, I chose to be the sole anomaly. Others might call me foolish, but this defiance was my anchor to sanity. Watching Raff lose his composure, a side he revealed only to me, brought an unexpected thrill.

Today was no different. My absolute refusal distorted his delicate features, bloodshot veins swelling across his eyes.

[Raff] "You need a harsher beating to learn obedience."

[Celeste] "Just kill me."

I spoke with certainty, knowing he lacked the resolve. A man who derived his sole pleasure from brutalizing me would never cut my throat.

[Raff] "And satisfy you?"

[Celeste] "Then keep hitting me."

A smirk crossed my face, twisting his lips in rage.

I knew what came next. Fear tightened my chest despite myself. As expected, he reached for one of the whips lining the wall. Its pristine, polished leather bore no bloodstains, marking it as a brand-new instrument.

I braced my trembling frame for the impact, inhaling slowly with closed eyes. I pictured the day I would inflict this exact agony upon him, the day he would collapse, broken and far more miserable than I, while I stood over him and laughed.

The air sliced behind my back. I braced for the impact, yet nothing touched my skin. When I opened my eyes, I saw Raff toss the whip onto the stone floor.

[Raff] "I changed my mind."

What is he up to?

[Raff] "I am weary of this game, Celeste."

[Celeste] "..."

[Raff] "There is no reason to keep a treasonous rebel in the palace. I am exiling you."

My heart leaped, instantly numbing the agony in my back.

Words I had dreamed of hearing! How desperately had I yearned to escape these walls?

The suffocating annex and Raff's unrelenting abuse had trapped my life in eternal shadow. Leaving meant freedom from his clutches. An impossible dream suddenly felt within reach.

[Raff] "A major banquet begins today and will last three days."

He dragged his index finger across my shoulder, wiping away a smear of my blood before curling his lips upward.

[Raff] "Once the banquet is over, I will release you."

[Celeste] "..."

[Raff] "However, imperial law dictates that both your ankles must be severed first."

[Celeste] "Sever... my ankles?"

[Raff] "Look at that. You can raise your voice after all."

[Celeste] "Why must my ankles be severed!"

Denied a proper education since my mother's death at age seven, I knew nothing of imperial law. Yet among the rumors of exiles I had overheard throughout my twenty years, mutilation had never been mentioned.

[Raff] "Exiled imperial family members normally receive an appropriate title and fortune. However, imperial law mandates that treasonous royals have both ankles severed before expulsion. Had you remained a mere bastard of lowly birth, a simple lady, you could have walked out of here whole."

He let out a quiet sigh.

[Raff] "Unfortunately, you are the sole princess of Calyx. One of the late Emperor's greatest achievements."

His soft chuckle grew louder, tightening around my ankles like an invisible shackle. His fingers traced my jawline, a repulsive touch that made my stomach turn. I jerked my face away. I loathed these rare, unnatural affectionate gestures more than his whip.

[Raff] "Don't feel wronged. Being a bastard princess is a sin in itself. Having your ankles cut is only natural."

My father had bestowed the title upon me, pushing it through despite fierce opposition from the imperial court and nobility. Had Mother resisted so strongly because she foresaw this tragic outcome?

Back then, ignorant of the stakes, I had wished for the turmoil to end. My father insisted on giving me a title, and now, that very gift would claim my feet.

---

Raff departed after declaring my fate three days hence.

When I stepped into the courtyard of my annex, the sight of my solitary sanctuary made my legs collapse beneath me.

After days in the dark dungeon, the glaring sunlight stung like needles. Though I longed to retreat indoors, my battered body needed warmth, so I collapsed face-down onto the grass.

Panic raced through my mind over Raff's ultimatum. Escape was impossible with guards surrounding the perimeter. My only acquaintances were Tarega, my maid, and Aranad, a distant relative, and neither possessed the means to help me.

A string of curses escaped my lips. Exiling me without ankles was a death sentence. Though I provoked Raff to kill me, I had no intention of dying. I had an unfulfilled purpose to complete first.

What do I do? How do I get out of this?

No answers came.

Footsteps hurried toward me.

[Tarega] "Your Highness!"

She dropped to her knees beside me in the grass.

[Tarega] "Sigh... I told you not to lie directly on the lawn..."

Her voice trailed off, cracking as she saw my shredded back.

[Tarega] "Beaten like this again... Oh, dear heavens..."

When she first saw my injuries years ago, Tarega wept uncontrollably, muttering curses at Raff under her breath while treating my wounds. As the abuse became routine, she grew quiet. When I asked why she no longer cried or cursed him, she wiped her eyes.

[Tarega] "Please don't misunderstand. It is not because I am used to it. You are the one in agony, so how could I make it about myself?"

Tarega had raised me like her own daughter since Mother's death, possessing a far gentler heart than mine.

She handed me a small vial of painkiller.

[Tarega] "Drink this first, Your Highness."

I pushed myself up, swallowed the medicine, and collapsed back down.

[Tarega] "I am going to unbutton your dress now."

She always warned me before unbuttoning my dress. The fabric, matted to raw flesh with blood and pus, tore at my skin like a fresh lash. I held my breath, struggling to remain silent, but a quiet groan escaped my lips. Agony I had easily suppressed in front of Raff breached my defenses now.

Tarega unfastened the buttons with agonizing care, her soft sighs hovering above me like a soothing blanket. In this desolate palace, she was my sole ally. Her presence was the pillar that sustained me through Raff's relentless cruelty.

[Tarega] "Applying the salve now. Tell me if it hurts."

[Celeste] "Mm..."

The salve stung fiercely before giving way to soothing relief.

Exhaustion weighed heavily on me after days of sleep deprivation in the dungeon, yet panic screamed at me to stay awake. I had to escape within three days.

Still, my eyelids grew impossibly heavy.

Just ten minutes. Can't I sleep for ten minutes?

As the painkiller kicked in, Tarega shielded my face from the harsh sun, creating a cool shadow. A gentle breeze brushed past, and her soft breaths against my back lulled me into submission. Exhaustion won, plunging me into deep sleep.

She shook my shoulder gently, her voice tense.

[Tarega] "Your Highness, wake up."

I forced my eyes open, disoriented.

[Tarega] "Your Highness, a guest has arrived."

[Celeste] "A... guest?"

Damn it, is it Raff?

No, Tarega would never refer to him as a guest. It meant strangers had entered, people outside the imperial household. No visitor had ever set foot in my annex.

A spark of foolish hope surged through me. I shielded my eyes from the blinding glare and squinted at the figures standing against the sunlight while Tarega helped me sit up.

[Celeste] "Who is it?"

The dark silhouettes slowly sharpened into focus. Two men stood before me: one older, the other a year or two younger than myself.

The older man possessed long, dull gray hair and piercing eyes. Fierce like a predator preparing to strike, his menacing gaze instantly silenced my tongue.

Beside him stood the younger man. His skin was paler than his companion's, and long, straight eyelashes cast deep shadows beneath his eyes. As a stray breeze scattered his raven hair across his face, he brushed it back with effortless elegance. A surreal, hazy aura rippled around him, making me question whether he was even human. Looking at him felt like sinking into an inescapable swamp.

I would have remained transfixed had Tarega not whispered my name. I snapped back to reality and observed the two strangers. The dark-haired young man scanned the courtyard, cast a fleeting glance at me, and turned away. Meanwhile, the gray-haired man stared directly into my eyes.

How strange. Why, in this exact moment, did his memory resurface?

[Man] "When you desperately need me, I will surely return."

---

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